Daily Democrat, Volume 1, Number 213, Decatur, Adams County, 16 September 1903 — Page 1

VOLUME 1

JUDGE ERWIN CHARGES JURY

Gives Instruction to Special Grand Jury.

They Will Investigate Many Crimes and Misdemeanors.

TO INDICT OSBURN I kill Also Investigate Berne Outrage. Strongest Instructions Given in Years. ■ —Charles Morrison Made foreman. ’ i It was ten minutes past nine • •k this morning when Judge Er n ordered sheriff Butler to call ( th 'peci.il grand jury. Immedi- 1 the six men, Charles Morrison, > i 't Amacher, James McCune. 1 A !. » M. Downes, L. C. Lenhart and W .ham Fuchs took their places. ( J . Ige Erwin then read the statute > pr vision which describes the duty 1 ot _’rand jury anil app tinted Charles M rrison as foreman. He also in- I, .-tnr teil the grand jury to look into ] the violation of offenses as follows: Gentlemen of the Grand Jury: In addition to the general instruction ; 1 have given you it is my duty as , J ; Ige of this court to call your attention to a number of matters that h ive been called to the attention of th court in the past few months: , First: It has been presented to th- court officially that a murder , ha' tieen committed in this county. I It «iH be your duty to investigate i this matter thoroughly and return such an indictment as will cover < th • ffense if Vou find a crime has b n committed. Second: It has been unofficially communicated to this court that i ' cue person or persons with intent > t ■ injure the preson and property of one Rohrer at Berne in this ’ county placed dynamite on the i premises of said Rohrer. This i would constitute a felony and you ; should make due diligunco in an i effort to discover the guilty jx'rson : or jiersons. i Third: It has been brought to ] the knowledge of this court that i on the 4th day of July last persons i without authority of law sold intoxicating liquors on the fair grounds i near this city, not only to persons of mature years but to minors as well. It is a violation of section 21 ‘l Revised Statutes of 1019 to sell liquors to lx? drank as a beverage on the Fourth day of July or to minors, or without a license so to do. It will be your duty to investigate this matter thorougly and return indictments against such parties as were engaged in such traffic, if you find persons engaged in such traffic on the said day or without license. Fourth: It has also come to the knowledge of the court that gambling devices were allowed on the grounds and in the buildings of Hteele’u jiurk on July Fourth, 1903 and run openly in violation of law and that a large number of jiersons played thereon and lost large sums of money. The person conducting

The Daily Democrat.

said gambling devices were guilty of violating the law. The person or persons having control of the buildings or who owned the same who knowingly jx-rmitted the same to Is* carried on were guilty of violating the original Statute of this state, or knowing the same was being conducted ther> on or therin to allow the same to continue. It is your duty as Grand Jurors to make diligent inquiry in regard to these matters and return bills of indictment against all other respect of violating the criminal Statute of this state. Fifth: It has been mentioned to the court that a public gaming house is being conducted above one of the saloons in this city. You should make diligent inquiry of this matter and if you find the same to exist you should return a bill accordingly against whoever conducts same. Sixth: My attention has been called to the fact that a pool and billiard room is being conducted in this city where minors are allowed to congregate and play at pool and billiards. Section 21*2 of the Revised statutes 1019 makes it a misdemeanor. punishable byfine of not less than five dollars or more than fifty, for any person having the care, management or control of any billiard table or pool table to allow minors to play on same. Section 2183 of the Revised Statutes 1901 makes it a misdemeanor for any person having the care or management or control of ’ billiard or pool tables to allow minors to congregate in and about such places where such tables are kept. It will be your duty to make thorough inquiry into this matter and report the result of your deliberations to this court. Seventh: It has repeat«*dly been called to the attention of this court that slot machines are allowl'll to lx' operated in this city in a great , many places and that men and boys even small children are allowed to ■ congregate in and around the places , where kept and play ujxin the same This is a violation of section 21*1 of | the Revised Statutes of 1901 and it makes no difference whether the players get the full value of their money or not, if at the same time he is offered an opportunity to win more than the value of the sum t played. It is as much an offense against this statute to play a cent as five and five as a dollar, either being a violation of the law. You are officers of this court and as such you have a duty to perform under your oath as I have heretofore read to you from the statute and you should be doing violence to your oaths as Grund Jurors if you failed to {investigate these violations of the criminal law. It is made the duty of the Judge of this court by the laws of the State to call your attention to the violation of law whenever the court has tx'en informed that the same has been violated. It is the duty of the prosecuting attorney to investigate and prosecute all infractions of the penal laws of this state, occuring within his jurisdiction and he will lend you every assistance within his power to bring about a discovery of a crime committed within his jurisdiction and you can proceed in your deliberations with th<> full assurance that

DECATUR, INDIANA, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 16, 1903.

you have his hearty co-operation. Richard K. Erwin, Judge of the Adams County Circuit Court. Seymore Worden was appointed bailff of the grand jury and they immediately went into session at office of the county sheriff. They will no doubt be busy for several da vs.

THE CITY COUNCIL City Dads in Session Last Night. Bills Allowed Reports Read—Re pairs Ordered at Water Works. The city council met in regular session last night with all members present and started in on their official buisness which had accumulated since their last meeting, two weeks ago. A resolution was carried with out a dissenting vote to have the city clerk draw on the treasurer for their monthly salaries and the city dads were again made happy. A resuolution was carried whereby the finance committee was authorized to make a temporary loan to pay the water works bonds, and all other city bonds and interest on outstanding orders. The building committee was instructed to make any necessary repairs to tne coal bin at water works station which they saw fit. The clerk was ordered to pay #l* on city bonds and clip that amount of coupons. The treasurer, mayor and city electrician made their annual reports. The following bills were allowed: John Coffee pay roll 1159.70; H. H. Breinerkamp, rent $42; Standard, Oil CD $10.15; Taylor Belting Co, supplies $2; National Carlxjn company $25. 1 Garlock Packing C >., $127; Knapp Supply Co., $52.54, Monarch Electric Co. $77.*0, Kullnian Electric Co., $11.95, Ft. Wayne Oil and Sup ply Co., $44.68, Electric Appliance ICo slti.4l, Kirsch & Sellemeyer. $201.65, Cal Miller 72 yards crushed ’ stone $1.40 per yard SIOO.BO, W. H. Moyers $22.00, Horace Botthoff S2O, John Baler $.90 Henry Coffelt $2. • Jno. Trim $1.50, Gas Co., $250, D F. Teeple $9.22, Geo. E. Steele $31.10 , Ft. Wayne Eectric Works $13.05, I Jas, B. Claw & Co., $.50 Floyd LeBrun $15.75, C. M. Kenyon $4.25. COURT NEWS. Routine of Business Transacted Today. In circuit court today Abraham , Bix'gly vs John and Maggio Weger. demurer lilt'd by Maggie Weger' ovreruled, rule to answer. W. H Niblick et al vs Ellen and Perry Robison, set for trial OetolxT 6. Charles M. France vs Louisa R Franoe, finding that divorce be' •grantisl defendant, on her cross oomplaint with $125 alimony. A SPECIAL MEETING. Ladies' Aid Society to Mold a Session. The Ladies Aid Society of the Presbyterian church will meet Thursday afternoon at the home of Mrs. R. B. Allison on Adams street to complete arrangements for the church fair. The attendance of every member of the society is urgently requested.

A LARGE CONTRACT E. Woods & Co. to Build Another Sewer. Their Contract at Whiting, Indiana, is a Fifty-Five Thousand Dollar One. A telegram reached the city this morning which brought the relished I intelligence that E. Woods & Co.. : were the successful bidders on a ! sewer contract, bids for which were I received by the city council atWhit- ! ning, Indiana, two weeks ago. The i sewer in question is two and one half miles long and the price bid was $55,000. They will go to work at once and expect to complete the same in about four months. This same firm left for Rushville, Ind., tixlay where they will make figures on aniither mammouth contract. Eleven milesof sewerage is embraced in the specifications for this letting, and as usual the field will be full ot bidders. E. Woods & Co. are unusually successful, they having landed and completed some mighty large contracts for public work. They built large sewers at Columbia City. Warsaw and Rochester, as well as it many other places and are thorougly equipix-d and exjx'rienced for this line of work. E. Woods has had a long and varied experience as a contractor. At one time he was largely interested in the western country and has some exjx’rience in , gold mining, in which he yet 1 I owns considerable stock. i A GOOD TIME. 1 1 I A Party at the Crist Home Re- < ported. Last Saturday evening Miss Sadie ] Crist of near Decatur gave a party i in honor of her friends. The even ing was sp nt in games and a enjoy- | able time was had after which a refeshment was served. Those pres ent were Elsie Andrews. Anna Keifer Drude Engle, Lydia Johnson, Ada i Johnson, Fraonie Crist. K >n Balt zell, Murt Smith. Nannie Reber, Lizzie Crits, Goldie Breinr, Wade Tumbelson, Rola Chrisman. Kirt Tumbelson, James Keifer, Harry Andrews, Walter Baltzell, Marion Relx'r, Wm. Martin, Geo Wolfe, Edward Arnold and Homer Ros~ and Ross Mallonee of Decatur, Mr. Bis'ler and Mr. Myers of near Monroe. Levi Beeler furnished some tine graphaphone music for which the young folks give their many thunks. REV. BAILEY DEAD. Former Pastor of Bluffton Presbyterian Church. The Bluffton News said last evening: Rev. C. G. Miller received a letter from J. A. P. McGraw, statixl I clerk of the Fort Wayne Presbytery today, stating that he had received from Rev. J. B. Herbison of Denver notification of the death of the Rev. J. D. Bailey at Denver, on last Wed nesday. Rev. Bailey was pastor of the Presbyterian church of this city for two years until his voice failed on account of throat trouble four years ago when he was sent to the mountains at the expense of the local congregation which paid all his expenses there for Ju year. He was not able to do a days work since ho loft here and he slowly died of consumption. He was a native of Scotland and came here atfer graduating at Lune Seminary, Cincinnati.

FILED ANNUAL REPORTS The Citv Officials Make Good Showing.

HAS CHEAP LIGHTS Facts Gleaned at the Council Meeting. Electric Light Plant Makes a Record for Cities of Indiana. At last night'' council meeting' the city electrician, mayor and treasurer read their annual reports : which contain some interesting figures. Especially is this true of: electrician Mylott’s report on the I standing of the electric light plant j which is surely in a gratifying con : dition. But before we mention that: which the document- contains it is I in order to state that Mr. Mj’lott's [• report is a model for such a state-' meat and is as complete well gotten i up and convenient as could be desir-:: ed. In this report it is shown that Decatur municiple lighting plant : is on a far better paying basis than > any other plant in this section of' i tile United States which is a condi- ' tion of which this city can be proud. ■ i The total amount of receipts•! or revenue received through the : commercial lights and the sale of : lamps and meters for the year was '; $>>153.13. The total amount of expenditures was $6526.23. Os this

GOOD STATEMENT Gratifying Condition of a Bank. Old Adams County Bank Makes a Statement of Their Wealth. The Old Adams Couny Bank also I comes out in a flourishing statement showing the condition of the many funds that go to make up all a well | ' regulated and pros|MTous bank. This is one of the old and reliable ' landmarks ot the county, having l grown and j,increas«'d as the city and county grew, until now it occupies a high water mark among the banks of the state. The report they present at this time finds them with resonrci's and liabilities amounting to $965,071 22, and with time and demand deposits aggrefca I ting to exceed $*21,000. This means ' lots of money and is another crit--1 erion of the wealth and business ' ability of this community. I Real Estate Transfers. i F. Schinneyer to Marth A. Dutch ■ er, commissioner's deed. , WA. Lower et at to Mary J Niblick, pt lot 311 Decatur, $1,275.

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' amount however $239.53 was exI pended in making extensions and adding to equippment. There is I also $528.03 wortn of supplies on I hand which mast be considered in the showing. Disregarding the last two statements however and con- , sidering the expenditure of the plant to be $373.10 more than the I revenue we arrive at the cost of ; the arc lights to the city. Dividing i that amount by the 73 street lights | that are used it is found that each | light costs the town the small sum of $5.11. Thus our lights costus ! only that small sum where if they I were burned by meter it would cost I from sso$ s 0 to SIOO. By these figures it can lx? seen that the plant is apaying one if it does not quite make I‘nough money to give the street { lights free. It is interesting to note j however that the revenue is increasing and some day the free light conI dition will be realized. It does well to compare the cost of the lights to Decatur with that in other cities. The cost at Fort Wayne per light SIOO at Portland $27, at Huntington $59 at Kendalville $13.98, at ■ Kokomo s7<>, at Marion SSO, at Wabash S7O at Frankfort $59.34, at Logansport, S3O. Mayor Coffee also read his report which showed that $3*75 had been received for liquor licenses and $14*.50 from shows and pedlars. Treasurer Archbold's report among the < ther conditions showed that the water works was credited with $119,911.92 in revenue and taxation debited with $1,2*2.• 72 is expenditures. The revenue and taxes received from electric light plant was $6,978.53 with only $4.80*.*2 disbursments. All three reports required (considerable labor and the neat way in which they were presented deserves commendation

A MAD DOG. Monmouth Entertaining Such a Creature. A mad dog has been successful in scaring the day lights out of part of the population of Monmouth, and from reports that have reached us, they are fully justified in taking the back track. An attempt to end the mad prowlings of the dog has been made, but up to this morning, such an attempt has been unsuccessful. This season of the years is the i time when such an epidemic Hour 1 ishes best, and it will Jpay to give the dog question some considerI ation. It will be remembered that a year or two ago Decatur was in the throes of a mad dog scare, and while nothing serious resulted yet many were frightened out of several , years growth. HAND CUT OFF. John Melchi Has a Serious Accident. a serious accident happened , at Rivarre early this morning. John F. Melchi while sawing out palings in Henry Colters saw mill had his left arm caught and drawn into the saw cutting oft' the left hand i through the palm. It is doubtful whether or not the thumb can be saved. Dr. J. 8. Boyers of this city was called and dressed the wound and reports the injured man getting along as well us possible. Melchi is a man of a family and the accident is a very serious one as it will prevent him from work for many weeks.