Daily Democrat, Volume 1, Number 270, Decatur, Adams County, 21 November 1903 — Page 1

VOLUME 1

THEY COMPLETE THEIR WORK

Grand Jury Returns Nineteen Indictments.

TWO FELONIES REPORTED One Promises to be Sensational. A Six Days' Session Results in Largest Bunch of Returns in Years.

At 11:30 this morning the grand jury which has been in session since Monday, completed their work, reported to Judge Erwin and were disohargisl with the tha iks of the court. They returned nineteen indictments, the largest bunch in several years and two of them are fcr felonies. One of these is of minor importance it is believed hut the other is against prominent citizens and will prove rather sensational. The parties or charge cannot lie revealed until after the arrests which will occur either this after noon or Monday. The misdemeanor indictments are against various parties, scattered over the county. The report of the grand jury reads as follows: To Richard K. Erwin, Judge Adams Circuit Court; “We have been in session six days during which time we have examined 125 winesses and return herewith nineteen indictments, two of which are for felonies and seventeen are for misdemeanors. We visited the poor farm while in session and inquired and looked into the management of same. We found thirty seven persons receiving care and attention from Jacob Graber, superintendent of the poor farm. We found that the inmates at the County farm are receiving good care and attention, tlfey have a comfortable home, plenty to eat, warm clothing good beds, and everything is being done to fill their lives with sunshine and happiness in the time of their adversity. The stock on the farm is in good condition consisting of horses, hogs, cattle and sheep and the methods used in farming are only those that come from skilled hands. Mr. Graber's management of the farm and his care of the inmates meets our hearty approval. He is a good man, is in the right place, no better could lie had and we recommend a continuation of Mr. Graber's super intendency. We recommend that the board of commissoniors make some essential and needful repairing on the heating plant in operation at the new infirmary building. A new smoke stack is needed at the heating plant, the pipe* leading from the heating plant and running through the basemen of the entire bu ilding should lie covered with asbestos. The large engine should lx w covered with a dome, which will prevent a great waste of heat. Wo recommend and request that the board of commissioners give this their attention as soon a« possible. Wo visited the county jail and found evreything in good condition, prisoners confined there are receiving good

The Daily Democrat.

I care and attention. Everything is kept neat and clean. XVe recommend Mr. Butler as a very worthy ! official, well deserving of the trust bestowed upon him. We have done our work as expeditiously as we could. We report to the court that wo have finished our business and now ask to be discharged. Martin L. Smith, foreman. COURT NEWS. Routine of Business Transacted Today. The only act ion taken in court today was in the appropriation case of the Fort Wayne & Springfield Railway Company vs Adam J. Smith and others. These cases were set down for trial Monday December 28. So far as can be ascertained from a glance at Judge Er win's docket next week promises no more business than did this, as not a case is set for trial and only the regular routine of business will be taken up.

SUB-CONTRACTED Holthouse Ditch to be Built by D. M. Reitenour. The New Contractor is One of the Best in His Business. A contract has been closed be tween Ernest Slickman the contractor of the P. Holthouse ditch, and D. M. Ritenour of Portland, whereby the later becomes the owner of the Slickman contract. As Mr. Rittenour is an old contractor with twenty two years experience in this especial class of work is an honest capable man besides,those who will have to pay for this improvement will lie glad to know that the work is in the most competent hands. The estimate for the ditch was something over >8,300 and Mr.Slickman's bidder reduces this cost to >6,077 or a saving of >2300. The ditch is an important one and will drain 27>,000 acres of land, and 430 people are assessed in its construction. Work will be begun by the new contractor and the job will be completed next year. The drain is fourteen miles long and is a valuable addition to the large scope of land through which it travels. Mr. Slickman has always been an earnest worker for the ditch, and that caused him to figure the cost of its construction to such a low point. First Informal About tllirty couples were present at the informal dance given at the Columbian Club last evening in honor of the Tripoletto sisters who left today for their home in Meadville Ky. Everybody certainly enjoyed themselves, as the crowd remained until a very late hour. True Fristoe furnished the music.

DECATUR, INDIANA, SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 21, 1903.

FELL IN CELLAR. Young Man’s Head Got Heavy and He Toppled Over. A young man named Kimball of Portland was celebrating yesterday, and by evening curried quite a load. About six, o'clock last evening he staggered along Madison street lost equilibrium and fell into the basement of the Allison-Studabaker block now under construction. The fall of about twelve feet dazed him and he remained quiet until helped out by some men who had heard him fall and finally located him by use of a lantern. He was finally extricated and an examination showed his injuries to be slight, a cut on the hand being the most serious.

WAS A TIE. Ben Hur Contest Resulted Even. Each Side Secured Ten New Members. - A Good Meeting Last Night. The Ben Hur lodge held a big initiation meeting last evening and the boys are glancing sidewise at each other today. The event was important also from the fact that it marked the closing of a contest which began about a month ago when the lodge members close sides in a contest for new members to the lodge. The side which secured the fewest was to give a banquet to the other side. The battle was closed last evening and when the same had cleared it was found that each side had secured ten candidates and the score stood a tie. It was decidtsl that the banquet should be given any way and the event will tranpsire some time during the ensuing week. The Ben Hurs are growing rapidly and their meet ings are becoming delightful each week. LAW IS VALID. The Mortgage Exemption Rule Will Stand. The Indiana mortgage exemption law is valid. The supremo court late yesterday afternoon dismissed the suit to test the constitutionality of the law. The court held that it had no jurisdiction. This leaves the decision of the Indiana supremo court sustaining the law in full force. The opinion of the supreme court of the United States was by Justice Brown, who maintained that no federal question was presented in the ease. Justices Harlan and Whit© dissented. The original suit in the Marion county court was brought by Martha J. Lewis on the relation of the state. County Audi tor Harry B. Smith appealed the case to the supreme court of the United Sates. The case was argued by C. C, Hadley for the state and Horace Smith for the auditor only throe weeks ago and such an early decision was now anticipated. Or dinurily cases are not decided for two months after argument.

AN AWFUL SCENE Thirty-Five Italians Burn to Death. Samuel Gompers Elected President of Federation of Labor. Special to The Daily Democrat. Altoona, Pa., —Nov. 21—In a fire in a shanty at Lilly, Pa., on the Pennsylvania railway today thirty - five Italian laborers were burned to death. The awful holocust was attended with frightful scenes as the men fought for their lives. There were 125 men asleep in the shanty when the fire broke out. Special to Daily Democrat, Boston, Mass., Nov. 21—Samuil Gompers was today re-elected presiWO " ■* / (lent of the American federation of ! labor by a large plurality. THEY STRUCK IT. The Globe Oil Company's Lucky Find. Another freak oil well has been drilled in a short distance from Marion over in Deleware county. The well was shot yesterday and is owned by the Globe Oil company, of which Frank Stebbins of this city is the manager. Mi. Sebbins, when seen this morning, stated that in some ways the well might lie considered a freak. He said other companies had been abandoning their wells after having gone 100 feet in to Trenton rock. The Glolie people decided to try going deeper and went to a depth of 272 feet, where they found indications of oil. The drill was sent down still deeper and at a depth of 302 feet oil was found. A shot was made and the oil flowed | over the derrick to a great height. ; It was estimated that the well when under control would flow at least 200 barrels per day. The Globe people have several other wells in the same territory which have not been put down so deep and Mr. Stebbings says these wells will be drilled as deep and perhaps deeper than the new freak well, as it is thoroughly believed by oil men that oil can be found if a great enough depth is achieved. The finding of oil at this depth will I have quite an influence on the drilling in this part of the Indiana field and probably cause a renewed activity in the drilling. Wells which have been abandoned as worthlesswill lie worked again and the drill sent down several hundred feet far ther. Several oil men stated this morning that it was their belief that oil could lie found anywhere in Grant county if the well was drilled deep enough to reach the vein.— Marion News-Tribune.

IS STILL YOUNG. How Colonel Ferry Appeared to a Reporter. The Fort Wayne Journall-Gazette thus describes Col. Ferry who visited there yesterday: Thin, wiry, brimming over with energy and enthusiasm, brilliant in conversation and magnetic in pesonality, Col. Ferry makes one forget, when speaking to to him, that he knew Fort Wayne when a generation long since one was in prime. Few men of his years are so well preserved or so filled with the fibre of youth. He is a man of the type that made the great west—the type of man that never grows old. And he is still at work, and the period of life when most men are seeking ease finds him busier than the average man of thirty, going to Europe to look after large affairs, and all the time booming Tacoma. HERE’S A CHANCE

Decatur Needs a Steam Heating Plant. Several Ohio Cities Are Successfully Operating Such Concerns. There is a good opportuntiy for j some person or firm to engage in a buisness in Decatur which is a success in other towns and which bids fair to solve the fuel problem to a . great extent in the near future. ; We refer to the plan of steam heat- ' ing for residences and business . houses adopted in some of onr j neighboring towns and which is proving a success both from a practical and economical standpoint in such places as Van Wert and Lima. In these towns companies have been formed and steam heating systems Inaugurated in the same manner as gas, water or other public utilities are operated, the company laying mains from central stations through the sreets and alleys to its patrons. The papers in these towns all speak in the highest terms of the efficiency i of the system and patrons are well • pleased, in fact at Lima the past I two days those who depeneded on : gas for fuel were cold and shiver [ ing while the patrons of the steam ; heating system were able to keep , . their houses warm wihout the least trouble. Here is a business that I offers an excellent opportunity for . ! some enterprising company. Its up to you if you want to reap a | harvest yourself and the blessings of a now shivering community. WAS DELIGHTFUL An Event in Honor of Visiting Ladies. The informal dance given last evening at the Columbian Club rooms in honor of Misses Caroline I and Dixie Trippolette who returned to their home at Georgetown, Ky., was well attended and a fine time is reported by all present. The i hall was beautifully decorated for i the occasion with dainty colored I ribbons and flowers. The music 1 was furnished by True Fristoe aad 1 as usual was fine and the crowd i present tripped the light fantastic 1 until a late hour this morning.| At i eleven o'clock the gentlemen pro- I needed to furnish lunch for the ladies and everything imaginable was served Ijeforo them which all did justice' to. The Club boys proved themselves great cub Hainers and were complimented time and 1 again for flu l easy manner in which they carry on these pleasant pastimes.

NUMBER 270

FATALLY BURNED Markle Woman Took a Lamp to Bed. Result of Insanity Brought on by a Seige of Typhoid Fever. Mrs. Harve Michaels, living near Markle was terribly burned yesterday. Mrs. Michaels has been ill with typhoid fever for several days and for some time has been losing her mind. Yesterday’ morning she

got out of lied when Her attendants left the room for a few moments, [ secured a lighted lamp and went back to bed with it. She was discovered a few minutes later, lying on the bed which was blazing fiercely. The flumes were extini guished and a physician called to care for her. He found that she was suffering from terrible burns about the head, face and throat and ! that she had inhaled some of the blaze. Her recovery is doubtful. Mrs. Michaels is the mother of three children and is thirty years of age. TOO MUCH BEANS. A Queer Cause for Divorce Alleged. A woman is seeking a divorce i from her husband on the ground |of too much beans. She declares that for the past two years he has insisted on a bean diet. They had lieans for breakfast, beans for dinner and beans for supper. It was beans, beans, beans, until she heard the ratttlingof lieans in the flapping of the Vines against the corner of *he dear little cottage; she had beans in her dreams, and in her waking fancies all the world became a pod, all the men and women in it were merely beans. Such a complaint would never stand a moment in a Boston court.

SPECIAL SESSION. Council Allowed Bill for New Boiler. i A sjiecial session of the city counted was held yesterday afternoon |at two o'clock having been called jto consider a bill of the Bass Foun- ' dry of Fort Wayne for the new I 1 miler recently put in at the water works station. All members of the council were present and Mayor Coffee presided. After carefully going over the accounts it was found that a balance of >2203.24 still remained unpaid and the bill was promptly allowed. Some oth'-r matters were discussed but no action of importance taken. CRIED THREE SALES. Col. Reppert Successful in Illinois. Col Fred Reppert, the well known auctioneer, arrived homo today from Danville, Illinois, where he has lieen on business for a week. He cried three big stock sales in the vicinity of Danville this week and each was a blooming success. Fred’s fame is growing rapidly and hi l is kept busy nearly all the time, conducting special sales. Marriage Licenses. Edward Twigg to Orplia Weaver. Oscar O. Emmuns to May Stanley Murphy. Merril Essix to Sadie Loßrun. Jesse A Riokoring to Dorothy V. Young.