Daily Democrat, Volume 1, Number 307, Decatur, Adams County, 6 January 1904 — Page 1

VOLUME 1

UNCLE JOHNNY REED DEAD Oldest Man in I his Section of the Country. *

« age WAS 104 YEARS, 9 MONTHS. Was Never Sick Until This Winter. Served in Mexican and Civil Wars, and With Great Credit. Uncle Johnny Reed, nearly 105 rears old died at ten o'clock this morning at his home five miles northwest of the city’. He was the .'jest person in the county and perhaps in the state, having been bora April 3, 1799. He served with grea- credit in both the Civil «nd Mexican wars and many have ft listened to his interesting stones f the many experiences and narmw escapes. In the Civil war his eldest son, Samuel also served. (ncle John enlisted in Company H. 124 regiment, Ohio Volunteer infantry and served just three ■wrs. His Colonel was the famous TRAINS COLLIDE Thirty Passengers Killed and Many Injured. Tit Rock Island, California and Mexico Express is Wrecked. Special to Daily Democrat. Kansas City, Mo., Jan., •>—The Ktk Island California and Mexico ipress which left Chicago Monday # i?ht at 11:30 o'clock for the west M a head end collision shortly , after one o'clock this morning at "iUard. Kansas, fourteen miles '‘‘■st of Topeka, with a cattle ’’tin. lhe whole train was domol- ' IC *I and thirty jiersons killed, ' ''ry ]x’rson the train was injured. CHILD DIED. » '• !, it Son of Mr. and Mrs. Mart Andrews. Lyde Andrews the nineteen 1 ! ' |,,n th* old tdiild of Mr. and Mrs. ’ lrt Andrews died last evening at 1 0 clock of lung fever. Thehad only l>een sick two days i J’ 1 '! its sudden demise almost pros ( I l, "*l the parents. The funeral n ><'es will Is- held at the house t" 1 V’ rrow morning at ten o'clock ami will be rt ( Maple .'. . d ' ''■Mery. >•

The Daily Democrat.

I Oliver H. Payne now known as Coal Oil Payno.” John H. Reed was born in Plattsburg, Vermont, and jived there until a young man when ho moved to Cleveland, Ohio’. There he learned the trade of a brick mason and remained there until about thirty years ago when I he came to Adams county and purchased a farm in Root township and which he owned until time of his death. He was married in 1842 to Calterine Spangler of Cleveland and to them were born four children, three of whom still live. They are Samuel and Iraklin and Mrs. Sargean of Williamsport. The wife died in 1'49 and afterwards he married her sister Matilda Spangler and to them were born six children as follows: Charles, Dick and John, I Polly Reed, Mrs. Ella S nail, of Hoagland and Mrs. Dave Showers of Chicago. Uncle Johnny was a familar character about here and for years has been pointed out as a sturdy man for his years. He would often walk to town and hick home again in a day., a distance of ten miles, even since his hundreth birthday. Joval and kin I it was good to meet him. In September 1901 he attended at G. A R national reunion at Cleveland. Ohio, and was greatly honored, he being then the oldest veteran in the I’nited States, his age at that time 102. The funeral services will be held at ithe Mt. Pleasant church Friday I afternoon at one o'clock, interment at Reynolds cemetery. PRISON LIFE. How a Man is Received at Indiana Penitentiaries. When a man enters one of the Indiana prisons ho is placed in a receiving cell until his name and ( measurement is taken. Then he goes to the bath room, whore be is compelled to take a good bath and afterwards has his hair cut and is shaved. He is entered in the second 'or middle class of prisoners and his behavior soon determines whether ■he shall advance or retrograde. He !is asked whether he smokes or I chews tobacco and which of the two, jhe would rather do. He is given his choice of these two bail habits and once a week he is dealt out n plug of tobacco or a package of smoking tobacco but he cannot I have both. Some prisoner save’ their allowances and get to smoke and chew lx>th. A third class j man is not permitted to use tobacco , but it is smuggled to them by the upper class men and they get small ' pinehes of it occasionally on the sly. WERE WEDDED. — C. A. Thompson and Miss Martin Married. Mr. Cranston A Thompson and Miss Ella E. Martin were united in marriage at the home of the groom's mother. Mrs. Katherine Thompson, near Monroe nt six o'clock Monday evening by »< ''• , la s. A. Sprague. Mr. Thompson is „ railroad employe mi the 8..VM., r„ running out of Uneoln. Neb. i Miss Martin is one of New < istle >• most jxipulur young ladies. Jhey ( will reside nt Lincoln in u few weeks. cingratiilntions are <> , tended.

DECATUR, INDIANA, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 6, 1904.

| WAS BURIED TODAY John Schafer’s Troubles ' Are Over. Odd Character Known as "Shinny Bonus" Died at the County 1 Infirmary. I. 1 John Schafer, better known about '> here as “Shinny Honus" was hurried this morning at Monmouth, - after appropriate services had been 1 conducted by Rev. Grether. He died Monday afternoon at the eounr ty infirmary after an illness of a few weeks. The poor old man was f a complete wreck, physically and 1 mentally and though Mr. and Mrs. f Graber gave him the best of care 1 i his life could not be saved. For r over thirty years he has been a fa--3 miliar character und has furnished s amusement for many. He lived , alone on the old Peltz farm until f this fall and made scant living by s manufacturing fly brushes. He I never came to town without becom- j I I 'gS. intoxicated and, few Decatur t peopleever saw him sober.'*" He was born in”(fermany in ** 183 4 "and I came to this country in 1849. He settled with his father in Balti- • more He learned the cooper trade ' { apdJwhciiHt young man worked in nearly every" ity and 'west. When the war broke out he! . was in Chicago and immediately' offered his services, enlisting in j ■th' 1 Ith Illinois. After serving! seven months he became sick and wus unable to again do active service. He was a bravo soldier and hn> a good record in that capacity. He drifted in here in 1872 and has. . since n sided in the county. He harmed no one save himself.

GAY TIMES. I1 Bon Ton Girls Enjoy Life. Il Happy Meeting Last Evening. A Sleigh Ride. Another Session Tonight. The Bon Ton Club met last even ing ut the home of Miss Clara Lunge ' and from what we can leurn this I was the best session the club hus I held in a long time. Pedro was in ! stalks! as tho evenings pastime and ( was kept up for two solid hours* andon counting up the games it' was found that Miss Maude Chris' ten and Miss Kate Mylott were the) lucky members ami received first: prize while Miss Rose Tonnelier and Miss Rose Colohin were pre - sented with the boobies. During! the evenings enjoyment a fine three, course lunch was served and at a late hour all adjourned j to go sleigh riding which they; all enjoyed, but the girls refuse tl , disclose the name of the driv The chib will meet again this : evening ut the home of Miss Rose Kullenkump and participate in a i fudge party it being held in honor ~f her nineteenth birthday and a * 'good time is looked forward to all. i 1 The club will also meet in its rt-gu I 1 lar social session again next. Tues-11 day evening ut the home of Missji i L dlie Meibers. I

•GREAT HORSE MARKET Decatur Fast Becoming Famous in This Line. Decatur is, without doubt, the best horse market for a city of its size, in the west. Hardly a day passes by that there is not from two to five horse buyers from surrounding cities here looking at j the fine blooded animals owned I by Adams county citizens. It iS a 1 common scene to see these horsemen hail a farmer and ask him if 1 his horse is for sale und if in the ■ affirmative he is told to show his i speed and after a careful examination ho is bought, it is very* seldom a horse is turned down, us it seems as if the farmers are taking extra good care of their animals and they arejjalways ready for an easy sale, that is after the price can be agreed on. Horses at the present time are a very high priced luxury and those owning them are very lucky,as feed is low and they are easy kept. Most of the horses that are purchased here are immedately-shipped to eastern I markets and from there to the foreign markets. Not only do we daily see strangers here for this purpose but our own horsemen are busy day and night looking for horse flesh that he can buy. The fact that these men come here 'lay in and day out easily establishes the fact that we lend any ■city of this size in the west in the horse business,und this also speaks very commendable for our farmers who take such pride in raising fine stock. — SUFFERINGS ARE OVER

Bertha Botthoff-Murphy Died This Afternoon. After one year’s suffering with neuralgia of the brain. Mrs. Bertha Murphy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Horace Botthoff succumbed to the ravages of this disease and died today at 1:I5 o'clock at the home of her parents. She would have lieen twenty one years old the third day of next April had she lived. Her sufferings during her year of sickness was fearful hut she bore up under her affliction wit!: a smile and was always cheerful No arrangements as yet have been made for the funeral, for some time! Mrs Murphy was treated in an Illi nois hospital and improved sligtly. She came home only a few months, ago and her parents did everything : in their power for her but to no' avail, the end was unavailable and ! her stitt'erings arc over.

Court Decision. At four o'clock this afternoon' Special .Judge Heller decided the case of Franklin E. Foltz vs WilSiam Smith, giving the plaintiff I • I judgement for ♦l773.and hold ling that the title of the Oliver Hotel j j Wongs to plaintiff, defendant or-! dered to give deed for same withlin five days. Judgement against , I defendant for cost. The defend-i |ant was allowed | , .‘50 for taking jeare of the property. I |L REAL ESTATE DEAL. | Lase Ellis Buys a Business Room in This City. A*very ini|iortant real estate deal was made this week whereas Lase Ellis become* the owner of the building now occupied by Al Fris toe's cigar store. Mr. Ellis purchus cd the property from Major Allison; at a very fancy price and expects to open up there in the saloon hiisi ( ness in a very sh >rt time. We are . unable at this time to learn when. ; he will actually take possession. t

HAS LEFT STATE I Young Man Who Threatened to Shoot. I 5 II Miss Clara Rickard Gets an Earnest Offer for Her Hand From Floyd Brandyberry. r I Floyd Brandyberry who caused some excitment at Monroe by threatening to shoot a young lady if she refused to marry him is now in Ohio and his arrest has been indefinitely posponed. The young lady who has won his affections to such an extent that he has threatened the use of artillery i, Miss Clara Richard, a popular young lady who is highy respected by everyone in her community. Once before Brandyberry threatened her and last week he repeated same in a lett.re, giving her until Monday night to make up her mind. The girls father John Richard secured the letter und succeeded in preventing the young man from doing anything violent. The crime is a very serious one and there is a possibility of government authorities tak ing a hand in the affair as the mails are not supposed to be used i for such a purpose. Brandyberry i said he was going to Antwerp. (). HEARING EVIDENCE Jury Empanelled in the Big Case.

One Witness Examined Last Evening and a Number Today. The Faylor-Studabaker ease is! lon in earnest today and the legal I ' Iwittle is one of the fiercest ever held ’ l in the county. The jury was em-

; pannelled and sworn about five i o'clock yesterday afternoon and the I men who will go through the two |or three weeks soige and return a verdict in the big case are: Perry Carter, Joseph Brandyberry, Orlando Sprungcr, John W Cook. I Reuben Beery. Jesse Schwartz. WilI limn Custer, George Gay. James i Foreman. Cissins Andrews, Adam ; Bentz and Henry Stetler. One witj ness was examined last evening be- | fore court adjourned and a number I were used today. The attorneys I are fighting every inch of ground ! and the law suit is one of the genu line kind. Both plaintiff and de l fondant claim to have some new ! evidence to offer which they be- | leive will make the jury return a i verdict for them. MONROE NEWS. Pleasant Sunday Dinner at J. A. Hendricks. <>. Il Nichols and family of Briant. Iml , were the guests of Mr. .1. A. Hendricks over Sunday also Mr. Will Dorwin and Mrs. 11. W. Thompson. Mr. C. A. Thompson and Miss Ella Martin spent Sun day with the same. The dinner consisted of turkey and quail with nuts and apples for supper.

NUMBER 307

RACE FOR MONEY. Fast Horses to Go for Fifty Dollars at Bluffton. A match race will take place at Bluffton some time this week be tween Nancy Granger. McGeath Bros., rapid trotter and John W., a Bluffton horse owned by a man named Robison. Local horsemen are excited over the prospect of the race and it is likely that considerable money will change hands on the result. The race will take place on one of the streets of Buff ton and will Ixi witnessed by a large crowd of people from this city and Bluff ton. \V. A. MoGath has wagered ♦SO with the Bluffton man that. Nancy Granger will win the race. —Montpelier Call. FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY Surprise at Home of Trustee Rupright. Mrs. Rupright a Victim of Her Frinds at a Happy Surprise Party. One of the happiest country social events of the winter was the one at the home of Trusteejßupright's in Preble township when fifty neighbors suddenly rushed in upon the family and informed Mrs. Rnpright that she hud arrived at the fiftieth mile stone in life's journey . The surprise was complete und the event pleasure to every one. A big supper was served, all guests being seated at the big table st once A monster cake, decorated with holly and fifty wax candles marked the center of the table and was carved in fifty pieces. The feats was a glorious one including roasted fowls of every kind and a hundred other good things to eat. You may rest assured that every one did justice to that meal and everyone sincerely wishes for Mrs. Rupright’s many happy returns of the day

COUNTRY CLUB DANCE I Enjoyable Event at C. Y. M. S. Rooms Last Night. Tho young Peoples Country Social Club held one of its regular dances at the C. Y. M. S. Club 1 rooms last evening. About thirty I couple took part in the festivities J and an enjoyable time was hud by all present. The dancing startrsl I promptly at eight o’clock and was * kept up until an early hour this 'morning. The music was furnishled by Will Smith and was fine and , kept Will busy playing all the I latest steps. This club hold these | dunces about once every month land are alway well attended and 'one is always insnnsl of a good ' time if they attend. GETTING BETTER. Earl Fristoe Will Come Home in Two 'Weeks. James Fristoe is in receipt of a i letter from his son Earl this morn ing in which he states that he sat |up New Years day for the first time since he Itiis l>eon sick and that he was improving nicely. Ho also stated that h-exp-i-tel to start for homo in about two weeks. Earl has lawn a very sick boy and his many friends will Im- glad to learn of his recovery.