Daily Democrat, Volume 2, Number 20, Decatur, Adams County, 3 February 1904 — Page 1

VOLUME II

I CRIMINAL OPERATION CAUSES DEATH

Malissa Sinitley of Jefferson Township the Victim Luther Colins Said to Be Implicated

MAV BE ARRESTED SOON Crime Committed Saturday—Girl Died Monday Coroners' Verdict to be Filed Tomorrow. -Will Give Details of the Story. I A terrible crime has been com I nutted in Adams count v and as a I result, Miss Sinitley’, the young I dauhter of Mr. and Mr- .John I Sinitley of Jefferson township is I dead. Her remains were laid away I t'xlay but the story of her -ad end I has just become public. She first I became ill last Saturday. A physi I <ian was summoned from Berne I and everything possible was done I for her but to no avail and (hath I tame Monday morning. The story I of her strange symptoms became I known and yesterday Coroner Schenck was summoned to hold t.n I inquest. His re(iort is most startling I disclosing the fact that the young I lady was in a delicate condition and I that death had been caused by a I criminal operation. The abortion I was very probably committed last I Friday night as the cramps liegan Saturday morning and the poor I girl suffered terrible torture- until I death relieved her. Sheriff Butlei I and Prosecutor Moran were not died I early thin morning Jami left for the I south part of the county at noon I The coroner believes the crime was I committed by the girl s brotherI in-law, Luther Colins, of • luitnnooI ga. Ohio., at least he is implicated I in the awful affair and hi- arrest is ■ expected this afternoon or tumor I row. Colins is about thirty-two I years old, is a business man at I Chatanooga where he runs a hotel I He was married several years ago I to a sister of the victim of this I crime. He has always l>een conI aidwred an up’ighf citizen and the I present charge against him can I scarcely be believed by his many ■ friends He has two children a.m

The Daily Democrat.

was well thought of in his eom- | munity. The crime of abortion where death result i is punishable by a sentence of fro n three to fourfourteen years in the State prison. It is not necessary for such a pro- . ceeding to go through the grand jury as in a murder trial and if an affidavit is made by some person who knows the facts, the culprit will be arrested at once. John Smitely is oue of the best known men in the county, having resided . in Jefferson township, about seven miles east and a little south of Berne, for many years. He has been a hard working, honest man and has accumulated some wealth. He was one of the special venire , i men calk'd for the Osborne murder trial. During the past month his t troubles have been many and almost t more than any man could bear. He ) himself has been very sick; for sev- , eral days, two of his sons have been - near to death with Erysipelas and [ are not yet out of danger, and now j comes the death of a beloved daughter, under circumstances . ' which cause anguish to the mind , of all the family’ and wrecks the ! home of another daughter. The Coroners report in full alleging all . the facts in plain terms will be filed . | tomorrow morning. GOT STUCK — Rural Carriers Unable to Make Trips Mel Butler of Rural Route Five Only One to Get Through.—Engle’s First Failure. The roads in and out of Deatur are almost impassible, owing to the heavy snow drifts and but one rural route carrier Mel Butler of route five was able to make his trip today Even Will Engle of route two, who until today and never missed ' making his trip from any cause was compelled to give up. He succeeded in driving about three miles when bis horse became al 1 most hurried in a drift and Will had l some trouble digging bis faithful animal loose. The boys will make another effort tomorrow morning ; >id if there is any way on earth to gut through, the patrons of the routes will receive their mail. The wagons returned this morning . about ten o’clock.

DECATUR. INDIANA, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 3, 1904

TO ARBITRATE — I Williams vs Miller SSOOO Case Will be Dismissed From Court.—Board Appointed to Decide the Merits. A settlement in the SSOOO partnership suit brought some time ago by John Williams of Marion against Calvin Miller of this city, was effected today. It was decided to leave the affair to a board of arbitration, composed of F. M. Schirmeyer. Mathias Kirsch of this city and Charles Neil, of Marion. They will meet at Heller & Son’s office in this city, February 16. Each of the parties has given bond in the sum of SSOOO to stand by the decision of this board. They will go over all the firms books, papers and contracts and render a verdict as they deem just. W. M. Amsden of Marion, Mr. Williams’ attorney went to Fort Wayne this afternoon and will dismiss the case, Mr. Williams paying all costs and attorney foes in the attachment proceedings. Mr. Miller was represented by Attorneys Beatty and Holler & Son and they have always insisted on leaving the affair to arbitrators rather than to a court, and Mr. Miller is well pleased over the present plan. WILL BE MODERN Fred Scheiman to Open New Meat Market Has Rented Corner Room in the New Allison-Studabaker Block.— Handsomely Furnished. Fred Scheiman, the popular young meat man on Madison street enteral into a contract .today with Studabaker and Allison whereby he is to receive tho corner room in their business block now under construction on Second street, he is tv occupy the room us soon as same is completed. Fred inforfns u> that he expects to put in the fines furniture that has ever been seen ir this city. Ihe counter will lie in an L shape and be constructed of white tiling. He also expects to place in a monstrous cooler which will extend from the floor to the ceiling and which will ho nearly as wide as the room and this will also boos white tile. His office will lai in the north east corner of tho room and will be neatly furnished. Fred expect* to handle all kind of Jmoat, fish and game in season and in the Center of the room will tie a glass aquarium from whiich you can pick the fish that you desire. Fred is a hustler and is deserving of a share of your patronage and we predict that when he opens up in his new quarters ho will have sueoess.

| WAS FAITHFUL | — I Life Story of Samuel Slaybaugh Had Served as Sexton of Cemetery' Twelve Years, and Died While on Duty. The life of Samuel Slabaugh is no II more and his tragic death lias I I brought sorrow upon all who were [acquainted with him For twelve long years he acted in the capacity of sexton at the Decatur cemetery and during those years he did his work faithfully and well, and in fact he gave up his spirit in per forming his duties as sextun. On yesterday afternuon he left his home about three o’clock stating to the members of the family that , he was going to the cemetery to . dip the water from a freshly dug ’ grave and to place the over box in . the same and took up his bucket s and dipper and proceeded to per- . form his duty. He left the house jin a cheerful mood, and at fifteen j minutes of four when the funeral I party conveying the remains of S. ■[ C. Eddington to his last resting - place arrived at the cemetery. Mr. , Slab rugh was first missed as he i j was not at his customary place to . j direct the funeral party to the grave. ; Two or three members of Company i ”B” who were present got out to , look for the grave and in crossing I the cemetery Charles Peterson, a t newspaper man, discovered the body j -of Samuel Slabungh liyng in ai I heap over the grave of a small . child. He at once notified the fun- - eral party and all haste was made i to the scene with a sleigh to take 1 the body to the house and restore life to the same, but he was dead i and so far as human assistance was I, concerned he was beyond aid. Dr. D D. Clark was hastily summoned I and responded in live minutes but i his services was not needed. One look at the body were enough to conI vince the physician that life was extinct and he returned to the city I | The coroner was then hastily summoned and after his examination he pronounced that death i was caused by heart failure. From the position in which the body was found it would seem that he had stumbled over a small stone grave ' mark on his way to the house and I the sudden jar brought on a very severe attack of heart failure which he could not survive, and that he had died instantly, as there were no murks of any struggle at the place where he fell. He was sixtysix years of age and leaves four sons and a wife to mourn their loss. There has been no arrange- ' ments as yet made concerning the 1 funeral and nothing dentiite can be learned until the children arrive.! i COURT NEWS. A Few Cases Set for Trial This Morn- ' inj. Only a small amount of business ■ was transacted in court toduy, the records showing the following: 1 Wanyo Ireland vs Fort Wayne Traction Co , damages, set for trial . March 17. T.izwcll Fritz vs Samuel H. Teeple, sot for trial Friday, Feb inary ill. Penina Bilous, exparte, set for argument to dismiss Thurs i day, I’et -,uirv 11. George Zimmer . man vs Beery Holthouse, motion , to retux cost sustained dotendant charged for serving of four witi ne-ses. John W. Abnet was appointed administrator for the estate of Jacob Abnet f

SCHOOL TRUSTEE CHOSEN Wilda Watts the Successful Aspirant

IMPORTANT COUNCIL MEETING Jacob Martin Chosen City Commissioner Mavor Coffee Files Report, Bills Allowed and Other Business Transacted. Wilda Watts was chosen at last nights council meeting as a member of the board of school trustees to fill the vacancy caused by the death of G. W. Woodwarvd. The election required but one ballot, Mr. Watts recieving four votes, H. A. Fristoe one and Charles E. Suttles one. Mr. Watts will assume his duties as soon as a meeting of the school board is held which may be done this evening. Other business was transacted as follows: Minutes of meeting of January 19 read and approved. The bonds of jH. P. Streicher to keep the Monroe and Fourth street pavements in repair for three years were accepted. The money now in the sinking fund was ordered applied to pay on GOES TO BERNE Ft. W. & S. Traction Line to Build Mr. Fledderjohann Will Attend a Company Meeting at Celina to Close Ip the Business. . . W. B. Fledderjohann left today for Celina. Ohio where he will meet i with all of the leading officials of i the Springfield and Fort Wayne Traction Company who hold a regular business meeting there tomor- : row, and will then drive with the committee that will be appointed at this meeting, to Chattanooga [ mm! Berne and thence to Decatur this, being over the new route that the company have proposed to build 1 instead of going direct from this cry to Chattanoogo, as was iirst proposed, thus giving to Berne the thing she has been working on for several months. From Chattanooga this lino will run direct to Celina where it will join with all interurban lines running through western Ohio. Mr. Fledderjohann further stated that as so >n as the weather would permit the engineers would start with their surveying party and stakes set showing tho new route. Borno will without doubt hail this good news with general rejoicing us tiie lending citizens here have been trying for some time to iimluvv some traction Cmpuny to ferni through this enterpris;iuji*A)wn.

NUMBER 20

I water works dept, and school couj pons. The bond of W. G. Spenceras an electrician was filed and approved. Mayor Coffee’s annual report was filed and approved. The city commissioners report on South Tenth, Elm street, Line and Niblick streets were filed and referred back to commissioners for assessments. I Report on Monroe street improvement filed and referred back to city commissioners for assessment. Mr. Teeple moved that the fire committee see Beery & Holthouse to ascertain just what proposition they will make for taking care of the fire ap paratus and making all fires. Fourth street improvement referred back to City Commissioners for assessments. A motion carried allowing John Thomas 35 cents per ton for hauling coal instead of 25 cents heretofore paid. Jacob Martin was elected as a city commissioner to fill the vacancy caused by death of B. W. Quinn. B. J. Terveer received one vote and Mr. Martin four. E. Woods was allowed $79.61 halacne on Marshall street sewer. The following bills were allowed: Fort Wayne Electric Co., supplies, 127.95; National Carbon Co., supplies |68.75; Standard Oil Co., supplies, $37.58; Bessell Co., supplies, $44.75; M. J. Mylott, pay roll $l6O J. D. Hale, goods, sl;Schafer Hardware Co., goods, $44.33; C. Kenyon printing. 13.90; Amos Gillig, labor, $5.78 ; L. C.Helm, VanCarap fire, $26 M. J. Mylott. pay roll, $2.22; Amos Fisher, salary, $45; Jacob Mangold, salary sls; Sol Linn* salary s9l; Geo. Steele, pay roll $217.05; John Coffee,, salary. $45.84: John Coffee, pay roll. $16.70. Real Este .a Transfers. Jacob Neuet wchwander to Cleophias Lehman lot 370 Berne s■.’so. C. L. Liechty to Chas. Lehman lot 49 B Tne $1655. Maynard Johnson to Joseph H. Voglewede pt see 36 Washington tp 10 acres $2200. Baxter Williams to J. H. Voglewede pt sec 36 Washington tp $2300 MARRIED TODAY Jacob Kalver Weds Chicago Lady — Will Arrive Here in Few Davs.— At Home on North Fifth Street. Jacob Kalver, the youngest son of Barny Kalver was unik'd in marriage this evening at five [ thirty to Miss Lena Werl han, the lioautifnl and accomplished daughter of Mr and Mrs. Lucas Werrhan of Chicago. The ceremony was perforat'd at the home ®f the bride and was a very impressive service. The young couple imine diately left on their honeymoon trip through tho north on which they will be ulisent for about two week-, going to Detroit, Toledo. Clovehind, Pittsburg and Washington D. C . after which they will return to De catur and Ixi at home to their many * friends in the M. V. B. Archbold a property at corner of Fifth and i Jackson streets. The Democrat • ■ wishes with h'ifriends in w'Miiiig u 1 I 'h If TI .1