Daily Democrat, Volume 2, Number 41, Decatur, Adams County, 27 February 1904 — Page 1

VOLUME 11

A FORGERY DISCOVERED Voting Man Cashed Check for Seventy-five Dollars

CRIME COMMITTED * FEBRUARY SECOND I Name of Martin Gerke Signed to Paper B * Safe ‘ — 1 Chauncey Miller Proves Himself a Clever Swindler.—Still w ( at Large.

I A smooth forgery was committed in this city on February 2 and has Bust been discovered. As a conseBjuence the First National Bank is Boser seventy-five dollars and MarBin Gerke, a well known farmer is gbut a five dollar bill. The work Bras dune by a young man named BChauncy Miller who has been employed by Mr. Gerke for several Bnonths. As the affair happened month ago Miller is no doubt a ways from here, though Mr. Bierke believes he is at Plymouth. Bndiana, where he formerly lived KA nd there is a chance that he may B>e arrested and brought here for Brial. Young Miller appeared at Bho Gerke farm last fall and was B ven employment. He was indus Brims, practical and apparently lonest. Mr. Gerke and family Beamed to trust him and be was ttften sent to town on various Irrands, selling grain and hay and attending to other business of iniMyo' tanoe. On the morning mentioned Mr. Gerke gave him five dolkr~ and sent him to Decatur to buy gr series. He never returned and it was supposed that he had wearied of his work and simply used the five to get home on. A few days ago Mr. Gerke had his bank book balanced and was surprised to find among the cancelled checks one mailing for seventy-five dollars and Boa le payable to Chauncy Miller. IBe denied the signature and the forgery was at once apparent as it Bras by no means clever. The check Bbad been presented at a time when |he bank officials were very busy, , it was known that Miller was work in- for Gerke ami nothing was thought of it. The matter was Brought to light only yesterday i»nd now it transpires that on the ■nine day Miller tried to sell one of horses to Elmer Johnson ■put the trade miscarried for some Beason or other. Miller is undoubtBdly a clever swindler and an effort ihould be made to punish him as Bie deserves.

IS NO BETTER But Little Chance of Recovery of Mrs. Miller. ' Mrs. Robert Blackburn received letter today from her sister, tMrs. Lane McConnel of Whittier, ■California stating that the Condiußlon of her mother, Mrs. Charles is unchanged, and that the Mhotors there entertain no hopes for Hher recovery. Mrs. Miller was ■Stricken about ten days ago with ■ > irulysis and as she is very old wßudv the chances for her recovery Hire against her.

The Daily Democrat.

MAN KILLED G. R. & I. Passenger Runs Down an Old Man. Passenger train No. 2, south bound on the G. R. & 1., struck a manat Kalamazoo, Mich., Thursday morning. Neither the engineer nor any one aboard the train saw the man hit. and the discovery was not made until the train got to Vicksburg, nine miles away. At this station the body of a man was found lodged in the truck of the pilot, one arm having caught over the axle. One of the legs was gone. This was subsequently found at Austin lake, about half way between where the man was struck and Vicksburg. The body proved to be that of Benjamin F. Daniels, fifty-seven years old, residing in Kalamazoo.

WELL ATTENDED Was Beery & Holthouse’s Big Horse Sale Fifty Head of Thoroughbreds Sold Today, and at Good Prices. One of the best and largest sales of horses that was ever conducted in this city was held today by the firm of Beery & Holthouse, at their fashion Stables on North Second street. The sale opened promptly at ten o'clock and closed at threej after every horse that was advertized was sold at a fair price. The sale was conducted by Col. Fred Reppert who held the crowd by his clever auctioneering, at all times having the crowd present in good humor. He offered for sale fifty us fine horses as were ever placed on the block, including coach, draft, family and fast horses, and the cleanest and best bnuoh ever sold. The horses all brought a fair price, and the bidding was spirited owing to the fact that a great number of outside horsemen were present, and all desiring horses of this nature for the eastern market. The sale in all respects was,a complete success and adds gretaly to the reputation of this firm. •THIRTY-THREE SNOWS This is the Accurate Number for the Winter. Overcoats and heavy winter wraps will not be discarded yet for some time. This winter has been remarkable for the number of snows and the duration of the extremely cold weather. The rivers are frozen entirely over for the third time and we have hud floods with possibly another coming. There have been thirty three snows so fur with the prospects of a few more. Some of those have been deep ones and others light. The total snow fall has been unusually heavy.

DECATUR, INDIANA, SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1904.

CAPITOL BURNS State Buildings of Wisconsin in Ruins Loss Is Nearly a Million, With S6OOO Insurance.—Records Believed Safe. Special to the Daily Democrat. MADISON, Wisconsin, Feb. 27 - Fire broke out here early this morning in the State Capitol building, raged furiously until entire edifice was completely destroyed. The fire started from gas jet in the toilet room The assistance of the Milwaukee fire department was necessary to save other buildings. It is believed the state records are safe in the vault. The loss is placed at 1800,000 with but $6,000 insurances, on account of the fact that the state was carrying its own insurance.

TO SWITZERLAND Jacob Moser Arranging for a Visit to His Fatherland. Jacob Loser, living north of Berne, is contemplating a visit to this native country, Switzerland. Mr. Loser is soon to have a sale and he says that he may go abroad soon thereafter. He came to this country 21 years ago and settled in West Virginia. His home was in the mountainous district south east of Charleston, the capital. Land in this section of the state was not adapted to farming and Mr. Loser went tc Ohio. He says that people in his neighborhood were so poor they could not buy a postage stamp. After coming to Indiana Mr. Loser found farming a profitable busines" and he has since accumualted a great deal of property.—Berne News. DEATH RESULTS Mrs. Herman Miller of Fort Wayne

Was Formerly a Resident of This County, and Has Many Relatives Here.

Wiliam Dochrmun proprietor of the Peoples Restaurant of this city recieved word today from his uncle at Fort Wayne announcing the death of his aunt, Mrs. Herman Miller. Mrs. Miller had liocn sick some time prior to her death but our informant was unable to inform us what the direct, cause of her death was. She loaves a mother, three sisters and five brothers to mourn their loss. Mrs. Mill.ir was formerly an Adams county girl being horn and raised in Preble township, where she has a host of friends who will undoubtedly lie surprised to learn of her death as her sickness was not known to lie so serious. ft

A GOOD OFFER Standard Oil Co. Want the Bippus Property. Fred J. Bippus, son of the late George J. Bippus, the millionaire resident of Huntington, is considering an offer of $125,000 from the StandardOilCompany for the entire holidngs of the Bippus eslate in the oil fields of Grant and Huntington counties. George J. Bippus was probably the largest individual operator in the Indiana oil field, and although having had numerous opportunities to combine his immense properties with large operating corporations, steadily refused to do so. prefering to act independently, though at all times conducting his business in harmony with the large companies. Fred Bippus is inclined to accept the Standard proposition, it is said, and will decide within a few days whether he will retire fro m the oil business.

CASE DECIDED Erie Superintendent Fined Twenty Dollars Will Appeal Case and Threaten to Move Shops if They Lose Out. The jury in circuit court at Huntington yesterday morning found James M. Barrett, superintendent of the Chicago & Erie railroad, guilty of the charge of permitting and requiring an employe to remain on duty longer than sixteen hours without eight hours' rest. Barrett was tim'd <2O. Edward Hooter, a fireman who has recently been discharged by the company, was the prosecuting witness. Progress in the case has been watched with interest as the point of law involved has been decided upon by the supreme court. The superintendent is backed by the railroad company and fleeter is backed by fellow employees. An appeal is likely to be taken to supreme court. One of the attorneys in the case said: “The Erie has had much trouble at Huntington of late and it has been decided that if we lose this case, we will move our shops to some other point.”

THE SERVICES Funeral of Old Allen County Citizen Known Here. i The funeral of Mrs. Anna Roth, one of the oldest settlors of Cedar Creek township, and who died Monday, was held Thursday at Grabill. Mrs. Roth, whose maiden name was Sander, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, November 2. 1824. She was seventy-nine years old. She was married on October, 1883, to Peter Wimer, and a year later the couple moved to Cedar Creek township where each spent tho remaining days of their li.ee. Mr. Witnor died Aug. 5, 1851 and on December 19, 1852 Mrs. Witner was married to Benedict Roth. The latter died April I, 1890. Mrs. Roth was the mother of fifteen childern, twelve of whom still live; she was the grandmother of 101 cihldren, eighty-three of whom are still living. Five of her grandsons are ministers. Mrs. Roth was throughout her life a woman of the noblest character and she was widely known and loved.—Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette.

A RAILROAD PROPOSITION New Steam Line May Come Through Decatur

FROM TOLEDO TO INDIANAPOLIS Representative Here To-day-Well Impressed The Toledo, Indianapolis and Southwestern Railway Want to Talk Business.

Lem P. Harris of Toledo, representing the Toledo, Indianapolis & Southwestern Ry. Company was in the city this morinng, leaving ' at noon for his home. The com ! pany he represents are arranging : to build a steam railway line from ' Toledo to Indianapolis, a distance | of 180 miles and traversing the I best country on top of earth or any i where else. It has already been decided to build and at once, it only remaining to decide upon the exact route. Their plans shows three proposed courses with the same termius, one passing through Portland, another through Berne and another through Decatur. The line through Berne is the most direct being almost a direct center between the two cities and the company have already asked for a proposition from Portland and Berne, but as Mr. Harris states have by no means overlooked Decatur. In fact the route from Toledo to Van Wert, thence to Decatur and from here to Linn Grove, through the south part of Wells county and on through the gas belt to the capital city is a most desirable one and one which would be readily accepted by the company if Decatur makes the proper efforts to land the road and will meet the propositions made by other competing cities. The road would mean much for Decatur and along with it is a possibility of landing the division shops as we are located midway lietween the two cities. The country covered by passing through here includes a number of good towns, several of which have no railroad at present. With four steam roads and an interjnban Decatur should certainly be a desirable location for more factories and industries and it behooves us to go after this one in earnest. The proposed road is backed ny a i number of capitalists including T. H. Tracy, of Toledo, president of the Belt railway. Mr. Harris will j return here next week at which time ho will make an appointment j for the week following, when he, ] Mr. Tracy and others will be present to confer with our citizens. Mr. Harria’isan old newspaper num. Ho said before leaving: “The proposition here is a good one and Decatur has a splendid chance to secure another railway." DR. WILLITS What the Lyceum Bureau Says of Him. Dr. A. A. Willits has been for half a century in tho front rank of

NUMBER 41

pulplit orators and lecturers. He has now removed to his countryseat at Spring Lake, New Jersey, one of the beautiful sea coast resorts, ten miles south of Long Branch, and gives his entire time to the lecture field. And it is hut the simple truth to say that no man in that field is more popular than Dr. Willits. He never faces an audience that he does not capture. And of all his numerous engagements in all parts of our country we have yet to hear of the first dis appointed or dissatisfied audience. We could fill volumes with complimentary notices from the press in all places he has visited. He will be heard here Friday evening March 4. Subject ‘‘The Model Wife.” FOR LARCENY Fred Morgan to be Arrested Affidavit Filed by Marie Dickmever, a Former Sweetheart, Whose • Ring He Retains.

Miss Mavie Dickmeyer, a table waitress at the Murray Hotel filed an affidavit vesterday afternoon before John C. Moran, Prosecuting Attorney against Fred Morgan for larceny. The trouble according to the statement of Miss Dickmeyer arose over a ring, that this young man asked to wear, while keeping company with Miss Marie here last fall, stating at the same time that any time she so desired he would return the property. In course *of time as all lovers do, a quarrel insjed and they parted in anger,never more to speak, and at which time Miss Dickmeyer demanded the return of her ring which Fred absolutely refused to do. Since that time she lias written him time and time again demanding same which he still refuses to return to her, and knowing no other way to get the ring Miss Dickmeyer commenced the above proceedings. The ring is highly prized by this young lady, as the same was given her by her mother while on her death bed, and is the only trinket she has to cherish her memory, and it is for this reason that she will air her troubles in court to recover the ring. Mr Morgan in supposed to be at present at Muncie where ho is working in a hotel and his arrest may follow in a few days. FOR MAYOR A Former Decaturite Seeking Office at Huntington. J. Fred France, is a candidate for the democratic nomination for Mayor of Huntington, the primary to occur March 4. Hon. J. Fred is f a native of this city and has hundreds of friends hero who hope lie may win tho honor to which he aspires. He is well qualified and would make an admirable officer.