Daily Democrat, Volume 4, Number 9, Decatur, Adams County, 24 January 1906 — Page 1

VOLUME IV

INSPECTOR BIRDSEYE HERE

Investigating Charges Against Postmaster Brittson

ALSO HIS DEPUTIES Pernicious Political Activity the Alleged Crime Our Interview With the Unde Sam Detective—Refuses to Give Out Information. G. F. Birdseye, postoffice in speotor, of Detroit, who has been conducting investigations of alleged pernicious political acitivity of the postmasters, their deputies, rural route carriers and i’nole Sam a employee in general in this district, for two or threejweeks past.Jarrived here last evening and has been busy gathering up evidence at the local office. He has held several sessions with promi nent anti-Cromer politicians, but his exact business Jhere remains a mytery, further than the fact that he is making diligent inquiry into the past conduct of Postmaster Albert Brittson and deputies. He has called at the postoffice several times but he has made no effort towards questioning Mr. Brittson. He held a two hours’ conference with Deputy James Beery this morning, their talk taking place at room 18 at the Burt House, where the inspector is for the present at home. However, he was careful to swear Jimmy to secrecy and the trend of events has by no means )*een made clearer since our inter view with him At eleven o'clock Mr. Birdseye ordered a rig and hurriedly drove to Pleasant Mills, the latter fact leading many to be lieve that the inspector is piking into that old queition of why A F Acker {was removed from office, others are wondering if the govern meat detective has a crow to pick with Mr. Fuller, the Pleasant Mills postmaster. At the Burt House Mr Birdseye stated that he would be here several days, but afterwards inquired the time he could go north this afternoon, so j that his actions continue to be wrapped in mystery. Ho was at l Geneva yesterday and the Muncie Star spoko of his visit there as fol lows: ’‘There are said to bo some old charges hanging fire against the Geneva office from two years | ago and these no doubt are to be aired thoroughly. At that time two of the carriers aserted an un usual independence in political matters, and some secrets, as well as important documents, then fell into the hands of persons for whom they wore not intended. At that time William W. Collins, a carrier, resigned, because, as ho charged, he was constantly harass ed by politicians demanding that he must *]ierform certain political duties along with his regular work as carrier. His resignation was couched in language that had a stirring ring and which doubtless had something to do with summon ing the government sleuths in th i direction. Collins declared that he had not been allowed to serve the government in peace, and thatjlrom one dav to another demands came i for him to violate his positive in straotion from the government The charges at the time they were i given out, created somewhat of a furore, and an upheaval was tx

The Daily Democrat.

pected instantly. Some of these charges were investigated by in speotor Burr of Fort Wanye, hut naught came of his inquiries, and then Birdseye was detailed, it seems, to cover the same ground,” At two o’clock this afternoon a Daily Democrat representative sue cseded in seeing—not interviewing —Mr. Birdseye, and learned from him these startling facts: “A government inspector never talks for publication. You have a lovely town—no, J can say nothing of toy work in other towns in this district; the presumed interviews you may have read from other cities are false. I should be glad to asist you, but as a government official, I must Obey my orders. I do not know really how long I shall stay here—just so long as my duties require.” Mr. Birsdeye is a pleasant appearing man of per haps forty five years He is oour teous and gives onu the imnressiou that he knows his business. We learn from other sources, which we consider reliable, that he has tipped off the fact that the pre sumed charges here will be sub staatiated and some startling an nounoementa may be made public before long. Mr. Birds rye went north on tbe G. R & I this after noon

| AN OPINION Judge Paulus of Marion on the Assessment Question. While the county assessor is not required ,to hunt for the omitted I property itself, he is required to i hunt and ’search through the : county records for tbe evidence of , such omission, the information thereof, m other words, and this is just what the relators were em i ployed to do, and which the an swer says they did do. They were employed to do 'services, which, in the plainest terms, the law has called upon the county assessor, Hind by I this employment a large part of the public’revenue is bar gained away. It is the spirit of out laws to collect from the people only such aniounl of money by taxa tion as may be sufficient to acer tain and oeonomioel support of the government in all its branches, and to require the strictest ao countability therefor. The law’has provided for officers and public servants having to do with the levy and collection of taxes at a fixed salary, depending in no de gree upon tbe amount of taxes ac trially collected. We think such a system of farming out the collec ton of public revenues under oir eunistanoes presented m this case is contrary to sound policy, and should not be tolerated —Judge Panins injoaee of Workman & Co. vs auditor of Grant county.

JAPAN AT TOP Ranks With Great Britan in Number of Battleships. By United Prase News Aaasciatian. Washington. D. C. Jan. 24 —The report just publshed by the govern ment shows the status of foreign navies built and building. Great Britian and Jap in lead the World, in the number ,of vessels in build ing the Voted States ranks third. Russia has dropped nearly out of sight.

DECATUR, INDIANA, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JAM ARY 21, l»06.

OUSTER CASE Will be Decided Thursday.- Lawyers’ Opinion on Question. Special Telegram To The Democrat Indianapolis, Jan. 24.—Attorneys here generally are of the opinion that Judge ( arter will sustain the demurrer in the ouster proceedings Case against Daniel E Storms, secretary of state, thus throwing out the oomplrit t. If so, (t is hi-liev, d Hanley will call, a spoeial session of the legislature, ( arter will give his decision Thursday morn ing.

A LITTLE DOPE Water System for the Clover Leaf Road i ; The Improvement Will Perhaps Cost Ten Thousand Dollars and is a Good One. Cheer up We have a little Clover Loaf dopa for that depressed and tired feeling Division Road master Hhane was here from Frank fort today to sej Fred Sohiemar n as to whether his former proposition of ajwaterway right of way all 1 held good. Mr. Sohieman was out of the oity.and the meeting failed tj occur. Tnose supposed to know 9»y that no trouble will be given the (company in this direction Mr. Shane, while not .very com munlcaiive, said that the company intended to put in their water supplies system and that thia was Jthe beginning of other improvements along the line 'of their agreement with the Commercial club. Be that as it may, the water system itself will mean >B,OOO or >IO,OOO ini provement, and .is having Tbe spending of this amount of money will mean tots of work and lots’of money in circulation while it lasts, and Decatur needs the money There is some talk m rail road circles about the consolidation I Os the Clover Leaf, Chicago & Erie and C- H. & D. lines, and should it ever occur, then Decatur may know to’a certainty that she will be a favored city At present writing, I however, we will saw wood

LETTER WRITER Secret Service Men After Anarchist Who Threatens Lives of Governors. Special Telegram To The Democrat Patterson, N. J, Jan 24 —The l'nit»d States’ seorct’servioe officers are at work t<xlay trying to con neot a well known anarchist of this town with a threatening letter siezed in Western Pennsylvania, which threats agalsnt the lives of two governors, Pennypacker of Pennsylvania and Patti son of Ohio. Many of the letters were postmarked Patterson, N. J., A number of arrests are expected New Postmasters. Washington, D. C, Jan 24 — The president sent the following postoffice nominations to the sen ate this afternoon Goshen, Indi ana, M H Starr; Bedford, Indi ana.S. L. Kcach, Wothington, Indi ana, G. D. Taylor Tcur of State. Spe-lal Telegram To The Democrat Indianapolis, Jan. 24.—Governor Hanley and the Epileotic commie sion left today on a tour of the state looking for a site for the epileptic hospital.

ELEVATOR BURNED Ten Thousand Dollar Eire at Schumm Occurred at Four 0 Clock This Morning Entire Plant With Contents Destroyed. A serious fire coeurred at Souunim, Ghio, a little village just across the state line about ten miles east of here, at fuur o'clock this morning, when a big elevator own ed by the Rockford Milling com pany was totally destroyed, together with all machinerv and grain, ent ailing a Uss of about tio.OO*'. The cause is unknown and i the flames had quite a start before discovered, it requiring groat efforts of the volunteer department to save surrounding property The building and machinery were probably worth >5,00 or >6,‘00 and the building contained 7,000 1 bpshvle of oorn, Wheat and oatj, * the estimated value of which is •between " ) and >’ The tlrrn carried about >4,000 insurance tn a Van Wert agency and if this ;is settled promptly may rebuild iNo other property was destroyed. Tbe elevator was the.chief industry of the town and the loss is a very severe one.

DIDN’T SETTLE Creditors of Norton Want to Put Him Out of Business. i of A. F. Norton were i unable to agree on a aettlemenf of bis affairs aS tbe meeting of tt»*J | three trustees at Marion The to tai indebtedness amounts to 1.’'.000 and of this amount all but >6.000 agreed to settle at thirty cents un l the dollar without forcing Mr Nor ton into bankruptcy The credi tors representing the >•’ 00 are wholesale houses who want to put Norton out of business and prrfer to lose the whole amount rather thanjlet him continue his stores and on account of them it is doubtful whether any settlement outside of | court can lie made. It’ Mr Nor ton’s affairs are carried through the courts creditors will get consul, erable less than thirty cent' on the dollar. The trustees adjourned I sine die and what the next step will ie is not known. Nell Todd i« practicaly in charge ot the Gold I Mme grocery at Bluffton as be is one of the trutees of Norton’s affairs . The siore is directly in charge of Mrs Frank Willis of Hartford City, the cashier, and the money is de posited in the bank every night. It is only a quoatton of time until th« store will have to close unless some disposition of the owners' affairs is made, as the stock is be ing exhausted and no one ha' powei to purchase. Nel is running the store as Christ would run it. He sells no tobacco and pays the clerks everv night.

TO ACT QUICKLY French Foreign Office Issnes a War Statement. •y United Preee Newt Ase-jolstlon, Paris, France, Jan. 24 —The for eign office made the announcement that it intends to sot against Ven ezuela and will hold Castro respon sible for his past and present acts, especially those which follow this announcement. However, France proposes to chose her own method time for dealing with the situation.

COURT NOTES — Damage Suit Filed on Change of Venue. The case of Daniel B Ninde vs I Richard Klein, a suit to Collect >sn; damagea was filed here today on i change of venue fro*n Allen countv The complaint recites that on No ■ vember 17th last, Ninde bought what he supposed to l>e a Persian lamb fur jacket of Kline guarantee! ; to be first class and paid therefore 1150; that said jacket turned out to be a fraud and was returned by Ninde but Kline refused to turn over the >l5O and the suit followed L. J. Ninde* is attorney for this plaintiff A marriage license has been is 'iied t<> Emily Lome of thi« county, [to Judson Everett, a VanWert I county farmer. GENEVA NEWS — Delegation to Attend Lecture at Berne ! Diamond Contestants Strike Gentvi and Cause a Stir for the Daily Democrat.

(Sjiociai Correspondence.) Geneva. Ind. Jan 24 — yuite a number of people from here are planning to go to Berne next Fn day evening tc attend the concert which is to be given ny the Temple quartette of Chi.-ago This is one of .the numbers of the lecture course i which the people of Berne have been snjoying’this winter and it is said to be a splendid one The quartette is one of the test on the road and Geneva music lovers are anxious to hear it The Porter and Anderson drug store is now in the hands of tbe paper hangers and while tts ap pearanoes now is not exactly what may be called pleasing it will in a few days, present a very decidedly . different ’and up to date interior The room will l>e papered according to the latest fashions of the paper hanger’and when the job is finished it would do credit to a place much larger Gt nova One of the physicians here made; the remark that this weather—the

'sudden changes—was very bentiota! I to the medicine man s business and i that the people could not exercise too much care to prevent such dis eases as the grip, the winter colds, and even pneumonia. So far he i stated everybody ’had been ”‘dis , tressingly healthy,” but now the doctor will ketch'em es the' don’t watch out. As far as news is concerned, things about here are quiet and the newspaper man has a hard time to kill space No one will die and so we have no obituaries. No one will slightly inj ire themselves and we have no 'narrow escapes.’ No one has been married in the last few days and we have no knot ’to tell of. In fact, we know not anything to tell of People rememl»ering what the oil boom meant for Geneva, were con siderablly excited today when it was reported that there wore dia mond hunters here. At first it was thought that we were living in a real diamond field, but investiga tion disclosed the fact that the diamond hunters were only candidates in the Democrat’s diamond contest who were here in their own interests. Rather reminded one of the days of the political candidate.

NUMBEB

PUBLIC WEDDING Occurred at Geneva This Afternoon MBs Lottie Laumerman of Monroe and Mr. Pinyon of Berne, Married at Geneva Depot. Geneva, Ind , Jan. 24. —AI tha * ’Grand Rapids and Indiana «L-pot 1 at thi« this afterac n .wear red the wedding of Mim Lutite hammerman of Monroe, to Roy Runyan of near Berne, the cere- J monv being perfumed by Rev J. i H Holingsworth of Lynn. Indiana. The ceremony attracted a large , crowd, who had never befire witreseed a public wedding, and the bride groom were the recipients of many congratulations The young icouple went to Decatur this morn- ■ ing and secured their license, re- . turning on the afternoon tram, the ■ wedding taking place about two o’oßck Both the young people are from good families and are highly respected They will make their future home near Geneva, where the groom has a furnished home await mg them The bride wore a gown iOf white silk (and the groom the conventional black

HAVE PAID > Delinquent hies Pud j a the Ust Ftw !•» « - x The following persons I have paid their deiiflqaent taxes ■and their names should not appear ,in the delinquent tax list .Harriett | C. Hart, Root township. John Eley, Root township Marena G an i J 8. Bailey, 8t Marys townsmp, Jamert "E Heath, St Marys township. L. N Stahl. M inroe township Beaj. Sprunger, Berne Jno Brenner, Wabash township. Jno. B I'kely, Jefferson township; Ha A. Baxter, Decatur Lewie c. Fisher Decatur; international B *L. Geneva; Fannie M {Miller, Geneva E, M. and Rodua Lindsey, Hartford township.

THE WRECK Good Ship Volrncid Goin? to Pitca — Help Impossible Special Telegram Te The Democrat Victoria. B C.. Jin 2—E*rty today a message was received here from l. ajx’ Beale near which ] .'.nt the ill fated Volncia lies on the rocks on Vancouver Island, hope less wreck, stating that the southerly gale increased and the steamer is fast going to pieces Steamer Salvor and steamer qu<en are N th at the scene making every eff rt t>< reach these on board but tr to daylight only fourteen of the 14'J persons on the boat when she struck are known to have escaped. DANCE TONIGHT C. F. S. Club to Give One of Their Famous ’’flops."’ The C. F. S. club will give a dance at th K. of C hall tbi- even ing Enough said—but it won t hurt to remind you that these occasions have been in the past un jiaralleled places for a good time an tonight’s will even surpass former events. Med Miller’s orchestra will furnish the music and this statement is an assurance that this part of tbe program will be a sea tnre If you Jure a lover es the •‘light fantastic,’’ don’t overlook this opp irtunity.