Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1886 — INDIANA STATE NEWS. [ARTICLE]

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

—Charles Champlin was sent to the penitentiary for a term of three years at the last term of court, in May, for an attempt to poison the Sanders family, of White River Township, with “Rough on Rats." A short time since another attempt was made to poison the same family. Arsenical poison had been put in the sugar during the absence of the family. Pies were made, in which the sugar was used. The mother and daughters ate freely of the pie, and were at once seized with convulsions, the result of what the doctor pronounced arsenical poisoning. Suspicion points quite clearly to a daughter in the family, who is the wife of Champlin, in the penitentiary. Since Champlin's sentence she has many times threatened the family with violence, so that her father compelled her to leave home. —A farmer from Mooreland, Henry County, reports that for the last five or six weeks cholera has played fearful havoc among the farmers’ hogs in that vicinity, hundreds dying daily. One man has lost over sixty head, among which were some valued at between $75 and $100 each. Another lost about one hundred head, and another some thirty or forty. Nearly all that were not affected have been sold and shipped away, so that the stock of swine is almost depleted. —A wealthy farmer was recently induced by two sharpers, under pretense of some kind of trade, to go to Columbus and draw $5,000 from the bank. They started back, but when a few miles out beat and robbed the old man, threw him out of the buggy, and drove off. His friends, alarmed, started in search of him, but when found, after night, he was so injured and excited that he could give no intelligible account of the affair. —One night recently a dynamite cartridge exploded under a residence near Ridgeville. Roused by the noise, the owner arose and found his barn in. flames. His loss is about $1,500. He claims to have lately received two letters, the first signed by a party that he knows, and the second anonymous, threatening his life and the destruction of his property should he longer remain in that neighborhood. —A farmer living near Charlestown was encountered by two foot-pads about two miles from Jeffersonville, while walking out to visit his daughter. The highwaymen demanded his money, and upon his making a show of resistance, one of them fired at him, the ball taking effect in the left leg above the knee. The robbers then fled, being frightened by the outcry made by their intended victim. —A 11-year-old boy was crushed to death by a falling elevator, at Bentonville, a small station eight miles from Cambridge City. Seeking shelter from a sudden shower he ran under the platform, which was heavily loaded with grain, and while under it the elevator gave way. The whole fell upon the unfortunate child, mangling him in a horrible manner. He died in about two hours.

—The Mormon missionaries are preaching in the rural districts of St. Joseph County. They are going through the country living upon the charity of the people, and preaching their faith wherever they can secure a church or schoolhouse. In their sermons they are quiet on polygamy, and, whenever questioned on that point, deny that it is in practice amongst their people in Utah. —Among the many attractions of the Inter-State Fair to be held at Fort Wayne, Sept. 14, 15, 16, and 17, will be the great balloon race. This is one of the most novel and exciting entertainments ever witnessed. There will also be a larger show of stock, etc., than ever before, and the races are a guaranteed success, as more horses are entered than at any other fair ever held there. —A peculiarly-shaped timber worm is destroying the oak trees in Owen Township, Jackson County. The worms run from two inches in length down, and are very rough and of numerous colors. It is thought they do damage by either stinging the timber or depositing their eggs on the limbs, and in many cases the leaves begin withering in a few hours after being attacked. —Cholera has caused the death ot hundreds of hogs in the northern part of Adams County. Some of the farmers lay the cause to the extreme drought, while others say that the disease was caused by feeding unripe corn. The cholera has not appeared elsewhere in the county, but the loss is very heavy, and will amount to at least $5,000 in the section named. —During a heavy wind-storm at Evansville the girls employed in an overall factory, on the river bank, became frightened and stampeded. One of them, aged 20, became wild with fright, and plunged down the elevator hatchway, a distance of forty-five feet, striking on her head. She was picked up unconscious, and, the doctors say, cannot recover. —For five years a young man residing near Anderson has been unable to walk without the use of crutches. Recently during a season of prayer directed especially for him, he arose, laid down his crutches, and walked at the same time. claims that all pain immediately left him, and now feels perfectly sound and well. —The game law says that ducks may be legally killed in this State on and after September 1, but if the papers in the northern part of the State are correct, the duck season is open every day in the year. —A fine new barn near Memphis, Clark County, was struck by lightning during a recent storm and totally consumed. The building and contents were valued at from $4,000 to $5,000, with a small insurance.