Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1887 — Page 6

IMPORTANT APPOINTMENTS.

of the Interstate Commerce Commission Griven to the Public. Judge Cooley, of Michigan, Heads the List, with Morrison for Second Place. <v Sehoonmaker, New York; Walker, Vermoat; and Bragg, Alabama, Complete the Board. [Washington special ] The President has appointed the following Interstate Commissioners: Thomas M. Cooley of Michigan, for the term of sir years. William It. Morrison of Illinois, for the term of five years. Augustus Schoonmakor of New York, for the t r *rm of four years. Aldace P. Walker of Vermont, for the term of three years. Walter L. Bragg of Alabama, for the term of two years. Temporary quarters for the Commission will be found by the Secretary of the Interior before the end of the next week. It is likely these will be in the new Pension Building. The Commission has for its use from new until July 1, 1888, a little more than fifteen months, SIOO,OOO. If the salaries of its members are to come out of this nearly half the sum will be gone, and the remainder will not go far toward covering tjje necessary expenses. But the appropriation is available at once and the Commission will have money enough to start with. If the sum set aside is not enough it will at least last until December, when Congress will be in session.

Sketches of the Men, Thomas M. Cooley was bom in Attica, N. Y., in 1824, and removed to Michigan in 1813, where he has since resided. In 1857 he was elected compiler of the State laws, and in-1858 he was chosen reporter of the Supreme Court. In 1859 he was appointed commissioner to organize the law department of the University of Michigan, and he has ever since been connected with it. He served three terms in the Supreme Court, but was defeated in 1885. He is the author of numerous standard legal works and holds high rank as a jurist. He was appointed last December by Judge Gresham as receiver of the Wabash Bailroad. WJlliam It. Morrison, of Waterloo, 111., was born in Monroe County, Illinois, Sept. 14, 1825. He was educated at the common schools and at McKendree College, Illinois. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. 'He was made Clerk of the Circuit Court, and for four terms was a member or and for one term Speaker of the Illinois House of Bepresentatives. He was elected to the Thirty-eighth, Foity-tbird, Fortyfourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, Fortyseventh, Forty-eighth, and Forty-ninth Congresses as a Democrat. In the contest for the United States Senatorship in tho TUinois, Legislature in 1885 he was one of the favorites of the Democratic members, and all through that memorable contest, which resulted in Logan being returned, Morrison held the sympathies of his followers.. In the last Congressional campaign he was defeated by the Hon. Jehu Baker. Aldace F. Walker is about 41 years old, and is a Bepablican in politics. He studied law with Senator Edmunds. He served as a Colonel in the Union army, and since the war has practiced law at Rutland. In tbe.yermout Senate he has taken a leading part'in framing legislation to solve the railway problem, and has given much study to the qneiAon. Walter L. Bragg was born in Alabama in 1838. He is a graduate of Harvard University and Cambridge Law School, and practicedJUiw in Alabama for some years. At the close of the war he settled in Alabama, and was for some years the law partner of General Morgan. Ho has been a leading Democrat in that State for some years, and has served as national delegate, Presidential elector, and member of the Democratic National Committee. In 1881 he made President of the Alabama State Railroad Commission, and served in that position four years, during which time many important questions arising between the railroads and their customers were satisfactorily adjusted. AugustSchoonmaker, of Kingston, N. Y., was bom in Bochester, in that State, in March, 1828. He studied law and has practiced it ever since. From 1851 to 1870 he was a member of school boards and a County 'Judge. In 1875 he was elected to the State Senate as a Democrat. In 1877 he was nominated by the Democratic convention for Attorney General, and was elected by a plurality of over 11,000. In 1879 he was nominated for Attorney General, but was defeated. In 1871 he was the Democratic nominee for Judge of the Court of Appeals, but was defeated. In 1886 he wasjsresented by the anti-Tammany delegation from New York in the Democratic State Contention as their candidate for Governor nSu was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1876 and 4880, aiid also to the Chicago convention in 1884.

A LEGISLATOR SHOT AT.

Attempt to Kill Hon. G. S. Bailey, a * Member of the Illinois Legislature. The Ball Stopped by Books and Papers —Was It the Deed of an Anarchist? [Springfield (HL) special.] A cold-blooded attempt to assassinate Representative George S. Bailey, the United Labor member from East St. Louis, v;as made Tuesday evening. About 9 o'clock Mr. Bailey approached the door of iiis^. boarding-house, Mr. S. S. Elder's, on Capital avenue, near the Alton track. The fioUse'has an ample yard, and nothing intervenes between it and the railroad embankment a few rods to the west, the railroad here crossing the avenue by a bridge. Mr. Bailey says he was facing his door p*vhei\ the discharge of a pistol sounded from" the vacant lot, and he staggered into ins house and to his anxious wife awaiting tiim 4 .in their front room, on the ground floor. Mr. Bailey was seen shortly

after. but could furnish little speculation regarding the would-be murderer or his motives. Mr. Bailey’s escape was not of an uncommon kind, but his life-preserver was certainly effectual. V*’ben be reached his room, uncertain if shot or not, search was made for any trace of the ball, the shock of which be had felt as it struck his person. Through a heavy coat it had penetrated, then through his Prince Albert, and through a pamphlet or two, and quite through one of the leatherbound books of rales carried by the members, finally spending itself against the cover of a still thicker memorandum book. The entire package rested three or four inches below his heart, and in it was found the 32-ball. It will be remembered that Mr. Bailey and Mr. Karlowski, the latter also a Labor party member of the House, signed a resolution reading Senator Burke and Bepresentative Robrbach out of the Labor party last week for attending the funeral of Anarchist Neebe’s w ife. It is said that letters have been received in this city, saying that these “traitors” would be deait with in some way soon. Mr. Bailey refuses to say what his theory of the attempted assassination is, but admits that he has one. He says he did not see the assailant. He only saw the flash of the discharge. The police have not yet struck any trail of the man.

EMPEROR WILLIAM.

The German Sovereign’s Ninetieth Birthday Celebrated with Great Enthusiasm. Presents to the Aged Ruler—Decorations Conferred Upon Many Prominent Persons. [Cable dispatch from Berlin.] The 90th anniversary of Emperor William’s birthday was ushered in Tuesday, March 22, by the pealing of bells and tho sounding of a choral. Early in the day special religious services were held in all the churches, which were attended by the children from all the schools in the city, who marched to the churches in procession, headed by bands of music. The city is decorated as it never was before, flags and drapery being hung from every building. The monument of Frederick tho Great was covered with wreaths and flowers. Wherever there was a bust or statue of the Emperor in a shop window or other exposed place it was buried in flowers. The streets were thronged with people in holiday attire from an early hour. The students’ procession, on horseback and in carriages, was a grand affair. Passing the palace the bands played the national anthem, “Preussenlied,” and “Wacht am Rhein,” the students all singing to the music. The Emperor appeared at the window as the procession was moving past and bowed, remaining there a considerable time. All the members of the imperial family and their princely guests drove iu procession to the palace and personally tendered their congratulations to the Emperor, who began to receive his guests at 11 o’clock. The municipal procession was preceded by heralds and marshals bearing the town banner, the whole body of the evangelical clergy, the chief civil and military authorities, representatives of German science, art, and commerce,, the directors of the gymnasia, and the burgesses and communal officers —in all over two thousand persons. The procession was accompanied by several bands, which played marches alternately with chorals by trumpeters. Tho procession went iu state from the town nail to attend the commemoration religious service in the Church of St. Nicholas. - The clergymen were all full robed, and the officials wore their uniforms and regalia. When the procession entered the church the organ played a prelude. This was followed by the singing of the “Salvum sac Begem” and the chanting of the Ambrosian hymn. The festival sermon was preached by Provost Bruechner. At noon a royal salute of 101 guns was fired from the Koenigsplatz. Prince Bismarck and Marshal von Moltke went to pay their congratulations to the Emperor at 1 o’clock. They were enthusiastically cheered all along the route of their way to and from the palace. The illuminations at night throughout the city were superb. In receiving the household deputation the Emperor said: “I have reached this age by the grace of God, and if the Lord helps me and wants me to I may live to see another year.” Emperor William conferred the decoraof the grand cross of the Bed Eagle upon Ministers von Pnttkamer, Lucius, and von Boetticher; the grand cross of the Hohenzollern family order upon Ministers von Gossler, von Scholz, and von Scheellendorf, and General Albedyll; the first class of the Bed Eagle upon General von Caprivi and Count Nesselrode, and the star of the Bed Eagle of the second class upon Count Herbert Bismarck. General Katze was appointed Grand Huntsman, and Count Pueckler Chief Cupbearer. Among the presents received by the Emperor were an exact duplicate of the General’s sash worn by Frederick the Great, from the Empress; “Grandpapa’s Birthday,” a terra-cotta group by Eugene Blot, from Paris; besides floral tributes from all parts of Germany and from England. One poor woman left at the door of the palace a small bunch of flowers, with a petition praying for the pardon of her husband, who is now in prison. The flowers and petition were placed in a position where they would attract the Emperor’s attention. The petition was granted. The day was celebrated with similar and equal enthusiasm in all the towns of the empiro. Banquets, thanksgiving services, receptions, etc., were held at all the capitals of Europe in honor of the venerable monarch.

MISSOURI BALD-KNOBBERS.

Six Placed Under Bonds—An Attempt to Escape—A Revenge-Book. | St. Louis telegram.] Six of the Bald-Knobbers who have been in confinement at Ozark, charged with being implicated in the murder of Eden and Green, have been released on §I,OOO and $2,000 bonds, it being shown that they were not directly concerned in the killing. Several of the prisoners in the Springfield jail made a bold attempt Sunday night to escape. They dug through }he floor of their cefll, and had tunneled some eight feet when they were discovered by Sheriff Dodson and their scheme frustrated. Four of the men were Bald-Knobbers.

It has been revealed that the BaldKnobbers kept a regular vengeance-book, m which were recorded the names of persons marked for some kind of persecution or punishment. It was the custom for members at their various meetings to prefer charges against individuals outside of their order, and then those present voted what sort of punishment should be meted out to them.

THE KANSAS BUTCHERY.

Willie Sell Confesses to the Murder of His Father, Mother, Sister and Brother. How a Trivial Dispute Precipitated a Most Horrible Murder. [Kansas City special.] Willie Sell, the 16- year-old boy who was convicted last July of murdering his father, mother, brother and sister, near the town of Erie, Kas., has made a confession, in which he says that his father, J. W. Sell, a well-to-do farmer, was killed by his brother, and that he (Willie) killed his brother to revenge his father, and afterward killed Ms mother and sister. The murders were committed at night, and the first information of the tragedy was given by the murderer, who awaked a neighbor and told him some man was hurting his father and mother. The bodies of the murdered people were found in the farm-house, with their throats cut from ear to ear and their heads crushed. A bloody hatchet and butcher-knife were found in a chair. Suspicion rested strongly on the boy and he was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged. He is now in the penitentiary awaiting the signing by the * Governor of the death warrant. The boy’s confession is as follows: •

“Mother and sister Ina had gone to bed. Father, Waty and I were still up, when the calves got out and came up around the house. Waty sat at the table reading and father had just taken his coat and pants off to go to bed, and told Waty to go and put the calves up. He said: ‘Let Willie do it. I won’t go out now.’ Father said that he should go, and Waty did not want to, and, while they were talking, I went out and got the hatchet, which was sticking in a log of wood outside the door, and came back to see if Waty would go out with me, I got the hatchet to nail up the calf-pen. Father and Waty were there quarreling, and had become very mad. When I came in where they were, with the hatchet, Waty snatched it out of my hand and struck father several times, at last knocking him down. When I saw what Waty had done I caught hold of the hatchet and jerked it out of his hands, and, striking at Waty, hit him on the head and he fell down on the floor, and I supposed that killed him. Then mother, seeing what was being done, jumped out of bed, screaming, and, before I thought what 1 was doing, I struck her. Ina, my sister, at that raised up in bed and screamed, and I don’t know why I did it, but I struck her with the hatchet and she fell back. They were all lying quiet. I took off all my clothes except my shirt and drawers, then pulled off Waty’s pants, raised him up and carried him into the other room and put him into our bed. After that I went back and got the hatchet and pounded his head all to pieces. I felt mad at Waty because he had killed father. I went to the cupboard and got the butcher-knife and cut Waty’s head nearly off. Then I went back into the other room and sat down, and I did not know what to do. Then I thought that if any of them should come to life they would say I killed Waty. So I took the butcher-knife and cut their throats to make sure work of it. I then blew out the lamp and sat down for several hours, but at last could not stand it any longer and again lit the lamp, and, putting on my clothes, ran over to Mr. Mendall’s and told him some one was at our house with a hatchet and had hurt pa and ma.” There has always been a great diversity of opinion among the people as to whether Willie Sell committed the murder. On the trial there was no positive evidence, and the State utterly failed to find any motive for the crime. On the contrary, it was proven that Willie was an exceptionally good boy, and that he and his sister Ina were more than commonly fond of each other. The neighbors all swore to tho boy’s good disposition, and that he was a favorite in the community, while his brother Waty, who was older than he, was not so generally liked.

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.

A Chicago Man, After Being Sat Upon by a Coroner’s Jury, Arises anil Walks. [Chicago special.] Michael Hofnosky, the young man who put a bullet through the head of his mistress, and a second one into his own, is reported as doing nicely at the County Hospital. The day after the shooting the Coroner summoned his witnesses and repaired to the hospital to hold the inquest upon the body pursuant to the report sent in, but when he came to examine the subject it was lound that life was not extinct. After a comatose condition of three days, consciousness suddenly returned, and this morning, when the nurse made her visit, the patient was walking the floor and calling for food. His recovery is a surprise to the surgeon. Hofnosky’s victim, with a hole through her jaws, is also on the road to recover}*.

NATURE’S AWFUL FREAK.

A Baby Boy Wlfo Resembles an Elephant. [Bridgeport (Conn.) dispatch. Mrs. Krettchner of this city gave birth recently to a boy who has an elephant’s head and in place of a nose a short trunk. The month and lips protrude like those of an elephant. The child weighs about nine pounds and can be fed only with a spoon. The mother visited the circus winter quarters here last winter and was terribly frightened by the elephants. The period commonly known as “The Dark Ages” embraces the first six centuries of the Middle Ages, that is, from the close of the fifth to the close of the eleventh century. The Middle Ages comprise the I,UOO years commencing with the close of the fifth and ending with the close of the fifteenth centuries. The Eoman Empire may be said to begin with the year B. C. 27, when Oc* tavius assumed the title of Augustas.

THE HADDOCK MURDER.

Opening of a Celebrated Criminal Trial at Sioux City, lowa The Council and the Jury —Betting Men Offering Odds on a Disagreement. fSIOCX CITY COERESPOXDEXCE.] On a dark and rainy night, in the month of August, 1886, Bev. George C. Haddock, a minister of the Methodist Church and a

BEV. GEORGE C. HADDOCK.

stalwart Prohibitionist, was assassinated in one of Sioux City’s public streets. The murder created a profound sensation in the community. There was universal condemnation of the deed, and an almost passionate demand that the perpetrators be hunted down. Meetings in scores of places in lowa and other States were held. Religious, temperance and other organizations passed resolutions denouncing the crime, and expressing sympathy for the widow of the murdered man. Contributions came in from every direction and a handsome sum was thus provided for her, and smaller sums were sent to aid in closing the saloons and discovering the murderers. The day of the murder Gov. Larrabee offered a reward of SSOO, the limit allowed by law, for the apprehension of the guilty parties. The City Council also offered a reward. Later the Methodist ministers offered a reward of SI,OOO. On the day following the murder the Coroner’s inquest began taking evidence,

HARRY LEAVITT.

and after two days the evidence showing the fact that valuable clews were likely to be developed, the investigation was made secret. The investigation covered a long period of time, there being extended adjournments. Circumstances were developed which fastened serious susEicion on one Harry L. Leavitc, who had ept a low variety show in Sioux City. Suspicion was also fastened upon several others with whom he was found to have been intimately associated. But the trouble was there was no satisfactory proof. Leavitt and other suspected parties testified before the Coroner’s jury, and had stories to tell in which they denied knowledge or part in the crime. But before the Coroner’s jury adjourned, it was noticed that these parties, toward

JOHN ARENSDORF.

whom suspicion pointed, began to disappear from Ihe city. Leavitt was among those who levanted. He was finally arrested in Chicago, and confessed all he knew in connection with the tragedy. He fixed upon John Arensdorf, a member of the Franz Brewing Company, as the man who fired the fatal shot, and declared that there were E resent at the murder Henry Peters, the rewery driver, standing at Arensdorf’s elbow; Frod Mnnchrath. Jr., Geo, Treiber, Paul Leader, Harry Sherman, Louis Plathl and two other Germans. Arensdorf,

Leader, Munchrath and Sherman were instantly arrested, and warrants were sworn out for the others named who had disappeared. Albert Koschnitski was arrested in California, and Sylvester Grande in Kansas City. After a lonj and patient investigation the grand jury returned two indictments against all the nine defendants above named, charging them jointly with murder and conspiracy. At the January term of court the attorneys for Arensdorf demanded that he should be fir>t put on trial, and claimed to be reads for trial. The prosecution asserted its legal right to say which defendant should be first tried, and asked that a speedy date be assigned for trial. The court set the trial for the 21st of March. Some days prior to this date the defense insisted that the prosecution should elect which of the defendants should be first tried, and the prosecution replied by electing John Arensdorf, the principal defendant, and that he be tried fcn the charge of murder. Thereupon the court so ordered, and set the trial for the 23d of March. THE TRIAL. On Wednesday, the 23d of March, before Judge Lewis, began the trial of John Arensdorf for the murder of Bev. George Haddock, and at this writing it is still in progress. Able counsel represent both sides. On the side of the defense are the names of O. C. Tredway, Judge Isaac Pendleton, G. W. Argo, of Le Mars; M. M. Gray. Willis G. Clarke, Judge J. N. Weaver, and Geo. W. Kellogg. The prosecution is represented by County Attorney S. M. Marsh, M. D. O’Connell, of Fort Dodge, ex-United Srates District Attorney; Hon. T. P. Murphy, United States District Attorney; and the wellknown law firm of Hubbard, Spalding & Taylor. The jury, in the selection of which only one day was consumed, consists of John O’Connor, a farmer, of Morgan Township;

JUDGE LEWIS.

Thomas Crilley, a farmer, of Morgan Township; C. C. Bartlett, a farmer, of Little Sioux Township; John Madden, a farmer, of Miller Township; Dennis Murphy, a farmer, o Kedron Township; C. G. Gross, a merchant, of Correctionville; Thomas Frazier, a farmer, of Rutland Township; W. P. Pennell, a farmer, of Concord Township; David Keiffer, a farmer, of Floyd Township; E. Webster, a farmer, of Woodbury Township; John D. O’Connell, a farmer, of Liberty Township, and John Adair, a railroad grader, of Sioux City. Mr. H. J. Taylor presented the case for the State and Mr. G. W. Argo presented the case for the defense. Mr. Taylor, after reading the indictment, recited the story of the crime in a delicate and somewhat labored manner. Mr. Taylor laid the foundation of the motive for the murder in the exciting incidents of the injunction suits against the Sioux City liquor dealers. The Rev. George C. Haddock’s participation in these suits and his advocacy of temperance were shown to have incited the enmity of certain men, among whom was John Arensdorf. It is freely predicted in certain circles that a disagreement will be the result of the trial, and betting men are taking odds against conviction. Mr. Taylor grew ruggedly eloquent as he neared the climax. In few words he outlined the plan of the State in its proof of the murder. He described the assembling of the alleged conspirators at Junk’s saloon, the watching for Haddock’s return from his temperance mission to Greenville, the arrival of the minister at Merr ll’s stable after leaving Mr. Turner at his home in the western part of the city, and the starting of Haddock for his own home. Then came the deed of blood. Haddock, after once returning to the stable door to ask “if that mob was lying in wait for him,” started to cross Water street, directly in the face of the band on the comer of Fourth and Water streets. A man stepped firmly forward, passed the victim, then turned and fired the deadly shot. This man, Mr. Taylor declared the State was ready to prove, was none other than John Arensdorf. “And the blood then shed on our city’s streets,” said he, “now cries for justice at your hands.” Mr. Argo entered a general denial of the State’s charge, and introduced the defendant to the jury in a brief biographical sketch. John Arensdorf was born in Belgium in 1851. His parents were farmers. At fourteen years of age he was apprenticed to a brewer. In 1871 he came to America and has been employed as a brewer since that time. He has resided in Sioux City for nearly ten years. Mr. Argo showed that the defense proposed to rely upon proving an alibi, and upon the general good character of the defendent. The counsel devoted considerable time to an arraignment of Harry Leavitt, who, he said, was the chief witness for the State. It was for the prosecution to prove the guilt of Arensdorf. But the defense would unquestionably demonstrate that he not only knew nothing of the murder, but that he had, on the night of the shooting, actually saved a temperance worker from assault. “Who says we don’t belong to the great army of labor ?” said one tramp to another as they were relieving a clothes-line of its burden one dark night; “don’t we take in washing?” “Certainly,” said his mate, with a chuckle, as they continued to take it in.—Texas Sittings. / i. England derives its name from the Angles, a Teutonic people who won a home in Britain.