Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1888 — INDIANA STATE NEWS. [ARTICLE]

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

A CHRONICLE OF HAPPENINGS IN lIOOSIERDOM. Sliockiiiß I' aths. Terrible Accidents, HtirrJb’e Crime*, Proceedings of Courts, Secret Societies, and, in fact. Everything of Interest to the Boomers. The south-bound Chicago and Nashville express on the Evansville and Terre Haute Railway, ran into a north-bound freight at Emison Station, ten miles north of Vincennes. The freight had orders to take the siding at Emison, but owing to the sliding of the locomotive’s wheels on the rails, the freight was delayed in getting clear of the main track, and the express came rushing around a curve and struck the rear end of the freight. Engineer Lyons, of the express, reversed his engine, but the down grade made it impossible to stop in so short a distance. The locomotive was raised into the air and thrown over into the wagon road, almost entering a front door of a cottage near the track. Engineer Lyons jumped, but Fireman Shumaker remained on the engine, the former breaking an arm and injuring his head, while the latter escaped without a scratch. The passengers were thrown belter skelter about the cars, but all escaped, although it was next to marvelous that they did so. Court-Room Tragedy at Kokomo. A terrible tragedy occurred in ’Squire Bohan’s court at Kokomo. Samuel Pruitt fired two shots into the body of his wife and a third into J. C. Blacklidge, a prominent attorney of that city. An action for divorce was pending between the Pruitts, and a petty lawsuit was in progress. Mr. Blacklidge was shot in the right breast, but will probably recover. The woman was shot in the right shoulder, and will probably die. Mr. Pruitt has heretofore borne an excellent reputation. He served four and a half years in the army and was one of the body-guards of President Lincoln at the time of his assassination. Pruitt was captured and is now in jail awaiting trial. The couple had been married twenty-one years and have children grown. The shooting of Mr. Blacklidge, the prisoner claims, was accidental, but he intended to kill the wife and another man, who destroyed the sanctity of his household.

Attempted Burglary and Artion. Burglars entered the jewelry house of Sheldon. Swope <t Co., and attempted to overpower Edward Patterson, who occupies a sleeping room over the store, in order to force him to give the combination of the safe. Patterson was awakened when the burglars entered the room and a scuffle ensued, in which one of the thieves used a razor, with which he cut Patterson seventeen times on the arms, breast, and neck. Patterson fired five shots at his assailant, who made his escape through the back door. Before leaving the burglars poured kerosene around the safe and in the rubbish in the cellar, and set fire to the building, but the flames were quickly extinguished. Found Dead on a Railroad Track. Ira E. Smith, a young coal-oil dealer of Evansville, was found dead near Haubstadt, a station on the Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad. His head had been severed from his shoulders. It is believed by some that he committed suicide by allowing a train to pass over his neck, but other's fear he is a victim of foul play. He was a native of Cincinnati, was 30 years old, and had been married six months. He left home to go to an Odd Fellows’ meeting, and was not seen afterwards. The police are at work on the case, and promise some developments very soon.

Fatally Shot by a I.ejected Lover. A fatal shooting took place at the Gibson County fair grounds. Syl Grubb shot five times at Miss Gertie Downey, three balls taking effect. One tore out her right eye, and the two others struck her in the chest. Grubb and Miss Downey had been engaged, but the engagement had been broken. Grubb was jealous and enticed her to an isolated part of the grounds and shot her. She will die. Grubb was placed in jail, after making an attempt to take his own life. Both lived at Francisco.

A l?e«erve<l Promotion. Capt. Henry W. Lawton, of the Fourth Cavalry, has been appointed Assistant Inspector General of the U. 8. Army, with the rank of Major. Maj. Lawton gained great reputation as the captor of Geronimo, the Apache chief, and his promotion is a well-deserved recognition of brilliant services.. The news will be especially pleasing to his many Indiana friends. Maj. Lawton entered the military service in 1861, enlisting at his home in Fort Wayne in the Thirtieth Indiana volunteers. Buried in a Caving; Sewer. While Wm. Vondehren and a number of assistants were at work in the bottom of a sewer excavation, nine feet deep, at Seymour, the quick-sand gave way, and the sides of the ditch fell in, burying Vondehren and one of his assistants, Arthur Orrell, under about eight feet of sand and clay. Vondehren was extricated alive, but terribly injured internally, on his breast and shoulders, and is dying. Orrell'was suffocated before he could be rescued. The others escaped; with slight injuries. But One County Declines. Putnam is the only county in the

State that has declined to appropriate SIOO to place a memorial in the State soldiers' and sailors’ monument. It is presumed by the monument commissioners that some patriotic citizen will come forward with the money in order that the tablet reserved for that county may not remain blank. Every other county in the State has responded promptly, and a majority sent in money within a week after the notification.

Caught a Young Alligator. Lawrence Adams, while fishing in Lysle Lewis’ fish-pond near Osgood, saw something coming toward the bank. When it came to shallow water it stopped and raised its bead. Mr. Adams gently drew up his line and lowered his hook near the object, which quickly seized it. After quite a struggle Mr. Adams finally suceeded in landing a fine and vigorous young alligator about twenty inches long. The mystery is, how did it come there. Two Men Killed by a Trail). Two drunken men, Finley and Martin by name, while walking along the track of the L., N. A. A C. road, near New Providence, were run down by an incoming freight train and both killed. The head of one was crushed and the body of the other but in twain. They reside at Martinsburg, Washington County, and had been in attendance at the Pekin Fair. Not Guilty. At Shoals, the jury in the case of Indiana against John G. Jones, Wm. Stanfield, James Archer and John W. Stone for the murder of Jackson Ballard, on the 18th day of July, 1864, brought in the following verdict: “We the jury, find the defendants not guilty as changed in the indictment.’’

Minor State Items. —The l()-year-old daughter of Mr. Miller shot and instantly killed the 4-year-old son bf James Sheerlock, at the residence of Miller, Goshen. The children found a small target rifle, and commenced wrestling for possession of it. In the scuffle the hammer was raised and the gun fired, sending a bullet through the child’s brain.

—The boiler of Ervin’s saw-mill, lo- ■ ted three miles west of Princeton, exploded. Engineer Ed Ervin, and a logman named Cox, were both seriously and probably fatally scalded. —The suit of the city of Frankfort againsttbe Frankfort Water-works Company to compel the latter to allow a test of the works to be made by an expert, has been decided against the city by Judge Snyder, of the Montgomery Circuit Court.

—ln the Montgomery Circuit Court a suit is being brought by Matilda Elmore against Elisha Lane, a saloon-keeper at Crawfordsville, for selling whisky to her husband. Elmore bought whisky of Lane, got drunk and went home and thrashed his wife, who in turn sues Lane for $2,000 damages. —Frederick Stickfort, of Waldron, has filed in the Shelby Circuit Court a suit for SIO,OOO damages against the C., I. St. L. <t C. Railway. He was struck by a passenger train on Aug. 9, and badly hurt.

—Mrs. Jonathan Hostler, wife of a farmer living five miles east of Huntington, committed suicide on Monday by taking on rats. She had been demented for nearly a year. She was about thirty years of age, and leaves a husband and two young children. —The requirements for a right to vote in November in this State are: You must have been a resident of the State six months, a resident of the township sixty days and a resident of the precinct or ward in which you vote for thirty days prior to election. Any man who moved into Indiana on or after May 7, 1888, is deprived of his vote next fall, and any voter who moved from one township to another on or after Sept. 8, 1888, has also lost his vote, while the voter who moves from one precinct to another on or after Oct. 8, 1888, will have no right to vote.

—George Strealey, of Elkhart, was discharging his revolver at a mark when his young son stepped between him and the target and had a ball fired clear through his head. It is thought, however, that he will recover. —Thomas Blond, living near Columbus, is said to be the oldest man in the State, born in it. He was born in Clark County in 1804, and has always lived in this State. His wife is still living, and is only two months younger than her husband. —The Wabash Importing Company has begun the experiment of breeding fine Belgian draft horses at the stock farm of the company, near Wabash. A few days ago an importation of forty head of fine animals, valued at $60,000 arrived from Belgium, including several mares. —A wonderful natural-gas well has been developed at Lafontaine, Wabash County. Trenton rock was reached at a depth of 874 feet, and the rock had been penetrated but a few feet when there were strong traces of gas. —Nathan King, a laborer, 28 years old, was sitting on the platform at the Sheridan depot, when the fast train passing struck him, tearing him to pieces. Death followed immediately. He lived near Sheridan, and leaves a wife and two children. —At Fargo, Harry Hall, aged 17 years, was shot and instantly killed by the accidental discharge of a revolver in the hands of a companion named Burton.