Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 October 1891 — ARE IN A BAD WAY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ARE IN A BAD WAY.

Reml Estate Owners Left Without Proof -of Their Title. James C. Lavalle, Samuel Harbin, Bazil Ledgerwood, and Burr Hawes

have been Indicted for an attempt to burn the Davies County (Ind.) Court House, and the next Grand Jury of thecounty .will indict the defendants on a still mo re serious charge under the laws of Indiana—

to wit, the burning of official records. County Auditor J. C. Lavalle was at one time one of the most popular men in his part of the State, not only with his own party but with his political enemies as well. No man had a brighter future than he had a few years ago. Everything which he turned his attention to seemed to succeed, and he had the confidence of every one who knew him. But it seems that this confidence led him into a terrible

trap. The respect which the public had for him enabled him to commit felonies unsuspected, but one crime seemed to give him an appetite for another, and the popular officer worked deeper and deeper into the mire. His extravagant liberality led to crookedness In office, and it was to cover up this crookedness that he and hi* confederate* attempted to destroy the Court House and the records contained therein.

J. C LAVALLE

THE COURT HOUSE.