Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1911 — CHICAGO AUTOMOBILIST ON TRIAL IN RENSSELAER. [ARTICLE]

CHICAGO AUTOMOBILIST ON TRIAL IN RENSSELAER.

Arthur I. Robbins Charged WUh Exceeding the Speed Limit In Both City and Country. Arthur M. Robbins, of Chicago, president of the Centuar Motor Co., is being tried in the circuit court in Rensselaer today, with exceeding the speed limit while traveling over a country road in Jasper county on Sund^;^ I '|Nb. 20th. ? Another affidavit kworn out by City Marshal Mustard charges him with also exceeding the speed limit in the city of Rensselaer on Feb. 21st. The case is the outgrowth of the accident thgt resulted to Mrs. J. A. Lucas and baby and Mrs. Mattie Baker. They were on their way from Rensselaer to their home in Union township, and their buggy was tipped over and they were thrown into the gutter. They state that they were forced from the road by the careless driving of the autoists. Robbins and his companion, George Miller, did not turn back to see if the women had been hurt and evidently would have made their escape but for the fact that they broke down north of Rensselaer where they were arrested. Some complication about the arrest occurred and they left Rensselaer the next morning after they had received repairs for the machine from Chicago. They were arrested in Indianapolis, where Mr. Lucas also brought civil action for damages against Robbins. Prosecutor Longwell is being assisted by Dunlap ft Parkinson in the prosecution and Attorney Williams is helping defend Robbins.

A correspondent in the'Jasper County Democrat, evidently Mr. Stone, a printer employed there, and a dog owner, writes from the dog standpoint, and in his sympathy for the dog overlooks the most important th*ng in the crusade against rabies. Tne disease is too dangerous to take chances with and officers realize that only the most rigid action is going to root it out. A dog in Rensselaer was killed because there were indications of rabies; the head was sent to the state laboratory and Negri bodies found; the dog had bitten many pthe” dogs. That was sufficient excuse, we believe, to justify a muzzle ordinance enforcement. The order would avail nothing if the officers did not carry out the threat to kill unmuzzled dogs that ran at large. Of course, there should be some judgment on the part of the officers and they should not watch for an opportunity to kill some dog that was usually muzzled or kept up and we have never understood they have done this. Every town and county has a number of “stray” dogs and a number of others that are not reported to the assessor, and the disease generally starts among these. White county has had an experience this year with real mad dogs. Two years ago Mrs. Sam Pass, of Medaryville, lost her life by being bitten by a small pup. The rabies has cropped out all over the state and we have no doubt that the state health board has sought only the one purpose in its order about dogs and that is the extinction of the disease. And the officers are not deserving the implication that they are unqualified, and the Secretary of the State Board of Health Certainly is not holding a sinecure. It is not probable that any of the SIOO dogs in Rensselaer are in danger of being killed, because the owners will probably respect the law and keep them up. The order can not take into consideration the owner’s estimate of his own dog. All dogs look alike to the health officers and if a dog is really appreciated by its owner it should be kept up to protect it. The officers, as we see it, have not been unreasonable, from the secretary of the state, board of health to the city health officer and the peace officers, and there is plenty of tifne to “holler” after some tine dog owner’s sensibilities have been shocked. As the writer so aptly says, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” He may say, "Don’t holler until you are bitten,” but It looks better now to Bay, “Don’t holler until your dog is killed.”