Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1908 — Page 1

THE TWICE - A ■ WEEK

Jasper County Democrat.

IIJSO Per Year.

BIG FIRE LOSS.

Chicago Suffers a Two Million Dollar Blaze. WORST CONFLAR6ATION SINCE' 71 Starts la Elevator District and Wipes Oat Large Buildings Like Chaff. v I Chicago, 111., August 3.—Heralded by hundreds of tremendous explosions, one of the largest , and most spectacular fires that Chicago has known in 30 years swept the great railroad and elevator districts between State and Canal streets, south of Twelfth, this afternoon. A freighthouse, , several hundred feet long, stored with soda, potash, saltpeter, oil, and even, it is said, nitro-glycerine, two huge graiii elevators, containing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of corn and wheat, hundreds of freight cars loaded with valuable merchandise, and many smaller buildings were burned to the ground, causing a loss of $1,600,000. The Main Losses. The principal losses suffered in the fire were: Elevator E —Owned by the Burlington Railroad and operated by Armour & Co.; $150,000. Elevator F—Owned and operated by same respective companies; $150,000. * Armour & Co., 500,000 bushels of wheat in one elevator and 200,000 bushels in another; $675,000. Armour & Co. —100,000 bushels of corn; $76,000. Union Elevator—Owned and operated by Armour A Co., south of the dock freighthouse; loss on grain caused by and water, $50,000. Dock freighthouse, belonging to Burlington, and contents; $200,000. One hundred loaded freight cars; loss, Including contents, $200,000. Two passenger v coaches, SIO,OOO. American Refrigerator and Transit Company, Fourteenth and State streets, cooling house and contents, $3,000. Total, $1,808,000. Put City In Terror. v A colossal wall of flame, hundreds of feet long and more than 2QO feet high, capped by an enoromus pall of smoke, warned the whole city of the fire, and brought terror to thousands of hearts. This terror was increased when the high wind from the Southwest carried flaming brands for half a mile and more and started scores of biases remote from the main fire. In this feature of the fire lay the chief danger, and it was only by the most desperate efforts of the Fire Department that the loop district was saved from flames. The heat was terlfllc, box cars and small buildings hundreds of feet from the fire bursting suddenly into flames as if by spontaneous combustion.

Whole companies of firemen were prostrated at a time and the slightest change in the direction of the wind would have wiped out scores of the valiant fire fighters.. The men, drenching thetnselves In water, crawling with averted faces through tepid pools, carried their heavy load of hose through suffocating smoke and terrible heat close to the tottering walls of the burning buildings. Flames Spread Rapidly. Within an hour after the fire started the whole railroad yards to the north of the freighthouse and elevators were in flames. The yards are half a mile long and a qftarter of a mile wide, and the southwest wind carried volumes of smoke and flaming cinders over them, setting fire to box cars, passenger coaches, piles of rubbish, the plank L roadways, between the tracks, and the roadbed ties. From Sixteenth street to the Twelfth street 'viaduct the yards were %n flames, and even the sidewalks of the viaduct were burning in places. / For a time it looked as if the whole yards would go, but a shift of the wind to the west carried the smoke and cinders 14 another

direction and enabled the firemen and railroad employes to make headway In their fight. The west wind, however, carried showers of sparks over the river to the East, setting fire to several freighthouses and two scores of cars in the yards between Clark and State streets and keeping several companies busy extinguishing incipient biases along State street, Wabash avenue and Michigan avenue, from Polk to Sixteenth street. The Fatal Cigarette. The fire began with explosions in the freighthouse, supposed to have been caused by the throwing of lighted cigarettes among the chemicals destined for a powder factory, and for over an hour terlfllc explosions shook the ground every minute. . The freighthouse extended along a Blip several hundred feet back from the river, and as the floor of the dock burned through, the explosions affected the water in a remarkable manner. At each explosion, and sometimes they followed each other so rapidly that it was impossible to count them, the water along the dock shot up in the air as if submarine mines had been exploded in the slip.

The spread of the flames through the whole length of the freight house was almost instantaneous, and their fierceness, aided by the inability of the first companies on the scene to get water, left the great building a heap of smouldering ruins within an hour. Gi%in Burned fiercely. For several hours the freight house was a steaming mass of debris. The towering elevators, with their hundreds of thousands of bushels of wheat and corn, burned fiercely. They adjoined the freight the north, and each was several hundred feet long. At times from the ground to their lofty cupolas, over 200 feet in the air, and throughout their entire length, they were so enveloped in flames that the walls could not be seen. An example of the terrific heat engendered by the burning freight house and elevators was seen when a tool house, located 100 yards from the fire, broke suddenly into flames, apparently by spontaneous combustion. It was burning from floor to roof in an instant, and in of a deluge of water, instantly turned upon it, was destroyed. Train Service Blocked. Train service on the Pennsylvania, Burlington, Rock Island and Chicago and Alton lines was impeded and all trains entering the Union Station were forced to make detours. Street car traffic, also, was held up for blocks from the fire. The Erie freight house and the recently constructed Wabash freight hpuse, on the east side of the river, caught fire repeatedly in spite of the fact that they were drenched with water by a bucket brigade of clerks and other employes. All of the freight cars in the Rock Island tracks opposite the fire were hauled to places of safety, but on the other side of Clark street in the rfads of the Wabash, Santa Fe and «stern Illinois there were too mlny cars for this to be done. As a result four engine companies, two truck companies and two chemical companies, under command of Assistant Chief Egan, were kept busy extinguishing fires. Thirty fires' started in this territory during the same period on roofß and awnings and in back yards along State street. Wabash avenue and Michigan avenue. The most serious of these fires was that which attacked, the cooling house of the American Refrigerating and Transit Company, on Fourteenth street, near State. The whole Toof was burned off the building, which was filled with butter and eggs, but owing to tfce wa-ter-proof floors they were not injured. The loss on the building was about $3,000. A car, No. 72,461, loaded with powder coil, caused a great dear of trouble in the Wabash yards. It caught fire twice, and was then hauled to a place of safety. Destruction Complete. Of the two elevators that were destroyed, Elevator E, which was the north one, contained SIOO,OOO worth of wheat and SIOO,OOO worth of corn. The other one, F. was filled almost to its capacity with wheft. Both of them and their contents were destroyed. The freight house • which was destroyed Was valued by the Burlington authorities at $60,000, but no exact estimate could be given as to Abe value of its contents or that of the numerous freight care consumed by the flames. Two large freight-

Continued on Page 4.

RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, IOOS.

TO BUILD TO GARY

Gifford Railroad To Be Extended to New City. WORK ON ROAD TO BEGIN AT ONGE Gary IS Only 20 Miles Away, and Most of This Distance Will Be Completed Yet This Fall. The annual meeting of the stockholders of the Chicago and Wabash Valley Railroad dompany was held at Kersey, Ind., last Thursday and the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President, B. J. Gifford, Kankakee, Ill.; VicePresident, C. W. Hotchkiss, Chicago; Secretary and E. Halsey, Kankakee, Ill.; Supt. and Gen. Mgr., F. E. Lewis, Kersey, Ind.; Chief Engineer, C. J. Hobbs, Kersey, Ind.; Directors, B. J. Gifford, C. J. Hobbs, F. E. Lewis, Hon. Oscar Dinwiddle, Mrs. B. J. Gifford, Julius Weinstein, Mis. J. W. Hutchinson, Miss May Gifford, M. J. Brown, J. W. Belshaw, C. E. Kersey, Thomas M. Callahan and C. W. Hotchkiss. At this meeting there was also formed a new company to build the ‘road on to Gary, Ind., a distance of about twenty miles. The new company is to be known as me Dinwiddle & Gary R. R. Co., and has a capital stock of $50,A00. The new company is composed of the same stockholders as above, and the officers elected were B, J. Gifford, Pres.; J. W. Belshaw, a Lowell attorney, Vice-Pres; F. E. Lewis, Sec.; Mrs. Schooley, Treas. • Work on the extension will begin at once, and it is expected to finish it to the Pennsylvania line that runs through Crown Point, by January* There are now forty-one miles, of track complete and in operation. The distance to Gary from where thh track is now laid is about twenty miles, and starting at the north end of the Henry Zander road, takes an air line course, leaving Crown Point to the east abouP a mile ami "a half. The Auditing board reports the road doing a profitable business the past year and that the company is now so financed that it aan be pushed to completion. The stockholders took a trip over the line from Kersey to the southern terminus at McCoysburg, then back to Newland, where a stop was made and the officers of the new road were elected.

JOHN L. SMITH DIES SUDDENLY.

Prominent Marion Tp. Farmer Drops Dead Sunday Morning. Vjohn L. Smith, a prominent farmcy residing, northeast of town about two miles, died suddenly Sunday morning at about 5 o’clock. Being Sunday morning the folks did not get up as early as week days, and Mr. Smith told his wife to lie abed a little longer while he would get up and do the milking. He raised up on his elbow to arise, when he suddenly fell back on the bed with an exclamation of pain. Mrs. Smith seeing that something serious was wrong, got out of bed immediately and called to the hired hand, but in a moment he had breathed his last. A doctor was summoned from town but he had been dead some time before his arrival. V The doctor made an examination of the body, and found all the organs in fairly good shape. Smith had doctored some through the winter and a slight flutter .of the heart was observed when he was recently examined for life insurance, but the doctor thought it was nothing serious, although he reported it to the insurance company, and said he thought he would live out the allotted span. The doctor’s certificate of his death says “Cause of death unknown,” although it is generally believed to have been heart disease. Mr. Smith was born in Louisville, Ky., July 12, 1854, and was therefore 54 years of age at the time of his death. He has resided iff this county for twenty years or more. A widow and one son, Roy B. Smith, operator on ,the P. Ft. W. ft C. Ry., at Hebron. He was a respected member of the I. O. O. F. and K. of P. lodges and a mighty good man. The funeral is to be held to-day at 10:30 a. m., from the Christian church, conducted by Rev. J. L. Brady, and interment be made in Weston cemetery..

BITTEN BY RATTLESNAKE.

The 14-year-old son of J. P. Hill of Union tp., near Trustee Davisson’s, was bitten on the ankle by a rattlesnake Monday about 9 a. m., while near a dredge ditch back of their house, and is having quite a serious time of it. His folks were away at the time and did not get home until 3:30 p. / m„ therefore nothing was done for him all thig, time. The doctor was 'phoned to at once on his folks, getting home and he told them what to do for the boy. Yesterday morning he was reported in a pretty had condition with the foot b*dly swollen, but it was thought he would recover.

EUGENE DILLY WINDERS AWAY AGAIN.

The Democrat is in receipt of a .letter from Mrs. Eugene DUly of Trafalgar, Ind., asking us if we know anything of the whereabouts of her husband in. this vicinity, where he formerly lived. He was last heard from July 25, at Yeoman, Carroll county. As he formerly lived here and taught school in Jasper county, Mrs. Dilly thought he might have come here. He has had spells of not being just right, and once before, a few years ago, was found wandering about in this county and taken back home. His family are very jmeasy as he is a man of quiet, steady habits, does not drink, in fact has no bad hadits, and something is wrong. They fear he is sick or has been overcome with heat as he had not been feeling well for some time. He is 39 years of age, sft. 8% in. high, weighs about 160 lbs., blue eyes, black ha r, dark moustache, dressed in peeked brown coat and>vest with pants of darker brown, black stiff hat, patent leather shoes with tan tops. Carries watch chain. of pearl bars linked with gold, moonstone charm. Wore K. of P. pin also. He was working for a Chicago company and was supposed to be looking at a piece of land at Yeoman. Should have reported at Chicago July 27th. If anyone can give any information let them telephone to F. M. Parker, Rensselaer, Ind., and relieve an anxious family.

FUNERAL OF JOHN YATES.

The funeral of John Yates, the young man who was run over and so fearfully mangled and killed by the south-bound Louisville train at 11:04 Thursday night, was held at 6:30 Saturday evening from the house, the hour having been dhanged at the suggestion of the undertaker from 5 p. m., which had originally been set and was published in The Democrat, the change being made after The Democrat went to press. The funeral was largely attended, yobably four hundred people following the remains to the cemetery, including the local milita company, of which the boy was a member. The floral offerings were very profuse, the grave being litterally banked with flowers. There are no new developements in particular as to just how the boy met bis death, but it was brought out at the coroner’s inquest Monday, in the testimony of E. Peacock, who was on the mail car of the 11:04 train that night, that a special 60foot mail car was on that night which is built differently from most of these mail cars. Its end doors had a round jam, there Is no platform and nothing for one to hold to except the door knob. He thought he heard a scream about where the boy is supposed to have been first struck, and a slight jolt of the car, although no particular attention was paid to it at the time. He thinks, as do most people now, that John had climbed upon the train when it stoppad intending to ride the “blind baggage” to Monon or Lafayette. He found liltLe to hang onto, and when the train struck the switch he was thrown down between the care.

The verdict will be accidental death. .John was somewhat younger than generally supposed, being but 18 years, 1 month and 1 day old at the time of his tragic death. While sffinVwhat wild and reckless he had a great big heart and was generaly liked by aIL His parents and relatives have the sympathy of the community in' their great sorrow.

CATTLE WANTED. We have room for fifty cattle and some horses, on blue grass pasture, plenty of water and shade. Phone 527-B. w J. W. STOCKTON. —-s* Read The Democrat for news.

THE COURT HOUSE

Items Picked Up About the County Capitol. was pension day for the old “vets” drawing pension through the Indianapolis agency. Ten marriage licenses were issued last month, against five for the month previous and five for July, 1907. Weeds ant) grass along the highways should be cut by adjacent property owners before August 20 to comply with the law. Auditor Leatherman accompanied his wife and adopted daughter to Indianapolis Saturday evening where the two latter will visit a few days with Mr. Leatherman’s sister. He returned Monday morning to be in attendance at the meeting of the county council and board of commissioners. New suits filed: No. 7345. Geo. J. Kerns vs. Joseph A. Richardson; suit to foreclose chattel mortgage. Demand S6O. No. 7346. Rudolph J. Schwab vs. Duluth-Indiana Oil and Asphalt Company; action to foreclose mortgage on Jasper county “oil” lands. Demand $30,000. The county council met Monday in special session, with all members present, and made the following additional appropriations: - P W Clarke, rep&irs clock, *07..) 3.60 Ind. Child. Rec. Home 31.50 Lee Strong, labor Keener g. r. 1907 3.76 C Gllnlore, same.. 2.25 Chas. Lokotske, same 7.50 J A Hannaway, same 7.50 Luther Frame, same 4.50 W H Cheadle, Trus. R. L. g. r. 1907 92.33 Co. assmt. Evers ditch 34.00 Same, Norman ditch 40.00 Same, May ditch 34.65 Epileptic cases 75.00 Removal bridges In Rensselaer... .792.00 Sup. poor children ih school 40.00 Poor farm heating plant (add)....662.57

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS’ DOINGS

Contracts Awarded for Removal of River Bridges and Heating System at Poor Farm. Following is a report of the proceedings of the .county commissioners up to the hour of our going to press. It was expected to close up the business of the term yesterday: There was allowed $2,661.82 on the Marion-Rensselaer stone roads; $994.49 on the Carpenter-Remington stone roads, and V ,426.08 on the Iroquois ditch. The auditor was directed to notify the engineer to report to the commissioners on first day of September term the correct amount of stone not yet removed from river on the Gangloff land. Bids for a heating system at the poor asylum and sujterintendent’s residence were as follows, the first column being for the two and the second column the asylum alone: Layne-Pyke Co., Las. $1,832.00 $1,267.00 Wallace Bros., Las... 2,000.00 1,497.00 Rhoades & Son. Rens. 1,899.85 1,403.83 A E Werkhoff, Laf..‘. 1,888.00 1,327.00“ Warner Bros., Rens... 1,773.73 1,302.28 JerUe & Sones, Chi. H. 1,865.00 1V355.00 Contract awarded to Warner Bros, of Rensselaer at $1,773.73 for the two buildings. It is to be the hot water system. Contract for removing and replacing the Washington street and College street or creamery bridge was let to Jirtle & Sones of Chicago Heights, 111., at $792 for the two. They are to remove the Washington street bridge within ten days from the awarding of contract and to remove the creamery bridge in time to be out of way of dredge. Other bids for this work were:

Winamac Bridge Co $1,789.00 Sternberg & Rutherford, Rens... 895.00 E. G. Warren, Rensselaer 1,733.22 The report of interest on public funds in the various county depositories for the month of July was as follows: Jasper S. & T. Co., Rensselaer... .$80.49 First National, Rensselaer 89.48 State Bank, Rensselaer.-.—.... 83.16 First National. Remington 46.13 Bank of Wheatfleld 12.83 Total Bids for 350 tons of coal for court house and poor farm f. o. b. Rensselaer, were: Shirley Hill Coal Co., Indianapolis— Linton No. 4. 1% in. 1ump...•....52.15 <■ “ mine run..... 1.96 Coen & Brady, Rensselaer — West Virginia Smokeless 3.75 Contract not awarded' at time of going to press, j The Nissius ditch trial, in which A 1 May was the contractor and

wherein protest has been made against payment to contractor on the ground that the ditch is not completed, was Up for hearing before the board as we go to press.

BAND PROGRAM—SPECIAL! Thursday evening, August 6. March Excelsis Waltz j,.-. Minerva Two Step Man of the Hour Indian War Song, war whoops.... Napanee Selection . Bohemian Girl Song, band accomp Stingy March . Gloria Waltz Song, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Song, . band accom p Smarty Closing March New Annapolis The songs on this program will be sung by Messrs. Ross Benjamin, John Morgan, Harry Eger and Carl Duvall, with band accompaniment. The next band program feature will be Old Soldiers’ night, August 13th.

RIDE 30 MILES FOR FIVE CENTS. The operating agreement between the Calumet and South Chicago City Railway Company and the Chicago City Railway Company will go into effect tomorrow and patrons of the South Chicago system north of Sev-enty-ninth street will have advantage of a 5-cent fare to any part of the city traversed by the Chicago City Company’s lines. By means of the new arrangement, passengers can travel on the surface cars from Howard avenue, the northern city limits, to Manhattan Beach and Seventy-ninth street for a 5-cent fare, making a distance of nearly thirty miles for one fare. This distance, it is said, is the longest ride In the world for the same fare. — Lake County Times. .

TRAIN SCHEDULE FOR PURDUE EXCURSION. Following is the special train schedule and round trip fare for the excursion to Purdue University experiment farm, Thursday, August 6 th: Lv. St. John 7:35 a.m. $1.50 “ Cedar Lake 7:50 “ 1.50 “ Creston 7:66 “ 1.50 “ Lowell B:Q6 “ 1.50 “ Shelby 8:20 “ 1.25 “ Thayer 8:24 “ 1.25 “ Rose Lawn..........8:32 “ 1.25 “ Fair Oaks ....8:43 “ 1.25 “ Parr 8:47 “ V*s “ Surrey 8:52 “ 1.25 ““ Rensselaer 9:01 “ 1.00 “ Pleasant Ridge..... .9:08 “ 1.00 “ McCoysburg ...... 1. 9:13 “ 1.00 Ar. Lafayette 10:30 “

CHICAGO EXCURSION TRAIN SCHEDULE. Following is the special train schedule and round trip fares for stations north of Monon for the Chicago excursion next Sunday: Monon ".... .'i 8:20 a.m. $1.25 Lee .....8:30 “ 1.25 f McCoysburg 8:35 “ 1.25 s Pleasant Ridge 8:40 “ 1.25 Rensselaer 8:48 *' 1.25 Surrey Parr ..9:02 “ 1.15 Fair Oaks Rose , 9:20 " 1.00 Thayer ~ .9:25 “ 1.00 Shelby : '. 9:28 “ .95 Lowell 9:42 “ .90 Arr. Chicago 11:30 “ .... The train gvill stop at Cedar Lake in both directions. The special attraction at Chicago, besides the parks, is a baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and New York. Returning special train will leave Chicago at 11:30 p. m.

NINE CENTS A POUND FOR HENS THIS WEEK.

And it is not because you have contracted your hens to strangers, who pay none of your taxes, and wtyo you do not know. Doubtless you well know. that hens have advanced 2 cents a pound in the last ten days in the Chicago market, as they always do when harvest is at hand, and your home merchants do not try as hard to get the goods at this time, as they do not want to bother you when you are busy. As ever your friend, B. S. FEItfDIG.

CHEAP RATES ON MONON *- $8.25 round trip to Toledo, O* August 28 to 31. Limit Sept. I*. On account of G. A. R. Encampment. A special train will be run over the Monon to Lafayette on August 6th on account of Lake and Jasper county day at Purdue. It will pass Shelby at 8:20 a. m., Fair Oaks at 8:43 a. m. and Rensselaer at 9:01 a. m. Fare for the round trip Shelby t 6 Surrey, $1.26; from Rensselaer to McCoysburg, SI.OO. Returning, train will leave Lafayette at 6:00 p. m. This train will stop at all stations between Shelby and McCoysburg. W. H. BEAM,

Vol. XI. No. 28.