Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 August 1908 — REFORM SCHOOL BOYS ATTEMPT ESCAPE. [ARTICLE]

REFORM SCHOOL BOYS ATTEMPT ESCAPE.

Benton Review: The Fountain Park Assembly had a boy chorus from the Plainfield reform school last Sunday. There were 16 of them but the chance for liberty was too strong a temptation for two of them and they got away. One was captured at Wadena and one got as far as Barce Monday morning before they were recaptured. The guard and a “trusty” went with them from here back to the institution Monday, with the two boys handcuffed together. We suppose they were punished when they got back, but in our estimation the guard who had them on exhibition ought to get the punishment and let the boys a10ne..... George Weppler attended the exercises at Fountain Park last Monday and returned home in a single buggy with his brother and a neighbor. His companions noticed his silence, but supposed he had simply fallen asleep until reached home and found him dead. Coroner Comley was called to investigate,' and decided that the young man had died of heart failure. His remains were sent to his former home in Illinois, where his parents reside. He was 26 years old and highly respected by everyone who knew him.