Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1910 — Page 1

Jasper County Democrat.

11.50 Per Tear.

ROBERT PARKER IS PAROLED.

Former Remington Banker Released Saturday From Pen. HAD SERVED ONLY TWO YEARS > When Released By the Board of Parole Last Saturday—Action of Board Comes As Surprise, As It Was Thought He Would Have to Serve at Least Half of Maximum Sentence of 14 Years.

bpard on last Saturday released Robert Parker, the former Remington banker, whose bank closed its doors in December 1907, and he is now said to be with his wife and two of his three daughters at Berkley, Cali.'Another daughter- and his only son are living at St. Louis, and he is perhaps visiting them a few day . before going to California. V In . view of the facvthat Tom McCoy had to serve his maximum sentence of three years —all the law permitted at that time—it was felt that Mr. Parker would at least’ have to serve half of his maximum time of fourteen years, and his release comes as a great surprise to everyone, except possibly his attorneys, Mr. F.oltz of Rensselaer and Palmer and Sellers of Monticello, who have Worked quietly for his release for some time, it is now reported. The Bank of Remington, of which Mr. Parker was the sole owner, did a large business at that place, and when it was forced to close its doors in the late fall of 1907 by reason of withdrawals of many depositors who had become shaky of its cdndition, it still had almost' a half million dollars in deposits —or its . books showed that it should have had, rather. As a matter of fact it had very little cash and only a few assets other than a lot of paner, bad notes and ..oil and mining stocks. Its affairs were in a fearfully bad condition .and it has paid only 20 per cent so far, with a possibility of perhaps 5 per cent more in the end. Mr. Parker had enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the pople’of that locality to the utmost. An ardent church man and Sunday school superintendent,. the head of the Fountain Park Assembly of Remington, a man of no bad habits and strictly moral and most economical in his family affairs, he was often pointed to as “a model banker,” and the victims were many, from the prattling babes whose savings banks had been emptied in the .bank’s savings department, to the old and infirm who had placed all their money in the bank and' expected the principal and interest to provide for their few remaining year?. The crash was most stunning. It was discovered that the bank had been insolvent for vears and the true condition artfully kept from the public and the state department. In due course of time Mr. Parker was indicted, and the cases set down for trial. On the advice of his attorneys he plead guilty to all the indictments on April 22, 1908, and was taken at once to Michigan City to begin his sentence of two to fourteen years. And now, after having served but two years of the maximum time, he is turned loose a free man with all old scores wiped off the slate and no chance to get any more indictments against him if any of the bank victims were disposed to further punish him. i • The failureof the Parker bank was primarily due, no doubt,. to bad loans, but after a time all sorts of tricks and devices, were ,used to. keep things moving, and wildcat investments only hastened the end. It is not lively that _ the wreck, though some think otherwise. He is now some 63 years‘of age and his; children will

take- care of him if necessary. His wife and crippled daughter are with their second daughter, Mrs. Hartley Church, at Berkley, Cali., and it i? possible they will make that city their home. The total amount lost by depositors in the Parker bank by the deluded: depositors was x in the neighborhood of $300,000 and many of these depositors are still quite bitter against the bank’s head. The fact that the poor devil who wrongly takes a pair of shoes or sack of flour or a slab .of bacon to his starving family gets short shrift to prison and for a longer term than the man who gets away with thousands of dollars, and that the former generally has to serve full sentence while the latter gets out in a very brief time, shows very plainly that there is still something very much out of joint with our law’s application. The parole of Mr. Parker will not meet with very hearty approval in this section of the state. <

WISHES NEW MONON STATION.

Hammond has tired of the Monon railway station at that place and, through the Hammond Commercial .Club, has asked the railroad commission to take a look at the antiquated structure and order the road to construct a new one. The station, to which the objections were filed, was built a great many years ago, and is in a sad state of repair, according to the complaint, in addition to not being in keeping with the general up-to-dateness of the city. Gary, East Chicago, Whiting, and other Lake county cities and towns boast new stations of their own, while having much fun at the expense of the old station at Hammond. One of the commissioners will go to. Hammond to look into the cause of the complaint.

MONON SECTION GANGS GO ON STRIKE.

Most of' the Monon’s section gangs .between Hammond and Indianapolis are out on a strike. They demand $1.75 per day of 10 hours instead of $1.45 which they are now getting. About 40 men were called to Water Valley Tues’day morning to lay a siding at that place, and at 1U o’clock the men quit work, all except Ira Norris’ gang of this place, who are standing pat. Norris is foreman of the section working north out of Rensselaer, and said he was working for some big gun on the road. The Company has offered the” men 10 per cent increase, or $1.55, but $1.75 a day before they commence work again. Later —All of- .the men went back to work Thursday morning on ■ tli£ ten per cent increase, with a possibility of more soon.

CO. SUPERINTENDENTS.

Educators of Three Congressional Districts Form Permanent Organization.

Knox, Ind., May 5. —The county superintendents of the Tenth, Twelfth and Thirteenth congressional districts meU here to-day to perfect a permanent organization. The meeting was called to order by temporary chairman Henry J. Reid, of White county. E. E. Rodgers, of Starke county, delivered the address of welcome. Henry J. Reid was chosen permanent chairman,. H.. L. Rodgers secretary and Louis Steinebach treasurer. A round table discussion on practical subjects occupied the greater part of the time. The superintendents ...present are F. H. Heighway, Lake county; A. 11. Farnum, Laporte county; Ralph Longfield, St. Joseph county; A. E. Weaver, county; E. B- Sarbet, Kosciusko county;. A. R. Fleck, Whitley county ; Louis Steinebach, Marshall county; E, E. Rodgers, Starke; Henry J. Reid, White county ; H. L. Rodgers, Pulaski county; Ernest Lamson, Jasper county. It was decided to hold the next meeting of the association at Warsaw on September 21. , ■ '

Kuppenheimer clothing positively the best, no better fitting garments made: good enough for us and good enough for you. .Come in and let us show you.—

Rowles & Parker.

THE TWICE=A=WEEK

RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1010.

THE COURT HOUSE

Items Picked Up About the County Capitol. The May term of the Newton circuit court will convene Monday. j ' Ex-Sheriff O’Connor was down from Kniman yesterday on court business. Felix R. Erwin, democratic nominee for clerk of the Jasper circuit court, was, down from Fair Oaks on business Thursday. 'State-Senator-County-Attorney Halleck heard all the evidence in the Bader trial and then signed the petition to the Governor for his parole, it seems. —o — No, the Governor had nothing ■to do with the parole of Robert Parker. The board of parole are the whole thing in such matters, and the Governor does not even have to approve their acts. Marriage licenses issued: May 4, Charles H. Thompson, son of Hiram Thompson, deceased, of Demotte, aged 66 years, occupation laborer, to Rosa V. Stell, daughter of Lewis Williams, deceased, also of Demotte, aged 54, occupation housekeeper. Second marriage for each, male’s first wife dying July, 1907; female’s first husband dying July 6, 1908. Wallace Marshall, president of the Lafayette Engineering Co., principally on whose the recent conviction for bridge graft was made in this county, was summoned here Thursday to again testify before the grand jury, presumably as to the amount of the bid of the Winamac Bridge Co., on the Milroy tp. bridge, as read off when said # bids were opened. • — o — grand jury resumed operations Thursday morning. On account of sickness in his family Prosecutor Longwell was unable to return, and deputized FrankDavis of Brook to take his place in conducting the inquiries being made. The county commissioners were before the grand jury Thursday. At this writing no indictments have been returned and nothing is known of what will be done. The grand jury will adjourn to-day. New suits filed: No. 7606. Eliza J. Ring vs. Timothy Ring; action for divorce. The plaintiff alleges that she resides in Walker tp.; she and defendant were married , 18—, and lived together until on or about , 1906, when at Lafayette, Ind., defendant wholly abandoned plaintiff and they have since lived apart; that defendant has failed to -make any provision for her support and for more than five years has been an habitual drunkard. o Following is a report of the proceedings of the board of commissioners for the May term: Notice ordered given for letting contract on first day next term for a new bridge in Jordan tp. Contractors on Ott stone roads in Carpenter tp., allowed $4Bl. Bond of C. J. Hobbs as engineer of the Tunis Snip stone roads in Keenfet tp., approved. -• W. W. Sage ditch; final report approved and superintendent discharged. Time extended to second day June term for commissioners to file report in Tilden J. Prouty ditch. Time extended in E. C. Maxwell ditch to May 20. Win. M, Hoover ditch; cause docketed. • Thomas Davis ditch; remonstrances filed by B. j. Gifford, C. L. Hensler, R. D. Thompson, Max Baum, E. Heilscher, A. H. Hopkins, Wm. Heilscher, Mary K. Kroeger, James Smith, Edward Reed, fMargaret Springer, F. Ei Schroer, John Schroer, S. .A. Williams, trustee of Barkley tp., James Knight, S. T. & J. C. Frazee, J. C. Frazee and Frank Kresler. .:y' Notice ordered for letting contract for poor farm supplies on first day June term. ——— Interest on county, funds for the month of April was . reported as fob lows:

First Nat. Bk., Rensselaer ..$ 104.72 State Bank, Rensselaer. .. . 53.62 Trust & Savings Bank, Rens. 47.84 State Bank, Remington.... 35.84 Report from Bank of Wheatfield not received. This is the last week of the April term of court, which will end to-day, and there will be no more court until the second Monday in September. Following is a report of the proceedings since, our last issue: _ A. C. Pancoast ditch; remonstrator Stockton files affidavit for change of venue from the court, which is granted and court submits names of James Wason, James Saunderson and H. H. Vinton. By agreement Judge Wasson is selected to try said case. Cecil Clyde Randle ditch; court finds petition is not according to law and certain specifications made by the court governing commissioners in filing reports, and the same is now referred back to commissioers with orders to separate assessments as to main and latteral ditch, also to reconsider route and location of ditch. C. I. & L. Ry. Co., objects to the court receiving or considering said application; objection overruled, and 30 days given for filing bill of exceptions. Robert C. May ditch; no remonstrance, assessments confirmed and Geo. 11, May appointed superintendent. A. Halleck allowed $52.80 attorney fee, R. A. Mannan alowed $3’7.40; Wilson Shaffer $39, John Fry $33; Lewis Alter $3.00; J. S. Chamberlain $1.50, Christmas Alter $1.50, Mrs. A. Halleck $3.00. . Charles Meadel ditch; set for hearing May 7. John Cooper., et al. vs. Francis M. Cooper, et al; commissioners report inadvisability of partition of land without injury, sale ordered, J. F. Irwin appointed commissioner to sell; R. D. Thompson and R. B. Harris appointed appraisers; sale 1-3 cash, 1-3 nine months, 1-3 eighteen months, subject to SBOO school fund mortgage. Joseph I. Burns vs. Sarah E. Burns; divorce granted plaintiff. Carson Vandusen vs. Laura May Vandusen; divorce granted and plaintiff given custody of child.

THE OTHER SIDE.

In reference to the little difficulty which occurred Monday between James' Wiseman and Al Witham, I wish to .state that the wooden mail box had been removed almost a week before this occurrecteand a good, substantial tin box, although not a, government box, was put in its place, which Witham refused to put mail into after serving it several days. Mr. Wiseman thought he aught to serve this box, and in the conversation \yitham was the one that got hot under the collar and struck Wiseman, and in his hurry to get away, broke the glass in the door himself. xx

CHRISTIAN CHURCH SERVICES.

The subjefct of the Sunday morning sermon is, “The Joy of Christian Optimism.” This service is intended to brighten the lives of the discouraged. Divine Ownership is the subject of the evening sermon. “Come thou with us and we will do thee good.” *

METHODIST CHURCH.

Subject for Trinity 'M. E. church. Morning, “The Pay Day.” Evening, “The Choice of Moses.” The. Methodist Brotherhood meets at the church May 10, 6:30 p. m. They entertain their wives.and lady friends. A can. of Van Camps sauerkraut 9c at .the Home Grocery. AU styles Oxfords and Pumps for men, women and children at Fendig’s Exclusive Shoe Store, Opera House Block. > ■ ! " ** " - *'***’ Buy a Kuppenheimer suit here; better goods,' better made and bester fitting than made to measure clothes at 1-3 more.— Rowles & Parker. Souvenir 'envelopes of Rensselaer on sale at The Democrat office at 10 cents per package of 25. By the single hundred, with return card printed in the corner, 75c. A proportionate reduction in larger lots.

We take pleasure in fitting shoes to feet that are hard to fit. Shoe fitting is our specialty.— Fendig’s Exclusive Shoe Store, Opera House Block. '<

WHO CHANGED BRIDGE BIO?

Was Did Raised From $1,240 to $1,400, as Alleged?

WHO TAMPERED WITH PAPERS

Before They Reached the County Auditor, After Being Opened and Read By the Commissioners Is a Problem for the People to Figure Out—Commissioners Say It Was Read Off $1,400, But Others Present Say Differently.

Were the figures in the bid of I the Winamac Bridge Co., changed from $1,240 to $1,400 on the Milroy township bridge, on which C. L. Bader, superintendent and general manager of said company was recentlyj, convicted for grafting, between the time said bid was opened and read off by the commissioners at the March meeting and the time the papers reached the auditor ithat evening? I If so, who did the changing? ■ The papers were in the hands of' the commissioners all afternoon, and a raise of $l6O in the price of the low bidder, it would seem, could scarcely pass unnoticed.

There were five bidders on this particular bridge, and Mr. Marshall of the Lafayette Bridge Co., who was the next lowest bidder, is positive it was read off $1,240, and so put it down in a book which he kept for recording bids when attending lettings. All the other representatives, of bridge companies attending this letting confirm his statement in this regard, we understand, and it is reported that two of them have made affidavit to that effect, while the others said they didn’t care to make affidavit but would so testify if necessary if 'a trial were had. , • | 'Die bids of the various comi panics represented at this particular letting, which was for a 70-foot span, 16-foot roadway I bridge, were as follows as now ■shown by the county records: Attica Bridge C 0.,.. .$1,583 Rochester Bridge Co., 1,649 Elkhart Bridge C 0.,. . 1,545 Lafayette Eng. C 0.,.. 1,469 Winamac Bridge Co. .1,400

The bid of the Winamac company, it will be seen, if $1,240 when made, was $229 lower thap that of the Lafayette Engineering Co.—usually called the Lafayette Bridge Co.—represented by Mr. Marshall, who is its head. The latter says that he came here in person to this letting to learn why it was his company was always underbid here, even when they bid down to cost, and on his price of $1,469 he bid at exactly cost —if he had good luck all the way through, no extra expense in any way, good weather and everything went smoothly, he would have come out just even. His figures as taken down on the day of the letting correspond with all the other bids as shown by the bids now filed away and as entered on the records, except as to the Winamac company’s bid, which now shows $1,400 instead of $1,240, or $69 less than Mr. Marshall’s bid instead of $229 less!

The blank used by the ’ Winamac company jy making its bid was written out in ink all the way through except the price, which is in -figures and written in pencil. It now reads $1,400, but it is reported' that if examined closely there is some evidence of these figures having been changed from $1,240 to $1,400. This is not so hard to do and escape ordinary detectionaS one might think. Let the. reader put down the figures $1,240 in pencil on a piece of paper and then make a 4 out of the 2 and a cipher out of the four, erasing the erbok on top of the 2 and the center part of the 4. Not "very difficult, is it? The question is; if' this was done, how could it have been done without a few people

it, and who were those people? If it was- changed there must have been a conspiracy to rob Jasper county. Also, if this bid was changed, Was it the first time anything' of the kind was done here ? - ‘ ”

GOVERNOR’S DEFENSE

In Paroling Winamac Bridge Grafter Without Any Investigation On His Part. W • 11. Blodgett, the well known traveling correspondent for the Indianapolis News, was in Rensselaer Tuesday afternoon and W ednesday forenoon securing material for an article for his paper on the bridge graft conviction in this county, which appeared in Thursday’s News. Mr. Blodgett interviewed Judge Hanley, Sheriff Shircr, County Attorney I lalleck and probably several others, hut there is not much in his article except what had already been told by Ihe Democrat ....

Ile does; however, refer to the alleged raising of the bid of the Winamac Bridge Co., from $1,240 to $1,400, on the Milroy tp., bridge in question, which matter, it is reported has been placed before the grand jury for its consideration. What induced Governor Marshall to interfere with the law’s course in this particular case ha 4 )een a mystery to the people of this vicinity, and Blodgett’s article caused the News to make an investigation at that end of the line which will be ,of interest to our readers, and we copy it in full:

The records in the office of the secretary of state in the case of Clinton L. Bader, of the Winamac Bridge Company, show that Bader was paroled by Governor Marshall March 18, after he had been convicted in the Jasper circuit court for presenting an alleged false claim for bridge construction work in the county in which ho was convicted. The parole, it is shown, followed the return of a verdict of guilty by the jury. In writing ‘the parole, the following conditions were imposed by the chief executive: The parole period was th end with the decision from the supreme court on an appeal from th'c lower trial court; in the event the higher court sustained the lower the term of Bader’s incarceration in state’s prison should begin from the time he enters tlie prison after the decision of the higher tribunal; bond pending the decision of the higher court was fixed at $2,000; thirty days from the issue of the parole was given Bader in which to appeal to the higher court. The two latter conditions of the parole have been complied with. Bond was given at once, it appears, and on April 15 Bader’s attorneys, filed the appeal with the clerk of the supreme court. The only communication direct from Bader to the found in the parole case records, ls> a short, note in which he thanked the executive, on behalf of himself and his family, for the clemency shown. After the parole was Issued and Bader was released on bond, the newspapers in Rensselaer, Remington and Winamac contained accounts of the action, and much bitterness, it appears, resulted because of the Governor’s action. On March 19, Dr. E. Besser, of Remington,* wrote to the Governor, inclosing a clipping from a Remington newspaper setting forth the fact that Bader had been released on the order of the Governor. Dr. Besser protested,” closing his letter by saying, ‘‘We want graft eliminated from contract work in the county.”

The Governor wrote at considerable length to Dr. Besser, his lettet running in full' as follows, under date of March 23: “I am extremely sorry if I mode a mistake in granting a parole to Clinton L. Bader. Facts must be understood, however, in regard to the effect of my parole: The supreme court of Indiana could not turn Bader loose because df a mere technicality. Indeed, It could not turn him loose at all. The only thing it could do jvcyild be to grant him a new trial on the ground that he did not receive a fair and impartial trial below. “The last general assembly passed a bill granting a man who took an appeal to the supreme court a parole, under bond, pending the determination of the appeal, and I would have signed it and mad? it become a law had it provided that in the event of the confirmation of the case by the suprejne court the punishment should begin at the time of the rendition of the judgment. “Representation was made to me that the judge of your court afi-

Continued on Fifth Page.

Vol. XIII. No. O.