Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1912 — INDIANA STATE NEWS. [ARTICLE]

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

GARY Harriet Thompson, a colored girl, eighteen - years old, was murdered at the jhome of’her brother-in-law, the Rev. ‘William""Steel. Steel, charged with having strangled the girl, is locked up at the Central Police station to await preliminary hearing. About 2 o’clock in the afternoon some person called up the police station and told the police that a girl had dropped dead at the number given. The police went to the Steel home and fourid the body lying on the floor near the stove. Coroner Smith was called, and, after an examination of the body, he declared that the woman had been strangled to death, the marks of fingers being distinctly visible upon her neck At the police station the colored minister collapsed and, lying on the floor of his cell, moaned, “I did not mean to do it.” SHELBYVILLE The trial of the Case in which Dr. Charles A. Rector, 714 North Alabama street, Indianapolis, is suing the ' Indianapolis Traction and Terminal company for .$5,000 on account of injuries he received Sept. 16, 1910, while trying to leave a Shelby street car at Maryland street and Virginia avenue, was begun in the superior court here. Dr. Rector alleges that his shoulder was dislocated and that he was perma-nently-crippled. He is an osteopath and his claim for damages is based mainly on the allegation that he is no longer able to practice his profession profitably on account of his physical condition. NEWCASTLE Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Charron, their infant child and a roomer, named Robert Brown, narrowly escaped death from poison. Physicians worked for several hours and finally got them beyond the danger zone. The poison is believed to have been on some mixed candy purchased at a local store and of which all partook freely, and becoming ill. Whether th.e‘poison got on the candy accidentally or"'"was placed there by some designing person is a matter that is being investigated. A pet cat ate several pieces of the candy and was also sick for several hours. All of the victims are still weak.

LAYETTE —; A few minutes before the doors were opened for the afternoon performances at the LaPurdette theater, vast quantities of smoke poured out from the vestibule of the playhouse and the Sixth and Main street corner was enveloped in a dense cloud. The Hotel Lahr was threatened and in adjoining stores preparations were made to move out The theater was gutted and George G. Ball, owner, estimated his loss at SI,BOO. The fire started in a dressing room east of she stage and it is presumed that a poorly insulated wire was the cause. BLOOMINGTON —Granny Hafferd, a colored woman, who was 104 years of age, is dead at her home in this city. She was born in Richmond, ,Va., and was sold seven times while in slavery, being owned by George Hafferd, near Monticello, Ky., when the war broke out. She came here soon after receiving her freedom and for years supported herself as a servant. She was the mother of 17 children, but ten of them were' sold before she was freed and she could never get any trace of them.

LAFAYETTE James O’Connell, who says his home is in the city of Chicago, stood chained to a post in the public square after he had refused to work with a street cleaning gang. He was sentenced for vagrancy O’Connell’s predicament won sympathy from fany persons and when he was taken back to jail donations amounting to $2 20 were found In his pockets. The prisoner told the jailer that he was worth more tied to a post than he was to the street cleaning department., WABASH William McCarthy and Ray Ogden were struck by an Erie freight train at Laketon and both injured, while their horse was killed. The occupants of the rig saw the approaching train, but thought they could safely cross ahead of it. McCarthy and Ogden were hurled a distance, and the former did not regain consciousness for several hours. Their hprse was carried 200 feet on the pilot of the engine. Both men may live. > ANDERSON— Mrs. Emma Chapman was bitten by a horse as she was passing along the sidewalk on Meridian street. The animal had been tied at the edge of the sidewalk to a weight It, when she had just passed, seized her arm between its teeth and refused to release its hold until help arrived. The arm was badly lacerated and it is feared that blood poisoning may ensue.

ANDERSON Bryant Fyre, who was accused of having been 1 an accomplice of Albert Walker in a number of daring burglaries in Elwood during the last six months, was acquitted of the charge by a jury in the circuit court. The only evidence against Fyre was the testmony of Walker.

SOUTH BEND —Although he tumbled from the roof of a two-story building, p. L. Kemp of this city, escaped injury, with the exception of a sprained wrist. He was cleaning a chimney when the accident happened, and his escape from fatal injury is considers* remarkable.