Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1915 — Page 1

Jasper County Democrat.

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Well, There Were 76 of Us “Worse Than Rattlesnakes" Fellows.

The Rensselaer Republican is kindly referred to the subsidy election returns from our township, which shows that there was a majority of 19 whom it designates as ‘ too bad to put into the rattlesnake, or the hyena, or the scorpion, or the skunk,” and we 76 taxpayers and law-abiding citizens are proud to be classed as “knockers” by that sheet, although it is not pleasing to be abused for standing up. for one’s rights. Personal abuse, however, is the Republican’s stock in trade, and abuse from such a source is more to be desired than praise.—One of the Seventy-six.

Ford Automobile Turns Turtle.

The W. E. Jacks Ford automobile in which were Mr. Jacks’ son, Vilas, and daughter, Hazel, Harold Sage and Mort Lanham, was overturned Monday night south of St. Joseph college while the young folks were returning from town. The glass wind shield was broken and some minor parts bent and twisted. Miss Jacks was caught under the car but was released without suffering any severe injuries. The car was righted and driven to the Jacks’ home, southeast of town.

Sneak Thieves Enter Rensselaer Home.

M bile Mr. and Mrs. Ross Ramey were up town Tuesday evening, some one entered their home in the northwest part of town and thoroughly ransacked the house, securing sll in cash from a pair of Ross’ trousers hanging in the closet, some $5 or $6 from their baby’s bank, some jewlery, silverware, etc. No clew to the theft has been obtained although it is supposed to be the work of home talent.

“One Lungers" Supplanted by Twelve Cylinder Cars.

It is probable that there is occasionally an old “one lung” automobile still in use, as it has been but a comparatively few years since they were considered quite a car. They were followed in quick succession by the two and four cylinder cars, while last year brought forth the six and eight cylinders. Now two manufactures have, placed twelve cylinders bn the market, and there’s no telling where it will end.

Too Much Rainy Weather at Present.

More or less rain has fallen almost every day this week, and Thursday especially was quite cold. Considerable ram fell Thursday night and yesterday forenoon. As a consequence of the bad weather very few tourists went through Rensselaer for the Indianapolis automobile races which take place today unless the management should decide' to postpone them.

Mrs. Sarah Ann Fay Dead.

Mrs. Sarah Ann Fay, aged about 58 years, died at her home in Parr at 8 a. m., Thursday of consumption. She leaves four children, Ora and Mollie Fay, Mrs. Mary Marion and Mrs. Myrtle Spencer. The funeral will be held this, forenoon at the Brushwood church, services being conducted by Rev. Postill, am, burial made, in the Prater cemetery.

FREE.! FREE ! Returns from the races at FATE’S COLLEGE INN.

“RATTLESNAKES" OUT IN FORCE

Also a Great Day For the Men in Overalls. NEWTDNTP. VOTES 19AGAINST Proposition of Presenting $16,000 in Cold Cash to Promotor Brown —Republican Is Greatly Depressed Over Result. One of the dirtiest fights ever made in Jasper county in any special or regular election, it is said, was that in Newton township Wednesday to vote on the proposition of donating $16,000 to the so-called Lafayette & Northwestern Railroad Co., of which O. L. Brown, late of Terre Haute, later of Remington, but who now has his headquarters at Lafayette, is apparently the whole thing. Brown and his cohorts from Lafayette, White and northern Newton counties left no stone unturned to carry the election, having spent the past several days in the township and worked unceasingly on every voter there.

About a dozen of this crowd were working in the township on election day, and The Democrat is told that its editor and every other person who opposed the donation, was called every hard name this bunch could think of. Three automobiles were kept busy the day of the election. Notwithstanding all this, the prop osition was voted down by 76 to 57, or a clear majority of 19 against. Those opposed to the tax had said but little, but were determined to vote against it, and it was not until the afternoon of the election day, when they saw the sort of work being done against them by a bunch of non-residents of the township, that they warmed up and made a more determined fight against the proposition.

As the present law, which this crowd of subsidy hunters sought to evade by calling the election before the new law took effect, requires that all petitioners must be “voters and freeholders,” where the old law only required that they be resident freeholders, and that the number of petitioners to call such an election is now raised from 25 to 75 and the petitioners must also file a bond for the costs of the election, it will be a long, long time before Newton township taxpayers are again annoyed by a crowd of subsidy hunters. The victory, considering the great fight for the subsidy put up by the advocates thereof and the disreputable methods alleged to have been used in many instances, is a great one for the taxpayers of that township, and The Democrat congratulates them over the splendid result.

Now it may be of interest to the people of other townships and also to readers of The Democrat to know who voted for the proposition and who voted against it, from a taxpaying point. It is generally known how every voter £iood, and a prominent taxpayer of Newton tp., who has investigated the matter and did a little figuring, furnishes The Democrat with the following data: Of the 76 who voted against the proposition, 48 were freeholders and every one was a taxpayer. Of the—s 7 who voted for <he tax, !16 only were freeholders and pay; taxes of over $25 per year; 9 pay, i taxes. of from $lO ;o $"25, and- 32! ' pay less than this, most of them no ■ taxes at all. ' j The 57. voting for the tax would pay about $2,200 of the $15,8001 asked for, while the 76 voting : against it would have had to pay $13,600. Most of the hired hands in the township were lined up for the subsidy by the crowd of advocates for the tax, and a number of these, it is said, had not been assessed poll tax even, as they claimed to be nonresidents. Having voted, however, they are now liable to assessment there, and their names will be put on the tax, list. A few hired hands voted against the proposition from principle and not wishing to put a burden on the real taxpayers of the township. The latter certainly are to be commended for such action, and

THE TWICE-A-WEEK

RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, SATURDAY. MAY 29. 1915

their attitude in this matter could well be followed by the small taxpayers of other communities.

Will Hold Their Regular Summer Meeting Next Week. The meeting of the Indiana Democratic Editorial Association will hold their regular annual summer meeting this year on June 2,3, 4, 5. The editorial party and its guests will leave Indianapolis at noon on Wednesday, June 2, on special electric cars for South Bend, arriving there in time for a banquet and theatre party to be given them that evening. Thursday morning, June 3, an automobile ride will be enjoyed about South Bend, and at 4:30 p. m., the party will leave for Hammond where another evening’s festivities will be enjoyed, including a banque' --nd a theater party. Friday morning an automobile trip will be taken about Hammond and other magic Lake county cities. Friday afternoon the party will go to Chicago where another evening’s entertainment will be provided, including a banquet at the College Inn at the Sherman Hotel. Saturday morning at 9:30 the party will take a steamer of the GrahamMorton line for a ride on Lake Michigan, landing at Benton Harbor or St. Joseph Mich., where several hours will be spent. About 3 p. m., on Saturday, June 5, special electric cars will meet the party at St. Joe and take them back to Indianapolis.

Much War Munitions Being Shipped From Tacoma.

In a letter received Thursday from George M. Babcock of Tacoma, Wash., by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Bakeock, George said, among other

“This past week saw a great deal of war munitions leave Tacoma by Japanese boats. Included were automobiles, wicked looking barb wire, etc. One boat was forced to anchor in the harbor for a day or two before the crew could be pacified after a near mutiny had broken out, owing to the fear that the boat would be blown up bj- the Germans after leaving here. “On Friday evening a blaze was discovered under a flat car in a long string of flats in the yards containing autoes for Russia. The fire department put out the blaze but some damage was done to one of the cars. At one time there was nearly 100 automobiles on cars here for shipment to Vladivostok, Russia, besides carloads of heavy machinery, barb wire, etc.” George writes that he expects to stay in Tacoma until August or early September, then visit the exposition at San Francisco for a few days and then return home for an indefinite stay. He has been in the west now for nearly three years.

Township Sunday School Conventions

! - Following are the dates and places ; for holding the following township Sunday school conventions: May 30 —Keener, at Demotte. June 6—Union tp., at Parr; Jordan, at Egypt school house; Milroy, at Milroy church. June L3 —Newton tp., at Wortley’s grove. Conventions were held last Sunday as follows: Hanging Grove, at McCoysburg; Gillam tp., at Independence church; Kankakee, at ! Tefft; Wheatfield, at Wheatfield.

Two Union Township Teachers Will Visit the Exposition.

Misses Lois Meader and Josie Dexter, two Jasper county’ school teachers of Union tp., expect to leave about the middle of June on a six weeks’ trip to the Panama exposition at San Francisco, stopping off at various points of interest on both the going and returning trip.

Attention Rensselaer High School Alumni.

The Rensselaer High School Alumni bahquet will be -■'.eld at the armory on the evening of June 4, 1915, at 6:30 o'clock. Tickets can be procured from Carl Duvall, treasurer, at Duvall’s clothing store. Please procure them as soon as possible.—y Advt.

All members are requested to meet at the lodge room at 1 p. m., Sunday to take part in Memorial Day services.—SAC-HEM.

DEMOCRATIC EDITORS

Redmen Take Notice.

COURT HOUSE NEWS IN BRIEF

Interesting Paragraphs From the Various Departments OF JASPER COUNTY CAPITOL The Legal News Epitomized—Together With Other Notes Gathered From the Several County Offices. County Assessor and Mrs. G. L. Thornton drove to Kankakee, 111., Sunday via auto and visited their son, George, and family. Marriage licenses issued: May 26, Arthur Lageveen of Demotte, aged 21 March 1 7 last, occupation farmer, to Josina DeKock, also of Demotte, aged 18 July 1 last, occupation clerk. First marriage for each. The 1916 automobile number plates will be black and white, the most easily distinguishable colors that it is possible to secure. The contract for furnishing 90,000 of these numbers was let this week to a St. Louis firm for 19%c per pair, 4c less than the cost of the plates used this year. This makes a saving of $3,600 on the 90,000.

Circuit court item from Pulaski County Democrat: “No remonstrances were filed against the petition for a ditch in this county and Jasper as asked by Lewis H. Selmer and others, and John P. Ryan of Jasper county, was appointed third commissioner to meet the others here on June 1 and report at the September term.”

UNITED STATES ROADS.

Complete Information on Mileage, Character and Cost of Our Highways Being Collected. The department is now gathering information which, when complete, should not only give the total mileage of public roads in the United States and their cost, but should serve as a basis for estimating the relative value of the different kinds of highways. Some 15,000 sets of inquiry blanks have already been distributed through the state highway commissions, and some of these are now beginning to come back to the department. Each set consists of four cards. Of these the first asks for information on the mileage of different classes of roads in the county to which it is sent. The mileage does not include, of course, streets in cities and towns. The roads are divided into 10 classes, as follows: Brick paved, concrete, macadam with the addition of some substance such as asphalt, oil, or tar; plain macadam, gravel, shell, other hard surfaced roads, sand and clay mixture properly graded and drained, ordinary earth roads properly constructed, and, finally, unimproved roads. The second card asks for information in regard to the tax rate for the roads and the amount of work and money expended on them. The third blank is concerned with the names of local road officials, and the fourth with facts in regard to the bond issues arid the indebtedness of the counties for their road systems.

As there are approximately 3,000 counties in Hhe United States, in many of which the mileage has never been estimated, it is hardly probable that this preliminary survey will be exact. The department, however, will be able to detect any excessively inaccurate reports, for the road mileage per square mile of territory does not vary excessively. Except in. desert or undeveloped country, less than half a mile of public road to every square mile of territory is rare, while in the most thickly populated rural sections the maximum is no more than 2% or 3 miles. Thus, in France there is an average for the entire country of 1.7 Gto a square mile. In Italy, however, this has fallen to 0.86, possibly on account of the mountainous character of much of the peninsula and of Sicily and Sardinia.

In America the average is approximately 0.86 mile, which, in view of the fact that much of the country is sparsely settled, seems

unduly high. An explanation, howevt r, is to be found in the fact that in many states the law provides that each section line shall be a public road. Th;.s, for example, there are in the state of lowa alone more han 104,000 miles of legal -highwavs, manifestly a much larger mileage than is required by traffic. When the information in regard to the existing roads which the department is now seeking is complete, it is the intention to continue the inquiry year after year in order to ascertain the durability and economy of the various kinds of highways. The data thus collected should be useful to road engineers all over the country, and it is hoped that county agents and others interested in improvement of agriculture will do their best to facilitate the collection of the desired information.—U. S. Dept, of Agriculture News Letter.'

Will Not Stand for Boss Rule.

Everybody knows that Theodore Roosevelt spoke the truth and rendered an important pjibltc service when he denounced the bi-partisan combinations between corrupt business and corrupt politicians, and when, like the brave man he is, he pained the members of that conspiracy. The great and forceful figures of our day have been brave men who dared to defy these arrogant dictators of public affairs and offer to lead the people in a battle to recover control of their own government. Johnson, LaFollette, Clapp, Lindsey, Pinchot, Robins. The verdict at Syracuse, therefore, is in accordance with liberty and progress, as well as with the law. It helps to set the stamp of .approval upon the leaders of social, industrial and economic reform, and to brand as undesirable and hopeless any and every attempt to restore the reign of invisible government. Discredited politicians in every state who are planning to ride into power again upon a supposed restoration of special privilege and its unscrupulous political agents, may wisely profit by this sign of the times. The day will never come when the American people will turn again to the crowd it so thoroughly repudiated in 1912.—Indianapolis Star.

Fatal Auto Accident Tuesday Night Near Lafayette.

Arthur Hoffman of Lafayette, aged. 26 years, was instantly killed in an automobile accident Tuesday night a half mile west of Purdue uriiversity. He was riding with E. J. Kious, of the Lafayette Ice Cream Co., who escaped with a few minor bruises. Hoffman had accompanied Kious in the latter’s Ford runabout on a business tripp through White, Jasper, Newton and Benton counties, and they were returning to the city when the accident occurred. Their machine collided with a buggy and the automobile was turned over and rolled down a small embankment.

Hoffman was thrown clear of the machine but evidently Struck on his head, as his skull was fractured and his neck was founu to be broket, when picked up. Kious was pinnea under the machine but was not seriously hurt. The accident occurred at about 11 o'clock at night. Hoffman leaves a wife to whom he was married in April, 1914. His business was that of hutei manager, ano he had expected to go to Petoskey, Mich., today to take the management of the New Arlington hotel, having just closed a contract with the management a few days before his death. -

Do You Want Lightning Protection? I have been in the lightning rod business for 15 years and during that time have never lost a building by lightning. A five-year guarantee with all rods. If interested call and see me or phone 568.—FRANK A. BICKNELL, Rensselaer, Ind. ts Notice of Post-Graduate Course. Dr. I. M. Washburn will graduate work at Rush Medical College in Chicago during the month of May four days In each week, being out of town from 5 a. m., till 2 p m., on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Birth Announcements. May 24, to Mr. and Mrs. Roy Williams, a daughter. May 26, to Mr. and Mrs. William Hogan, of Main street, a daughter. May 26, to Mr. and Mrs. Loren Sage, a son. May 28, to Mr. and Mrs. Harve J. Robinson, a daughter.

Vol. XVIlt No. 15

ANOTHER BRITISH SHIP TORPEDOED; BLAST KILLS 324

Liner Princess Irene Blown to Atoms at Sheerness. DISASTER ON THE THAMES Cause of Explosion Is a Mystery— Turkish Submarine Sends H. M. S. Majestic to Bottom of Straits —Small Loss of Life. ; __ London, May British battleship Majestic was sunk by a torpedo in tho Dardanelles and tho British naval auxiliary Princess Irene was blown up at her pier in gheerness harbor, with a loss of 324 lives. The loss of life in the disaster to the Majestic is not known, but the admiralty announces that most of her officers and crew’ were saved. These two naval disasters, coming within twenty-four hours of the sinking of the battleship Triumph in the Dardanelles, have cast a gloom over London, both official and unofficial. Cause of Disaster a Mystery. Added to this is a deep air of mystery. The Rowing up of the Princess Irene, a former transatlantic liner taken over by the government from the Canadian Pacific railway, her owners, is seemingly beyond explanation. Rumors that it was the work of spies are heard on all sides. Taken in connection with the disaster to the battleship Bulwark, on November 26, with a loss of 750 men, which was similar in every respect afid which has never been explained, in spite of prolonged Investigation, ft has stunned naval officials.

Witness Tells of Blast Sheerness, May 28.—The Princess Irene was a Canadian PaAflc liner taken over by the admiralty. The cause of the explosion is a mystery. Probably It never will be know*n. The force of the explosion, which occurred at about 11:14 a. m , wfi»so terrific that windows were shattered and ceilings fell several miles away. An eye-witness says flames rose to a height of 300 feet, there being two pillars of flame with intervals of a few seconds betwen them, accompanied by dense clouds of white smoke, which hung like a pall for several minutes over the spot where tfce Princess Irene had "been moored. When it dispersed the liner was no more, and only pieces of floating debris remained. Assistance was immediately given. Bodies Picked Up in Marsh. Bodies were picked up in a marsh nearby. Gold stripes from the sleeves of a lieutenant's jacket had fallen On the body of a seaman.

Several men on board vessels moored in the river were injured by debris. Part of the boiler of the liner fell on a vessel half a mile away. Places ten miles to the southwest were covered with failing fragments, and there were some cases of personal injpry in the neighborhood of Sittingbourne. A wireless dispatch from Berlin •ays (pat the Majestic was sunk off SedelAtahr. The Majestic was a battleship of 14,900 tons displacement, and normally carried a crew of 757 men. She was built in 1895. Her length over all was 413 feet She was armed with four twelveinch guns, twelve six-inch, sixteen twelve-pounders and smaller guns. She also had four eighteen-inch tor pedo tubes submerged and one above water. British Submarine Makes Raid. The admiralty announces that in a raid on the' Sea of Marmora the British submarine El 1 sank a vessel with a great quantity of ammunition on board, chased and torpedoed a supply ship off Rodosto, ran another ship ashore and finally.-entered the waters of Constantinople and discharged a torpedo alongside the arsenal. : ■- ' ; General Bridges Dies. General bridges, in command of the Australian divisiod on the Gallipoli peninsula, was mortally wounded in an attack by the Turks against the Australian position on May 17, and has since died. This fact was made known here. Six Battleships Sunk. With the sinking of the Majestic six allied battleships have been accounted for by Turkish gunfire, mines or torpedoes in the Dardanelles. Of these losses the British have sustained five —the Majestic, Triumph Ocean, Irresistible and Goliath, and the French one, the Bouvet

Ideal Account Files, |i.so each.—The Democrat’s fancy stationery department.