Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 July 1915 — FIRE DESTROYS MADISON FACTORY [ARTICLE]

FIRE DESTROYS MADISON FACTORY

Plant of Thomas Graham Company for Third Time BLAZE CAUSES $25,000 LOSS Stock of Finished Goods and Raw Material Consumed in Flames — Inadequate Water Main Handicaps Firemen. Madison. —Fire destroyed the plant of the Thomas Graham company, spoke manufacturers, with a loss of approximately $25,000. An inadequate water main handicapped the firemen. An immense stock of finished goods and raw material was consumed. The company carried little insurance. This was the third time the plant has burned. Two Boys Disappear. Martinsville. —Kenneth, the thir-teen-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. William Suddith, and Francis L. Moore, son of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Moore of this city, also thirteen years old, left their homes in this city and nothing has been heard from them since. Their parents are almost distracted. It is reported they left here on an lnterurban ear and that they were seen in Indianapolis Inquiring the way to the union station. The Suddith boy wore striped, overalls, striped waist and a cap and was barefooted and was undersized for his age; the Moore boy was better dressed, as he wore a blue serge suit, knee pants and black hat, and was large for his age. J. C. Suddith, grandfather of the Suddith boy. Is seeking information as to the whereabouts of the boys. Suicides to Avoid Capture. Bloomington.—Surrounded by a posse with bloodhounds, Parle Massan, a Turk, who killed William Fender, seventy-four-year-old veteran of the Civil war, committed: suicide to avoid capture. Fender and Massan were neighbors. A hive of bees be- , longing to the former swarmed on the fence dividing the properties, and Massan claimed them. When Fender attempted to hive the bees Massan fired, using both shotgun and revolver. The tragedy occurred at Guthrie, a small town near here, and a 24-hour man limit followed. Massan was located near Maumee, Jackson county. To Meet at Lafayette in 1916. Lafayette.—The Phi Delta Kappa, a fraternity composed of college, high school and preparatory students, will hold' its 1916 convention in Lafayette. This year’s convention was held at Dayton, O Four states are represented in the society—lndiana, Ohio, Washington and Oregon. Lafayette sent a large delegation to the Dayton convention. Next year's meeting will be held here the last week of June. Barn and Touring Car Burqed. Goshen. Tramps are held responsible for the destruction by fire of a $2,500 barn on the farm of Wise -W. Showalter, county commissioner, near the New York Central railroad tracks, near this city. Mr. Showalter's touring car was burned. All live stock was saved. Insurance was sl,600. The net loss is estimated at $2,600. Killed by lnterurban Car. Coatsville. —Lorenzo H. O'Neal, sixty years old, a farmer and brother of former County Treasurer J. E. O’Neal, was killed by an interurban car on the Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern tracks while driving to his home from this city. He Is survived by his widow. Youth Killed in Fall. Hammond. —Frank Buse, aged twenty-two, a well-known and popular Black Oak young man employed at the Grasselli Chemical plant, went on the roof of the plant to play a practical joke on fellow workmen. He did not know the roof was asbestos, and he fell through to the floor, being instantly killed. Elevator at Howe Burned. Lagrange.— A car of gasoline on ,the Grand Rapids and Indiana track at Howe was set on fire when a freight engine ran into it. A grain elevator belonging to Sweitzer & Wolfe and a number of freight cars were burned. The whole town was: threatened The loss is estimated at $40,000. Train Kills Farmer. Fort Wayne.—Charles Beahrman, fifty years old, a farmer living five miles east of Fort Wayne, wds instantly killed when he stepped in front of a Pennsylvania train. Attempts to Murder Two. Lafayette. —W. s. Ressel, formerly of this city, shot and killed himself In Milwaukee, after attempting to murder his brother August and his brother’s wife. The brothers quarreled over a flve-dollar debt of several years’ standing.. The suicide, who was a street car-conductor, left Lafayette about ten years ago. The brother, August, lived here until five years ago. The shooting took place at the home of August Ressel. Ressel has two brothers living here—Charles and Joseph.