Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 May 1918 — HAPPENINGS IN OUR NEIGHBORING VILLAGES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HAPPENINGS IN OUR NEIGHBORING VILLAGES

GIFFORD Will Steel was a Rensselaer gcer Saturday. Sunday school every Sunday at 10:30 a- m. Lemuel Stockwell spent Sunday with home folks. Miss Mabie Scott spent Sunday evening with home folks. Mrs. Ethel Nuss is visiting here with relatives this week. Marie Smith of Laura spent Tuesday night with Ola Lambert. Miss Sylvia Grim spent Saturdaynight with Miss Opal Hankins. Mrs. Clifford Roller called on Mrs. Helen Haniford Tuesday. Cora Eldridge of McCoysburg called on Charles Scott Monday. Dice Zook took Sundry dimer " with Mr. and Mrs. Charley Walker. John Bicknell of Rensselaer was here Tuesday and had his store open. Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Tim mon- and little daughter were Medaryville goers Monday. Ralph Timmons and Ralph Ballard of Medaryville went the first of the week here visiting relatives. Dice Zook and sons. Orval and Roscoe, and George Lambert, Harry and Arthur Walker and Floyd Moore were Rensselaer goers Saturday evening.

LEE Mrs. J. F- Eldridge helped Mrs. O. E, Noland do papering Wednesday. The Home Missionary ladies met, Tuesday afternoon with Mrs. H. C. j Anderson. O. A. Jacks and wife were in' Monticello Saturday afternoon calling on friends. We are sure having lovely weather and the farmers are very busy with their corn planting. G. A. Jacks and wife and da ugh-' ter, Mrs. Ethel Otterburg. an-l son. and Miss Laurel Anderson autoed to Lafayette Wednesday. Last Saturday evening the young ladies’ and young men's Sunday school classes were very nicely entertained at the home of Mrs. W. L. Stiers. Mrs. C. A. Holeman, Mrs. A. S. Parers, Mrs. Frank Overton and J. H. Culp and wife spent Tuesday in Monticello with Mrs. Estella Holeman and children. Mrs. A. S. Parcels of Thornfieid, Missouri, left Wednesday for ber home after a two weeks' visit here ■with her mother. Mrs. C. A. Holeman, and other relatives. On Saturday evening. May 25 there wiU be an ice cream social here, given to raise money to buymaterial for Red Cross work. Everybody come and help in this great work for our soldier boys. FAIR OAKS Health is still very good in our burg. Mrs. John Zellers of Virgie visited in Fair Oaks Tuesday. Mrs. Oliver Brouhard and children of Shelby came down Sarurday and spent Sunday with relatives. C. A. Bringle and wife and babe came over from Remington Saturday and visited with his parents until Sunday evening. William Myers moved 'Monday from the Hillis ranch and nov oc-

copies the Abe "Bringle property near the Christian church. Can Manderville went to Beaverville last week to look up a location to conduct a watch and clock repair shop. Up to the present time we have not heard what luck he had. Gladys Bozelle got a letter from her husband, Herbert Bozelle, who has been at Camp Taylor for some time and who has been going through a siege of spinal meningitis. The letter states he is now making some improvement. He can sit up some but his limbs are still quite stiff and sore. We were favored with another good shower Saturday night and Sunday. While it was a little cool, it done much good to the growing crops, such as wheat, rye and oats, which are looking extremely good. It delayed planting corn a day or two but they are at it again now in full force, which is generally pretty light on account of the war. It is reported that we have a man in our village who is very much dissatisfied with our President, our government and Secretary Baker. He says 60 to 75 per cent of our soldiers boys are Republicans and that the South is not doing anything toward furnishing soldiers for the war. Now don’t it seem strange how soimie people cm hold onto those silly principles. This is a time when all true and fairminded people will not let polities mix with this gigantic war problem. The one supreme aim with our President and Secretary Faker is freedom and liberty, world-wide and everlasting peace,- and this should be in the mind of every American citizen.

POSSUM RUN Lester Davis is spending the week with his grandparents. Miss Carrie Hahn spent Saturday night with home folks. Mrs. T. J. Parker spent Monday afternoon with Mrs. William Hurley. Mrs. T. J. Parker spent Friday and Saturday with Mrs. S. L. Johnson and children of Monon. Miss Mary Cunningham s*>ent from Friday until Monday with Misses Orpha and Myrtle Parker. Mr. and Mrs. George Davisson and Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Davisson and children spent Monday evening with Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Parker and children. I

GANT CORNER Mrs. Scott Cooper is on the sick list this week. Miss Ethel Hill is working for Mrs. Long nowadays. Lola Hill is staying with her sister at Tefft now days. Mrs. James Hill visited Mrs. Long Monday afternoon. Alex Long has been in very poor health for several weeks. Mrs. Poncannon called on Mrs. Harry Hibbs Saturday afternoon.' Miss Ada Hahn helped Mrs. Ed ward Spurgeon clean house last week. ' ■ Miss Maude Hill has assisted Mrs. Arthur Putt for the past two weeks. Mrs. Grace Hibbs and three little girls have the “Liberty’’ measles this week. Mrs. J. B. Crownover and family visited Mr. and Mrs. James M. Hill

and family last week. James M. Hill received a telegram that his sister, Mrs. Sylvia 'Hislop, passed away in the hospital at Milford, 111., Sunday morning. Mrs. Alex Long received a message that the home of her daughter, • Mrs. Theodore Smith, had burned at Moody at 10 p. m. last Friday night. MT. AYR (From' the Tribune) Jasper Wright spent several days of last week with his daughter, Mrs. George Hershman of Crown Point. Miss Marie Harris joined her sister Lucy at Terre Haute last Wednesday and both will attend normal school this summer. Miss Blanche Merry and Jay Makeever spoke at Morocco and Russell Chapel Sunday, May 7, in behalf of the pension drive for aged ministers. Miss Violet White of Demotte came Thursday and will visit some time with her brother Pete. Miss Violet’s mother died a short while ago. Miss Addie Harris has completed her work in the Rensselaer public schools. Miss Harris goes to Great Falls, Montana, for next year. We are sorry to have her leave this community, but hope she will boost Mt. Ayr this summer. George E. Hershman of Crown Point, Democratic candidate for representative in congress, gave a patriotic address at the Community churcli ..Sunday night.. Mr. Hershs man is a pleasant and forcible speaker. He spoke solely as a true American citizen, determined to win this war.

Mt. Ayr was represented in the graduating class from Rensselaer high school last Tuesday evening in the persons of Marie Harris, Emma Benson and Ira Huntington. These young people are of our very best. We are proud to know that they had the ambition to accept the opportunity of a high school training. A hard blow was given the Ladies’ Aid of North Star church last Thursday evening. A box social was all planned, from report, and a large crowd had made arrangements to be there when the storm came up. As it was a few came and enjoyed the evening in a social way but the financial side not a success. Try again, ladies, perhaps the weather man will be more kind. JACKSON TOWNSHIP, NEWTON COUNTY What’s the matter with carp as a substitute for fish. Where there is so munch bloom surely there should be some fruit. Some men are pro-anything just so long as there is no expense attached to it. Germany’s real, heart-breaking struggle will begin after the pres? ent war is over. The bulk of the corn crop will be planted this week, provided the weather holds good. The average farmer just seems to take a sort of savage delight in staying avyay prom the primaries. - While we are lambasting Germany we should hand her an extra wallop for introducing her carp into our midst.

For an interesting study in still life kindly lakrup the man who refused to buy a Liberty bond, though abundantly able to do so. John Kessler, one of Morocco’s oldest taerchants, has sold his interest in the Kessler general ston in that city to his son-in-law, Marvin Archibald. Governor Goodrich has appointed Warren T. McCray of Kentland to represent the farmers at the New York International Exposition of Science, Art and Industry. Dr. C. E. Triplett of Morocco has offered his services to Uncle Sani, and we know of no man who would be more sadly missed in this community that the genial doctor. Citizens of the Kankakee river valley are exceedingly hostile to the idea of game wardens seining the river for carp, bullheads and' catfish, and have sent a petition to Governor Goodrich, asking him to put a stop to further activities in this connection. The Chicago Herald had the sublime gall to say that it—the Herald —had peen consolidated with the Examiner. So we observe- consolidated just like the boa constrictor is consolidated with the fawn it has just swallowed, the Examiner representing said constrictor. We note that a bunch of men who do their farming largely in the newspapers “resolved” at a recent meeting that this year’s corn crop be planted before the twentyfifth of May. How nice that would be. But' while in the resolving business why not resolve that we have no cold rains, no frosts nor no anything else that might destroy too early planted seed? “Still sits the school house by the way, ragged beggar sunning; around it still the sumachs grow, and blackberry vines are running.” These lines, however, are no longer applicable to Mt. Ayr’s old school house, for the auctioneer knocked off that ancient structure to Jack Ulyatt the other day for the pitiful sum of three hundred dollars, and before this is in print there will be no old school house in Mt. Ayr, neither sumachs nor blackberry vines. \ Miss Cecil Miller, a member of Newton county’s Calf club, is feeding two calves Which, in our opinion, will just about carry off every thing, in the way of prizes. Miss Ceciptakes the very best of care of these calves, weighs every ounce of feed they eat, and, by referring to her book, is able to tell you to a penny just what her calves have cost her tQ date. These calves and all others owned by the Calf club members, will be sold on the first of next month at Orchard Lake Stock Farm, this county. Following are the county tickets

of the two leading political parties in this county: Democratic —Treasurer, Paul Weishaar; recorder, Wilber H. Miles; sheriff, Arthur J. Spinney; eolmimissioner first district, William Martin; county assessor, Oliver F. Stoner. Republican—Treasurer, John J. Sell; sheriff, Earl B. Gardner; surveyor, Josiah R. Deardurff; commissioner first district, Sumner H. Dickinson; county assessor, Frank Cox; recorder, Edgar Steward. In Jackson township the. Republicans nominated George Hopkins for trustee and James Fortine for assessor. The only candidate nominate! by the Democrats was Bela F. Roberts for trustee. It may not be amiss to note here that the Democrats in this township were so busy planting stuff for the soldier boys that only fourteen found time to go to the polls. A bunch of disciples of Bacchus from the town of Fowler drove to Beaverville, 111., not long ago, where

they packed seventy-eight bottles of beer in the hold of their automobile and then started on the return trip feeling tolerably good, considering the long, cold ride ahead of them. At Morocco the party stopped and went info a restaurant tor supper, leaving their automobile unguarded. Right here they did an unwise thing, for Morocco has several highly esteemed (?) citizens who can trail a consignment of booze to its lair with the unerring accuracy of an Irish setter trailing the prairie hen and with the same wonderful instinct that guides the homing pigeon for hundreds of miles back to the family cote". The rest of this story is almost too sad to tell. When the Fowlerites returned to their automobile only six of that noble array of seventy-eight bottles remained. Think of it, the young lives of seventy-two bottles of beer snuffed out in the twinkling of an eye, so to speak! Talk about the tear in Sorrow’s eye, the anguish that kills, etc.! The death of Grandmother Catharine Deardurff of Morocco, which occurred recently, brings forcibly to mind the fact that our pioneers are fast leaving us. In common with the first settlers of Newton county, Grandmother Deardurff endured all of the heartbreaking trials and deprivations incidental to pioneer life. Often has the writer been an eager listener to her narratives of the “good old days.” when wolves snarled and fought at night in the door-yard, and when it was 10 uncommon thing upon arising in the morning, to see deer scampering from the little track patch adjacent to the cabin. At that time Lafayette was the nearest point at which breadstuffs could be procured and even there the supply was limited and the quality none too good. To reach Lafayette the pioneer of central and north'rn Newton county had to drive to Bunkum, 111., the nearest river crossing at that time, thus making the journey—usually by ox cart—a hard and tedious affair not infrequently of a week’s duration. Grandmother Deardurff was about eighty-six years old, and up to within a year or so of her death was quite active. ~ *