Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 December 1918 — Page 1

Jasper County Democrat.

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COURT HOUSE NEWS IN BRIEF

Interest Ing Paragraphs From the Various Departments OF JASPER COUNTY CAPITOL The Legal News Epitomized —Together With Other Notes Gathered From the Several County Offices. i On account of the prevalence of ' influenza in the north part of the county the Red Cross roll call will be continued until next Wednesday, January 1. . > reception will be given at the court house Saturday afternoon by the War Mothers for the soldier boys who have returned from the service. A similiar reception is to be held on the last Saturday of each month. NOTICE —All persons having claims against the county should file same for allowance by the Board of Commissioners at their special session December 31st. Also, all persons having county warrants due them should call for same at once.—JOSEPH P. HAMMOND, Auditor Jasper County. New suits filed: No. 8998. Frank Melrose vs. Emil Besser; suit on contract. This case grows out-of the contract .for the sale of some real estate of defendant to plaintiff, and complaint alleges that defendant has failed and refused to comply with his part of said contract. Plaintiff asks that defendant may be required to keep and Marriage licenses issued: December 21, Orval Scott Huff of Jordan township, aged 20 May 18 last, farmer, to Eva Belle Coen, daughter of J. W. Coen of Rensselaer, aged 21 February 24 last, bookkeeper. First marriage for each. Male being under age his father, Julius Huff, gave consent to issuance of license. December 2, Albert Linback of Pleasant Ridge, aged 21 "December 15 last, farmer, and Opal May Eldridge ot McCoysburg, aged 16 March 25 last, housekeeper. First marriage for each. Female being under age her father, Korah T. Eldridge, gave consent to issuance of license.

CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS

At the regular meeting of the city council Monday evening all members were present and the following 'business was transacted: The ordinance prohibiting the use of air rifles, slingshots, bow and arrows, etc., was adopted. The petition of Joseph Nesius et al for a street light on West Washington street was referred to the light committee. The sewer committee was authorized to install a catch-basin on McKinley avenue at the intersection of Plum street, and also to investigate sewer on north McKinley avenue. The usual number of claims were allowed.

COMING PUBLIC SALE DATES The Democrat has printed bills for the following public sales: Monday, December 30, Braddock, 4 miles north and 1 mile west of Gifford. General sale, including horses, cattle, hogs, farm tools, etc. Tuesday, January 7, George Heil, on the Harvey Davisson farm,. 9% miles due north of Rensselaer. General sale, including horses, cattle, hogs, farm tools, etc. Monday, January 13, Elke DeGroot, 4 miles north and 2% mile? west of Remington, 8 miles south and 2% miles west of Rensselaer. General sale, including horses, cattle, hogs, farm tools, etc. Thursday, January 16, Wm. Johnson, 1 mile south and 1% miles west of Mt. Ayr. General sale, including horses, cattle, 45 head Big Type Spotted Poland pure-bred hogs, implements, etc. Lots of our boys are coming home and they will need new suits, overcoats, hats, socks, underwear, ties and collars, and any of these •will please him.—DUVALL’S QUALITY SHOP.

FLOYD MEYERS HEARD FROM

Parents Learn He Was In LeMans (France) November 28. Mr. and Mrs. George F. Meyers, who had been greatly worried over not having heard from their eon, Floyd, who is with the American forces in France, received a telegram Sunday from their daughter, Miss Nell Meyers, employed at Washington, stating that Floyd was all right on November 28th and was then at LeMans, Miss Meyers having gone to the adjutant general for the information. Mr. and Mrs. Meyers had delayed their trip south on account of not hearing from their son, but now feel much relieved and will probably leave for Florida the latter part of next week. LeMans is where the 30th (Wildcat) division in which are D. J. Babcock ana John Kriz, was stationed on November 28.

MUSTERED OUT OF SERVICE

More Jasper County Boys Return Home From Army Camps. z Among the boys who have been mustered out of the army service during the past few «days are John Welsh, Victor Michaels, Thomas McGlinn, - Guy Peek, from Camp Taylor; Lieut. Emil Hanley from Camp McClellan, Alabama; Captain Cope 'Hanley from Camp Sherman, Ohio; William Wasson from Camp Purdue; Frank Fritz from Camp Knox. Arthur Gosnell, who has been iq. the overseas aviation section and recently returned to New York, where he was mustered out, reached home Sunday. So far as learned, he is the first Jasper county soldier who has been overseas to be discharged. He went "across’’ some time last summer.

Joe Reeve is home from Camp Taylor on a seven days’ furlough. Frank McCurtain of Parr is home from Camp Sherman, Ohio, on a five-day furlough. Corp. Elmer Daniels came up from Indianapolis Sunday morning to remain until Thursday with his wife and baby. Harry English of the S. A T. C., Indianapolis, came Sunday to spend the with his parents, Dr. E. C. English. Harry Stembel arrived here Monday morning from Washington, D. C., on a ten day furlough which he will ‘ spend with his mother, Mrs. George Stembel at Wheatfield. Mrs. Chester Besse went to Remington Friday to join her husband, who had been mustered out of the service at Indianapolis, after a visit with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John O’Connor at Kniman.

Paul Healy came home Sunday on a fifteen day furlough. He has been stationed at Boston on the big steamship Mt. Vernon for the past five weeks. This- is a former German boat. It will go out about February 15, Paul says. George M. Babcock came in Monday evening from Wilbur Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, to spend the holidays with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Babcock. He hopes to be mustered out in a few (fays after returning there, January 2. Lieut. Richard D. Wangelin came Friday from Camp Pike, Arkansas, having been discharged but placed on the inactive list, and will again take up the management of the Central garage', in which he owns an interest. ‘His wife, who has been with her mother at Goshen, will return here after the holidays. Lloyd W. Johnson, son of Mr. Mrs. .Ralph Johnson of Barkley township, wha enlisted in the navy at Great Lakes, Illinois, early last spring, and who has been in England since last June, arrived in New York on December 15 on the Leviathan, and came home Sunday evening on a 20-day furlough Lloyd enlisted in the service for four years and at the expiration of his furlough will report at Cullen Bay, New York.

WAR MOTHERS RECEPTION

The War Mothers of Jasper county will hold an informal reception for the men home from 1 the service, on Saturday, December 28, from three to six, in the c<yirt house. There will •be ihusic and dancing and all the boys who are home, are hereby imvited to come and bring their friends.—Advt.

THE TWICE-A-WEEK

RENSSELAER. JASPER COUNTY. INDIANA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1918

A NEW BAKERY IS COMING

Will Occupy the Corner Room in Nowels Block. Lee Harlacher of Frankfort has rented the corner room In the Nowels block,’ recently vacated by Rhoades’ barber shop, and will open a first-class bakery therein as soon as the necessary changes can be made to the interior and the outfit installed. The bakery will go under the name of the Rensselaer Bakery Company and will be in charge of Clifford Bever of this city, who has been employed for some time in a, bakery in Frankfort and formerly conducted a bakery here.

FAMILIES DOWN WITH INFLUENZA

George Crockett and family of southeast of town have all been down with influenza, also their neighbors, Cary Lowman’s family. Owing to tire conditio® of his wife, George’s father, T. A. Crockett, has been unable to go out and assist them. While Mrs. Crockett is up and fnanages to get about the house a little by supporting herself with chairs or other articles of furniture, she is almost helpless otherwise as a result of the stroke of paralysis suffered some time ago. Word from George’s family yesterday morning was to the effect that all were holding their own except the 9-year-old son, Tommy, who was not so well.

NOTES FROM COUNTY HOSPITAL

Born, December 21, to Mr. and Mrs. Delos Waymire of Jordan township, a son. The little 13-months-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Ray CollimS of New•land was brought to the hospital Saturday suffering from influenza and other complications. At this writing his temperature had gone down and he seemed quite a little better. Mrs. Price and Mrs. Clyde Gunyon of Parr left the hospital Monday. Vannie Arnold is improving nicely as is also Mrs. Clint Saidla of Morocco.

. IMPORTANT NOTICE To follow rulings of state commission, which compels us to change our rent and toil ledger January 1, all accounts must be settled in this month to receive proper credits on old ledger. Service will be discontinued January 1 on all accounts not paid December 30. — JASPER COUNTY TELEPHONE CO. 17-20-24-27

Just received a fine line of house shoes in a variety of styles .and sizes for men, women and children. What would make a inore acceptable Xmas gift.—FENDIG’S EXCLUSIVE SHOE STORE. See our line of swell military cigarette cases. They are fine and will please the boys for Xmas. — •DUVALL’S QUALITY SHOP,

Christmas Morning

O lookit Tommy, Santa come for you and me, But I never heard a single sound when he _ left that Christmas tree.

M. H. PIPER COMMITS SUICIDE

Alleged Murderer Left Note Pro* testing His Innocense. Milo H. Piper, the alleged murderer of Frieda Wiechmt.n of Chicago, who was in jail at Muskegon, Michigan, charged with the murder of the latter, committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell ip the jail at Muskegon -some time Saturday night. He left a note pinned to his underclothing and directed to his family In J which he protested that he was innocent of the crime. I Piper, who then had a wife living at Muskegon, was married to the Welchman girl by Rev. P. C. Curnick, then pastor of the Methodist church of this city, on March 121, 1916, the couple having sei cured a marriage license at Crown I Point and drove to Rensselaer i where the marriage was performed. I The couple then left on an auto- * mobile trip that covered several i months and in September, 1916, , the body of the girl was found juried in a lonely spot along the .right-of-way .of a Michigan railiroad; clothing found on the body j was identified recently by a and her disappearance was traced I to Piper. The body of the young woman was exhumed last week and it was found that her death had been caused from a gunshot wound in the back of her head. Piper’s wife had admitted that her husband took a shotgun with him on the trip on which he was alleged to have married the girl here. Piper declared that a mysterious individual by the name of Sheldon had married the girl, ua-

ing his name, and that after traveling about with her for some time had practically deserted her 1 and that he, Piper, had later traveled over the country with her, but that he knew nothing as to how she came by her death. While the evidence against Piper was wholly circumstantial, it is I generally believed (that |he was guilty of the crime and thought the best way out of it was to end his own life. It had been the intention of the Michigan officers to visit Rensselaer and other towns at which the couple stopped, after the mar--1 riage here, but the suicide of the alleged murderer, of course, ends 1 the affair.

HOOSIER HUNTING GROUNDS

for Christmas presents, only SI.OO per copy during holidays, postpaid to any address. Phone 921-E or drop card to JOHN E. ALTER, Rensselaer, Ind., R-2.

Come to the store with the Xmas spirit. We have the swellest line of neckwear, handkerchiefs, mufflers, chaip. and knife sets, cigarette cases, (6uff-link sets, tie pin and clasp dets, and every thing to please the men foIks.—DUVALL’S QUALITY SHOP. (

IS BUM CHRISTMAS WEATHER

Warm and Rainy and Not at All Like Traditionary. Nearly all Thursday night, and continuing almost without interruption until Saturday night, a drizzling rain fell that brought the water in the (jver up to the highest point yet reached, overflowing its banks somewhat north of the Washington street bridge and rendering the dirt roads practically impassable. Monday it turned quite a bit cooler. Notwithstanding the drizzling rain Saturday there was a large number of people in the city and the'merchants report a brisk trade. There was also a large number in Monday. A heavy snow fell at Hammond yesterday morning, almost blocking street car traffic, it was reported.

LETTERS FROM OUR SOLDIERS

Lieut. Pat Maloney Writes a Letter to ‘‘Dad.’’ Lieut. Patrick Maloney, a sen of Thomas F. Maloney of Kankakee township and a former student of St. Joseph college, writes an interesting letter to his father which The democrat is permitted to publish. Lieut. Maloney is perhaps the only Jasper county boy in the aviation section who ever flew an airplane in France, and, while be had been overseas about a year before the armistice was signed, he did not get up to the actual fighting front, a fact which he greatly regrets. He is very proficient as a flyer and it was probably thought that his services would be of more value to the government as un instructor and tester than in the actual fighting zone: Monday, Nov. ,25, 1918. Dear Dad..—Yesterday was the day that everybody was to write a "Father’s Letter,” to got home for Christmas. I was away with a bunch of the boys Saturday afternoon, and yesterday to Les Chartes and did not know that yesterday was the day for the letter until this morning. We had quite a time. The town was one of the very few In France where Americans had not been stationed. Bernard Wise, "Buck,” we call him, and I were walking down the street looking over the town before mass when an old French lady stopped us and said, "La guerre flni?’’ “Vie, 'Madame,” we replied. "Merci!” she said, and shook our hands. We walked a little farther and an old gentle-, man stopped us and he, too, thanked us and expressed the gratitude of France to America for helping so greatly to bring peace and victory to the Allies. And people at home can feel happy for if It had not been for America’s help Germany would now be dictating the terms of peace. But w*hat I was about to tell you was the fueling Buck and I had when we were thanked and neither of us had done a bit of fighting although both of us have been here over a year. Censorship regulations have let up a bit and I can now tell you where I am and where I have been. I wpfl in Liverpool and Southhampton, England, a year ago this October, then I was In Harve, France, for a few days. Since then I have been all over France. Was in Paris a week, here In Tssoudun for a couple of weeks—doing guard duty, building blacksmith shops, hangars, barracks, etc. Then I went to Tours and took my first flight on November 14 a year ago. Was there until March 15. when I finished my preliminary training. Spent St. Patrick’s day in Paris. Went to Tssoudun for advance training but had hardly started when in May I was ordered to Clermont Ferrand to learn to fly Breguets, to go • to the front Immediately for reconnajsance into Germany.

I learned to fly Breguets but never went to the front. Instead T went to Tours and flew Biplace Sopwiths for a couple of months, then suddenly I was ordered to join a squadron that was going to the front in Breguets. I joined the squadron but they did not go to the front. Finally I was made an instructor on Sopwiths and later the official tester of all the Sopwiths at the Ind. Corps schools, i. e., I flew all ships before anyone else on the field flew them 1 . If they were O. K. I turned them over for use; if not. I had them corrected and tried them out until they were right. " There being qo chance to get to the front from there I finally got back to Issoudun to training, where I was when the armistice was signed, and where I am now. j I am now an instructor on the Nieuport machine. I have flown the following ships, Condron, Brequet, boomber ' coapid artne types, both Fiat and Reanault motor; D.

Vol. XXI, No. 77

GENERAL AND STATE NEWS

Telegraphic Reports From Many Parts ol the Country. - - SHORT BITS OF THE UNUSUAL Happenings in the Nearby Oitle* and Towns—Matters of Minoa Mention From Many Place*. 1 ■ 1 J A HUGE HUMAN FLAG. Louisville, Dec. 23. —Forty thou* Band -officers and men representing every branch at the Camfl Zachary Taylor cantonmlent will pose Tor a photograph outlining an American eagle with wings spread, and holding in its talons a waving American flag. The picture will 'be ‘‘shot’’ by experts from a seventy-two foot tower, and three days will be required to chalk it out. It will measure some 600 feet from wing tip to wing tip.

AMERICAN CAPTURES FATHER

Word has reached here, say the Knox papers, that John Kotzer, Jr., son of John Kotzer, Sr., a former merchant at Cher, captured bis father in France. The Kotzers went to Chicago from Ober six years ago. Three years ago the elder Kotzer disappeared and -nothing was heard ot him until word came from the son that he had actually his father, a German soldier, at Chateau Thierry. • Kotzer was a German, and when Germany called Its sons to comeand fight he responded. The son entered the fight oh the side of humanity, and put at least one Hun ont of the running.

H.-4 with Liberty motor; Biplace, Sop with; all types of Nieuports and the Morane monoplane, a very little ship. I have been in Paris, Orleans, Lyons, Marseilles, Nice, Dijon, Toul, Nancy and any number of smaller places. I have heard the guns, have seen German plane# flying over the line. I have instructed many boys who did get up there and some will not come back. Can you understand how it feels not to have gotten up dhere? I have tried to get there but I couldn't get away. You will understand, but will strangers or even our friends and neighbors? It would have been different if I couldn’t fly, but I can fly any machine. I have rambled over what I have done, where 1 have been, etc. T will soon be home to tell you all about it, maybe very soon, at least In a few months. T like the French people and I like them better every day, but I will be glad when I can get back home. Most respectfully, >

Sherm Parks Hopes to Be Home Soon From Overseas.

W. fl. Parks received a letter Monday from his son, Lloyd, who is in an artillery unit with the A. E. F. in France, in which he stated that he hoped to be home almost as soon as the letter reached him. He has not arrived yet, however, and nothing further has been heard since November 28, when the letter was written: Camp Haussimont, Thursday, Nov. 28, 1918. Dear Folks.—Just got off of kitchen police and am now going to write you a little news and it may be the last letter I will write to you from this country as we are under orders to move and I today we leave by Wednesday of next week. Here’s hoping we do as I have had all of France I want. This is one of the most disagreeable places you could imagine. It rains a lot and the mud hangs on to youir already heavy shoes and it is pretty hard to walk, let alone doing work. We have been having it pretty easy since the armistice was signed as we turned over our guns to the French, and we don’t have to bother with them. You will notice I am telling you the name of this camp. It is pronounced “Acimo,” and is a railroad artillery camp. I understand this is "Father’s Day” and we are allowed to tell where we are located and anything else we care to and it will not be censored, so will try and write a little about this camp. We came here from the port eight days after we landed in France. We landed in Brest and it took us two days and nights to get here so we got to see a good deal of France. We were here about three weeks

(Continued on page two)

PAT.