Jasper Weekly Courier, Volume 47, Number 22, Jasper, Dubois County, 10 February 1905 — Page 3

BAND OF OHIO FIREBUGS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE HAVE TERRORIZED A PORTION OF THE STATE FOR LAST THIRTY YEARS. MANY PROMINENT MEN ARE INVOLVED

Mate Officials Were Baffled Until They Secured the Confession of Eighty-Year-Old Jack Page. After Which Indictments Followed Rapidly.

tory of This Remarkable Band of Incendiaries nd Their Methods of Operation Boldness Marked Every Mov- A Dt-stre for Revenge on the Part of Pa.e FineJly Caused Their Exposure

,e t- i on.) after ih greatest efforta Now am' thet.. indications would ap pear on the surface of what wa really happening and i u from th -c small lue that the dete.tlve finally tin earthed the !i!"f conspirators and urned them MM to the law for pur.hshaaNi

Of this gang of fiarb.-, Moni r Morrison once a rof well-to-do parents. MM

inals d Mn

people of the loan, and In a moment or two several wem hurrying to the MUM Flight of the Murderer. A;.-rh had fallen in such a nianix 0

that hi wallet, tilled with bill, could ! not be reached and Kly was obliged j to acud away in the darkness, leaving the prostrate body of Ayers to be found

bv tin- villazer Ha fi-n.uir o .im

'Ii- leader i riaon'a barn h

Hia running brain d'-viscd most of tlM side himself with rage.

dark and stormy nlghtt he left hia home, with flaming torches, and sold his manhood and agejj for a few paltry dullar, to be sal",Ml when tin- roblied insurance ompann-s pai'l th M)icieH on the buildlnKs mistimed At present Page la whll.ng awa hi time wiih a secret service guard constantly watching him. for numbers of the toLsplrai y have vowe.l to take his

found that arsonist M- M h" disclosures h mwl-

Fire Marshall Talces a nana

darin Jobs durin tin- long years he ,

and his pals worked aaasOlented burning any building for which the owuer paid tue required fee 0MC0 a man employed the arsonists to transact business, he was in their meshes, for, if In" wa.- not aware that he was Just as liable to punishment as If he had applied the torch he was so informed, and thus becam- an addition to the male

The Killing of Ayers. It aas Morrisons avarice that resulted in ti e on ocfion of a plot to

kill Samuel Ay. t . V

Why did you shoot" Why didn t you belt him over the head? " he asked nr. Shut up yo i fool 1 had to shoot or he would have got me." Kly replied. only and ahai's wmse. I didn't! have time to et the money" Morrison, cowardly even in crime, wanted to leave Ely to his own fate The Kan.-is C.'y crook, however, was too old at the business. "You got me into it now get me out, or there 11 be somebody else Ix side me .suit up for this little Job," was his admonition.

:b-r 27. 1897. and it was up to Morrison to furnish

a Ts was a sanuy a't:emi

liv.d Max Waat Unity, ft small village in Williams MMBtf The old fellow was peculiar. I !n red everybody his friend, and feared harm from zjo one Every Friday, m regularly as that day

who the assistance

Witt the help of a farm hand ho afterwards n- -ed. Morrison tailroaded Ely several miles away, where : he was to vem'.in for a week or two. but a nosse of indignant citi.ns

N rthwest.rn Ohio, with Us rm and prosperous laridown earing the end of a reign of years, during whUh time incendarles, hungry for sudh have desecrated its beauty uiig torches, and comr.iitteu

on the calendar riilary to ar in;'

imj fan

lutw ard sign of the m Nothing esst Mtft fired with willingly as were barns madr incendiarism, for

i-ry crime he smallest bi

l.

siory cx 1

ao blood-curdling a thu-e have shcked the residents of I . :i n in the iMt Quarter century ildest dime-novel dreamer cou.d imagine so terrible a melodrama s been acted by this con-pira.y . r. enary firebugs K v elation -in the past few MC4 Ks, by confes:.d investigation by state rn . . -., rirtlin;; a- t . a.m evable Against one man hare returned 12 indictment, against r there are ten and I ky it. : member of the organization who d with only a single true bill. . work of the state has Iseen thor

Made Arson Aa far a- known, and made arson a 1 1 a man, a genuine ust for adventure l: ire to (he Methodist ). From a .-mall latched the BMMi

I Bus::.es. only one of the . isine.-s. ju.-: to tu was Freddy yromar.iac whoae dm d him to set

rith small tCtlMJ wa:"

ihe law's firr unrelenting

v igi r -n with the 1

a in ( w

Only a Beg: etui the or more iMTletment, is believed that only a 'ginning ha been made leep IM irÜCH. i' known that ,i l'ures. still more startling. . me Those men ffee-ted by rion now completed, fully CM1 at i heir lona terms in prison . tually prevent them from par i n in more work, have shown ."it ion to tell at least some of - and with the aid of these on." Wiiiiams and Fulton eounhere ' h more exciting events ran.'plred. sre d- terniined to a'l the guilty, and remove the onor w hu h V. i- n m MM

iy their tardine.-s in -ti

the criminal? y years ago. Jack Page, one of M daring and notorious of the

i he-r.

s devotir the mau in because he was ms. he was entrusted there the risk of der. it, and where he

would M -ivcn upin rturity to become profit ient in the ar: and n'tiiuately develop int j a tai- nted firebug One night, without orders from his super! ors. he touched off the church, and hit MMJMMI ainr-hei-i.:n and (onfes- : n almost ensnared the remainder of the ganp But. so high in the community did the ringleaders stand, the ad

missions of the youth were pronounced fals. hiK.d- and m body but the officerplaced fal'h in th-m Not until wit! :n .. a-l it wJ.en tS b.-y'S or.fe.ssion was substantiated, did it become public that his arrest was one of the ; first of an organisation Of men wh- al : .M!." commission of no crime, however enormous t. tand between ; ihem and the money they coveted. The traveler una-quair ted with the happeuings iA past years would see little in the seared country nowadays to attract his attention. The flre-detroyed building have been replaced with new structure and. under tM protection of the state fire mar.-hal. protection has Mm civen MalrtMlIf to allow imMOv. men:.- Bi' the time was when every man. woman and child stood In mortal fear of tM) gng. One man

n TT- : .

ELY STANDS OFF A FOSSE

-, l . i 111- ' If) ' ' : i .

visited the little drew ( from whb h to transk following. MBl Iriend. to

Morrison

he

n

anie each week, he bank in the illape. fl.fiort to $5."0t with act bustnesa the we M 'i'.-mi a- .-r a.! anuearancr- OaX

casual! v asked the cattleman why

never . arrted a revolver for protection What th" BMr Aers asked "Nobody knows I have mony in my packed bW niy trieada. and I trust every one of them " Within a we k Morrison, fearing to the Jot) him-eit. imported Jim Ely. a Kansas City crook, who was to hold up Avers and murder him if necessary to get the money. Ely balked on the killing I have a brother w ho will do that: he will ie hire soon." he told Morrison and in two day.- t Waldo Ely dropped In at Waat t'nlty. met Morris.. u in th- latters barn and the details of the rlm. were planned Morr'-n's attMti a1 hed Avers.

d that he dren kooot m.ww irom ank. ami s'.adowed his every .., noi the time came to

pre-cd too elfjaeijf on his trail and immediate escape was necessary Fleeing before the officers and farmers, Ely's e ape. as subsequently descril d by himself, was one so tuuartOM that he does not t )-day know how the shower of bullets suit alter him failed to tu I his Ufa. With the horse pushing him to his i (most lie came SIMM a farmer. !riinu peaceful y atom: the road. "Stop or I II MMMW" he yelled The farmer pulled up. Faying no attn to the nu n following, a quarter of a mile behind, he stood behind the agriculturist and ordered him to drive " like b . or I'll blow your bloodybrains out " Auain the farmer obeyed Suddenly comiirz vtn a dozen alten men direc ly in his path, ail hope of

The first visit to West I nity of W alter Fayne. who wa. during the investigation, assistant fire marshal, will never be forfOttea l him It was b tM slightest eaaVOt that he ran into a shred of evidence which, followed If from a hundred different dir. 1 1 ion. finally brought the MMd-fOf resulis Clyde IVrsirg. of West I nity. was ind. bted to a Toledo firm in a rather large in nt. und. Mfflaetlag payment, he was drawn uon HeetOVed b tM) M tion ir. prentlr.K a daft to him for payment ivrsinir lost his temper, ami

threw ( ire to the winds At that time he conducted a small restaurant in a bmUdiaj owned by Mrs. Winifred Adolph. The night after the draft came to him the res aurant burned That was in July of ttOS. So 1 1I was the action of the man that it could rot fail to arouse the suspicion of Mr Payne. an! within a few days, he v siti d the villap.-. lie had not Ik en there more than lea minutes before his presence MM tipped off to the leacTs of the iar.s. Honu i Morrison was there at the time, and Iiis trusty lieutenants made him aware Of the fac: that the fire marshal was In the village. Payne desird to talk with Frederick Miller. Mae only banker of the

tow n, and who was the agent for nearly all the insurance companies which had policies placed in tJM vicinity. Themar--hal went to the bank, and, to his surprise, the brazen scouts actually followed him. in their attempt to learn the exact nature of his business Even Morrison, fearless because he thought hi dignity In the eoninninity prot' cud him from siispic-ien li-'. io w ith il-rn ss to what the marshal sail. and thn entrusted the work of shadow inu Payn" to less distingulslod men in the profession. The officer finally succ . ; d in evnding the fellows on his trail, sml held a long confertnee with Miller, and oth-r prominent men, who. he had learned, had suffered because f their Ik iii sty in v. fusing to participate ! ,n' daaraaations. Fn m itiens Of this class, he learned much, and his suspicions that the restaurant fire was of an incendiarynature were strengthened. But. to his reat surprise he wa- nr. able to y t one of the men assembled

there, to mention th name of a single ' persi.n who might, possibly, be conacted They actwtlly feared the con -sequeni es that would com . w hen it was dtocoveied that thiy gave inf.. cm at lor. Appeal to their manliness was unavailing. They were thoroughly ccwed by the thnats. They feared their liv I would be the forfait for divulging any of their secrets. Payne pointed out the I seriousness of the crime of arson, and : showed them the c riminal statute?, pro

viding imprisonment for 20 years, of convicted firebugs, hut they still refused to talk, but related evtnts of the past, and described how the gang had succeeded, even at elections, to poll votes enough to land candidates who would not prosecute them. Policy of the Citizens. Back was Pajrno'i firsi ricti to the actual scene of operations. He left, disgusted with the nun who posed as representative citiz. ns of the community, ltut hi- MMMjMWi visit- changed his mind. He understood, after learning all about the manner of men who were di-

Ins th. dastardly work, wny it was- poi

. . - . I-1-.".ii-i- M"i i - ... . at i Piga MVar fortsut the Insult H- left w:ta the parting admonition that he would some day get even, and he has. tor Mor rlson Is servinK in the p. i.in utiaiy. audi a score of his cronies have been indicted, a dozen fc;iind guili y ami sent to pi soii. while Page breathes free air, and MtM ptobably live the resi of his das outiodo of prison wall. The barriers in the ay of a conii lun by Pa;' were broken y Jim Saunlers, a respected West I nity man Saur.flere and Page were boys together, when they left Englrnd. the . ountry of their birtb, to try their fortunes in America Saunders grew tip in the straight am! narrow path, living as he had been taught to live. Page forgot the good teachings of his y-.uih Tin- officers got the two men together. Saunders well posted as to hia duty He resolved to do all he could to a- - In w i inging u i onfei ion from t he old firebug. Hut this at first sei med to be useless, for Page, wary to the last, evaded the effort! to get at the truth Arrest of Page was finally necessary, and he was taken to Toledo, where t ho

. H atbox w as to be tried on him Saunders accompanied him The g"xl man denounced the fhUbUfM, talked of the ilays of long ago. MMffl both stood on the threshold with an gvat chance at the world They had readied nearly the allotted three score and ten. The OM i an. honest man; t Be Other was a criminal of the w or.-t tj M. A few rounds of driuke in the Widdeil hotel brought ut admissions from Page. Then he confessed to some of his actions and naked Saunders advice. "Tell the whole truth, you can't afford to lie, now. Ja.-k." said Saunders, and Page s.'Uig an opportunity to make good the three ol vengeance upon hie lornier pais, dtecloeed so much that a conference with the fire marshal MM arranged. A man. OMMtMM of the fact that hie criminal operations are even partially known to those in authority, and wishing to bring upon his partners in crimn the punishment he had already .-uffered. is easv nickinc for detectives. Thus it

was that Page, the stoic, revealed the Inner workings of the gang which had tirrorized the community for years. Names were mentioned, and when the disclosures were substantiated by further investigation, the grand jurie of Williams and Fulton counties were kept busy for months. Indicting men connect ed with the conspiracy. Number of Fires Unknown. Nobody knows how many fires were cause.; by the ton lies of these criminals. The number is more than a hundred, but more accurate count than that has not

, 1

f 4 I; I, .f J ! . II

SHERIFF W

key for law-ehidiBC clUMM to keep their Williams County. Ohio. Officer WTi

mouths closed, when ihe law DSC rati them so litile protection. That was the pTOpoeltion lo be worked out. and the necessity of kmi detective i work was at one-apparent. Wiih a problem of this magnitude, expaaditare of mmh money is nries-, sary and when Payn r ported his find- j

the state depart

K.-mP.i -.1 h.i cut off It was itivs and suspicions t

mi-t in l o umous. n as in .in.- .-

am

Meunwhile Morrison home. cms. mus of the the swaK was to be g the division was to b

remaned at fact that half ran him. tha made in his

barn where th v'ins tor robbery .r. made and that Ely was to be "ptaated" thaw tartll he found a good o i;ortunity to escape. rat Morrison r.nd the little buyer had MOM life hm friends, ard Ayers i' m was to ch tom any one man more friendly to him than another, won'.! have selected M irrison But Morrison s-'.w his chance nd bis wicked MdB I could not be restrain .1 by mere bon.ls of friendship

r assault a dlsmai

then that the remarkable coolness of the man and ptaeeace of mlr.d asserted themsf Ives. Hurriedly Jumping from the wagon he cowed the crowd in front w,.h his revolver, calmly unhitchd one of the horses and before anybody knew Ms in'-nuons he had jumped on the animal's back and. with half a dozen shois. dashed oa a ma! gallop to a stretch of wooded land three miles away ReachWm: the thicket he dismounted, turned the horse ioosaand escaped fnm his pur . rs It was then that tae lans of Morrison to .:id In the eeeapa were

useful, for Kly found the honi- of Jack

elded that funds should be provided. I!. M Hollenheck was d tailed to insist in the work. and. from Toledo am' Una

Arrested George Letcher. Alleged

Inc-ndiary. Now on Trial. been kept. The insurance compamee, have paid, it is estimated more than l :.jo,000 tu the members of the gang Homer Morrison and Jack Page were Indicted nearly a dozen times, prim ipalty for ar.-on. April I, 1878. they burned M rriroti V h nie. and got the Insuram e. Morris. n hired Page for that Job. A little later. Page was duped Into burning lohn Keller s property, west of West

FniM. Then K-:;. r trappeu oe- oe ...

the work was carrini on. noi fi i ... - or ( mull,v,..i Morriaoa t. .lo the dirty work.

r months, but for years.

Jack Pape Confe: ft, Luck favored th efficcrs. I nfortunate Ia k Page his decflnlni years rendering him unfit for active set vicewas in the way of the young r members of the gang They resolved to put him out of the way. nfMfdtf was out t.f the ijii it Ion, so he was hired to burn abHrn IB Michigan, and Morrlon. still p

inu tk ftgai ty of Ms younger yeats. so

It 1 i

PJP

WILLIAMS COUNTY COUIlTHOUSE

Bryan. t. Tt.v "

izlibor for fa- :

won! and was :.e! .red until he had time to burgi.iri.r the residence of William S hwartz. a farmer, and uMiBsataJf f' uml his way t I Kans. s City. Ely's Confession. in the htvaatkfathM of raceai yearthe robbery of Ayers was looked Into. j In, r i ii mum I I .. . ..r I . .. In. . !....

The night u bo.... -

an.lc.iMitv inl. almost uunuiiiR resuueu in iu" app: w .c-i.ui m r.i

was a young man. poseenreo nemn - organii table farm and surrounded by address a n,rry ' ( ,r nj hi. mliel h'm only pro and o Jeopetd ''. aw 1 - rao vHBaa n m , of hims.,!f ami

Homer M rr.n.

his neighbor. iiy. oo "

the erurawHe unknown, ei apt in

Its-, w they

lo-do. was

iducc.l these two boys to ( 'uritanic path laid out for hristian pnreats cannot be except in their gred for the desire to defraud came trs elapsed before It was 'inhering as clansmen ap mest and reapectab'e fan . ng pursued Its coure. stop tothing. making nsuran-e

rr.' n

nit were tlty was

r- - M

11 Who chan-ed to b. I. Kepi inaiij , yen the village indoors Ayers bad playl his usual game of cards and was oaJiis way home. Morrison's men spotted hi. slgneJied Ely who was lying in ambuh. and when Ayers cirre to the designated KOI he found taa big guns thrust in

front Of his fac-

h

red with the md atad tkd him the fin-

eoMiattah

cuspl. i -

j, I e - ini.' titTask of fftate Officers To hunt down MMM W of beings vas the tass of state off! eis The un dertaklng "'n lo " biK an,"

tviurne -"

0Mpcndoes by fraught with peril

thern. Mail masked, wa.- all the acii j. man said, for an Otd'tMhlOMed

Colt revoiv.r that ha had. by m -re chance put into his Kcket before avlas hoade. Afterwards he said that Morrison s admonition made him As he pulled the gun there were iwo -harp reports as streaks of llame Doarad from the barrel of the guns K held Ayers fell with a groan Tb noise ol 'he .hooting attracted

Taylor, one of the ,tiK. gave Use pass- arranged things that the Ific rs from

Michigan had nn easy tnsk to track Page fim the barn to Ml hOMie In Ohio. Thir i they found n set of hutness thr.l Page ha! stolen from the ile-troye ' barn. anl h" was caught almost rce'hajftded. In the Michigan courtto nn he

aai an object of pity. S. BM iBTettlga- j tlon had been made, and if wes known that the captured man wr.s hut one of a gang of miny more 'PftKe. you tell us ab un y i:iir conr.par.- j inr.s and you will be allow d togofrce," tha j ii. i;e lafoemed hlsa, "Oh. yon want m to either tum state s evidence am! get free that wny . or take my medicine If I Just e-e nfcel my OMi Of me and ke. ; my fne e doaed aLotit th othtrs," was the qnli k r.tort. Tiiat's it eaactly, the Judge iail. "Ill tale my edlclae." Page said, and he took it. for t'nne e;rs behind the prls-jn !e ors of the Michigan penl- :. ; Hary. When th" eoftVfct w as finally safcasc-d, ar.d he returned to his ohin pals, he wa.s lejdatl itiockad). Instead e.f being re- . ved with opon arms, he was made the

ubject of scor.i ami conte iuit

He was bro'ich' to Williams county

from his reefdeace in the west, and whin the evldance praattrai by the Mate lire marsnal was shown l.tm he c, nlessei! to the deed, took th officers ore the n.ute of his eccape and vcrl- ; ail that had b en related by Page in hi -i cotife.Jsi u He .--et ved me year in the ColumbUl (0 . penitent iary for his crime. Justice having been eldet racked to MM ex'ent M MM he mined State's v deuce and supplied the office rs With Information which, in part r watted in the arrest and ioni tion of Morrbim. who is now serving a sintinc Of M ftgll in prison. Jack i'age, first In crime alter Morrison, enjoys fr -edom because he vave information of so much ealue in hunting down the flrehnga. A crippled old

Why." Page yal'l "I could have ? i

man now. he iaei f9l hesitrs'e to say ; all ef yo to hl. but I kept my tongue

the he cannot be In to remember how and fieine of you was pir.cned. many houses he ttrcd, and ho many 'Put the dog out of the wsv he u cx-

t- forced into th- uang. ami hi becamo

e.ne of the aorat of Ike iot H wj R- , cted "vtrai times for aiding MorrleoM rod page 0 tober 13, ItOS, he plMdad guilty to an a, and - nred a year in tue p mitentiary. Waldo fcl Morri-on. W.sUy Sliinrnan and Krank Colon, all of whom parti, ipated In the attempt on Samuel Ayera Itfa, Mere Indicted. Morrison got t, ii years in the penitentiary . Shipman two. and Ely e.ne. In iMi, new men w re takM tfttO the fold, and th. ir work resulted in Ike IB- , i ttnent of Harry Kirkendall, William Hühner. Freudie Ho man. t'harle i Smith William Davirtsem. and a half dosen otkert. hktetof them confes?ed. and wr. given sentences ranging I mm QOO to four years in prison. William Matthews was another e.f the later dgf criminals 11. was s utene el to serve two yean KawtOI time y . .lackron Swi her. Charles HulUberg ami one or

more ar" still at large having m i

from tha lUta They I r. away, fearin to take fit

,,f th' it a-- i" - Kv. ii with tkaatealh 1 1 work ain a.ir aeocmplUbed, the state beHerea it haa not done its full fluty. More prominent in-n are to be dragged from their high pinnacle in society, and their work of the PM expo - d to the public view. DM have ceased to he active particl- ,, uta in the utaraalhu of -rine. and are It ailing r. special. - sislem Hut their reformation will not carry them through ti e prrsont Itoni of jefttlee. They must answer for their m'.ldeeds, and the confessions, be in mad- almost

dally. 'Hl rau.e tneir uowhmo i (.lie hut their dif graced (smilHs ran enjoy the fruit of their i 1 uUen wealth.

r. mained I e iu lice