Hammond Times, Volume 4, Number 101, Hammond, Lake County, 15 October 1909 — Page 1

Ring" Pfobo ay or Becker? f A Generally fair twnijrht, tomorrow and Soudan contlna4 cooL EDITION VOL. IV., NO. 101. HAMMOND, INDIANA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1909. ONE CENT PER COPY.

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FL1G11 HURLED 10 HIS DEATH

Jacob Hoke, Who Guards Hohman St. Crossing, M. C, Is Struck by Engine and Ground to Pieces Under the Wheels.

Never knowing- what struck him. Jacob Hoke, 65 years old, of 28 Sibley Street, was hurled into eternity this noon when he was struck from the rear by the south-bound No. 4 Erie on the Michigan Central crossing. His body was picked up a lifeless mass, the engine having first thrown him high in the air and then ground him to pieces r?SM he fell crosswise over the rails. Within a minute the entire business district was aware of the accident, as the shrieking whistle of the engine blew repeated warning signals, which seemingly were heard by everybody excepting the unfortunate victim. It seems that Mr. Hoke, having noticed the approach of the train, emerged from the little office under the tower to go to the crossing to flag It. He had been in the office room to warm himself and his cap was drawn deeply over his head as he started out. The Krie Is double-tracked here, and the old man must have thought himself on ta north-bound track, for he walked along unconcernedly, carrying his flag to guard the crossing. Is Old Reaident. Mr. Hoke has lived in Hammond for the past twelve years, having come from Kendallvllle, Ind., where two married daughters are still living. He has been a railroad man practically all of his life, and has been crossing watchman on Hohman street since last summer. As watchman he has no doubt saved the lives of many people and it seem a strange fate that he should be killed in the very manner from which he saved others. Hla own personality and the high , esteem in which the various members of the Hoke family are held has made them many friends here, and the sudden dsath comes as a shock, not only to the immediate members of the family, but to the many friends of the family aa well. Mr. Hoke Is survived by his widow, even ohlldren and five grandchildren the children being Mrs. Charles Towle of Chicago, Mrs. James Shroyer, Mrs. Henry Heckler, Donald Hoke and W. A. Hoke of Hammond and Mrs. George C Ruthven and Mrs. F. O. Wyrick of Kendallvllle. Mr. Hoke was a member of the Kendallvllle lodge of Odd Fellows. The funeral arrangements, in charge V Undertaker Stewart, have not yet imade. awaiting the inquest, which fofoner E. F. Gordon of Hobart will hold this afternoon.

OIE DIES, iifjoie is B DEATH

(Special to The Tutes.) Whiting, Oct 15. Whiting children are having their experiences with eating medicine, which appeared to them to be candy, for two have did practically the same thing, with the result that one is dead, and the other was just snatched from the Jaws of death. On Wednesday evening Annie, the one and a half year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Cenjel, of Front street, was playing around the house, and wandered into the room of one of the hoarders. Upon the dresser was a box containing pills. The highly colored box attracted the attention of the child. After reaching several times, she managed to yet it down and opened it. The contents looked like candy to the little chi'.d and she ate five of the pills. A few moments later the mother was attracted by her child's groans, and running into the room found her baby. On the floor beside her was the open ;.hfx, and this and the pills scattered 'around told the tale at once. The little girl was already In spasms, and picking her up the mother ran from her home in Front street to the office of Dr. Doolittle on One Hundred and Nineteenth street. Death Wlog-. It was a race with death, for from Indications the frightened mother m . . i (Continued from Page Seven.) j

CUBS ARE THE CHAMPS The Cuba are a rain the champion of Chicago. In the laat game of the aertea at the Weat Side grounds, Mordecal i Brown grave the Sox one hit only and "on hla pune by a acore of 1 to O. Sox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Cubs 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 Batteries: Sox White, Payne. Cubs Brown. Mo ran. 01 1D10 Diplomatic Relations Between Local Business Men and Obstinate Line Severed at Last Night's Meeting. In a resolution that was passed by the members of the Hammond Business Men's association last evening the Monon railroad was condemned for its lack of civic pride in Hammond, and while the word "boycott" is not used, the business men of Hammond are covertly advised to send their freight anyway but on the Monon route, and thoee who have been patrons of the road as passengers are advised to ride on the railroads that have taken enough interest in Hammond to build suitable depots. To Fight to Flmiah. If this fails it will be a case of a battle to a finish. The city officials will be urged to compel the railroad to live up strictly to every city ordinance. No train will be allowed to gro through the city at a greater rate of speed than six miles an hour and every other provision that can be worked to the detriment of the operation of the road will be enforced. The people of Hammond propose to make the officials of the Monon road feel the heat of their wrath, and they will do It in such a manner as to make every official and stockholder of the road appreciate the fact that the Monon has a fight on In Hammond. As far as favors are concerned the Monon will not get a single one from the people of Hammond until it shows the right spirit. One of the retaliatory measures that is likely to make the management of the road nit up and take notice is the effort on the part of the Hammond Business Men's association to secure interurban connections with the Panhandle railroad, south of the city, so that Hammond people can have another route to Indianapolis. Hat Other Trfcka. The Hammond Business Men's association has a few other tricks up its sleeve that will show the management of the Monon railroad that it stirred up a bunch of hornets when It turned down the demands of this city for adequate depot facilities. In the meantime, if a Monon traffic agent comes to Hammond looking for business the business men of the city and the manufacturers are advised to give him the cold shoulder and throw out a gentle hint that the town has got to have a new depot before the road will get much business from this locality. LIKE IT The first demonstration of the Liberty Cow Milker was made at the plant of: that company this afternoon at 2 o'clock. Bossie Is said to have been ' delighted with the new milker and stood as still as though she had a wobble-legged calf getting its dinner instead of an automatic cow milker. The demonstration this afternoon was made in the presence of a select few and was for the purpose of seeing that everything was working all right. Tomorrow a public demonstration will be made at 2 o'clock when any one who cares to see the new milker at work may do so. There Is no Question as to the practicability of the cow milker, and it Is exacted that from now on the picturesque dairy maid will be replaced by the automatic milker, several of which can be watched by one roan.

BOSSIE SI TO

From Poverty to Riches in 6 Years. (The Third Installment.) CWhen Lawrence Becker came to Hammond in 1896 he was a poor man. CThe Times has stated that the records show him to be worth more than $100,000. CHOW DID HE GET IT? Cla the first story we showed his interest in the Porter county farm valued at $23,650. CIn the second story we showed that he and his relatives own the lion's share of the Becker-Tapper Realty company, which owns property conservatively, VALUED AT $64,800. din this company Messrs. Rohde, Lyons, J. C. Becker, Drackert and Tapper, COGS IN THE BECKER POLITICAL MACHINE, are big stockholders. CMayor Becker's holdings, up to the present chapter, aggregate $37,495. CMind you, it is a conservative estimate. C Today, by the records in the courthouse of Crown Point, we will show that Mayor Lawrence Becker is, in addition to the above, THE OWNER OF NEARLY TEN ACRES OF VALUABLE LAND IN SECTION 6, near the Standard Steel Car company district, with an estimated value of from $1,500 to $3,000 per acre. CSix acres and a fraction of this tract Eecker bought just after the location of the Standard Steel Car company plant in Hammond. CThe other acreage, two and one-half acres with the same value per acre, he bought during the past year, bringing his holdings, to be accurate to 8.9 acres. CA CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE OF THE LAND, WHICH UNDERSTAND BELONGS ENTIRELY TO MR. BECKER, IS $18,000. CAnother little problem in addition shows Becker's holdings, up to this writing, to be $55,435. CHow did he get it ? CIt will be of especial interest to the taxpayers of Hammond to know that this tract of land, near the Standard Steel Car district, IS ALSO NEAR THE GARY & INTERURBAN LINE, FOR WHOM THE CITY ADMINISTRATION WAS SO ACTIVE in getting a franchise, and in which John Gavit, city attorney of Hammond under Becker, IS A STOCKHOLDER. CIt will be well for the taxpayers of Hammond to study carefully the inner workings of this great political ring which dominates Hammond from day to day and note how Mayor Becker's holdings are tied up with it. THE HALF OF THEM HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD. CWatch for the fourth installment of the story how Becker came to Hammond a poor man, poss as a poor man, AND IS IN REALITY RICH. CEvery voter in Hammond will read it.

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Son Puts Mother to Bed After Finding Her Unconscious or Dead on the Floor Retires Himself Without Ascertaining. Aftr having put his unconscious mother to bed last night, Henry Wolner of 111 Gostlin street a saloonkeeper, found her dead In bed this morning. The dead woman Is Mrs. Laura Wolder, 68 years old, who has lived in Hammond for twenty years, having spent the last few years since the death of her husband with her son. The son and the mother lived alone in the bonding. "I meant well, bnt now I realize that I did the wrong thing when I failed to look after my mother. I thought her sound asleep when I retired at 11 o'clock, and while I had to pass through her room to go to mine, I did not make a light, not wishing to disturb her in her sleep. I found her dead this morning. My mother had been ailing with heart trouble for a number of years, but recently had been feeling quite well. She felt so well yesterday that she ventured to do her own washing, but later in the afternoon she retired. Flnda Her on Floor. "Between 6 and 7 o'clock we heard a noise from her room, and going there, we found her unconscious on the floor. Another man and I picked her up and placed her In her bed, where I thought she would rest better. I retired about II o'clock.." No doctor had been summoned last night, and Hugo Wolner, the son, does not know whether he picked up his mother dead or unconscious. In the rast few months she had had tree or four different pysilcans. About six weeks ago Mrs. L. Minkowski, a daughter of Mrs. Wolner, who lived In Chicago, was buried In Hammond. The case is In charge of Under Stewart and arrangements are being made for the funeral next Sunday. HHHY TRIBE, BEWARE! John N. Beckman and Dave Emery of the Lake County Savings and Trust company are spending the week end at Kouts. They have heard of the big catfish and the dogfish that abound In the bayous there, and upon leaving they said that would be their game. Mr. Beckman is after catfish In particular, while Mr. Emery will confine his energy to the dog variety. THERE IS ALWAYS A "BEST PLACE" TO BCT. TIMES' ADS TELL YOU WHERE.

j i LL Fall arrives In Hammond formally tomorrow with the big fall opening Of the E. C. Mlnas department store. With each year Hammond people realize that the local stores are displaying authoritative models of ladles an- 'hildrens' ready-to-wear garments, millinery creations, men's clothing and footwear on a par with Chicago ideas and prices, and consequently the fall opening in the big Minas store Is an event in many households. The goods are, of course, all new and the stock is large and the displays can be made accordingly. The Minas windows are unprecedented this year for beauty. Art and style are combined in every one. The one farthest west shows excellent fabrics In ladies' drees goods, the next one east shows the ladles' ready-to-wear apparel. The style and goods there are beautiful and distinctive. The next one shows men's suits and wearing apparel. The styles and shades arc correct in every detail and a glance shows the prices to be right. Another window has a full line of footwear. These windows containing first of all quality with right prices are made up in an artistic style. They are Just samples of what is to be found in the store. The store will be elegantly decorated in fall 10 BIG MEETINGS GLA!MATTENT10N Young Men's Republican Club Has One, Central Committees the Other. Two Important meetings are engaging the attention of republicans in Hammond at the present time. The first is the meeting which is to be held by the Young Men's Kepublican club in the superior court house this evening and the other is the north side meeting that is to be held in the new store building at the corner of Gostlin and Hohman streets tomorrow evening. Several hundred notices have been sent out to the members of the Young Men's Republican club, and it Is expected that there will be a large attendance at the meeting tonight. The meeting is for the purpose of organizing the work in the various precincts of the city, and it Is important that representatives from every ward in the city be present. The meeting will take the form of a smoker and there will be cigars for all of those present. There will be a number of good speakers on hand who will go over the Issues of the campaign and point out the many good reasons for opposing the election of Lewrence Becker. Plan Hot Meeting. The meeting on the north side tomorrow evening will be the first of a series that has been arranged by the city central committee. At this meeting the needs of the people of the north side will be taken up and the residents of this part of the city will be shown how shamefully they have been treated under the Becker administration. , 1. In expected that there will be a

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hades having a ustia affect. Brings ,rnft In Everything. Like every fall opening In a bi:i store, it brings to the front the newest in ladies' cloaks, suits and millinery, furs and clothing in general. That these things take in Hammond from a reliable store, is evidence by the fact that the E. C. Minas company has already sold out Its fur stock and has telegraphed for a duplicate order from New York. While business is brisk in these departments it is equally so in the other lines, especially th hardware and furniture lines. It is the boast of the Minas store that it caters to a good class I of trade, and its furniture stock is good accordingly. There is an elegant display of this on the second floor. E. C. Minas says that this Is unqualifiedly the best season that the store has had in its history bsrring none, and the question for room Is again growing to be a pertinent one. It will be a matter of a few short weeks when the E. C. Minas auto-delivery truck will be a permanent feature on the streets of Hammond. It has been ordere, and is needed to be in keeping with the progressiveness of the store. good attendance and that the speakers will pour out mtfien lead in a way that will make their hearers sit up! and take notice. The north side and the east side have a bitter complaint to make against the present administration, and it is expected that the republicans will be able to make great headway in these sections of the city. There will be charges made against the administration that will take a good deal of explaining to get around; and there will not be a charge made j which will not be backed up by the1 cold facts. The coming week will see J the greatest political activity thatj Hammond has ever known. I TO INSPECT THE PAVING Krinbill and Board of Public Works Will Go to Robertsdale. The board of public works, together with County Commissioner Oscar Krin bill, went to Robertsdale this morning j to inspect the paving work on Indiana, boulevard. There is an unreasonable delay in the paving of Indiana boulevard, and Con tractor Davidson says that it is duet to the street car company, while Mr. j Green, for the street car company, says i he is doing all he can under the circum- ' stances. Mr. Davidson seems anxious' to have the work completed as soon as possible, and consequently the officials went out to see what arrangements can be made to settle the difficulty in as speedy a manner as possible. NOTICE. We have $20,000 to loan on Hammond and Lanning Improved real estate In small amounts. Get our price and terms before making your loan. LANSING STATI? BANK. 10-12-St. T-nsInj, 111.

ITERUHBAN S PROPOSED (Special to The Times.) Lowell, Ind., Oct. 15. Prospects look bright for the construction of an interurban line which will connect Monticello, Lowell, Cedar Lake and St. John with the Logansport line at the one end and the South Shore route at the other, with Hammond as the latter terminal. L C. Carver of the Indiana Union Traction company of Chicago was in Lowell last evening look into the feasibility of constructing the line through that point. He registered at Schmal's hotel for the night. In speaking of the matter he was quite enthusiastic over the outlook, and as Lowell and the other cities in the chain which are to be connected by the proposed line, if the latter becomes a reality, are greatly in need of the improvement, it is confidently expected that with a reasonably fair deal from the railroad company their respective administrations will do all in their power to secure the line. It is believed here that the railroad might be made a paying venture both for passenger and freight traffic. Hammond Business Men's Association Handicapped by Lights Going Out While Discussing Interurban Railroads. The Hammond Business Men's association held its interurban meeting last evening under difficulties. The light In the superior court room went out when Attorney Frank Gavit was speaking, and he was compelled to talk in the darkness. There was only a small crowd of business men present, and many of them left before the meeting was over on account of the lack of light. The representative of the McElroy Belting and Hose company was present and spoke of the prospects of his company and the proposition it has made to the people of Hammond. A committee was appointed to make a canvass of the business men of the city for subscriptions, and if a substantial portion of the $30,000 worth of stock is subscribed. Hammond will secure another valuable Industry, which will add to the diversity of those which have already located here. The company, as Its name Indicates, makes belting and hose, and Mr. McElroy stated last night that there is an enormous profit in the sale of these goods. He showed where fortunes have been made in rubber. Gavit Make Speech. Attorney Frank Gavit said the time had passed when it was necessary for the Gary & Interurban to make promises. He said that it would not be many more weeks until . the people of Hammond could see with their own eyes the work of constructing the line. lie told of the work that had been done in Tolleston, where he said two mil.s of track had been laid, and he said that there are now 300 tons of rails on the sidetrack waiting to be laid. He said there is every indication that the Hammond-Gary line will be in operation this winter, and that it will be in operation as far as the plant of the Standard Steel Car company within ninety days. Riley Thanks Runinrin Men. A letter was received from W. J. Riley of the Indiana-Chicago Traction company in which he thanked the Hammond Business Men's association for the help that organization had been to him in securing his franchise. lie said that he was Etirely going to build his line and that work had already begun at the fill, near the Columbia avenue bridge. The next meeting of the association will take up the matter of civic pride and it will b discussed by speakers who will rip some of the people of Hammond up and down the back for their carelessness, slovenliness and lack the quality extolled. The business men of Hammond decided that as a result of its failure to meet the demands of the people of Hammond for better depot facilities they could not make use of the Monon railroad, unless where they were absolutely obliged to. THERE A TIE SOME "CASH-VALT3K. F ACTS' IX TODAY'S TIMES' ADS.

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Gang of Eighty Men Is Preparing Roadbed From Columbia Avenue West Steel Laying Begins oil Tuesday. . A gang of eighty men la digging Itg way west from Columbia avenue fo the Gary & Interurban road bed. and by, tonight the excavation work will hava reached Oakley avenue. Steel laying oa this stretch should begin next Tues-. day. according to the estimates of th foremen. Mayor Darrow Is hurrying; on the work for his friend, Mr. Becker'g sake. Seven carloads of tiea. belonging' tflf the interurban company, . are stored! somewhere in one of the Hammond switch yards, and thua far they have not been located. Steel, too, has been ordered, and it is expected to be oij hand when needed. According to the statements of ths foreman of the gang- today, they expect to finish their work as they ga along. The concrete ' mixer will arrive in Hammond next Monday for the preparation of the concrete in which the ties are to be laid. The best possible time that can be made now toward the completion of the road is Jan. 1, and according to the franchise, this will be several months late. As the line will be ultimately double-tracked, the first track Is being laid on the north side of the street. The biggest piece of work, however, still remains to be done. This is a stretch of approximately - seven miles between Columbia avenue and two miles west of Tolleston. The Hammond board of public works was to decide today whether the track on Summer street should be laid In the middle of the street, or along the side of the pavement. In Tolleston the work can progress no faster than the Improvement of Bormann boulevard, and a that work is being held up now, owing" to lack of material, the building of the interurban also be delayed. A gangof men, however, is working toward Hammond from Tolleston breaking ground for the roadbed. All Goes Fairly Well at the Knotts Convention Until Matter of Clerkship Is Reached Then Pandemonium Breaks Loose. The independent ticket: For mayor Thomas E. Knotts. For clerk Harry Moose. For treasurer Frank Zawadski. For councilman-at-large John T. Marich. For councilman-at-large William S. Feuer. In a hall seething with a mass of humanity, some seven or eight democrats and Interested spectators, Tom Knotts was crowned hero of Gary's Insurgent democracy, and incidentally named as their candidate for mayor. As was expected, the cut and dried program was neatly executed up to the time that the contest occurre 1 for the office of city r'.erk. when suddenly pandemonium broke loose in full blast and the convention wag converted into an uncontrollable mb of near-rter. Poor Mr. Zavradfcki. The only contest for any of the. offices was for city clerk. Ur until tho hour of calling the convention not oniy was there no content for city tre;. surer, but there was absolutely no candidate who would submit to having this burden placed on his show' ours. As a solution for the d:ltrr;7ja poor Frank Zawadski, who is row in Milwaukee attending the convention of the Polish National Alliance, unable tj defena himself, was condemned to accept the place. As his nominator. II. M. Stan(Continued on ptgf five.) When you go to Gary, Ind., take ride In the free sight-seeing automo bile of the United states Land Co,

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