Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 February 1902 — INDIANA STATE NEWS [ARTICLE]

INDIANA STATE NEWS

Porter county Republicans in mass convention at Valparaiso indorsed Edgar D. Crumpacker for congress. The county convention will be held on May 24. iA dog prevented what might have been a disastrous Are at th> home of John R Patton at Paoli. The family had retired for the night and left the dog in a room where a lamp was turned low. The househol/ii was awakened several hours later by discordant notes from the piano, and the room in which the dog was confined was discovered in flames. The dog, aware of impending danger, had stood on his hind legs and pounded the keys with his fore paws. The Are was extinguished with slight loss. The Rev. F. M. Kelter, former agent of the United Brethren Publishing company of Huntington, has been arrested on a charge of forgery. Keiter is charged with raising a note from >I,OOO to >3,000. Keiter gave bond. At the general church conference held in Pennsylvania last spring Keiter was charged with being short several thousand dollars in his accounts as agent. A meeting of the board of trustees recently exonerated Keiter. D. McKenzie of Portage claims that evidence has been discovered by which the McKenzies residing in Illinois and Wisconsin will be able to prove their right to an estate of >2,500,000. Fire gutted the big retail dry goods house of Brosman Brothers, 9 Washington street, Indianapolis. The loss is estimated at >65,000. Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern officials posted a notice at Washington that the shops will be opened and inviting the old employes to apply for work. The announcement has led to much rejoicing in Washington, where 600 men are affected. The loss of the shops to this city was threatened because of the annoyance to the company and offers of large bonuses in other places. The shopmen lost in wages over >20,000. Ice on streams and ponds in the vicinity of Delphi is the heaviest known in thirty years. On Deer creek and on the Tippecanoe river it varies in thickness from twelve to twenty-eight inches. At Muncie Mrs. Cyrus Neff was awakened by the odor of smoke, and finding the wood that she had placed in the oven of her kitchen stove on fire, and the stove at the melting point, she threw a bucketful of ice ,cold water upon it. A terrific exijlq&ion resulted and the stove was blown to pieces, but Mrs. Neff was not much hurt. C. C. Gautier, a druggist of Greencastle, has received from Germany his share in the estate of an aunt, who is supposed to have been drowned while coming to this country more than forty years ago. Muncie police are looking for a young man of smooth appearance, who is said to be going about the cities in that part of the state, offering to give them Central Union telephone service at a ridiculously low price, provided the subscriber deposits a dollar at once. He secured a considerable sum in Muncie. John A. Johnson, a printer of Jeffersonville, died from morphine, taken with suicidal intent. He had fully prepared for ending his life, even to joining the church. Flora, four years old, daughter of Prof. Chris Gottsch of the German Lutheran schools of Columbus, ate some strychnine headache tablets and died within a short time. A huge ice gorge is reported several miles above the mouth of Green River. Editor James McNeely of Evansville is now serving as a commissioner in Indian Territory. John Garrettson of Lancaster township owns a ewe which dropped five lambs, all of them strong, healthy and frisky. Even triplets are very rare among animals of this species. The Republican committee of the Thirteenth Congressional district set Feb. 26 as the date of the convention when a candidate for Congress will be named. The Herrod & Waggoner shoe factory at Decatur is now owned by a stock company and expansion will follow. L. H. Smith & Co. of Indianapolis, through their agent, have secured options on one thousand acres of land in the vicinity of Patricksburg, looking to developing its coal deposits. Miss Hester A. Neely has foreclosed her mortgage on the Church of God building at Anderson, the trustees deeming it advisable to make no further attempt toward saving the property. The primaries for the nomination of Republican candidates for county offices and Congressman from the Seventh district will be held March 14. Henry Fork, aged 100, died at his home in Warrick county. He was a pioneer and a veteran of the Mexican war. . E. E. Dye has been appointed postmaster at Abington, Wayne county, ▼lce W. A. Hunt, removed. Agnes Kelso, aged 12, was horribly burned at Muncie by boiling water. She accidentally pulled a kettle containing the watfer off the stove, and it '.was spilled over her body, cooking the Scottsburg claims the distinction of having the youngest county commissioner In the state in the person of ||john F. Redman, who is not yet 26 old. He is a teacher by profes>,On HL •

During the sleighing carnival at Logansport, in which thousands of people took part, a bobsled, loaded with 159 children, was upset, one 9-year-old lad sustaining a broken leg. The prize, however, was awarded to the children in the sled for having the largest number aboard. The American Gas and Oil company sold Its interests to an Eastern syndicate for >IO,OOO. The property consists of gas and oil leases on 1,900 acres of land, with only two completed wells. The land was until recently considered wild-cat territory and worthless for gas or oil development. State Labor Commissioner McCormack has received from the assistant commissioner general of the PanAmerican Exposition a bronze medal awarded to the Indiana department of labor in recognition of the excellence of the department’s exhibit at the exposition. $ Jonathan*Alrhart and wife, the oldest couple in Advance, and among the oldest of Boone county people, are feeble; and realizing that their days are few, they have divided their assets among their children and grandchildren. jLmong the articles distributed were fifteen gold dollars, nearly all of which was coined in the 50s. The Advance Hustler, which has been running for some time under the care of C. F. McDaniel, has changed owmers, Earl Darnell assuming a half interest. Elias Rlttenour, one of the wealthiest pioneer farmers of Madison county, /died at his country home near Emporia, eighty-eight years old. Mr. Rittenour’s father, when a lad of fifteen, was with Washington when he crossed the Delaware in the battle of Trenton. John Lavin of Daleville, sixty-two years old, a survivor of the civil war, fell on the sidewalk, suffering concussion of the brain, and dying some hours later. W. C. Stone, formerly local manager of the mills of the American Steel and Wire company, at Anderson, has been promoted to assistant district manager with headquarters at Chicago. The 101-acre farm of the late WilJam Newhouse of Newcastle has been sold by the administrator. Charles and Elliott Huddleson were the purchasers, paying >4,060. Mrs. Nancy Moore, who died at Kokomo, was the last survivor of the six men and women who founded the First Baptist church in that city forty-one years ago. N. T. Clawson, seventy-three years old, whose death occurred at Newcastle, served two terms as county assessor, and was a stockholder in the Citizens’ State bank. At Muncie Richard Wilson, employed as engineer in the Ball Bros.’ fruit jar factory, fell against a rapidly revolving fly wheel and was thrown around a circle several times before his assistant could shut off steam. At Terre Haute Eilert Harms, a well-known German citizen, seventynine years old, was struck by an electric car. Death was instantaneous. The Allen mansion at Vincennes, built during the civil war by Capt. David S. Bonngr, and upon which no taxes have been paid since 1865, has been sold at delinquent sale to William H. Vollmer, county treasurer, for >3,200. The total delinquency is >6,000. The estimated value is >12,000. Judge W. C. Utz of New Albany while attempting to alight from an electric car, slipped and fell, receiving serious injury. Alexander Killon of Washington said to be the wealthiest farmer in the county, is alarmingly ill. He is reputed to be worth >300,000, and annually he makes a Christmas present of >2,000 to each of his children. John Divers, Greei- Crane, John King, Edward Lewis, and Thomas and Orville Gillespie, well-to-do farmers near Vincennes, signed a joint note calling for >2,500 to become the owners of a famous breeding horse from the stables of Robert Burgess of Winona, 111., only to find themselves duped by a clever swindler, who had no connection with the stables. The striking trainmen have asked a conference with General Manager Clark of the Terre Haute interurban lines, to talk over the situation. At Crawfordsville Murriet & Son, druggists, have closed their doors because of light buslnessi It was a voluntary retirement. The Wabash river is frozen so solid that it will bear the weight of a horse and wagon. A short distance below Vincennes teams are hauling logs across the ice. This is an occurrence that seldom happens. The town board of Carmel declared the franchise granted the Central Traction company two years ago forfeited, after which a franchise was given to the Union Traction company, which is pushing the construction of an interurban line from Broad Ripple to Kokomo, via Carmel. During a meeting of the trustees of the State Soldiers’ Home, a request was received from the widow of the late Jaspar N. Packard, former commandant at the home, asking that space for interment for her be reserved alongside the grave of her husband. This was granted. Fire destroyed the paint department of the Wayne Agricultural works at Richmond. Nearly 250 men are temporarily thrown out of employment. The aggregate loss is >70,000. The company will rebuild as speedily as possible!.

At Mulberry burglars dynamited the safe in the postoffice and carried off >2OO in stamps and a small amount of money. The explosion attracted several citizens, but being unarmed they were held at bay by the two robbers on guard, while a third made an attempt to blow' open the big steel vault in which were >1,700 in cash and a large supply of stamps. The cracksmen then escaped. Lenon Porter, the lad who ran away from Logansport and whose disappearance caused an official investigation to be made by the government regarding the shipping of recruits to the Boer and British armies, has been heard from. His father received a letter dated New Orleans, in which Lenon stated that he would start for South Africa to fight in behalf of “John Bull.’’ He said he was In good health. Edward Long walked into a saloon In West Indianapolis and asked for a drink on credit. He was refused whereupon he retorted: “It’s the last chance you’ll ever have to sell me a drink.” Then he passed into a rear room, where he was found writhing in agony and soon died. A post mortem showed death from congestion of the lungs. . At Kokomo while Maro, the magician, was giving one of his entertainments to a packed audience at the Main Street Christian church he lost his balance and fell with great force backward off a high pulpit rostrum and was seriously injured about the head, arms and shoulders. A rear-end collision of two freight trains on the B. and O. railroad at Indiana Harbor resulted in the death of the conductor and flagman of one train and the slight injury of the engineer of the other. L. P. Smith & do. of Indianapolis obtained options on 2,000 acres of coal lands around Patricksburg. This company will construct this spring, under the auspices of the Monon road, a railroad 80 miles long from Indianapolis to the coal lands. • A strange disease has appeared in the family of Thomas Wilson near Vincennes, causing the finger nails of the two members afflicted to fall off. Wilson and his wife are faith scientists, and refuse to engage a doctor. He is a well-to-do farmer. The Marion Cigar Makers’ Union, after passing a resolution condemning nonunion cigars, notified the merchants that time would be given them to dispose of the stock of nonunion goods on hand, but a boycott would be placed on all who made another purchase. Representatives of the Union TractiorTCompany, of which George F. McCullough of Muncie is president, state positively that the interurban line between Kokomo and Indianapolis would be built this spring. Peter Hostetter, who played a prominent part in the arrest of five men hanged at Versailles in 1897, is under arrest. The Chicago authorities wire that they want him on an alleged criminal charge. Thomas R. Shipp, a young newspaper man of Indianapolis, nas been appointed assistant private secretary to Senator Beveridge, and secretary of the committee on territories. An application has been filed in the courts for a receiver for the GearingHalier Lumber company. Mismanagement is alleged. About >IOO,OOO is involved. Judson S. Hooper, a well-known horse buyer of Indianapolis, was fatally injured in a runaway accident. F. E. Hering, C. C. Mitchell and J. J. Sullivan will represent Notre Dame university in a joint debate to be held at Chicago next month with the Illinois College of Law. Recently the city of Indianapolis annexed the college town of Irvington, four miles east, and a lot of intervening farm land. Many years ago W. H. H. Shanks purchased a ten-acre tract, eight acres of which was platted and annexed by the town of Irvington, while Shanks held out his home tract of two acres. Under the law unplatted territory cannot be annexed except by order of the county commissioners within a stipulated time, and after Shanks made the discovery he quit paying town taxes and otherwise conducted his holdings as independent territory. Miss Irene Christian of Marion, 18 years old, is an athletic girl, and while on her way to church was accosted by a burly ruffian. A right arm swing and the plump little fist dashed into his face, staggering him back, after which the girl calmly pursued her way. The employes of the chair factory at Troy have struck for higher wages. One hundred men are affected. Blanche, agfed 6, daughter of Sidney Wright, was accidentally burned to death at Wheatland. M. J. Clancy, glass worker, disappeared from Kokomo twelve years ago. Recently he was heard from, being now attached to the office of the Un ted States consul at Bluefields, Nicaragua, and also serving as grand secretary of the Masonic Provincial Grand lodge of Nicaragua. Four strangers provided with lead nickels suddenly swooped down on Crawfordsville and worked the slot machines to a finish, escaping with their sppils. At Lagrange the county commissioners have ordered that a bounty of 10 cents be paid for woodchuck pelts.