Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1902 — Indiana News Items [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Indiana News Items

State Happening* I Succinctly Told by Our Special Correspondents

IT MISSES A LOAD OF GLYCERIN Pennsylvania Train Has Close Call Near Hartford City. The west-bound Pennsylvania passenger train, barely missed crashing into a wagon loaded with nitroglycerin at the Bolner crossing, two miles east of Hartford City. The driver of the wagon was walking by its side and did not see the train coming through a cut He barely had time to jerk his team back at the crossing as the train rushed by. FEDERAL JUDGE HAS A RECORD A. B. Anderson i 'Once Vied In Oratory With Gov. La Follette. Albert Barnes Anderson, appointed to succeed Judge John M. Baker on the federal district bench, is a lawyer and was born Feb. 10, 1857, in Clarkstown, then a hamlet in Boone county, but now not on the map. When Albert was 6 months old his parents, who were pioneers of Indiana, moved to

Zionsville. There Albert grew up. At 16 his parents sent him to Wabash college. I nhis senior year Albert represented Wabash in the Interstate oratorical contest and secured second place, Robert M. La Follette, now governor of Wisconsin, taking first place. After graduating in 1879 Mr. Anderson began to study law. In 1884 he was appointed deputy prosecutor, the judicial circuit then being composed of Montgomery and Parke counties. In 1886, when Montgomery county was made a separate circuit, he was elected prosecutor and re-elected in 1888. In 1882, Nov. 14, Mr. Anderson was married to Miss Rose C. Campbell, daughter of Prof, and Mrs. John L. Campbell.

Reduces Rates. Because Kokomo granted him a thirty years’ extension of his franchise, George J. Marott, president of the Kokomo Street Railway and Light Company, agreed to a reduction of 5 per cent in lighting rates. He has asked for a franchise for a hot water plant, and if the franchise is granted $150,000 will be invested. Horse Kills Boy. Ira Douthitt, the 8-year-old son of John Douthitt of Shelbyville, was kicked In the head by a horse and died as a result of an operation performed on his crushed skull. Big Hotel for Marion. C. C. Gordon has bought the Marlon Presbyterian church building and ground, soon to be vacated by the church, and will erect a five-story hotel, to cost $75,000. Chance to Get Paper Mill. If Lafayette will furnish the site and land for a railroad switch a large paper mill will be erected there. The plant will cost $260,000 and employ 125 men. Has Ribs Broken. While blowing Btumps in Point township, Joseph Smith was blown twenty feet into a ditch. He had two ribs broken and may die. To Build Library. Thompson & Millspaugh of Anderson were awarded the contract for the Carnegie library building. Their bid was $45,767. Miner Is Crushed. Clarence Harpole of Brazil was fatally crushed in a coal mine at Coal Bluff, when a loaded bank car ran over him. Many Years a Priest. The Rev. Charles A. Ganser is dead at Mishawaka He was rector of Catholic churches in Indiana for over 26 years. Sues for $30,000. Ida Troehler of South Bend, injured by a Grand Trunk train last August, has sued the railroad for $30,000 damages. Palls Between Cars. Andrew Morrisy, a moulder at the plant of the Whiteley Malleable Casting Company at Muncie, fell between the cars while enroute to Springfield, 0., and was ground to death. The mangled body was taken to Springfield. Must Be Musicians. The board of education -of Porter county decided that all teachers must pass an examination in music before they will be qualified to teach. There is some objection to the decision.

NEW LIBRARIES IN THE STATE. Twenty-Seven Have Been Established by Andrew Carnegie. The report of the State Library Commission to the Governor shows that in the last year eighteen new libraries have been organized in the state and nine old ones reorganized. There are now twenty-seven Carnegie libraries, with prospects of more. There are established libraries in sixty of the ninety-two counties. The value of books and library property in Indiana is estimated to be $2,500,000. Attention is called to the school for training librarians, conducted at the State House last summer. The report asks that the commission be enlarged as well as the appropriation. The Governor is considering the advisability of recommending to the General Assembly that the work now done by the State Library Commission be placed in the hands of the State Librarian, because he thinks the State Librarian has time to look after thqt work as well as the state library. Footpads Attack Driver. While Martin Burhans was driving in the outskirts of Elkhart he was held up by two men. One man attempted to choke him, then wrested his revolver from him, fired three shots, one striking Burhans in the arm. After a desperate struggle Burhans got away from the men and drove off. Strikers Not Guilty. Twenty-four of the twenty-seven strikers who were arrested by the Conkey Printing Company of Hammond, charged with riot, were declared not guilty by Judge McMahan. Finds Father Dead. Joseph Overmeyer of Brookville was found dead in the woods by his daughter. He had gone out to haul wood, and it is supposed that he died of disease. Elks’ Memorial. Warren G. Sayre of Wabash spoke at the annual memorial services of the Anderson Elks. The lodge has lost ten members since it was organized in 1891. LONG IN OFFICE. W. H. Wiley, superintendent of the Terre Haute schools, who was elected president of the Indiana Association of City and Town Superintendents, has a unique record among educators of the state, and perhaps his term of continuous service as city superintendent is not equaled by that of any other superintendent in other states. He is

now serving his thirty-fourth consecutive year as superintendent of the Terre Haute schools. He may be said to have come in with the office and for four years before he became superintendent he was principal of the high school. He was president of the Southern Indiana Teachers’ association in 1900. He was a member of the State Board of Education several times. Mr. Wiley was born in Rush county in 1842, and soon after was taken to Pike township, Marion county, where he lived on a farm. He went to Butler University. Reopen Coal Mines. After a shut-down of two years, the American Coal Company’s mines" at Cannelton will reopen. In addition to operating.the old mines, the company will prospect for more coal. Assaults Saloonkeeper. Robert Latshaw, a Plainville saloonkeeper, was assaulted with a knife by Cloyce Reynolds and seriously hurt. Reynolds has fled. Mall Carriers Organize. Rurafmail carriers In Madison county have organized what is to be called the Madison County Mail Carriers’ Association. Novel Consideration. Charles Fish, 76 years old, and wife, a few years younger, have transferred to Henry B. Sykes and wife one of the most desirable pieces of property in Elkhart in consideration that the grantees pay to the grantors during the rest ot their lives the sum of sl,000 a year. ; / Natural Mania. Charles Bailey, seven years old, has a mania for buggy riding, and has taken the rigs of four or five different Elwood people in the last month.

VETERAN LOBEB LIFE FOR HAT Civil War Boldler Is Run Over by Train at Curtisville. An attempt to save his hat cost John Parr his life at He was seventy-six years old, a veteran of the civil war, and lived at Curtisville all his life. He was walking in a street near the railroad, when his hat blew off and he tried to get it He was struck by a train and thrown thirty feet, and was so injured on the side and shoulder that he died forty minutes later. UNVEIL BUBT OF THOMPSON Bronze Memorial to “Uncle Dick” Is Dedicated at Terre Haute. The bronze bust of the late Richard W. Thompson in the courthouse yard at Terre Haute has been unveiled. The bust weighs 600 pounds and is mounted on a base and die of Bedford stone, which is peculiarly appropriate,

as Colonel Thompson’s first home in Indiana was at Bedford, where he was once elected to the legislature. The monument is twelve feet high. Under a wreath carved in the stone is the following inscription: “COL. RICHARD W. THOMPSON, June 9, 1809—February 9, 1900. Orator, Statesman, Patriot, Friend.” Alexander Doyle, the New York sculptor, offered to make the bust at half the price he usually charged for such work. Mr. Doyle went to Terre Haute and got photographs, but still more useful to him was a bust in plaster, made by Alfred Austin, a Terre Haute youth of 15 years. Mr. Doyle said the bust was remarkably fine for a boy. Austin is now in the senior class at the Rose Polytechnic Institute. *

Threaten a Policeman. William Pettiford, a patrolman of Marion, who is suing for possession of a house which he owns and which is occupied by George W. Thompson, has received three anonymouil letters regarding the damage suit pending against him. The letters threaten Pettiford’s life if he does not make a settlement out of court. Men to Serve Supper. The men of the Elmwood M. E. church will prepare and serve a supper on the evening of Dec. 30. Fifty men will do the cooking, act as waiters and wash tija dishes. Stone River Survivors. The survivors of the battle of Stone River will hold their third reunion at Greencastle Dec. 31. W. H. Dryden of Martinsville is secretary of the organization. Fatal Fall. While Mrs. Charlotte Hatfield of Rolling Prairie was walking from the railroad station to her home, she fell and died in a short time of internal Injuries. Overheated Stove. James Great’s restaurant and a sa> loon burned at Portland, the fire starting from an overheated stove In the kitchen. Loss, $2,000; covered by insurance. Hog Attacks Man. , White Henry Beckley, a wealthy farmer of Ranville, was driving a ferocious hog along the road, he was attacked by the animal and severely hurt. s > V ,» Army Nurse Dies. Fort Wayne relatives of Miss Hannah Niehoff have word of her death in the Philippines, where she had been an army nurse for several years. Breaks His Back. While Emery Cotes was attempting to board a moving train at Corydon he was thrown to tfie ground and broke his back. He was nineteen years old. Disastrous Explosion.

An explosion in a gas regulator at the plant of the Southwestern Petroleum Company at Marion destroyed tbe building. Edward Christy, an oil well pumper, had his ears burned off, his right hand burned to a crisp and was perhaps blinded. It is believed he will recover.

Contest a Will. Relatives of David A. Caldwell, one of the pioneers of Boone County, are contesting his will, m which he failed to provide for some grandchildren.

JUDGE ALBERT B. ANDERSON.

WILLIAM H. WILEY.