Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 May 1887 — The Latest About The Frances. ville Oil well. [ARTICLE]

The Latest About The Frances. ville Oil well.

The- next State Legislature ought to enact laws prescri bing the whipping post for wife-beaters and the death penalty tor train wreckers.

Mr. James now gets two pages L his alleged newspaper ready printed, from Indianapolis. He i.nnouneed ihe change as an “improvement,” and as compared with the stereotype plates with which he has mainly filled hisepaper the ; -t year, Le is fully Jinstifidd in -in g the ternv. This week the Message man . Ippts what lie designates an d;u----j vuvement in the make-up of his p per that widt h one ye.nr ago 1. { with great bitterness. Of t ..arse no one acquainted with the nan placed any confidence in his sincerity’. He had an object in \ iew—failing in that, he has no hesitancy in stultifying himself, and falling back to the use of “ready-prints.” We congratulate him on the improvement.—Demote Lie Sentinel.

The Rochester Republican very wTMy remarks that a good healthy growth is more to be desired for a tu .ru than a boom based on nothing, and which is destined to run its course and then collapse, leaving somebody to hold the bag. Rut one person nor a dozen persons c unbuild up a town, be they ever so eloquent, earnest and laborious. In hearty endeayor and enthusiasm the citizens must be a .unit. . %

Hon. Washington C. DeF uw> tka wealthy manufacturer and nolle philanthropist, of New Albany, this state, was stricken with appoplexy.s last Wednesday evening, wl.ea on board a train on the L. N. A. & C. By., at Chicago, and upon which he intended to return to his home at New Albany. ' His so?vN. T. DePauw was with him at the time of his seizure. He was taken to the Palmer House, and died Thursday morning. Mr. DePauw’s many liberal and broadminded acts of benevolence- wall give him enduring fame. The report of the gas well meeting, at the court house lasT Satuiu&y evening, is published elsewhere. A good start was made at the meeting and some good work has been done since; although the absenee from town of' Mr. W. A. Enieharl the most zealous promoter of-the movement, has- temporarily stopped the work of soliciting subscriptions. By Tuesday morning, Mr. Einehart went away, the total amount of stock subscribed for was a little above 1 1,300. We think there is no question but that the requisite $2,500 will soon be subscribed

Inasmuch as the county treasury, like that of the Nation, is bur cloned with a surplus that needs reducing, why wouldn’t it be a good plan for the County Commissioners to build a handsome iron fence around the court house square ? ! It is soniething that will have to! be doac, sooner or later, and we I dou’t lad five the lime , will soon .aiiive when it can bo done and be less burdensome to the people thau now, The old fence is liidelu.sly ugly and a disgrace to the county. We beloive that the people hot only of iten selaer hut’ throughout the county generally, are in favor of this improvement, and will commend the action of the Commissioners if they decide to order the building of the fence.

A wise and proper suggestion made by Judge Hammond, at the gas meeting laat Saturday night, was tliat in case the organization of a gas company is completed, that the Town Board should be requested to give to the company exclusive privileges* for laying mains &e., for a period of years, in case gas is discovered. It is no more than right that the men who now risk their money on this uncertain venture should be granted great advantages over the rival companies that will almost certainily be organized in case gas is discovered by the first company. Of course the Town should grant the exclusive privileges only with equitable provisions as to the maximum rates that might be charged by the company, both for public purposes and of private parties. *

The Black-mailer last week endeavored to make Wra. Lester, a poor and hard-working but deserving young man, ridiculous and coils temp'd;!; l ,' l»v ft burlesque and untrutiiftd accouni of the finding and capture of some wolves. Tire : provncation for the cowardly irnmlt was the refusal, of -Mr. .Lester t >' r-übset ibe for the Blaeknmiler, and to give it his advertising patronage. The fact that the: article was intended to be insulting, and injurious is evident to any intelligent reader, but it is further proven b.v the fact that Mr. Lester’s partner in the finding of the wolves is not mentioned at all. The editor of. the Black-mailer had no spite against the partner and therefore did not connect his name with the lying and slanderous account of the incident. Of a piece with this despicable act was a, petty but spiteful allusion made to one of our town.

physicians, a few months ago. The. provocation in that case being the withdrawing by the physician of his name from the Black-mailer’s already very limited subscription list. Identical in spirit and purpose, too, was the uncalled for attack upon the dime muaeum"people, a month or two ago, and which was followed by su'uli a stinging and unanswerable rebuke. The spite against the museum people resulted from their failure to favor the Black-mailer with the. customary complimentary tickets.

The attacks made on the County Commissioners last Summer and the more recent ones upon the .Rensselaer Town Board all originated in the same spite over the with-holding of patronage. These instances might he considerably extended, but they are enough to show to what an outrageous and president system of browbeating and abuse the people of this community would be subjected to were the Black-mailer not restrained by a wholesome fear of the other papers of the town.

The Mayor of’Eindlay, CL, has written a letter to the Anderson Herald in reply to one of inquiry about the price*of natural gas, in which he says: “Gas is furnished at fifteen, cents, per month for either private residences or business houses. It is also furnished for light at the nominal price of if one person uses over jets it is fifty cents per month, and no more. The cheapest fuel and light in the world. No smoke, no ashes, and therefore no dipt-—lnd-ianapolis Journal.

Franwmvlllc Era. - , ‘ , U J. J. Robinson shipped his oil machinery to Miehigen City, Wednesday. The derrick is still standing to mark tho spit that was to decide what Francesville’s future was to be. It is true, in one sense of the word, that this well is r-.fail-ure, yet when we look at it in the right light, it lms accomplished the purpose, it was intended for.. There remains n > longer any dqubt in tiro minds of sensible people whether we have an oil field worth developing. The first vein of oil struck was so thoroughly tested that if no other had been found it would p y to sink another shaft, but, we are sure of two veins. Two qualities of oil. The first quality is from all accounts worth teu dollars per barrel and we know that we bad a flow of at the very least calculation, eight barrels par day. The second vein was-not so thoroughly tested, but enough to know it is there and the contractor thinks in paying quantities. For the present this well is abandoned but only until J. J. Robinson can complete his contract at Michigan City. He says lie can get the tools out and as soon as that is done we will know just the extent of tho damage. We have labored under many bifficulties and other towns got ahead of us but with perseverance we will “get there” after a while. Mistakes of a grave nature have been made, though this well being a , test experiment r.s such is a success, and from these very mistakes we will gain all the more in the end. No one in this vicinity is discouraged though outsiders do all they can to make them so anti - the matter will never rest until derricks Stand as think in Francesville as the cane in the Mississippi swamp, and there is room for ho more.