Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 March 1888 — INDIANA STATE NEWS. [ARTICLE]

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

Peru is to have a base ball club. Bemhamer was taken to Michigan City, Tuesday. The Petersburg blue ribbon club has established a reading-room. C. F. Holliday. Secretary of the Indianapolis Board of Trade, died, Monday. The clothes of the six-year-old child of Clint Gould, of Lawrence county, caught Are, Tuesday, and she was fatally burned. A judgment has been rendered in the Huntington Circuit Court against ex-Treasurer Henry Beavet and bis bondsmen for $14,140. Harrison county Republicans at their convention indorsed Gresham for President, and those of Johnson and Randolph declared for Harrison.

Fire destroyed the Phoenix flouring mills at South Bend, “'Tuesday night. Hawley Bros, are the owners. The loss is about $30,000, with $20,000 insurance. The fruit prospect in Southern Indiana, one of the great fruit regions of the United Stater, is fine. Fruit-growers say that only twise in their experience have crops been ruined by weather later than this date. Albert West, colored, an inmate of the Indianapolis workhouse, attacked the guard, Annanias Stewart, Friday, and dead by Stewart. West had hit Stewart over the head with a piece of gas pipe and caused probably fatal injuries. Conrad Eberhardt, coroner of Decatur county, fell under a train at St. Paul, that county, Monday, and had both feet cat off and received other and probable fatal injuries. He had been to St. Paul to hold an inquest on a man found dead in bed. Bertha, the nine-year-old daughter of John D. Clark, of Seymour, while on her way to school Thursday afternoon was run over by a train on the J*. M. & I. Road while making a running switch. She had both hands cut off and will probably die.

The gaq well just finished at Portland for the Centennial Mills have developed enough gas to run all the mills in the town. The large factories locating there will necessitate the building, it is said, of five hundred dwellings this summer tor the mechanics to live in. James Archer was arrested at B'noals, Friday,’charged with complicity in murdering Jackson Ballard twentyfour years ago. County Commissioner John Jones and two other highly respected citizens are implicated. A confession was made, hence the arrest. The Northern Indiana and Southern

Michigan Swine Breeders’ Exhibition Jjtuilding Association has just organized at Warsaw, and arrangements are being completed for holding annual exhibitions of swine and sheep in that place. The capital stock of the association is $5,000.

Rev. M. E. McKillop, late pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Charlesto nn, is dying of a cancer. Two years ago he was returning home from a trip and was met little son, who', in his efforts tn kiss his father, caused an abrasion of the skin upon his father’s chin. From this the cancer developed. The jury in the Odd Fellows slander suit, at Bloomington, that has been on tiial for the past week, in which Samuel D. Noel was sued for $5,000 damages for making serious charges against Abraham Donaldson in rejecting his name from Odd Fellow membership, was dischargat 11 o’clock Tuesday, after being out since Saturday at 9 o’clock. They were evenly divided.

The Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutionality of the dental bill in its entirety. This gives the 8 sate Board of Dental Examiners the right to refuse license to practice dentistry to any person who can not produce a diploma from a reputable college and give satisfactory evidence of proficiency in his profession. The board consists of the Governor of the State, the President of the State Board of Health, and three persons named by the S ate Dmtal Association.

Patents were issued to Indiana inventors, Tuesday, aS follows: Louis Adams, Terre Haute, balanced slide valve; Henry Ader, Somerset, valve; trank Brougb, Indianapolis, handle attachment; Charles G. Conn, Elkhart, wind instrument; Lavi P. Fodrea,Westfield, slate pencil holder; Wm. A. Frashoar, Umana, fence; Raymond O. Piton, Terre Haute, stove for burning light fuelj George W. Rodeeap, door closer; Ralph Stuckmisch, Cory, egg tester; Alvin W. Vandursten, South Bend, car bumper A Jarmer in Wbite county, who owns 840 acres of land, has lately put in twenty-six miles of tile drains, every rod of which he had leveled by a civil engineer. He says that in no other way can an effective and profitable system of drains be obtained, and insists that it is a mistaken economy to spare the cost of survey,and then be compelled to re-lay tile before the desired results are obtaihed. He has an accurate map of his lands, ehowexact location of all mains and laterals, size of tile and depth of cut. Harrison Hogan, of Jeffersonville, the man of seven wives, tandem, dead or divorced, recently devised all his property to his seventh loye, to escape creditors, and the lady, bring weary of the old man, got a divorce. Hogan faced about and got possession of the house, and ejected his wife and threatened to annihilate,everybody who attempted an

entrance. He was finally dislodged by the officers. He is the person who, on a former occasion, held the sheriff’s posse at bay with a shotgun from a second story window. He invited the posse in and gave them a dinner, but prevented a service during the truce. Indianapolis had another' tragedy Monday night, which are getting to be of weekly occurrence. Harding Venable, colored, was standing at the counter of a Malott avenue saloon, listless and indifferent to. his surroundings, when Gus Williams, also colored, entered with a shotgun, pointed the muzde at Venable’s head and fired, almost blowing the man’s head to shreds. Williams escaped. In an attempt to capture him a policeman mistook a brother of Williams for the murderer and fatally shot him, after the latter had refused or neglected to comply with the policeman’s order to stand.

The Grand Lodge Knights of Honor met at Indianapolis, Tuesday. James W. Jacobs, Grand Reporter, submitted statistical reports showing receipts of Grand Lodge from the beginning to the present, $59,380.25, expenditures, $57,136 76. There are ninety-six lodges in the State; total membership, 4,151. Total deaths for the year, forty-nine. These deceased members paid the fund $7,837.40 and their beneficiaries received $95.000. The ratio of deaths per 1,000 members was 96. The grand total of deaths in the organization, closing January 1, 1888, ware 406, and these members paid to the fund $34,289.10, while their beneficiaries received from the supreme treasury $795,000. Attorney General Michener has rendered an opinion of interest to delinquent tax-payers of the whole State. An act passed in 1883 required county treasurers to list and advertise separately all lands and lots which had been advertised for the succetsive years prior to March 29, 1881, and remainder unsold for want of bidders. If such lands and lots should not sell for cash at the regular tax sales of 1884. this statute provided that they be forfeited to the State. The Auditor, if the property remained unredeemed, was empowered to execute the warranty oi the State after two years to purchasers at such special sale. The following is the opinion: “When land is sold for taxes under the act of 1883, and the sale fails to satisfy the'delinquency, lam opinion that the amount due can be collected from the original owner, if responsible. See section 6,449.”

Mrs. Hooker, a well-known woman who has made Elkhart her home for a number of years, has appeared before the pension board there, and applied for a pension on the ground that she was a regularly-enlisted soldier of the late war, served three years, and was twice wounded while in service. She had been married but a short time when the war broke out, and was determined to accompany her husband, who was a first lieutenant. To facilitate the matter, she induced a young man who resembles her in general appearance (she is a decidedly masculine looking woman) to undergo the examination, and when the opportunity offered reported for duty in his place. Her enlistment took place in Ohio, and her assumed name was Brown. Mrs. Hooker is familiarly tnown as “Colonel*” and her application excites much interest. She talks of preparing a book of war reminisences.

The Supreme Court decided, Tuesday, that Harrison, Gapen, et al. are legally in possession of the trusteeship of tbe State Benevolent Boards, and that the Governor has no right to make appointments to these offices under the circumstances existing. Attorney General Micbener seems to have been prepared for the decision of the Supreme Court, for be went-at once to the County Clerk’s office and instituted three new suits against the trustees of the Hospital for tbe Insane. There are eleven paragraphs in each complaint, and the allegations against the three trustees are substantially the same. The proceedings are »n the nature of quo warranto, and the titles of the cases are tbe same except as to the names of the defendants, being “State ex rel. Louis T. Micbener, Attorney General, vs. T. H. Harrison,” etc. Information is in this manner lodged with the Supreme Court against the three trustees for malfeasance in office and dereliction of duty, the object being the forfeiture of the said offices and their removal therefrom. The cases were assigned to Judge Howe, of Superior Court No. 2, and the defendants will doubtless demand a joint trial by jury The complaints, summed up, state that Thomas H. Harrison, B. 11. Burrell and Philip .fl. Gapen were elected member of the Board of Trustees of tbe Indiana Hospital for tbe Insane by tbe General Assembly of 1883, and continued toehold eaid offices. Following this statement of fact, which, in moreelaborateiorm, constitutes the introduction to each complaint, are eleven separate allegations against the officials. (1) that Harrison has drawn a salary of $1,600, when the law allows him but $900; (2) they failed to adopt rules for the government of inmates and employes; (3) that later they adopted rules but failed to publish them; (4) that for one year Gapen was absent from the] State, being engaged in business in Arkansas, and attended but one meeting of the board, yet he was allowed and drew the full amount of his

salary; (5) that the Trustees did not solicit competition for goods and articles needed by the institutions, that they kept no open statement, that they did not give their personal attention to bids and that they made purchases privately; (6) that purchases were made by the Trustees for private use and presented to employes; (7) that ornaments were purchased and presented as gifts’to the inmates; (8) that Trustee Gapen received from Mellen & Co., of New York, $64.77 as a rebate, which he has failed to account for; (9) that in purchasing supplies the Trustees failed in many cases to accept the lowest bids; (10) that inferior supplies were purchased; (11) purchasing and accepting as sound eight boilers which were defective and unsafe.