Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 August 1889 — BALSER IS JAILED. [ARTICLE]

BALSER IS JAILED.

AND HAS A BIG GASH IN HIS THROAT. Phillip Balser, the man who is supposed to have burned the bam on the farm he resided upon, in Carpenter township, was captured last Thursday evening, and is now incarcerated in the county jail. When, captured he was first seen in a cornfield, near his house, by one of his sons. The young man pursued him through the field, and when the old man reached the end of the field, and was about to escape through a hedge fence, he accidentally encountered & neighbor named Green, and was turned back. He then ran back towards his house, pursued by Green and the young man. On arriving near his house, Balser perceived his sister there, who had come to visit the family in their trouble, and he at once.went to her and made no farther attempt to escape. Another shocking discovery was now made by the family. It was that Balser had attempted suicide by cutting his throat. There was a gash in his neck about three inches long and of considerable depth. The wound had the appearance of having been made several days, and Balser said he did it on the Saturday night of the fire. Dr. Landon, of Remington, was sent for and went out and dressed the wound. Constable Will Wood, of Rensselaer, happened to be in Remington when Balser was captured and he accompanied the doctor to the place, and after the wound was dressed, brought Balser to Rensselaer, where he was lodged in jail. On Friday he waived examination and was bound over to the circuit court, in the sum of $500, by Squire Morgan. Balser is an intelligent appearing man, and whatever may have been his state of mind when his barn full of horses and other valuable property was set on fire, he does not now show any indications of insanity. He says that he does not know whether he fired the barn or not, that if he did he was in such a state of mind that he knows nothing about it. He also declares that he knows he did not put the horses in the barn that night. A statement which is not very consistent, for if he was too much beside himself to know whether or not he burned the barn, it is strange that he should know so well that he did not tie up the horses. It is a remarkable circumstance that Balser should have remained in the vicinity and escaped capture for so long a time, especially considering the great efforts that were made to discover his whereabouts. The cut in Balser’s throat is not dangerous, although the physicians state that a very little deeper slash would have severed the jugular vein, which would, of course, have been fatal.