Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 December 1890 — INDIANA STATE NEWS. [ARTICLE]

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

A scheme is on foot- to connect lay orte and Michigan City (twelve miles} by an electric railway. ' Daniel H. Gilman, of Terre Haute, has sued the C. r C., C. & St. L. Railway Co. for theloss olahand. 12~ ? 1.- v ' \ Natural gas exploded at the residence o Dr. J. R. Rucker, of Shelbyville, and Mrs Rucker and her two small children were badly burned. Diphtheria is exceedingly prevalent at Indianapolis. More than 100 cases were reported on the 6th, with the disease gradually spreading. A Wabash engine crushed into a Chicago & Alton sleeper, at Jacksonville, 111., on the night of the 4th. Two passengers were killed and others hurt. Dudley, Michener. Daniel McCauly, Bruce Carr and H. M. LaFollette have associated themselves in a business enter*, prise—what, is not stated. William Dudley Faulke has been elected President of Smarthmore College, Penn* Sylvania. It is a high honor, and comes to one of Indianas widest known citizen. Patents were granted Hoosier inventors as follows: James Spicklemire, Avon, grain drill; Robert Watts, Shelbyville devise for hanging maps or curtains; John Caven, Indianapolis, domestic water purifier. Two divorce cases at Lawrenceburg in In which damages to the amount of $50,009 each were demanded, have been settled in court. In one of the cases the wife was given the divorce, alimony and custody of the children, while the husband did not get any part of the $50,000. In the other the trouble was compromised, the husband getting the divorce. The White Caps have again been on a rampage in the southern part of Harrison county. Richard and David Lowe, Jerry Shuck and a woman whose name could no be learned, are the latest victims. The Lowes were severely dealt with, but Shuck and the woman were only slightly punished. Shuck is a Baptist preacher, and is regarded as partly demented. The Methodist church choir at Craws fordsville suddenly turned up missing, and it was ascertained that they had been requested not to sit in front of the pipe organ, but at the sides, which they did not see fit to do. After some discussion on the subject the church board reversed its request, and now the members of the choir ean sit where they please. Adjutant General Ruckle has ordered the discharge-of twenty-four members of the Fort Wayne Rifles, on the recommendation of Captain Bulger, of that company. These men have persi stently failed to obey the Captain’s orders to appear at drill calls and rigorous measures were necessary to uphold the discipline of the militia. The discharge will debar the men from any military service jn the State. In answer to an inquiry by the State Superintendent, Attorney General Smith Thursday, gave an opinion that children of school age who are inmates of the State Reformatory and benevolent institutions can not be legally included in the enumer* ation which furnishes the basis for the apportionment of the school fund. These children are given especial educational opportunities in the institution which they occupy. Jackson Ferguson, Treasurer of Pike county, on the Ist inst. made public that there is a discrepancy in his accounts aggregating $5,000, and that he did not know what had become of the money. .The general public regard “Uncle Jack,” as he is familiarly called, as honest, and they cannot believe him to be a defaulter. Mr. Ferguson has deeded his land in trust to ex-Sherift Brumfield, and an investigation will be immediately made. The revelation is the sensation of the hour, and clerks are socused of having the key to the trouble. Shortly after midnight on the 4th, August Brown of New Albany, was awakened by tome one rapping violently at his door. On answering the summons he was confronted by three men, who asked to be directed to the house of a neighbor. Mr. Brown ctepped out to point out the house asked tor, when he was seized by two of the men one of whom pressed a revolver to his head and threatened to blow out his brains if any noise was made. The other two men then entered the house, and while one of them compelled the members of the family to remain silent, the other ransacked the house. About $75 in money and a gold watch were found and pocketed by the burglar. Monday afternoon a farmer living in Kentucky, engaged four colored men oj Evansville to load corn on a barge, and a fifth was employed to row the party across the river, the' farmer being accompanied by his foreman. Seven men entrusted themselves to a skiff. The river was rough, due to a high wind, and when with In a few hundred feet of the Kentucky shore the skiff was overturned and all of them were thrown into the water. The farmer and his foreman clung to the boat and were rescued, but the others were drowned. The victims included Albert Walker, James Jamison, Fielden Clev> William Warfield and Stewart CariJr, solored. Walker was a man of family, and >he day previous he was released from the Panderburg County Jail, wh ere he had served a short time for misdemeanor. During the past ten day Constable Cur* tin, backed by Prosecutor Carver, has been raiding the Anderson gaming rooms. Gambling has been running wide open here for the past five years, and it has I been claimed that the gamblers controlled the police force- The result of the recent raids in the capture of five roulette tables twelve stud poker tables, fifteen poker, tables, nine keno twelve packs of cards and nearly two bushels of “chips.” Ex* County AudUor James M. Dickson, ex* Sheriff Al. d Ross, James Qorbett, James Moulden, George Hogle, Henry Hoover Ira Patton and John Dockter have pleaded guilty to “keeping for game certain gaming devices," and each were fined $29.45. The devices were confiscated and will be burned. _ In his inspection of the poor asylums of the State, Secretary Johnson, of the Board of State Cnarities,pronounced the Warrick | county asylum one of the very worst man* 1 aged of all the ninety-two. A separate ccunty orphans’ home was maintained, however, in which nearly thirty pauper

'children have of lat&been receiving comparatively good care. Now comes the information that on a plea of economy the i county commtesioners have decided to | abandon the orphans’ home and put all those young children back into the wretch ed poor asylum. Unless the asylum is to be greatly improved in management, this is an unwise and. cruel determination, Mr. Johnson says. When he visited the insti- ’ tution it was too small for the inmates then crowded into it, and these children will swell the number so that additional room will become an absolute necessity. | The Mcllroy family reside in Vernon, . and have for a guest or boarder from time ’ to time Rev. Carroll M. Hoddy, of Pierson Station, 111, He is reputed to be paying his addresses to Miss Magnolia Mcllroy, and while there he monopolizes a great deal of .that young lady’s time, to the ex* elusion of Frank Bicount, who is smitten in the same direction. This enraged Bi* . count, and last Saturday night about 9 1 o’clock, accompanied by two of his friends, he went to the Mcllroy residence and demanded the body of the preacher, declaring a purpose to kill him, Mr. Hoddy bar rieaded himself in a room, and when the trio attempted to force the door he opened fire with his revolver, and his assailants I beat a hasty retreat, one of them being slightly wounded. Yesterday the trio at* tempted to prosecute Mr. Hoddy for feli loniou" assault, but after a trial before the ' Mayor, which lasted all day, he was discharged. I . . HEALTH BOARDSUGGESTIONS;: ! If health is more to be desired than gold, says the Indianapolis News,the utterances of a body of men chosen by a State to look after the health of its citizens niightnat* urally be expected to have weight. Here are the recommendations which thelndi* ana State Board of Health will make to the Legislature in its annual report, now almostcompleted; - i The passage of a law prohibiting the heating of railway trains by stoves. j The provision of a contingent fund for ' use in case some great epidemic or disaster should occur. | The amendment of the law regulating the practice of medicine so as to allow a physician to practice in any county in the State when he has procured a license in one. 1 The passage of a law vesting the appoint, ment of county health officers in the State Board of Health, and making the position s more important. A regular salary, in stead of the present pernicious system in use lA some counties of giving the places to the lowest bidder. The establishment of a laboratory at one of the State institutions for the study of bacteriology. __ r Some provision which will enable the State Board of Health to make an analysis of water. i The report says that 400 deaths directly 1 due to la grippe were officially reported to the Board, but that the mortality indirectly resultant from that disease has been much greater. A very interesting articl by Dr. J. F. Hibbard, of Richmond, gives the number of cases of la grippe reported to him from Wayne county as 7,396. These with a reasonable allowance for cases not reported, show that about one person in four in that county contracted the disease. Dr. Hibbard estimates that in Wayne county with a population of 43,000 the money loss because of la grippe was over SBO,OOO. At this rate the loss in the State must have been millions. DESPERADO AND LAW. 1 Mervin Kuntz, the Indiana desperado who, a week ago, committed a horrible murder at Fostorio, 0., and is charged with many other crimes, killed police officer John Cornelley Saturday night at ! Cherubusco. I Kuntz is one of the most desperate criminals in this State, and a large reward is i offered for his arrest. At noon, on the 6th, he stepped of a train in Ft. Wayne, and ' was immediately recognized by the police, who have been on the lookout for him. He escaped arrest, however, and took flight through the country.-; He was followed up by police lieutenant Wilkenson and officer Cornelley, who caught their man at Cherubusco. When they attempt* ed to place him under arrest Kuntz drew a revolver and fired several shots, killing Cornelley instantly. Wilkenson followed the desperado up, but he got away in the darkness The thrilling tragedy is given in the following particulars; * Kuhntz,after sauntering about the streets ( of Ft. Wayne, walked to Arcola, eight miles west, and stole a horse and road cart in which he drove to Cherubusco, near which village his father lives. Mease and he made the round of the saloons, Kuhntz displaying a brace of revolvers and defy* ing arrest. Later they visited a farm house and demanded money. The women I fled to the village and reported the occur rence at the very moment when deputy sheriff Wilkinson and policeman Con- ! nelly arrived from Ft. Wayne. The officers started in pursuit and met the desperadoes returning. Connelley grasped Kuhntz about the neck and the latter drew his pistol. Mease began firing at Connelley and brought him down with a shot In the abdomen. The officer released his man, and Wilkinson, who had been endeavoring to wrest away his rei volver, at once seized him about the ' body and a battle to the death was begun. From the ground the wounded policeman fired a ball through Kuhntz chest and Wilkinson,placing his revolver at the fellow’s I back, fired four times. Kuhntz neverthe* ' less wiggled out of his overcoat, and, jumping into his road cart, made off in the darkness. He was captured without re* sistance, at midnight, at the house of a farmer where he had sought shelter. Mease was shot by ex-town Marshal Jack son. Kuhns declares that he is not guilty, of the murder of Campan at Fostoria, but is unable to explain a partially healed wound on his hip. When Kuhntz was examined by DrMeyers it was found that he was literally riddled with bullets. One had pierced his left lung, another hi* right breast,two had plowed through his intestines, and several bullets had lodged in his legs. The cour* ' age displayed by the desperado was won--1 derfuL With wounds enough to kill a 1 dozen ordinary men,Kuhntz sat upright in 1 a chair, and nothing in his demeanor indicated thathe was mortally wounded.