Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 April 1898 — That Indianapolis News Article. [ARTICLE]

That Indianapolis News Article.

The Indianapolis News of Tuesday has a two column letter from . Rensselaer, written by W. H. Blodgett, the paper’s traveling correspondent. The article is devoted mainly to the Austin champagne case and to the tax ferret matters. The names of all the parties who sampled the champagne in Mr. Austin’s office on that famous Jan. Ist, afterwards according to Mr. Blodgett, had their pictures taken in a body and labelled, “The Ancient and Honorable Extra Drys.” The pictures of \V. B. Austin and Judge Thompson are given. The article, on the whole, makes a pretty fair and impartial statement of the matters of which it treats, though primarily aimed to be sensational. An amusing feature of the article is the statement, made with all gravity and seeming earnestness, that the grand jury which indicted Mr. Austin consisted of 5 Methodists and one Christian. That pretty soon the Presbyterians expect to have their innings, in the shape of a Presbyterian grand jury, and then other church people will have to look out. Things will reach a funny pass here, when the Judge of the court enters on his order book that the next grand jury is to consist of six Presbyterians, or or a mixture of Free Baptists and Predestinarians etc. etc.