Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 December 1898 — RECORD OF THE WEEK [ARTICLE]

RECORD OF THE WEEK

INDIANA INCIDENTS TERSELY TOLD. To Drain the Great Kankakee Ma rah —Narrow Escape for the Logansport Courthouse—Peculiar Accident to a Farmer—Gas Supply Failing. The greatest drainage district ever formed in Indiana will reclaim 120,000 acres of Kankakee marsh land. B. J. Gifford. Kankakee, has charge of the formation of the district, and has begun preliminary work. Mr. Gifford, together with Nelson Morris of Chicago, Genera) Shelby of Kentucky and the Band brothers of Crown Point,owns most of the tract to be reclaimed. In order to secure a proper outlet the Kankakee River will have to be dredged and straightened for a distance of more than forty miles. The estimated expense of dredging the river exceeds $300,000. The land to be rereclaimed lies in Newton, Jasper and Lake Counties, and at least half of it is submerged at present. When reclaimed it will be the best beet sugar ground iu the country, it is said. Plot to Wreck Courthouse. The destruction of Cass County’s big courthouse* at Logansport, was averted by the timely arrival of Janitor G-irard. During the night the engine-room was broken into and the water than in the boiler was turned into a waste pipe. The lines were left dry and became red hot, while the persons in the vicinity were Unaware of tlie danger of an explosion which would have shaken tlie town and caused loss of life. Janitor Girard has for years been in the habit of entering by a rear door, and when near tlie entrance to the boiler-room always turned on the water, which runs into the boiler. This time he entered by another door, and, seeing the danger, quickly shut off the gas. Blown Skyward by Gas. Wilson Broyles, a well-to-do farmer, residing near Gaston, was fatally injured while attempting to shut out the water that was forcing itself out of a four-inch pipe in a natural gas well. The man believed he had accomplished the work and foolishly lighted a match to start a fire near by. The ignited and a terrjfic report followed. The pipes weFe torn and twisted from the well and st volume of gas soon ablaze, spurting many feet in the air, with a great stream of water coming from the same hole. Broyles was thrown skyward with the explosion a distance of forty feet. Says Gas Supply Is Failing. State Geologist Blatchley says tb.pt in his personal opinion tlie supply of natural gas in the Indiana gas belt will not continue sufficient for the manufactories located there for more than two or three years. He said that this is his belief as to the heart of the gas belt itself, and for that reason he is laying particular stress on the coal deposits of the State. In his annual report he devotes nearly ail of the 1,000 pages to the coal fields, showing that the supply is inexhaustible and of all grades. Within Our Borders. Mistaking it for medicine, Mrs. Margaret Plessinger, of Anderson, drank silver polish and died. At Noblesville Robert Love pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree and received a life sentence in prison. F. <r. Romaine, ex-treasurer of Elkhart County, lias been fully exonerated of the charge of being a defaulter. While rabbit hunting near Shelbyville, Albert McCabe shot at a rabbit, but the bullet Struck Ira Wilder, killing him. The forgery case against John C. Filllenwider, of Indianapolis, closed-at Crawfordsville witli a verdict of acquittal. Orestes A. Kepler of Cambridge City has filed a petition in bankruptcy. His liabilities are $7,265, and his assets $430. David Archer, son of John Archer, a farmer of Clay County, while out hunting fell and discharged both barrels of his shotgun, the contents lodging in his left side, inflicting a wound that will prove fatal.

Engine 98, pulling the north-bound passenger train on the Evansville and Terre Haute, blew up near Kings, fatally injuring Fireman Spindler and seriously burning Engineer Archer. The engine is a wreck. Farmers throughout the upper section of the Wabash valley report that the severely cold weather seriously injured the wheat. There was little or no snow and the uncovered wheat was frozen until it is quite black. Fire in the Hartford City Window Glass Company’s works burned the cut-ting-room, the flattening-room and the warehouse. The loss is S.3O,(HH). Three hundred and thirty men will be out of work until the rooms are rebuilt. At Anderson, Frank A. Erhart, prominent a year ago ami able then to draw his check for $20,000, was given a two to fourteen-year sentence to tin- reformatory for forgery. He committed forgeries to save Itondsmen on large building contracts which ruined him. The election of E. G. Chamberlain ns secretary of a Goshen lodge of Masons makes him the holder of the record for having served longer in one position in the same lodge than anyone else in the country, this being his fifty-third year as secretary of Goshen Lodge. While trying to dig a rabbit out of his hole near Palestine Samuel I,'ran am] Howard Macomber uncovered a cavern several feet in length and depth, in which was the skeleton of a woman. A ring, a silver comb, a brooch and a bracelet with the monogram “A. E. S.” were also found. It is thought the ls»dy is that of Agnes Southworth. Many years ago she had a lover of the nanm, of McKinzie. H< r parents objected to him ami she disappeared. It was claimed she had eloped with him and they had gone to Australia. They were never heard of again. Mrs. Sarah Deboard, a restaurant <•<><,k. died at Kokomo from injuries received several weeks ago. She fainted ami fell into a txdler of hot water while at work in the kitchen. A new United Brethren Church was dedicated at Vermont, the dedicatory Hermon being delivered by Bishop N. Castle of Elkhart. Bev. T. W. Williams is pastor of the church. William Bemis of Brazil accidentally discharged a shotgun which he was cleaning and the contents struck his cousin, William Bemis, in the shoulder and breast. His condition is serious.