Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 55, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1899 — CITY NEWS. [ARTICLE]

CITY NEWS.

Minor Items Told in a Paragraph. 1 ■’ V Daily Grist of Local Happen mgs Classified Undey Their Respective Headings. FRIDAY. S. B. Holmes, who has heretofore lived in Hanging Grove Tp., has just moved on to Dr. Hartsell’s farm, west of town. D. M. Geeting, the retiring state school superintendent has purchased of W. A. Bell, that well known educational publication, the Indiana School Journal, and will take charge of the same June Ist. Charles Burbage, from near Chalmers, went through town today, with quite a string of wagons and led horses. He was moving to the Shafer farm, formerly the old Paxton place, in Newton Tp. Squire J. W. Warren is quite sick at his home some miles northwest of town. He has a stomach trouble and fears are entertained that it may prove to be a tumor of some kind. At times recently his condition has been considered very serious. Rev. H. M. Middleton received a telegram from Michigan City, last night with the intelligence of the death of the youngest son of A. R. Colborn, the well known wholesale lumber dealer, of that place. The deceased was about 15 years old and a very promising boy. The Indiana board of school book commissioners will meet today at Indianapolis to open bids for printing the new arithmetics, geographies and copy books for the next five years. The contract will probably reach $500,000, and bonds will have to be filed, subject to approval by the governor, before bids can be submitted. A report is expected on the readers, from the first to the fifth, which are being revised by Prof. Clark, of Chicago. This contract for readers will be continued with the Indiana School Book company.

The new law changing the terms of court in this circuit has not really. been in force in this county until today, Clerk Coover having met with delay and difficulty in securing from the-secre-tary of state definite information as to whether the act passed with an emergency clause. A telegram stating that it had the emergency clause, was received this forenoon. No cases had yet been filed for the April term, the attorneys having been holding them hack until the secretary c,f state was heard from. The first was filed this afternoon, by Ferguson -fc Wilson. It is a foreclosure case, and the American Building & Loan Asso. is the plaintiff and James W. Lewis et al, the defendants.

SATURDAY. W. S. Parks, the drayman received a fine now dray this morning. Mrs. Charles Brinley left today for Gibson City, 111., where she will visit relatives for several days. Mrs. Henkle, of near Blackford, who was getting better from a bad case of grip, is worse again and in a very critical condition. Wild ducks are now beginning to be on sale in the Rensselaer markets. So far only the “pintails” have come within shooting range. J. McMannus, who has been on John Makeever’s farm, formerly the Daugherty place, south of town, has moved to Mrs. Belle Barkley’s place, in Barkley Tp. The temperature was 6.2 degrees in the shade, at one o’clock this afternoon, which is pretty warm for the 11th of March, and only a week after the biggest snow storm of the winter. It is seldom that so heavy a fall of snow disappears in so short a time as has the one which came last Saturday, disappeared during the last three days. Scarcely a vestige of it is now to be seen around town, though some deep drifts in the country are not yet wholly melted.

Orders for the muster out of the 160th Indiana regiment, now at Matanzas, Cuba, have been issued and the regiment will be home early in April. The question of the mufetering out of the other volunteer regiments in Cuba, including the 161st Indiana, at Havana, is left to the decision of Gen. Brooks, the commander in chief in Cuba.

This is the year for the quadreinnal assessment of real-estate for taxation. All real-estate must be assessed this spring, and the assessment will stand for the next four years. J. F. Warren has been appointed special deputy assessor to assess the real-estate in Rensselaer. He will discharge that important duty in a careful and thorough manner. There is a general, perhaps it would be better to say universal feeling throughout tbe town, that the granting of a 20 years extension of franchise to the telephone company ought not to be consummated, at this time. For one thing, franchises of this kind have, now oome to be everywhere regarded as very valuable concessions, and which ought not to be given away lightly and with no prospect of compensation for the city. We are satisfied that if this matter is not consummated at this time, and for which there is certainly no

hurry, as the old franchise has several years to run yet, that when the proper time comes, this company will willingly, as well as justly, make valuable concessions for an extension us their franchise, either in yearly payments to the city, or in very decided reductions in their charges to subscribers. Moreover is it not likely, nay positively certain, that long before this proposed long time franchise could expire, that our city would wish to follow in the telephone matter the same precedent it has adopted in water and lights, namely a telephone exchange owned and controlled by the city. Municipal ownership of such public or semi-public institutions as waterworks, lighting systems, and telephone exchanges is coming more and more into vogue, and whereever given a fair trial is proving to be the right system. Surely if in a few years from now the people here wish for a. telephone system owned by the city, it will be much easier and cheaper secured, if no private company is here entrenched by a long term franchise. Lastly we believe it is wholly wrong in principle for the government of any city to grant such long time franchises to any private corporation. A franchise of 8 years longer is surely all that ought to be granted, at this time. Ira Morlan, whose very serious sickness has heretofore been mentioned, died about two o’clock this afternoon, at his home in east part of town. He was the oldest son the late Edmund H. Morlan, whose death occurred last month. His age was 42 years, lacking only two days. The funeral services will be held from Christian church Monday at 10 a. m., conducted by Rev. N, H. Sheppard.

' MONDAY. Oats 28| cents Corn 24|-26| cents. Wheat 55 to 60 cents. M. F. Chilcote went to Chicago morning on business. Christie Vjck went to Dunville this morning to serve some papers. Born, Saturday, March 11th, to Mr. and Mrs. Walter Porter, in Jordan Tp., a son. Mrs. Henry Purcupile went to Chicago today to buy a large stock of millinery. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Baid, of South Bend, who have been visiting Mr. and Mrs. Charles Roberts for several days returned home this morning. The thermomter was 18 degrees above zero this morning, which though not very cold for the time of year, was yet a drop of 44 degrees from that of Saturday noon. The little three year, old son of Nathan Keene, living on the Eiglesbach farm south west of town,

fell down a flight of stairs last evening and broke his right arm. Dr. Washburn set the broken bone. B. Forsythe left this morning for New Philadelphia, Ohio, to join his wife, who has been visiting relatives there for several weeks. He will spend about a week with friends before returning. Harry Kurrie and Mose Tuteur left today for Champaign, 111, to try a law suit involving a land deal, in which Mr. Tuteur is the plaintiff and Mr. Fay, a bank president of that place is the defendant.

Charley Chamberlain, Vernice Cressler, Bert Goff, Ed Duvall from south of town, and Kenneth Morgan for cook, have gone to the Kankakee river today, to catnp and shoot ducks. Jennings Wright and Tom Joyner will also go tomorrow. The revival meeting at the M. E. church, which was intended to have begun Sunday night, has been postponed for one week, and will begin next Sunday night, when it is hoped the weather and roads will be in better condition. Mr. Reed, the evangelist, is not expected until a week later. Sunday, Mar. 13, was the joint birthday of Mr. M. L. Spitler, of our city and of his sister, Mrs. Col. E. P. Hammond, of Lafayette. The occasion was celebrated by a family party and dinner, at Mr. Spitler’s residence, in the north part of ‘town. Mr. Hammond’s family from Lafayette, and about all the near relatives in this place were present. Mrs. C. W. Coen left this morning on quite an extended western trip. She will go first to California, visiting friends in Mercedes, Los Angelos, San. Francisco and Oroville, in that state, and on her return will visit her sister-in-law at Del Norte, Colorado and also take a trip to Salt Lake City. She expects to be away about three months. Mr. Coen accompanied her as far as Chicago. A young"woman of Indianapolis named Maria Hall, a stenographer, who had been visiting at Winamac and with a sister was on her way to Peru, attempted suicide at Logansport. Saturday, by jumping in to the Eel river, but was rescued. It is stated that she had worked for Nickum, the perpetual light fraud, and he not only failed to pay her for her work, but did her up for whatever other cash she had, by selling hbr “county rights.” It seems that all is fish that comes to Nickum’s net.