Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 60, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1899 — Page 7

The Convict’s Daughter

BY WILKIE COLLINS.

CHAPTER I. The gentlemen of the jury retired to consider their verdict. The foreman took his place at the head of the table. His colleagues seated themselves on either side of him. Then, there fell upon that assembly of men a silence, never known among an assembly of women—the silence which proceeds from a general reluctance to be the person who speaks first. “Gentlemen,” he began, “have you formed any decided opinion on the case — thus far? The prisoner waiting our verdict is the Honorable Roderick Westerfield, younger brother of the present Lord Le Basque. He is charged with fully casting away the British bark John Jerminan for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining a share of the insurance money; and further, of possessing himself of certain Brazilian diamonds, which formed part of the cargo. In plain words, here is a gentleman born in the higher ranks of life accused of being a thief. He further appears to have outraged the feelings of his family by marrying a barmaid at a public house. From that moment his parents turned their backs on him, with the one merciful exception of the head of the family. Lord Le Basque exerted his influence with the Admiralty and obtained for his brother an appointment to a ship. All the witnesses agree that Mr. Westerfield thoroughly understood his profession. If he could have controlled himself, he might have risen to very high rank in the navy. He quarreled with one of his superior officers ” “Under strong provocation,” said a member of the jury. “Under strong provocation,” the foreman admitted. “The prisoner challenged the officer on duty to fight a duel, and, receiving a contemptuous refusal, struck him on the quarter deck. As a matter of course, Mr. Westerfield was tried by court martial and was dismissed from the service. At my lord’s earnest request the owners of the John Jerminan, trading between Liverpool and Rio, took Mr. Westerfield on trial as first mate. In a tempest off the coast of Africa the captain was washed overboard, and the first mate succeeded to the command. His seamanship and courage saved the vessel, under circumstances of danger which paralyzed the efforts of the other officers. He was confirmed in the command of the ship.” There the foreman paused to collect his Ideas. “After a certain term of service, gentlemen,” he finally resumed, “the prisoner’s merits appear to have received their reward. He was presented with a share in the ship. With improved prospects he sailed from Liverpool on his last voyage to Brazil; and no one, his wife included, had thb faintest suspicion that he left England under circumstances of serious pecuniary embarrassment, the result of betting on horse racing. When he left Rio on the homeward voyage, there is no sort of doubt that he was returning to England to face creditors whom he was unable to pay.” “In plain English,” said a juryman, “you are for finding the prisoner guilty.” "In plain English,” the foreman rejoined, “I refuse to answer that question.” “Why?” "Because it is no part of my duty to attempt to influence the verdict.” “You have been trying to influence the verdict, sir, ever since you entered this room. I appeal to all the gentlemen present.” The patience of the long-suffering foreman failed him at last. “Not another word shall pass my lips,” he said, “until you find the prisoner guilty or not guilty among yourselves—and then I’ll tell you if I agree to your verdict.” He folded his arms and looked like the image of a man who intended to keep his word. In the meantime nothing was said or done. Helpless silence prevailed in every part of the room. “Why doesn’t somebody begin?” cried an impatient juryman. “Have you all forgotten the evidence?” This startling question roused the jury to a sense of what was due to their oaths, If not to themselves. Some of them recollected the evidence in one way and some of them recollected it in another. The first man who spoke began at the middle of the story told by the witnesses in court. "I am for acquitting the captain, gentlemen; he ordered out the boats and saved the lives of the crew.” “And I am for finding him guilty, because the ship struck a rock in broad daylight, and in moderate weather.” “I agree with you, sir. The evidence shows that the vessel was stebred dangerously near to the land, by direction of the captain who gave the coarse.” “Come, come, gentlemen! let us do the captain justice. The defense declares that he gave the customary course, and that it was not followed when he left the deck. As for his leaving the ship in moderate weather, the evidence proves that he believed he saw signs of a storm brewing.” “Yes, yes, all very well; but what were the facts? When the loss of the ship was reported, the Brazilian authorities sent me to the wreck, on the chance of saving the cargo; and, days afterward, there the ship was found, just as the captain and crew had left her.” “Don’t forget, sir, that the diamonds were missing when the salvors examined the wreck.” “All right, but that’s no proof that the captain stole the diamonds; and, before they had saved half the cargo, a storm did come on, and break the vessel up, so the poor man was only wrong in the matter of time after ail.” "Allow me to remind you, gentlemen, that the prisoner was deeply in debt, and, therefore, had an interest in stealing the diamonds.” “Wait a little, sir. Fair play’s a jewel. Who was in charge of the deck when the ship struck? The second mate. And what did the second mate do, when he heard that his owners had decided to prosecute? He committed suicide! Is there no proof of guilt in that act?" “You are going a little too fast, sir. The coroner’s jury declared that the second mate killed himself in a state of temporary of

Votes were at once registered, including the vote of the foreman. One incomprehensible man abstained from expressing his sentiments even by a sign. He sat immovable, with closed eyes. The quickwitted foreman had long since suspected him of being simply the stupidest person present—with just cunning enough to conceal his own dullness by holding his tongue. After a heated conference among themselves they decided on securing unanimity of opinion by submitting to the arbitration of this one independent member present. “Which way does your view of the verdict incline, sir? Guilty or not guilty?” The eyes of the silent juryman opened with the slow and solemn dilation of the eyes of an owl. “Guilty,” he answered, and shut his eyes again. An unutterable sense of relief pervaded the meeting. Enmities were forgotten; and friendly looks were exchanged. With one accord, the jury rose to return to court. The prisoner’s fate was sealed. The verdict was guilty. The low hum of talk among the persons in court ceased when the jury returned to their places. Curiosity now found its center of attraction in the prisoner’s wife —who had been present throughout the trial. Mrs. Westerfield was a showy woman. Her commanding figure was finely robed in dark colors; her profuse light hair hung oyer her forehead in little clusters of ringlets; her features, firmly but not delicately shaped, were on a large scale. No outward betrayal of the wife’s emotion rewarded the public curiosity; her bold light gray eyes sustained the general gaze without flinching. To the surprise of the women present, she had brought her two young children with her to the trial. The eldest was a pretty little girl of ten years old; the second child, a boy, sat on his mother’s knee. It was generally observed that Mrs. Westerfield took no notice of her eldest child. The judge took his seat, and the order was given to bring the prisoner up for judgment. The surgeon of the prison entered the witness box, and, being duly sworn, made his medical statement. The prisoner’s heart had been diseased for some time past, and the malady had been neglected. He had fainted, under the prolonged suspense of waiting for the verdict. The swoon had proved to be of such a serious nature that the witness refused to answer for consequences if a second fainting fit was produced by the excitement of facing the court and the jury. Under these circumstances the verdict was formally recorded. Once more the spectators looked at the prisoner’s wife. She had risen to leave the court. It was observed, when she retired, that she held her boy by the hand, and left the girl to follow. A compassionate lady near her offered to take care, of the children while she was absent. Mrs. Westerfield answered quietly and coldly: “Thank you—their father wishes to see them.” The prisoner was dying; nobody could look at him and doubt it. His eyes opened wearily when his wife and children approached the bed on which he lay helpless —the wreck of a grandly made man. The girl stood nearest to him; he looked at her with a faint smile. The poor child understood him. Crying piteously, she put her arms round his neck and kissed him. “Dear papa,” she said, “come home and let me nurse you.” The surgeon, watching the father’s face, saw a change in him which the other persons present had not observed. As his wife brought the.child to him, the surgeon whispered to her, “If you have anything to say to him, be quick about it!” She shuddered; she took his cold hand. Her touch seemed to nerve him with new strength; he asked her to stoop over him. “They won’t let me write here,” he whispered, “unless they see my letter. Lift up my left arm. Open the wristband.” She detached the stud which closed the wristband of the shirt. On the inner side of the linen was a line written in red letters—red of the color of blood. She saw these words: “Look in the lining of my trunk.” “What for?" she asked. The fading light in his eyes flashed on her a dreadful look of doubt. His lips fell apart in the vain effort to answer. His last sigh fluttered the light ringlets of her hair as she bent over him. The surgeon pointed to her children. “Take the poor things home,” he said; “they have seen the last of their father.” Mrs. Westerfield obeyed in silence. She had her own reasons for being in a hurry to get home. Leaving the children under the servant’s care she locked herself up in the dead man’s room, and emptied his trunk of the few clothes that had been left in it. The lining which she was now to examine was of the customary material, and of the/ usual striped pattern in blue and white. Her fingers were not sufficiently sensitive to feel anything under the surface, when she tried it with her hand. Turning the empty trunk with the inner side of the lid toward the light, she discovered on one of the blue stripes of the lining a thin little shining stain which looked like a stain of dried gum. After n moment’s consideration, she cut the gummed line with a penknife. Something of a white color appeared through the aperture. She drew out a folded sheet of paper. It proved to be a letter in her husband’s handwriting. An inclosure dropped to the floor when she opened it, in the shape of a small slip of paper. She picked it up. The morsel of paper presented letters, figures and crosses arranged in lines, and mingled together in what looked like hopeless confusion. CHAPTER H. Mrs. Westerfield laid the incomprehensible slip of paper aside, and, in search of an explanation, returned to the letter. Here again she found herself in a state of without the custom ary form of address. I I S • < st w. . . I

“I write to you before my trial takes place. If the verdict goes in my favor, I shall destroy what I have written. If l am found guilty, I must leave it for you to do what I should otherwise have done for myself. ’ “The undeserved misfortune that has overtaken me began with the arrival of my ship in the port of Rib. Our second mate asked leave to go on shore —and never returned. What motive determined him on deserting lam not able to say. It was my own wish to supply his place by promoting the best seaman on board. My owpers’ agents overruled me, and appointed a man of their own choosing. “What nation he’d belonged to I don’t know. The name he gave was Beljames, and he was reported to be a broken-down gentleman. Whoever he might be, his manner and his talk were captivating. Everybody liked him. “After the two calamities of the loss of the ship and the disappearance of the diamonds—these last being valued at five thousand pounds—l returned to England by the first opportunity that offered, having Beljames for a companion. “Shortly after getting back to my house in London, I was privately warned by a good friend that my owners had decided to prosecute me for willfully casting away the ship, and for having stolen the missing diamonds. The second mate, who had been in command of the vessel when she struck on the rock, was similarly charged along with me. Knowing myself to be innocent, I determined, of course, to stand my trial. My wonder was, what Beljames would do. We had separated in Cornwall, and had not met since. “On the voyage home Beljames told me that a legacy had been left to him; being a small freehold house and garden in St. John’s Wood, London. While my mind was running on this recollection I was told that a decent elderly woman wanted to see me. She proved to be the landlady of the house in which Beljames lodged; and she brought an alarming message. The man was dying, and desired to see me. I went to him immediately. “Beljames had heard of the intended prosecution. How he had been made aware of it death left him no time to tell me. The miserable wretch had poisoned himself—whether in terror of standing his trial or in remorse of conscience, it is not any business of mine to decide. Most unluckily for me, he first ordered the doctor and the landlady out of the Kroom—and then, when we two were alone, owned that he had purposely altered the course of the ship, and had stolen the diamonds. “Having eased his mind by confession, he gave me the slip of paper which you will find inclosed in this. ‘There is my note of the place where the diamonds are hidden,’ he said. Among the many ignorant people who know nothing of ciphers, lam one, and I told him so. ‘That’s how I keep my secret,’ he said; ‘write from my dictation, and you shall know what it means. Lift me up first.’ As I did it he rolled his head to and fro, evidently in pain. But he managed to point to pen, ink and paper on a table hard by, on which his doctor had been writing. I left him for a moment to pull the table nearer to the bed, and in that moment he groaned and cried out for help. I ran to'the room downstairs where the doctor was waiting. When we got back to him he was in convulsions. It was all over with Beljames. “The lawyers who are to defend me have tried to get experts, as they call them, to interpret the cipher. The experts have all failed. They will declare, if they are called as witnesses, that the signs on the paper are not according to any known rule, and are marks made at random meaning nothing. “As for any statement on my part of the confession made to me, the law refuses to hear it except from the mouth witness. I might prove that the ship’scourse was changed, contrary to my directions, after I had gone below to rest, if I could find the man who was steering at the time. Heaven knows where that man is. “On the other hand, the errors of my past life, and my being in debt, are circumstances dead against me. The lawyers seem to trust almost entirely in a famous counsel, whom they have engaged to defend me. For my own part, Igo to my trial with little or no hope. “If you are now my widow, and if you may have any love left for my memory, never rest until you have found somebody who can interpret these curious signs. Do for me, I say, what I cannot do for myself. Recover the diamonds; and, when you restore them, show my owners this letter. “Kiss the children for me. I wish them, when they are old enough, to read this defense of myself and to know that their father, who loved them dearly, died an innocent man. My good brother will take care of you, for my sake. I have done.” Mrs. Westerfield took up the cipher once more. She looked at it as if it was a living thing that defied her. “If lam ever able to read this gibberish,” she decided, “I know what I’ll do with the diamonds!” CHAPTER 111. One year exactly after the fatal day of the trial, Mrs. Westerfield celebrated her release from the obligation of wearing widow’s weeds. The conventional gradations in the outward expression of grief which led from black to gray, formed no part of this afflicted lady’s system of mourning. She laid her best blue walking dress and her new bonnet to match on the bed, and admired them to her heart’s content. Her discarded garments were left on the floor. “Thank heaven, I’ve done with you!” she said, and kicked her rusty mourning out of the way as she advanced to the fireplace to ring the bell. .“Where is my little boy?” she asked, when the landlady entered the room. “He’s down with me in the kitchen, ma’am; I’m teaching him to make a plum cake for himself.” “I want you to take care of him while I am away. By the bye, where’s Syd?” The eldest child had been christened Sydney, in compliment to one of her father’s remale relatives. With a look at Mrs. Westerfield which expressed ill-con-cealed aversion, the landlady answered: “She’s up in the lumber room, poor child. She says you sent her there to be out of the way.” “Alf, to be sure, so I did.” "There’s no fireplace in the garret, ma’am. Um afraid the little girl must be cold and lonely.” It was useless to plead tor Syd—Mrs. Westerfield was not listening. Her habitual neglect of her eldest child was known to every person in the house. Mrs. Westerfield’s destination was the public house, in which she had been once earn to tne landlord. He opened the parlor door himself, and invited her to walk m. i

"You wear well,” he said, admiring her. “Have you come here to be my barmaid again?” “Do you think I am reduced to that?" she answered. “Well, my dear, more unlikely things have happened. They tell me you depend for your income on Lord Le Basque—and his lordship’s death was in the newspapers last week.” “And his lordship's lawyers continue my allowance.” Having, smartly set the landlord right in those words, she had not thought it necessary to add that Lady Le Basque, continuing the allowance at her husband’s request, had also notified that it would cease if Mrs. Westerfield married again. “You’re a lucky woman,” the landlord remarked. “Well, I’m glad to see you. What will you take to drink?” "Nothing, thank you. I want to know if you have heard anything lately of James Bellbridge.” The landlord was a popular person in his own circle; not accustomed to restrain himself when he saw his way to a joke. “Here’s constancy!” he said. “She’s sweet on James after having jilted him twelve years ago!” Mrs. Westerfield rose with dignity. "I am accustomed to be treated respectfully,” she replied. “I wish you good-morn-ing.” The easy landlord pressed her back into her chair. “Don’t be a fool,” he said. “James is in London; James is staying in my house.” Mrs. Westerfield’s bold gray eyes expressed eager curiosity and interest. “You don’t mean that he is going to be barman here again?” “No such luck, my dear; he is a gentleman at large, who patronizes my house.” Mrs. Westerfield went on with her questions. “Has he left America for good?” “Not he! James Bellbridge is going back to New York, to open a saloon. Ha’s in England, he says, on business. It’s my belief that he wants money for this new venture, on bad security. His only chance of getting his bills discounted is to humbug his relations down in the country.” “When does he come back?” “He comes back to-morrow.” “Will you give a message to James?” “I’ll do anything for a lady of fortune.” “Tell him to come and drink tea with his old sweetheart to-morrow at six o’clock.” “He won’t do it.” “He will. With that difference of opinion they parted. (To be continued.)

Not as Stupid as He Seemed.

It was an old man in Sweden—so runs the tale as told ip Short Stories—who gave to a stranger an answer that was wiser than it appeared. The stranger, one of < prospecting party searching for gold, had wandered away from the rest, to find himself at last with a fair piece of quartz as a reward for his pains, in a region he knew nothing of, with no guide, and night coming on. "Friend,” he asked of an old man smoking in his doorway, “how long will It take me to walk to the next town?” The old man eyed the speaker quizzically. “Walk on,” he said, with a wave of his hand In the right direction. “Yes, I know which road; but how long will it take me to walk there?' asked the stranger again. “Walk on,” repeated the smoker, stolidly. t “But can’t you tell me how long It will take me to reach the town?” persisted the other, impatiently. “Walk on,” a third time directed the old man, and the stranger did walk on, inwardly anathematizing the stupidity of. the smoker. “Young man,” called the resident, when the stranger had gone a few yards. He turned Impatiently. “I just wanted to tell you, that If you keep up that gait you’ll get there in half an hour.” “Why couldn’t you say so before?* demanded the stranger, hotly. The old man removed the pipe from his mouth, blew a volume of smoke skyward, and answered, coolly: “How did I know how fast you could walk?”

Treating Himself.

The Parisian critic, M. Jules Claretie, narrates in the Athenaeum an amusing story of the elder Dumas: At the height of the great novelist’s vogue he could not turn out books fast enough to satisfy his clamoring publishers, and it became necessary tor him to employ collaborators, to whom he sketched the plot, perhaps, leaving them to do the rest Among the most distinguished was M. Paul Meurice, who is still living and writing In Paris at an advanced age. Thus It came about that Monsieur Meurice was the author of one of the most amusing novels of Dumas, “Les Deux Dianes.” Dumas when traveling found this novel in a hotel and opened it to pass away the time. He began reading It seriously, got interested in it’ and was amused. Presently some one came to his room and found him with “Les Deux Dianes” In his hand. "What are you doing there, dear master?” "I am reading,” said Dumas, “a novel of my own which I did not know, and which pleases me vastly!” It was Dumas who said when left to himself, "I am never bored when I have my own company.” It Is easy to see that he was not more so when he had that o too there—and did not know It

Couldn’t Be Positive.

Reggy (Indignantly)—So your father said I didn't know enough to go in when it rained. I hope you contradicted him? Dolly—Oh, yes. But of course, I couldn’t say for certain, Rebby, because I have never seen you out in a storm.—Judge. The American people have much to be thankful for. No other country on the globe can produce six varieties of weather in ten minutes. AU men are born ignorant and lots of them never succeed in outgrowing it

MOB IS DEFIED.

Daaperato Attempt to Capture Two Barricaded Murderer*. John and Paul Zeltner, murderers of Hoytsville, Ohio, were lodged in jail at Bowling Green after having tor eighteen hours defied an infuriated mob which threatened them with summary vengeance. The two men, who tpurdered Attorney Westenhaver and later killed Clarence Wittenmeyer, one of their pursuers, held the great crowd of would-be lynchers at bay until they were ready to surrender. During all the time from the commission of the first crime Saturday afternoon until after 6 o’clock Sunday morning the two, aided by the women of their household, defied the desperate throng which besieged their home. They plainly stated that they would not submit to lynching and every assault on the house was answered with such well-aimed bullets that the lynching party feared to carry out its plans. Each move on the part of the assailants was the signal for a shot, showing that the women were doing their share in the work of defense. Only when they were assured a military guard and all possible protection did the murderers agree to submit to arrest. E. H. Westenhaver had been attorney for the Zeltner brothers in numerous cases, and had sued them for his fees. The jury and witnesses had been sworn before Justice E. Burgoon at Hoyt’s Corners, in Westenhaver’s suit, when Paul Zeltner demanded some papers of Westenhaver, and attempted to take them from his pocket. John Zeltner then joined in demanding the papers, and immediately fired the fa tai. shot that killed Westenhaver. The Zeltners had thejr horses ready for mounting and escape, and it is thought that they had arranged to get Westenhaven into a fight, although they did not give the victim time to make any demonstrations toward them. The Zeltners kept up their firing till they mounted their horses, and continued it as hundreds of citizens pursued them to their residence. Then the citizens laid siege to the Zeltner house. The lynchers kept up a continual firing and it is declared that the women also engaged in the defense. John Zeltner is married and has four children, and his family was in the house with him. The battle was waged furiously, the besiegers, including the sheriff’s posse, finding it necessary to keep under cover of the trees to avoid being hit. Clarence Wittenmeyer was shot down while attempting with a posse of twenty-five or thirty to capture the house by a determined charge. This increased the excitement, and the mob, now swelled to 1,000 in number, seemed bent upon lynching the Zeltners. To prevent this the sheriff telegraphed to North Baltimore for the militia and the Bloomfield rifles and the North Baltimore cadets hurried to the scene. All night long the siege was kept up. When Wittenmeyer fell volley after volley was poured into tile crowd from the upper story of the Zeltner house. During the fight a cannon and a quantity of nitroglycerin had been secured, so that there would have been trouble after sunrise if the troops had not arrived. Peaceable methods finally prevailed in the capture, although it is doubtful if the capture would have been effected except for the fact that the Zeltners were nearly out of ammunition and they knew surrender was the only method of saving themselves. The Zeltners agreed to surrender to ex-Bheriff Biggs if guaranteed protection from the fury of the mob. The two military companies were drawn up in lines and the men handcuffed and taken from the house, after which the women locked all the doors and pulled down all the blinds, tinder escort of the militia, the men were marched through the mud and snow to Custar station, where they took a train for Tontogany, there changing again and landing in Bowling Green shortly after noon. At that point at least 1,500 persons had congregated, but the Zeltners were hurried to jail without any further trouble.

WEALTH OF THE UNITED STATES

What the Figures of 1900 Are Expected to Show. The statistical table of the wealth of nations is a familiar one among treasury officials of various countries. According to the estimate of Mulhall, published in 1892, the wealth of nations was as follows tor the chief countries, for lands, farm utensils, bullion, cattle, houses, furniture, railroads, shipping, merchandise and sundries: United Statess6s,ooo,ooo,ooo United Kingdom 47,000,000,000 France 42,500,000,000 Germany 32,000,000,000 Russia- 25,000,000,000 Austria 19,000,000,000 Italy 14,500,000,000 Spain . 12.500,000,000 Australia 9,500,000,000 Belgium 5,000,000,000 Holland 4,900,000,000 Canada 4,900,000,000 Great Britain had heretofore been regarded as the wealthiest country in the world, owning half the ships, more than a quarter of the railroad properties, and having a capitalized wealth at home of $50,000,000,000. And, in respect to the average wealth per capita, England has been entitled to that distinction, the figures bring as follows: United Kingdomsl,2oo Denmark 1,150 France 1,120 Holland '. 1,080 United States..... 1,050 The Federal census of 1900 is to be a record-breaking one, according to all present indications. By the Federal census of 1890 the aggregate material wealth of the United States, compared with the wealth of Great Britain, was less in ships and merchandise, but exceeded in many other items. The real estate of this country was then valued at $39,000,000,000, the live stock at $2,000,000,000, the railroads at $8,000,000,000, manufactories and their contents at $3,000,000,000, mines and quarries $1,000,000,000, and gold and silver coin at $1,200,000,000. If the present rate of increase Is maintained, the total accumulated wealth of the United States will represent, by the census of 1900, not far from $110,000,000,000, or more than double that of Great Britain.

News of Minor Note.

A Boston fruit company now controls the banana trade of the United States. The new treaty between the United States and Japan goes into effect on July 17. Robert Lewis was hanged in Atlanta, Ga., on the gallows which he built two years ago. Capt. Absolom McCrary, one of the oldest and best known residents of Howard County, a veteran of the Mexican and civil wars, died at Fayette of imeumonia, aged 78 years.

INDIANA INCIDENTS.

RECORD OF EVENTS OF THt' PAST WEEK. Will Not Make the Fiwht-Opoi-.atore •nd Miners Fail to A<ree-Blx Fire at Patoka—Fatal Fend Between Bel- , atlves-New Industry for Pern. The manufacturers of the gas belt who organized a short time ago to fight the foreign gas pipe line companies have abandoned the project. The foreign companies assert that the pressure in their main Hue* does not exceed the 300-pound limit prescribed by law, and that the powerful pumps used are not for the purpose of drawing the fluid from the earth, but to force it through the mains. On these points the companies are prepared to make a prolonged fight, and as the outcome, after much expensive litigation, would be uncertain, the manufacturers have decided to drop it. Coal Men in a Wrangle. The meeting between a select committee of block coal operators and miners held at Brazil to make a final effort to adjust a scale for a year closed sine die without an agreement being reached. Miners insist upon suspension of work at once, and it will be a difficult matter for the officers to induce the men to work longer. AU the men employed at the Big Four mine, belonging to F. 8. Peabody of Chicago, quit work on account of no settlement being reached. The miners are prepared for a hard fight Greater Part of Patoka Destroyed. Fire at Patoka came near destroying the entire town. The fire started in Samuel Burns’ saloon. The total loss is put at $20,000, partly covered by insurance. The fire is supposed to have been of in-? cendiary origin. There have been six attempts within the last year to burn out the town of Patoka and there are now seven firebugs serving time, convicted of incam diarism in the town. " Biscuit Plant for Peru. Hugh McCaffrey will establish at PefM immediately a biscuit works which may? compete with the trust. He is a man of large means, who .has spent most of hfoj life in the grocery trade, and sees a profit in crackers and kindred articles at the? prices paid the trust. He has placed an order for nearly $40,000 worth of ery and will install his plant at Peru before July. Fatal Fight at Carbon. Walter Jones shot and instantly killed! Edward Adams at Carbon. Jones and Adams were relatives, and there had been a long-standing feud between them. Ad-j ams and Jones met at William Baxtct’M saloon and a fight followed. Jones shot Adams in the head and continued until he emptied his revolver. Jones was arrested. ’ Within Our Borders, ' J Attica will have a $50,000 sanitarium. J Anti-trust bottle house erected at LafeL Diamond coal mine, near sold for $13,000. Markham & Stephens will reopen tiMdsl distillery near Rosewood. i | Indiana stands second in glass produs*| tion in the United States. Shelbyville Council cut the mandHM salary from S7OO to $350 a year. Samuel Gronnert, an Indianian, is man-J aging editor of the London Telegraph. Miss Gertrude Kemp, Fisher's Station,! went to Chicago and is mysteriously missing. Mrs. James Keiser, Anderson, went! shopping the other day and did not re-1 turn. . The Grant Daffron sawmill was blowik! up at Noblesville, the explosion iiwfrahßjil killing Alfred Bennett and destroying 4m| mill machinery. Because Dr. Joseph D. Kelley of EhlM mandale squandered his money for liquor, his wife, Mrs. Elsie Kelley, shot him* through the breast. 8. M. Austin, a traveling salesman tor sh Philadelphia wholesale paint house, was instantly killed by the Chicago-New special on the Lake Shore at Osceola. John Ferriter, serving a life sentence Um the Michigan City penitentiary for the? murder of Policeman Charles Ware of In-* dianapolis two years ago, escaped by overpowering a guard he was assisting outside! the prison walls. The lamp chimney factories in the In-I diana gas belt have closed down indefinitely, many of them discharging all workers and advising them to seek employment! in other channels. The reason given the shut-down is the sluggish markets. | Five persons were injured, two fatally,? in a runaway during a funeral at Evansd ville. The five persons were in a hkeM and the team became frightened at street car. The hack was completely de-! molished and the funeral procession warn stopped an hour. •'.-'W Congressman A. L. Brick and Joseph 8.3 Arnold have sold to Josiah C. Houck acres of land in Olive township, the COtt-1 sideration being $11,600. The land is adjacent to the great Kankakee region andl is partly marsh. It will be drained and anfl Amish colony will be started there. Monroe City was thrown into a flutter | by the elopement and romantic marriagdg of Frank Owens and Miss Annie Lloyd.! Miss Lloyd ostensibly went to church, but instead met her lover, who was waiting! in a buggy, and started to Rev. Mr. Denny’s home to be married. They met tiM| minister on the road and made knowM their wishes and insisted that the ceremony be performed then and there, upon the minister, while alb were Beaten in their vehicles, had them join han&wjM pronounced the words that made theura one. The couple, accompanied by the reS erend gentleman, drove to the home oftfceS bride to ask parental blessings. The girl’sj mother, when apprised of the fWct, faint-;] id. Postmaster Lloyd had forbidden hM daughter keeping company with OwiijM which resulted in the elopement. The Christian Church congregatitoß'tO Vincennes has decided to build a fiireaMi|| stone church and $8,500 was raised Mr voluntary subscriptions at the first meeting. Congressman George W. Cromer chosen Scott Fulton of Hartford Citv tii! a?^gXt tb to & thi tt WTOt a po£t academv ’-“iSl -'i A ‘ 1* ' * '