Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 October 1899 — CRUEL MURDER PLOT [ARTICLE]

CRUEL MURDER PLOT

AWFUL CHARGE AGAINST MISSOURI YOUNG MAN. Said to Have Conspired with Another to Kill His Father for the Money He Would Then Inherit — Farmer Commits Murder and Suicide. .¶ Great surprise was created in Springfield. Mo., by the arrest of Noah Storms, a well-known young school teacher and popular man in society, on the charge of conspiracy to murder his father, one of the wealthiest and most influential farmers of Taney County. It is charged that Storms offered Leroy Lewis of Swan Creek, near Forsythe, where the Stormses live, $35 to do away with his parent. Lewis notified former Sheriff John L. Cook and his brother, William Cook, of the alleged proposition made by young Storms. He had the two Cooks conceal themselves where they could overhear a conversation between himself and the school teacher about the plot to kill the elder Storms. It is alleged that in the conversation the details of the contemplated murder were discussed in advance, the evident object of Storms being, it is supposed, to acquire the wealth the death of his father would give to him. COUNTERFEIT RAILWAY TICKETS Well-Executed Imitation of Skeleton Round Trip Form Discovered. The officials of the Colorado Midland Railway Company have discovered a case of ticket counterfeiting which promises to prove one of the most extensive ever discovered in this country. The ticket is so made that, with the coupon attached, it can be made out to any point in the country and return. The tickets found have been all on Eastern points, and they were so nearly perfect that not only conductors, but employes in the general office passed them without question. KILLS HIS SON AND HIMSELF. Minnesota Man Hopes Thus to Pay Off Mortgage on His Farm. .¶ A Morris, Minn., special says that Joseph Haigh, a farmer living five miles west of Donnelly, shot his 21-year-old son, Russ, blowing his head completely off. He then shot himself through the heart. There was a $2,000 mortgage on Haigh’s farm, and it is thought he killed his son to get $2,000 insurance from the Modern Woodmen, of which order the latter was a member, and then killed himself to escape legal punishment. In this way he expected to leave his family with the farm clear of incumbrance. Four Men Drowned. Two fishermen who came in to Toledo, Ohio, brought a story of the drowning of four men near Cedar Point. A man named Francisco Demeraux and his son Severance, with a couple of Slav farm , hands, went out fishing and carried beer with them. They became drunk and began quarreling, fighting in the boat, which turned over and threw them into the water. They were all drowned. War Ends in Veuezuela. The Venezuela crisis is virtually over. Gen. Andrade, the president, has accepted the conditions proposed by the insurgent commander, Gen. Cipriano Castro, and will go abroad, the presidency devolving upon the vice-president. Gen. Castro will enter Caracas peacefully, thuS avoiding bloodshed and a dictatorship. k < Dewey’s Baggage Is stolen. Admiral Dewey’s baggage, including all his voucher’s, is said to have been stolen. This is technically denied, but in spite of that everything indicates that the admiral’!? belongings are missing. It is sa: i ra ft goods lost are valued at $lO,000 an., consist of mementoes and curios collected by the admiral. Carter Verdict Upheld. Judge Lacomb, in the United States Circuit Court at New York, banded down a decision dismissing the writ of habeas corpus in the case of former Captain Oberlin M. Carter, who is under sentence of five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to defraud the Government in contracts. New Transpacific Line. The firm of Mitsui & Co. of Japan is considering a plan to establish a new transpacific steamship line. The firm is said to have contracted for 100,000 bales of cotton, to be delivered before next March, and may provide steamers of its own to carry part of this American product. Wichita Dry Goods Store Burned. The dry goods store of George Innes & Co. burned at Wichita, Kan. It was brilliantly lighted and prettily decorated because of the local festival in progress. It is thought to have caught from an electric wire. The loss is $75,000, with insurance of $53,000. Banker’s Wife Kills Herself. A victim of melancholia resultant from ill health, Helen Banfield, wife of W. S. Jackson, a banker, committed suicide at Colorado Springs by shooting. She had just partaken of luncheon with her husband and six children, and retired to her bedroom. The bullet entered the heart. Fatal Fire in a Hotel. The Casino at Green Lake, Wis., was destroyed by fire between 5 and 6 o’clock the other morning and Mr. and Mrs. F. R. Jenks, who were living on the third floor of the building at the time, were burned to death. The loss will be $35,000 on the building and SIO,OOO on the contents. Henry for Army Department. By direction of the President, Maj. Gen. Guy V. Henry, now on waiting orders in New York City, has been assigned to the command of the department of the Missouri, with headquarters at Omaha, Neb. Jester Is Held Without Bail. At Paris, Mo., the preliminary trial of Alexander Jester closed. Judge Moss remanded the defendant to jail without bail to await the action of the grand jury. Reed Admitted to New York Bar. Thomas B. Reed, former Speaker of Congress, has been admitted to the bar of New York. He intends to reside in New York City permanently. Found Guilty of Conspiracy. At Philadelphia the jury In the Ing-ham-Newitt counterfeiting conspiracy trial brought in a verdict of guilty. A recommendation for mercy is made.

FOR IMPROVING THE OHia Convention at Louisville Adopts Resolutions to That End. The most important business before the Ohio Valley Improvement Association at Louisville, Ky., was the adoption of the following resolution: That Congress be urged to appropriate a sufficient amount to insure immediate improvement of the Ohio river to its mouth at Cairo; that the improvement of the Qhio between Pittsburg and Marietta be pushed; that Congress prevent encroachments on the channel of the Ohio which may render navigation difficult and dangerous; improvement of the Mississippi river at its mouth; immediate construction of locks and movable dams at and near Gallipolis, Ohio; ownership by the United States of an isthmian canal; the building of a dam just below Cincinnati, and a standing appropriation by Congress of $75,000 annually for dredging the I FARMER KILLS HIS FAMILY. An Insane Man Near Redwood Falls, Minn., Causes Five Deaths. Frank E. Babcock, a farmer residing near. Redwood Falls, Minn., murdered his wife and three sons. The murder was committed in a fit of insanity. Babcock loaded his shotgun and went to where his two little boys were playing and shot both of them. His wife saw the murder and rushed to the barn for safety. Babcock went into the house and Bfrote a note to his brother-in-law, Frank Mason, and then searched for and found his wife in the barn and shot her through the head. From the barn he walked a mile south to where his oldest son was at work, and at close range fired, killing the boy instantly. Then reloading his weapon he killed himself.’ NEGRO SOLDIERS IN A RIOT. Battle with Police at Laredo, TexasSeveral Persons Hurt. Friction between the Laredo, Texas, police and the negro soldiers at Fort McIntosh resulted in a street riot. A Mexican, C. Nuncio, received a Krag-Jorgen-sen bullet through the shoulder. Policeman William Stoner was badly beaten with clubbed rifles, and at least 100 shots from the army rifles and pistols were fired by the rioting negroes. The trouble grew out of the arrest of a soldier for some offense. One Killed and Nine Injured. One person was killed and nine others were injured, several probably fatally, in a grade crossing accident at Seymour, lowa. A wagon in which were ten young men bound across the country to charivari a newly married couple was struck by an east-bound meat train on the Rock Island road and knocked from the track. Will Cuppies was killed outright. Marconi Is Enjoined Lyman C. Larned of Boston has brought suit in the United States Circuit Court against Guglielmo Marconi to restrain him and his agents from using the system of wireless telegraphy, which, Larned claims, is an infringement of a patent now controlled by him. Max lie Up Great Northern. A general strike on the Great Northern ‘has been threatened for some time and it looks now as if it may occur within a very few days. It will include conductors, engineers, firemen, brakemen and switchmen and the men expect to tie the road up from end to end. Kills Wife and Himself. Oscar Everhardt, a New Orleans musician, borrowed a pistol, and returning home shot his wife through the head while she slept. He then turned the weapon on himself. Domestic infelicity is given as the cause of the tragedy. Nebraska College Purus. The college building at Norfolk, Neb., was totally destroyed by fire. The loss is $14,Q00, about half covered by insurance. The college was closed about a year ago. It was a Congregational school. Chicago Box Factory Burns. Fire destroyed the factory of the W. 0, Ritchie Paper Box Company, Green and Van Buren streets, Chicago, entailing a loss of $221,000. At least 500 men and women escaped by a narrow margin from the burning building. No Political Assessments. The Postmaster General has issued a formal warning to postmasters against the levy of political assessments. The civil service commission will enforce the law. 1 Death of Noted Publisher. William H. Appleton of the publishing house of D. Appleton & Co. died at his home at Riverdale, N. Y., aged 85 years.