Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1901 — RECORD OF THE WEEK [ARTICLE]

RECORD OF THE WEEK

INDIANA INCIDENTS TERSELY TOLD. New Scale for Miners A creed Upon——Matters Made Lively for Robbers— Daviess County Farmer Mysteriously Persecuted —Son Finds His Mother. The wages contract signed by the Indiana operators and miners at Terre Haute for the ensuing year gives the miners an advance of pay from $2.10 to $2.25 for one class of inside day labor and from $2.28 to $2.30 for another class, and grants recognition of their organizat tion for outside labor, such as engineers and blacksmiths who had their own labor organizations and wanted to be recognized independently. There is, however, some feeling Over the concession to the operators of the clause requiring miners to buy powder from their employers at $1.75 ,a keg. When the scale committee, whicli agreed on this clause after a week’s deadlock, reported to the miners’ convention some sharp things were said and when it came to a vote .approving the scale committee's report if was carried by 85 to 77. The Great Northern Supply Company, which has been selling powder to,miners at $1.23 by the single keg, made a strong tight to keep the miners from binding themselves to the operators. The operators make a profit of $125,000 a year on the powder.

Hounded by Unknown Enemy. John Matthews, a farmer of Daviess County and a victim of a mysteriops persecution for twenty years, moved to- Indianapolis, having sold his farm and given up the hope of ever finding out and punishing his persecutors. The persecution consisted in killing his horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, in settiug fire to his meadow, burning his barns and attempting to burn his residence. Rarely more than a mouth passed without some act on, the part of the unknown enemy which resulted in loss. Within the past year four valuable horses have been killed, his bard burned, his haystacks destroyed by fire and a crib containing 1,000 bushels of corn destroyed. Mr. Matthews has speut Considerable money in employing detectives, but finding be could not contend against his unknown enemy, he moved to Indianapolis and will engage in business. Lively Fight with Burglar*. Burglars at Michigautown wrecked the safe in a brick building occupied by C. A. Marshall, a merchant, and after a desperate running battle with citizens, in which Marshall was slightly wounded and one of the robbers was perhaps fatally shot, escaped with a small amount of booty. The safe contained several hundred dollars in cash and many valuable papers, and all was practically destroyed by the force of the explosion. The big steel vault was blown opt and across the room, and a drawer containing a package of bank bills was blown in an opposite direction, and the; bills torn into a thousand pieces. It is not thought the robbers succeeded in getting to exceed SSO in cash, the other money being destroyed. The property damage to the safe, building and goods will probably reach $3,000.

Hon Finds a Lost Mother. Forty years ago Mrs. Ida Parson of Hamilton, Ohio, then aged 30 years, was deserted by her husband, who went to California, taking with him their only child, a son. B"or twenty years the son, who lives in Ivesdale, 111., and is now wealthy, has tried to find his mother. He finally found his mother at Frankfort, State News in Brief. W. M. Reed of Frankfort died of hiccoughs. after five months’ suffering. Muncie and Normal City are having an epidemic of burglaries and general thievery. N. C. W’right, aged 04 years, a prominent resident of Wayne County, committed suicide by.Jhanging. Cause unknown. D. W. Minshail of Terre Haute has added «$15,000 to his previous gift of $25,000 for a new science building for DePauw University. Mrs. Ferdinand Roose, a Polish woman of Hudson township, is 107 years old. She saw Napoleon on his invasion of Russia. Her husband is 83. The safe in the office of the Brown County auditor, at Nashville, was robbed of S4O at noon, the auditor and his deputy having gone away and left the safe open.

The Indiana glass manufacturers will close all their plants in the United States May 11. This is two weeks earlier than usual. The factories will not reopen until late in the fall. Burglars are raiding summer cottages at Lake Wawasee. Among those robbed were the cottages of the late Eli Lilley of Indianapolis and W. H. Iloops of Goshen and the Indianapolis clflb house. Ben S. Hudnut of Terre Haute has petitioned the county commissioners for a franchise to build seventy-five miles of electric railroads in the county. He proposes to build a liue from Vincennes to every town in the county. Mrs. Mollie Fisher, aged 80. and her husband, aged 81, appeared in court at Bloomington in the former’s suit for divorce, both so feeble that they went to the witness stand with difficulty. Judge refused to take action, saying their dispute soon would be settled by the Great Master. Secretary of State Hunt has notified the officers of Pierpont Morgan’s billion dollar steel trust that they must comply with the Indiana law requiring corporations, organized outside of the State but doing business in Indiana, to pay onetenth of 1 per cent on the capital invested in business in the State, ami he expects to get one of the largest fees ever received from n corporation by Indiana from the steel trust. Mrs. Catharine Smith, New Albany, accused of killing her son-in-law, Oliver McMackin. discharged. John Bchueler, a New Albany butcher, hanged himself in his stable. Despondent over business. 1 Bteven Evillsizer, ex-convict. Trenton, stabbed his wife to death with a pocketknife. In jail at Hartford City. George Sheets and his son, Beecher, and Charles Elkins, fanners near Frankfort, have been disfranchised for selling their votes in November. Ten others have been sentenced lately, and mors cases are pending. #