Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 December 1901 — INDIANA INCIDENTS. [ARTICLE]

INDIANA INCIDENTS.

RECORD OF EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK. Forced to Pay Reward—Wealthy Girl Weds Despite Pursuit—Famous Pitcher Now Digging; Ditches—Horseman Robbed and Left.fdr Dead. Augustus Hammond, commissioner appointed by. the Wabash" Circuit Court to sell the farm of Mrs. Sarah Highley near Mier, to settle a peculiar lawsuit, ck>sed up the matter and paid to Marion Rutherford and William Miller about $450 for saving the life of Mrs. Highley. In January, 1900, Rutherford and Miller were driving along the bank of a swollen creek near Mier, when they were attracted by cries for help proceeding from the stream. A moment later Highley rushed up to them and said his wife, in a buggy, was out in the creek and would drown unless quickly rescued. “I’ll give you men sl,000 if you save her,” he said, and Rutherford and Miller, at the peril of theicjves, rushed in and brought tlife woman ashore. Subsequently they called on Highley to make good his promise, but he refused, and assigned his farm to his wife. Suit was then brought by Rutherford and Miller. Child Elopes and Marries. Dr. Willard Matthews and Miss Bessie Hendricks, aged 10 years, eloped to Washington from Martinsville to be married, but were denied a license. While they were waiting for a train to take them to Lawrenceville, 111., where they hoped to have better success, the girl’s father and the Morgan County sheriff arrived with a warrant for their arrest, having driven a distance of sixty miles. Friends of the runaways kept Mr. Hendricks and the officer on a false scent until the runaways caught a train for Lawrenceville, where they were married. The .bride is the daughter of wealthy parents.

Horseman Robbed and Murdered. William Sheets, a well-known horseman of Crawfordsville, was found at the fair grounds in that city in a dying condition. He expired in a few minutes without regaining consciousness. The cause of death is shrouded in mystery. Sheets was known to have had considerable money upon his person, but "when found his pockets were empty. It is thought he had been given drugged whisky and robbed. Deaths in Rapid Succession. Three dead and one perhaps fatally injured is the record of accidents for twen-ty-four hours in Terre Haute. William Laney, 12 years old, fell from a wagon loaded with logs, and the logs- fell on him; Otis Goodman, a Vandalia switch tender, was killed by the cars, and Arthur Davis was drowned in the Wabash river while coon hunting with two other youths. ~~ Rnsie in the Last Pitch. Amos Rusie, the world-famous baseball pitcher, formerly with New York, is digging trenches for the American Water Works Company in Muncie for $1.50 a day. The great pitcher formerly received $5,000 a year, but failed to make a showing last season with Cincinnati and was dropped. He married a Muncie woman and lives in a neat little cottage, paid for of his savings. ’ Within Our Borders, ’ Ulenry Allen, aged 12, fell into a corn bin*at«an Oaktown elevator and was . crushed to death.

Miss Nellie Hollis, 18, attempted suicide at the home of 11. M. Scearce, in Noblesville, by taking carbolic acid. Congressman Brick has settled the Rochester postoffice contest through the reappointment of Postmaster Reiter. A large warehouse filled with broomcorn, belonging to the broomcorn trust, in Evansville, was destroyed by fire. Loss $20,000, small insurance. The suit against the Chicago Pipe Line Company to prevent shipping of Indiana natural gas out of the State has been decided in favor of the company. Moses Stinson and wife, Nashville, were badly injured by their horse running away. Their baby didn’t get a scratch. A culprit had put cockle burrs under the horse's harness while the family was in church. A burglar tried to break into Sidney Richel’s home in Evansville. Richel met the burglar at the window with a large Indian club and gave him a severe lick on the head. The burglar departed, leaving a trail of blood behind. If Bert Flegel of Westville recovers he will eschew laughing. The other day his risibilities were affected to such an extent that he laughed so hard the inner membranes were torn loose from his lower ribs, according to the claims of the attending physician. George Tudor, a well-known young farmer, residing near Scircleville, was suddenly seized with a desire to kill his parents. His mother escaped to her room and locked the door, but the maniac broke it down and had seized his mother by the throat when he was caught by three men, who had been summoned by the father. Bert Deweese, a draughtsman in the city engineer's office, committed suicide on the street in Terre Haute, after being released from jail, where he was placed on a charge of drunkenness. He went from the jail to a drug store and bought strychnine, which he swallowed on the street, and was found dying a few minutes later.

In Lafayette a crowd of small boys in joke locked Charley Horn and Floyd Miller, aged 0 years, sons of wealthy parents, in a Lake Erie and Western box car. Just then an engine hooked on to the car and put it in an east-bound freight train. A tramp iu Frankfort heard the cries of the boys and informed the trainmen. The boys were returned home.

Mrs. Eli Clark of Washington was burned to death while trying to save her little niece from Hames. The child also died of her injuries. The Kokomo plate glass factory has turned out the largest pane of glass in the world. It is 150-1/2 by 221-1/2 inches in size and weighs 1,450 pounds. The Supreme Court has decided tliat Joseph Rinkard must be hanged, affirming the decision of the lower court. Rinkard murdered his wife at Marion in June, 1900. He does not deny the killing, but says he was insane. He is 61 years old.