Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 96, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1902 — INDIANA INCIDENTS. [ARTICLE]

INDIANA INCIDENTS.

RECORD OF EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK. Fairmount Man Finds Death in Headache Medicine—Aged Woman Recovera from Trance—Queer Freak* of Lightqjng—State News ln Brief. Joseph Hane, a young butcher of Fairmount, was found dead in his shop. He had been suffering with headache, but little was thought of it when he left his home. Coroner J. 8. Whitson held ■ post-mortem examination. His verdict was that Hane came to his death as the result of taking too much patent medicine for headache, which acted as a heart depressant. Accident in Blacksmith Shop. At Liberty, Frank Fosdick, in repairing an old machine, placed the cylinder In his forge fire and put Fred Sehweikert at work pumping the bellows. In a few moments an explosion took place that shook the town and was heard a mile or more away, sounding like a clap of thunder, The cylinder burst and came near killing Fosdick and the boy, both being slightly grazed by flying pieces of iron. A five-pound piece of the cylinder passed through a room above and tore a hole in the roof. The windows were shattered and the forge wrecked. It is supposed that the explosion was caused by gas generated by the heat from oil put on the machinery while in use, a part of which had accumulated in pie cyinder. Delivers Mail from Auto. The Postmaster General has issued a special credit authority to Oscar Working, mail carrier on rural route No. 2 from Hagerstown, to use an automobile in making his daily delivery of mail. According to the official document Mr. Working is the only rural route agent in the country, who regularly uses an automobile in his work. Last November the rural delivery was established and Oscar Werking was given a route thirty-two miles long. A few Weeks ago he determined to invest in an automobile. The experiment has proved successful and apparently the use of the machine is a more economical method than the former one of delivering mail over country roads. *

Hears Her Death Mourned. \ Mrs. Polly Austin, who fell into a trance at La Porte, Monday night, and who was believed to be dead afterward, recovered consciousness and declared that she felt in better health than before her seizure. Mrs. Austin asserts that she was fully conscious all the time and that she was able to hear the grief of her relatives, although she was not able to move a muscle to show them that she was not dead. Mrs. Austin is 89 years of age and for this reason her recovery is attracting much attention from the physicians of Northern Indiana. Woman Burned to Death. Miss Nellie Grant, aged 25 years, was burned to death at the home of her grandmother, Mrs. Virginia Bullit, at Lawrenceport. She went to the barn to get eggs, and in a few minutes she ran screaming to the house, her clothing ablaze and the barn also on fire. She was so badly burned that death ensued in a short time. Miss Grant was the daughter of a prominent and wealthy lawyer in New Orleans, and was visiting her grafidffibtfiSF. ; Dragged in Runaway. Mrs. Rachel Williams and Miss Nota Wyble, of Stinesville, were riding down a steep hill, when the horse became frightened. Both women jumped. Mrs. Williams was caught in the wheel and dragged, being badly cut and injured. She will likely die. Miss Wyble was seriously injured, but will recover. Mrs. Williams’ husband was killed a few years ago in an explosion and her brother was killed later by lightning. * I Youth Leads Thieves' Band. Peter Sabaski, aged 18 years, .was brought before Judge Richter at La Porte* and given an indeterminate sentence to the Jeffersonville reformatory for larceny. Sabaski was the leader of a band of youthful criminals ranging in age from 14 to 18 years who have been looting houses of farmers for a number of months. Freak of Lightning. x During a storm Tuesday night lightning struck the wagon shed of Oscar Lackay, a farmer of Bellsville, doing considerable damage. A peculiar freak was that the-lightning, when it struck a •wagon in the shed, took a wheel off and the wagon was wheeled entirely out of the shed. x Wreckage Piled High. At Greencastle, the third section of eastbound freight. No. 96 on the Big Four Railroad struck four coal cars that had run out from a siding on the main track near Lena. The engine was overturned and W. F. Killifer, the engineman, was killed. The wreckage was piled high. Fast Mail in Wreck. Fast mail No. 11, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, from New York to St. Ixrnis, crashed into an Indianapolis and "Vincennes freight in the yards at Indianapolis, injuring three persons and demolishing a half-dozen cars on the freight. The freight was crossing the main line. Drawn Into Flywheel. Clarence Ketriug, of Spartansburg, tried to remove the belt of a traction engine, and was drawn into the swiftly revolving flywheel. His skull was crushed and he was otherwise mangled, causing instant death. Many Hurt in Panic at Circus. At the opening of Robinson’s show at Madison the great tent was blown dowr<> and in the panic many persons were injured, breaking up the performance. Brief State II a p pen I nga. Granville Ellison, Daleville, bequeathed five acres to the town for a park, and $3,000 for a public library. Harley Birkinbine, 9 years old, living three miles south of Frankton, was instantly killed while riding a horse in a pasture field. He fell off, his head striking a stone. " Mrs. May Mlnich, Indianapolis, was taken to the central insane hospital. She is insane on the subject of an estate of $300,000,000, which she claims is due her la Chicago.