Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 September 1905 — INDIANA INCIDENTS. [ARTICLE]

INDIANA INCIDENTS.

RECORD OF EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK. Woman Accuses Son of Wife MurderFarmer Lured from Home and Slain— Robbers Blow Safe and Escape— Traveling Salesman Kills Himself. Accused by his mother of smothering his wife with a pillow in .order that he might collect an insurance policy of $lO,000 on her life, Adolph P. Wilhelm, a young farmer living hear Hobart, is held in jail in Hammond without bail. Wilhelm was arrested on a charge of assault and battery upon his mother, and while the aged woman was still ill from the beating hhe received she filed information with Prosecuting Attorney Boone that her son had confessed to the murder. Wilhelm’s bride was found dead in bed about a year ago, and the coroner's verdict gave heart disease as the cause of her death. The insurance policy later was paid by the order of the Ladies of the Maccabees. Wilhelm denies his guilt. Murder Mystery in Porter County. Wayne Hale of Porter county was lured froqi his home at midnight by a stranger, who said he was trying to find the house of a neighbor. Hale was found in the morning with his throat cut from ear to ear. There were signs that he had fought to save his life. Evidence brought to light later shows that two men were in the plot. One lured Hale from the house, while the accomplice cut his throat. The police are looking for Paul Govine, who had quarreled with Hale because the latter objected to his remaining at the house with his wife while he was away. Sensational developments are promised. Mrs. Hale is detained at t-'ie county jail. Bank Robbers Resist Crowd. A bold attempt was made to loot the bank of O. H. Taylor at Hamilton the other moiyiing. A terrific explosion aroused many citizens, who discovered that the bank building had been broken into and the outer doors of the large safe torn from their hinges by a charge of nitroglycerin. Three armed men succeeded in holding away the first arrivals, but as the alarm spread and the crowd of citizens gathered the robbers eluded their followers in a conveyance which they had stolen from a physician. They were followed by a posse as far as Butler, where the horse and buggy were found, but all further trace was lost.

Ends Life witli Bullet. William H. Martin of Richmond, despondent over ill health and almost distracted because of the condition of his wife, who one week ago was declared insane, ended his life by shooting himself through the head. Martin was a prominent citizen and was widely known in the middle West as a traveling salesman, being a conspicuous member of the Travelers’ Protective Association. He was 51 years old. Mayor Shoots and Kills Man. George Hutts, 52 years old, was shot and killed by Mayor O. S. Jones in Attorney G. E. Lavengood's office in Covington. Immediately after the shooting the Mayor surrendered to the police, asserting that „he had killed Hutts in self-defense. According to the story told by Mayor Jones, Hutts, who, it is alleged, had been drinking, attacked him with a chair. Must Face Murder Charge. El wood Carter, who shot and killed Ben B. Franklin two weeks ago in a drunken row at the home of Mag Miles, was indicted by the grand jury in Vincennes, the charge being murder in the first degree. Brief State Happenings. Miss Maggie Davison was killed by a Big Four train at Shelbyville. The G-year-old daughter of Nathan Smith of Elkhart was fatally burned by brandishing burning newspapers in her hand. Frank L. Jones, for two years superintendent of public instruction, was granted a divorce fit South Bead. Cruelty was alleged. John Kochs of Boonville, son of a wealthy farmer, was drowned. lie was trying to swim across a creek and was seized with cramps. Earl Hartman and Matthew Yates were drowned at Evansville py the swampibg of a boat in th 4 waves made by an excursion steamer. In Evansville John Mack fatally injured his brother-in-law, Janies Edmund, during a fight by cutting him on the head with a corn knife. The 11. James Sc Mayer Buggy Company of Lawrenceburg assigned to William O’Brien of the Citizens’ National Bank. The liabilities are SIOI,OOO. and the assets will probably aggregate $50,000. The county council at Vincennes appropriated $25,000 for building a county hospital. The city donates the grounds and the hospital association turns over SIO,OOO cash toward constructing the building. Miss Rose Meyer, daughter of Dr. J. H. William Meyer of La Porte, was drowned by the capsizing of a boat. Lawrence Kessler, Charles Taylor and Miss Harriet Weir, who were with her, were rescued. 11. H. Ogdon, bank expert of Evansville, who examined the books of the Huugstadt hank, has reported that the accounts of Thebes Farthing, the mi-s----ing cashier, are correct and that there is uo shortage. Plans will lie put in operation within thirty days to start a binder twine industry in the Indiana prison north, employing several hundred convicts and selling the product in competition with other twine industries, Mrs, Anna Jaeo, who became separated from her husband in Benton Harbor. was fouud at Granger. Hlie hail attempted to walk home ami became exhausted. Gladys, the yeur-oid daughter of Elmer Smith of Elkhart, playing with matches, set fire to her dress nud was seriously burned before her parents reached her. The child will siie. The heaviest ruin in many months fell in Evansville, and throughout southern Indiana nearly two incites of rain fell in two hours. Considerable damage was dona by lightning.' 1 '