Star-Democrat, Greencastle, Putnam County, 2 October 1908 — Page 1

BSTADI.ISIIKD JSRS

STAR ^ DEMOCRAT

FIFTY-FIRST UiU

Scries, Vol. 50, No, 24.

GRKKNCASTLE, INDIANA, FRIDAY, OCTOHKR 2, HM»H.

New Series. Vol. 5, No. 0.

INTERURBAN AGENT IS 5 LAIN

BY AN UNKNOWN MURDERER

Otis Hendren, Night Man at the Local Traction Station, Shot to Death Supposedly by Stranger Who Had Been Seen Lurking Around Depot Mo day---Mu;d:r Cc:ured at Near 10 O r Ciock---A Mystery as to the Motive.

MAN U AS SEEN RUNNING FROM THE STATION

i —

I AW O. Hendren, night agent at the Interurban station, was murdwred at 9:45 o’clock Mon night by an unknown man. Hendren wasshot

through the heart with a 32-calibre revolver. He died a few seconds

after tbe shot was fired.

A stranger who had been around the station for an hoar or more pre\i>ius to the murder and who was seen running from the station by several persons is supposed to be the murderer. He is described as a darn complexioned rough-appearing man, about 35 years old and about 5 feet, eight inches high. He wore a brown suit of clothes, a dark shirt and a soft felt hat. Stranger Runs From Station. TO® Persons who saw and talked with the man earlier in the evening state that he appeared extremely nervous and say he continually kept looking toward the ticket window. He was unshaven and very roughlooking. He ran from the station immediately after the shot was fired. Leaving the station through the door to the waiting room he ran southwest on the Interurban tracks to Hill Street. Here he turned west and it is believed he ran down to Sunset Hill.

Hendren to throw up his hands. They believe that when he refused to

do so he was shot.

I At the time of the murder Hendren and Jim Sutton, the dispatcher.

MBe the only men in the station besides the murderer. Sutton was busy at his desk issuing train orders when he heard the shot fired. Cutting his order short he arose from his desk and stepped into the waiting Suttqn’s office Is just west of the waiting room. Just as he stepped into the waiting room the door slammed as if some one wa' leading. Hendren was standing at the door of his office, his hand grasping the door knob. As Sutton entered the waiting room Hendren gnspe i and sank to the floor. He was dead when Sutton reached him. As tie

sam to the tloor his body lay partly in the waiting room and partly In

the ticket office.

Warned One to lie Careful.

Many persons were on the streets near the station at the time of th« shO" ing. As the man ran from the station he was seen by any number of persons. Several young lady students were on the opposite side of the street and saw him run. University students C. A. Scott, Sherwooc, Bloomberg and Ralph Denny were in the Crawford Restaurant at the time. Hearing the shot they ran to the street just au the murderer ai) ran from the station. One or two of them started to run after the

fleeing man but followed only a short distance.

BB Gilbert Clippinger of the University was walking along Indian? StKe! just as the man crossed Indiana Street to Hill Street. As the —®TO I man passed Clippinger he slowed up

NO MURDER DEVELOPMENTS

A definite motive for the murder has not been agreed upon by the officers and others interested in the apprehension of the murderer. Many believe that he attempted to rob the agent and that Hendren attempted to put the man out of the station and was shot. From Rupert Hartley, the Interurban agent, comes perhaps the most plausable story of the crime. Robbery is believed by Mr. Hartley to have been the motive. Mr. Bartley is well acquainted with the surroundings in the office and knew the habits of the murdered man. Wife T,oft Shortly Before. Mrs. Hendren was with her husband until after 9 o’clock. At that time she went to her home at the corner of Seminary and Bloomington streets. It is Bartley’s belief that after Mrs. Hendren left the station that the murderer, who had been around the station all evening attempted to rob the cash drawer and was caught in the act by Mr. Hendren. A scuffle followed and Hendren was killed.

>1 Oil

Tfl

!#• I I • » &9 I • ! '

SFVKRAL DKTKCTm> AND THK MM'AI, OFFICERS ARK WORKING ON SOME CLFV.S NOTHING OF ANY IMPOK !WCK II \S TURNED Ul* TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF TH1 KILLING OF OTIS IIKNDBl N.

! 1 iCHAILEY

SIMS SlIlL IN JAIL

Prisoner Seems Very Nervous When

i

ever Case is Mentioned and Cannot Account for UN Actions on the Night of the iliing—Fillmore Clew Last N'i^lii it suited in Noth-

ing.

JP Alth ough several detectives have 'been employed by the interurban Jcompany to work on the Hendren '.murder case nothing of any imp°rtanee lhas been developed which In iany way clears up the mystery of the !Mond»> night tragedy. Several de[tective^ from Indianapolis and Laf-

'ayette have been here In the last

itblrty-; ix hours and have_ followed |ap eve y clew they could get hold of. |Some|of the clews have been found •to be valuable and others are still

ibeingnnvestigated. On account of the

I’ase the identity of

• his E)

it

in the es 's

r.i 1 one

i I •

; ( t<

( Eontinm

-o’ht )

and said, “You better not go up to the station, there is trouble and some shooting up there.” He then ran on down Hill Street toward Sunset Hill. This was the last seen of

him.

Trains Searched For Fugitive. Immediately after the killing a great crowd gathered at the station. Sheriff Maze. Deputy Sheriff Does and Officer Williamson were at the scene immediately and started out to look for the murderer. Other parties were organized and a systematic search of Sunset Hill and vicinity was made, but no additional trace of the man was fmiijdVjfjfc Parties wont to Lmedal^Bvnd took several men from T^nght trains, but they proved that they had been on the train all night by trainmen and were not held. Mystery for Cause of Crime. Mr. Bartley, the Interurban agent, was among the first to reach the station after the crime hn ' '>oon committed. A telephone ; « ge from other employes r died I the station. Immediately " riving at the station Mr. R r ' gan an Investigation of th From tbe victim's trousers p i he got the keys to the money drawer. Ho found that the cash $77.15, undisturbed. The ticket cabinet also was locked end the key to this was in the ccs'.i drawer. It is believed by Mr. Bartley that the murderer had expected to find the cash drawer unlocked when he went into the ticket office. Others, however, believe that the murderer was a hold-up man of the coldblooded order and that

Mr. Bartley says that a bucket of drinking water which is kept in the station all day is generally taken from the sub-station into the ticket ; office by Mr. Hendren at near 9 o’- \ clock. The sub-station is just east i of the ticket office and there Is a door between the two rooms. It is the belief of Mr. Bartley that the ( man, watching Hendren, saw him leave the ticket office and step into | the sub-station. The murderer, he believes, quickly stepped into the ticket office from the waiting room and attempted to get into the cash

drawer.

Hendren a

shut off. That night they were to Plainfield. They went to the station Monday night to take the 9:17 car. When they arrived they noticed the stran- | ger. Especially did they notice his 1 nervousness and appearance. So ! strongly did his appearance impress | them that they remarked about it j several times. Each noticed that the I man carried something in his right j coat pocket. They both remarked j about this and believed at the time ! that It was a revolver.

i

The man sat In a seat in the waiting room part of the time and walked around the station platform part of the time. Once when the man sat down Flemming distinctly heard the thing the man carried in his pocket strike against the seat. Stranger Ijooked Suspicious. Mr. Flemming believed that the the man carried a Colts Automatic revolver. During the time Mr. Flemming and the other man waited at the station for their car the stranger addressed them asking what time he could get a car for Terre Haute. Ho was told that one left a few minutes after ten o’clock. Mr. Flemming describes the man as very tough looking and ns medium In bight, about 35 years old. medium weight, dark complected and unshaven. He wore a dark suit, a soft felt hat and a dark shirt. His right shoulder appeared to droop, and was much lower than his left. “Ho looked to be a desperate character,’’ says Mr. Flemming. The first thing Mr. Flemming learned when he arrived at Plainfield was that Mr. Hendren had been killed. He immediately suspicioned the man whom he had seen in the depot and stated that he believed that he knew who the murderer was, although at that time he knownothing of the circumstances of the

killing.

Mr. Flemming was here Tuesday morning and said that he could indentify the man he had seen at the station. ITe said that the man so Impressed him that he could never

forget his appearance.

Soon after the killing of Mr. Hendron the body was taken to the Oillispie Undertaking rooms and prepared for burial. Later it was taken to the home on east Seminary | str o ot. Roputv Coroner Wright j arrived from Fillmore soon after the 1 murder and viewed the body before

I it was moved.

Nervy Man.

As he was working at the draw-

SENATOR SLACK TO SPOKE

he ordered

er, Hendren. returning into the room carrying the bucket of water, caught him in the act . A scuffle followed in which Hendren was

shot.

The fact that the bucket was turned over and on the floor and that the water -was spilled and so splashed around Is evidence that there was a scuffle and as Hendren generally went into the sub-station at near 10 o’clock to get the bucket Mr. Bartley’s theory is very probable. Mr. Hendren, says Mr. Hartley, was a very nervy man and would not hesitate to attack any one who was trying to rob or take advantage of him. The bullet which killed Hen dren entered his left breast an 1 penetrated the body. The h -ll"! passed entirely through ’ ' b-dv severing his spinal cord. ’ r - h-HM after passing through ' ' body struck the top of a desk ! - " ” middle of the room and glanced off against the window frame The bullet was picked up later. It Is of 32

caliber and one of the , which are very hard, was not even flattened 1 with the table or the v Another theory ndv;,who knew IT- r Iren I stranger bec'om-' obi the station and thn I' ' is often called upon U I to put him out. As |vnnced upon the mai fired the fatal shoi.

I'.ilkcd With the Stranger.

I .mbly the best description of the man who is believed to have committed the murder comes fr Albtfrt Flemming, an Interur

lineman. Flemming went to the

tion at 9 o’clock that night with an- ‘ .a

other one of his gang. These r

work at night after the curre

Bryan and Kern t’luli Was Addressed by the Democratic Nflnorfty Ijcader of the State Legislature Upper House, in tin* XssemNy

Room of the Court House.

ROUSING MEETING IS ASSURED

State Senator I,. Ert Slack of Franklin addressed the Bryan and Kern Club in the Assembly Room of court house at 7:3 Oo’cloek Wed. night. Mr. Slack is an eloquent speaker and a rousing meeting w: s held. Mr. Slack Is leader of the r in' i-Hy in the Upper Nouse of the State Legislature and is one of the * - t brilliant Democratic speakers

of the state.

Mr S’-mk arrived In Greencastle at S o’ 1 '*•’ ~vpr the Big Four. All of th'* > - r the campaign were

thorough!’ ’ v :ssod.

GRA .. DORY IS SUMMONED

'en'ed sort " o bullet ts contact ' >w frame. 1 by many

Ip

V-

I or

Ci-

’’•Mvlcy Issues Order That 'feet on Next Monday ■ idoratlon of Such ‘toe Refore it.

that the

Th

around

! win

n« he

' Mi

■ ’ pt e 1

...

ron ad-

; 8U!

1 stranger

anger.

long.

vest

’ md Jury

.lt duties on

the fifth. Judge

..-sued an order for the : of the jury and the subere Issued Wed. It Is not that the session will last There are few cases to be In-

none of Importance, drawn will consist of iingham, Greencastle i aim, Greencastle tp ,

■enchain, Greencastle tp., co l ’”- , -ins, Jackson tp., San-

■ I Jales. Russell tp., Sam G. N’el-

i, Monroe tp.

J-i.

. 1_

M SS RUTH RUNYAN IS FIRST; GRAND TOTAL VOTE OF 81,175

THE CLOVERDALE YOUNG LADY BESIDE GETTING FIRST IN H G UFA TEST NUMBER OF NE HURST OF MT MERIDIAN SE VOTE of

IS GIVEN $15 AS HER AWARD—m ER DISTRICT SHE SECURES W SUBSCRIBERS—MISS ROXIH CURES SECOND PLACE WITH

MISS MARY JACOBS IN THE NORTH

Fillmore Rural Route No. 1 Contestant is Given $25 and Miss Lavota Evans, of Roachdale, Who Finished Second iu That District Gets -'lore Than 500 New Subscribers Added to Lists During the Contest.

SOUTH DISTRICT— Miss Ruth Runyan, Clover.lale: First, South District

Greatest number of votes 15 Most new subscribers 5 Total, $45 Miss Roxie Hurst, Mt. Meridian: Second, South District $15 Second largest vote 5 Total $20

NORTH DISTRICT—

First, Miss Mary Jacobs, Fillmore, R. R. No. 1 $25

Second, Miss Laveta Evans, Roachdale $15

Total awards $105

fore last and last week

❖

*

•:* OFFICIAL VOTE ❖

•>

•> Ruth Runyan 80175 ❖ ❖ Roxie Hurst C9C95 ❖ ❖ Ethel Miller 35770 ❖ ❖ Mildred Rader 33-45 •> ❖ Ruby Hyde 24735 * •> Reggie Wright 22 lot

•>

•X-X-X* <x~x**x* •> * •> Mary Jacobs 10GO 5 •> Laveta Evans’ 34065 ♦ May Mbler 313G5 •> •> Mary Miller 2974n * ❖ ❖

These aid-

ed her greatly in the race and enabled her to finish ahead of Miss Hurst. Saturday was a busy day with the candidates and many votes were cast. The total vote cast Saturday was 210.895. The committee which audited the vote used an adding machine and there was no chance for error. The vote for the entire contest was carefully audited.

•x-x-x~x~x-x~x~x**x*x-x~x**»

ME OPTION BILL IS LAW

•:"»-x*x**x**x*-x**x-X"X-x-x*-x-* ❖ ❖ Hy securing G5 new subscrip- •> tlons last week. Miss Ruth Run- ❖ yan of Cloverdale secured the •> •> 5000 complimentary certificate ❖ ❖ given by the Star and Democrat •> •> to the young lady securing the 1 ❖ greatest number of new sub- *> ❖ scrlptions. •> ■ ❖ •> j •X~X~X*-X-X-->-K-X-X-*X~X~X*-X**

The County Unit Passes the House By a Vote of 55 to 45 at IO: I.A Saturday—There Was Little Struggle.

FRIENDS OF MEASURE JURIIENT

Democrat

The Star and Contest is over.

Miss Ruth Runyan is first in the south district with a total vote of 80,175 and Miss Roxie Hurst of Mt. Meridian is second with a grand to-

tal of G9.G95.

In the north district Miss Mary

Local option with the county as

Voting I the unit is a law. The bill passed

j the house Saturday by the decisive vote of 55 to 45. It is understood that five Democrats voted for the bill and three Republicans voted against it. This information is not final. There was little difficulty in passing the bill. For several days

Jacobs of Floyd Township finished

ahead with 40,605 votes, while Miss there has been little opposition The

Indianapolis Star and some Republican leaders told stories of lo. ac-

Laveta Evans of Roachdale is secon 1

with 34,000.

It was a close race In each district and not until the last votes were counted on Saturday night was there

tivlty, but in fact there wn« little doing in opposition to the hill The news was received here -liort-

any choice between the leaders. Miss | , y bp{ore noorii alld created , it . Runyan, besides getting $25 as the j t j e excltelnf>nt The collet’ ■ I as

award for first in her district a!-" run g and ( b pp 0 pie upon the trects

secured $15 given to ttie young lad> gathered In groups to talk the *c‘ua-

who secured the largest number of '

votes regardless of district and also the $5 given to the candidate who secured the createst number of new subscriptions during the contest. This makes her total award $t5. Miss Roxie Hurst secured $15 as the award for second place in the

tion over. The partisan charartiT of the measure was still in evidence, as was shown by the fact that few asked what the result would 1 0 on t.^nperance, but always w -i : v«uit would be on the politi ■ ' .n. So far as the Democr-'is ’ ilIty are concerned the • tt>-i now-

south district and also $;> given fo | history. The temperance D'-ni- ■ ats the candidate who secured the sec- l were In favor of their own methods ond largest number of votes regard- „f solving the question. They -were less of district. Miss Jacobs receives doubtful of the power of the Rcpub-

$25 the award for first place in the north district and Miss Laveta Evans receives $15 for second place. The

total award is $ 1 05.

The con^e-’t was Indeed a close one and each candidate did nobly. So close was the contest that it

Hcan measure to bring the r<-mlt promised. Now that the rival method has won they cease their opposition, and will join heartily :n attempting to secure results No 1 ne wishes to repeal It. All temperance men hope it will succeed as the He-

wn s not until the last votes were publicans promised. They will not counted that, the contest was divide.1. work against it. They will work SpeclnUv Interesting was the r 1 ce for It. Should the Democrats romembetween i Hurst and Mis- Run- her the Insults heaped upon them by yan in outh district. For the j Republican speakers from "'.-it^on

down, and refuse to aid ■

last two >veeks of tho contest the. young ladies had been right together. Miss Runyan, however, secured more new subscriptions than Miss Hur and secured the 3000 and 5000 certificates given respectively week be-

no chance, But wo ar fnr"c» ' Istory. So con TPcd the and with their .

IS

1

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