Iowa Old Press
Iowa Recorder
Greene, Butler, Iowa
March 18, 1908
STATE NEWS IN BRIEF
-A.M. Ledvina is appointed postmaster at Weing, vice J.O.
Roberts, resigned.
- Prof. E.O. Kerr of Troy, Ohio, has been elected president of
Palmer college of LeGrande.
-Neil P. Madison is appointed rural carrier and Clarence Decrest
substitute at West Branch.
-A petition is being circulated with a view to incorporating the
town of Popejoy. It is being freely signed. The proposed plat
will be two miles square.
-News has been received of the death of Rev. R.W. Purdue,
formerly pastor of the Cherokee and LeMars Congregational
churches. Death occurred at Anna, Illinois.
- Mrs. Sarah Kelly passed away at her home in Farmington, after a
few days' sickness. She was 95 years of age and is thought to
have been the oldest person in Van Buren county.
- Her clothing in flames, ignited from a match on which she
stepped, Mrs. Earl Needham was terribly burned in the home of her
mother-in-law, Mrs. Joseph Needham, in Des Moines.
-George W. Porter, a telegrapher, charged with victimizing many
railroads for passes, was arrested by a special agent of the Rock
Island road, and is now confined in the Polk county jail.
-The blowing over of a straw pile resulted in the loss to C.B.
Smith, near Archer, of nine head of cattle. Six high grade milch
cows and three yearlings were killed by the blowing over of the
pile.
- Mrs. J.B. Woltz of Grand Junction has received shocking news to
the effect that her sister, Mrs. Bowers of Hagerstown, Md., had
been brutally murdered by her own brother, who suddenly became
insane.
-David Moyer, 89 years of age, joined the Grace Reformed church
at Conesville, having been converted at a revival held in the
town recently. He is believed to be the oldest person ever
received into church membership in Iowa.
- Edith Hepburn, young daughter of Captain Hepburn and
granddaughter of Representative Hepburn of Iowa has been
designated by the Navy department to christen the new derelict
destroyer, which will be launched at Norfolk March 18.
-Senator Allison has designated Herbert L. Stokely of Dubuque as
cadet at Annapolis, Sabert Hamilton of Fort Madison as first
alternate, J.R. Morford of Humeston as second alternate, Stuart L
Swinney of Ottumwa as third alternate.
- At a meeting of the congregation of Trinity Lutheran church,
Burlington, Rev. J.A. McCulloch tendered his resignation as
pastor of this flourishing church, assigning ill health as the
reason for desiring to be relieved from active duty.
-J.H. Whetstone, a prominent druggist of Iowa City, is being
tried in the police court for selling liquor to a 14-year-old
boy. His defense is that the lad claimed he was buying the whisky
for his mother, whom he believed to be of a well-known family.
-Mrs. James Carlisle of Sidney broke her arm in a singular manner
while taking part in the Homesteaders' lodge. Her foot caught in
some threads in the floor matting, and she fell with such force
as to break a bone in her right arm and also fractured her wrist.
-The will of the late John Burns of Fort Dodge, just filed for
probate, reveals a bequest of $5,000 as a contribution to the new
Sacred Heart church, of which the deceased was a devout member.
Burns was one of Webster county's hardy pioneers who acquired a
comfortable fortune.
- Frank Chaney of Mason City was claimed by death suddenly by an
attack of heart failure. Mr. Chaney had just completed his
evening meal at 6 o'clock. and arose from the table to go into
the store in the fore part of the building, when the end came
without any warning.
Burglars Make Fruitless Raid.
Some time the other night W.T. White's general store at
Pocahontas was broken into. It was entered through the furnace
door, a window being broken, and the bolts withdrawn. The thieves
pried the fastening between that room and the main cellar, and
from there passed through the trap door into the store. They were
evidently scared away as nothing seems to be disturbed, and not
even the small change in the money drawer, which was open, is
missing.
Woman Robs Rum Imp
Unable to reform her hard drinking husband of milder methods,
Mrs. Ivan Oldgrey of Gowrie sewed him between two bed blankets
and then horsewhipped him until he was not only perfectly sober,
but willing to sign a total abstinence pledge. Mrs. Oldgrey says
that if her remedy proves effectual she will get it patented and
run in opposition to the gold cure establishments.
Defective Boy and Mother Held.
The coroner's inquest which was held at Creston returned a
verdict that Nathan Z. Taylor came to his death by two bullet
shots in the back of his head, fired by his stepson, Bert
Henderliter, who confessed the crime. Mrs. Belle Taylor was also
found to be an accomplice to the crime. Henderliter is mentally
deficient, but the crime was perpetrated after deliberate
premeditation.
Boy in Sad Plight
A 16-year-old boy by the name of T. W. Gilbertson showed up in
Algona recently with both ears frozen, one of them being entirely
gone. He had been "bumming" his way on freight trains
and was picked up by the sheriff at Mankato, who bought him a
ticket to Algona. Sheriff Lillie kept the boy for two days and
then bought him a ticket for Des Moines, where his folks are
supposed to live.
Inhumanity to Lad by Foster Parents Stirs Guthrie Center
People
Mr. and Mrs. J. Hanson of Grand township were found guilty of
cruelty to a small lad and fined $10 each in court in Guthrie
Center. The 11-year-old adopted son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Hanson,
who live southwest of town, was found hidden in a straw stack by
Robert Crabb, a neighboring farmer. The boy had run away from
home and when found by Mr. Crabb was in a serious condition, his
face all covered with scars, ear injured and hand cut. Mr. Crabb
brought the boy into town and turned him over to the county
authorities. The boy disclosed a tale of almost inconcievable
brutality, and feeling has run quite high in Guthrie Center, and
the community where the boy lived. He stated that his foster
parents had repeatedly flogged him; that recently Mrs. Hanson
sent him out to clean the stable and he not doing this to her
satisfaction, she took a club, beat him severely, knocked him
down, and then kicked him repeatedly on the head. In regard to
the cut on the boy's head, he claims Mrs. Hanson struck him with
a butcher knife. Warrants were sworn out for the arrest of Mr.
and Mrs. Hanson. They were brought to town and the trial was held
before Justice Morraine. Both parents pleaded guilty and were
fined $50 and costs.
Hard Luck Tales.
Henry Kahen, 38 years old, committed suicide in Sioux City, Iowa,
by drinking a glass of beer into which he had poured an ounce of
carbolic acid. Death resulted in less than an hour. Kahen is
believed to have been mentally deranged from brooding over
domestic troubles.
[transcribed by C.J.L.; Sept. 2004]