Iowa
Old Press
New Era
Humeston, Wayne co., Iowa
March 9, 1898
THE NEWS IN IOWA
- Miss Mattie Mumford, of Cedar Rapids, attempted to commit
suicide by taking a large quantity of morphine. She will probably
recover. No cause known.
- Harry Lathrop, of Cedar Rapids, while cleaning a revolver
accidentally discharged it, the ball striking his mother in the
thigh. The wound is painful but not dangerous.
- Charles Gerber, a refined and educated German gentleman, is in
jail at Council Bluffs charged with obtaining money on worthless
drafts. He has, it is alleged, secured cash in small amounts from
many tradesmen in several western towns. He says his home is in
Brooklyn, N.Y., and that he is connected with the firm of Gerber
& Co. Gerber is 62 years old.
- A relative of Frank Novak, of Walford, who was sentenced to
Anamosa for murder and arson, has been faithfully attempting to
get bail, but in vain. Novak must inhabit a cell until the
October court passes upon the motion for a new trial. The
prisoner has lost all hope and may not be able to stand the
strain of procrastination in the courts.
- While in school at Chariton a few days ago, Miss Lulu Welch met
with a painful and serious accident. She and another pupil were
at the board doing sums and Lulu had a pencil in her mouth.
Somehow her companion struck her and the pencil ran through her
mouth, coming out right under the left ear. The wound is painful,
but the doctors say if lock jaw does not set in she will get
along all right, though they are doubtful and it may cause her
death.
- A fearful accident, which may prove fatal, occurred at Dayton.
The pretty 4-year-old daughter of Judson LeValley was playing in
the yard, where her uncle, Will LeValley, was splitting wood,
when through some unaccountable accident she fell in the way and
was severely injured. The axe cut a long gash in the side of the
head and fractured the skull. The young man is a deaf mute, and
has poor eye-sight. The chances for the child's recovery are very
meager.
- A.N. Hull, one of the prominent citizens of Selma, near
Ottumwa, and one of southern Iowa's wealthiest men, met a
horrible death in the flouring mill which he owned. His coat
accidentally caught on the main shaft of the fly wheel, and he
was whirled around at a frightful pace. All his ribs were broken,
both legs were fractured in two or three places, his back and
neck were broken, and his right arm was torn off at the shoulder.
He held large property interests. He was 75 years old.
- At Oelwein a few days ago Joe Barnes, a 13-year-old boy, became
angry at a domestic named Stella Hartford in his mother's employ,
and, grabbing up a sharp quarter-inch chisel, he made an assault
on her, driving the chisel with all his strength. The blow struck
the girl just below the collar bone in the right side, and,
passing between the collar bone and the first rib, was driven in
the depth of four or five inches, penetrating the walls of the
chest, severing a branch of the auxiliary artery, from which she
bled until she became unconscious. The right lung was punctured.
She is in a very critical condition.
- The dead body of a woman was found at the edge of the river,
about six miles south of Red Oak. A young man walking along the
south branch railroad track found a bundle of woman's clothing
near the track, and this led to the discovery of the corpse. The
body was at the foot of a steep bank about six feet high and was
in a reclining position, with one foot on the ice. Tracks made by
a man led to the body and showed that the man had walked backward
from it. About half a mile nearer Red Oak, by the side of the
railroad track, another bundle of the woman's clothing was found.
The woman was recognized as having been seen at the depot at Red
Oak on the 28th, and it was afterwards learned that she was Mrs.
Clara N. Gray, daughter of E.A. Kelley, of Farragut.
- The Mahaska county grand jury has caused a great sensation by
bringing in twenty-one indictments and they are still at work
under the direction of George Seevers, who was appointed as
county attorney, vice James Carroll. A number of saloon keepers
are indicted for selling contrary to law and some of the most
prominent druggists of Oskaloosa indicted for violating the
liquor law. Considerable feeling exists and trouble is
anticipated. The indictments thus far made public are: Jim and
Bill Jackson and Dave Yancey, murderous assault; Edward Sliter,
on two accounts, rape and incest; Joe Van Vliet, assault with
intent to do great bodily injury; H.M. Van Vliet, Ned O'Brien,
Chas. Deadel, J.H. Pickett, C.C. Pike and Elrick Drug Co. for
nuisances; Solomon Smith, manslaughter.
[transcribed by C.J.L., March 2007]
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New Era
Humeston, Wayne co., Iowa
March 16, 1898
THE NEWS IN IOWA
FOUND TO BE LEPROSY
Dr. Kennedy Says the Case at Graettinger is Well Defined.
Des Moines, March 10 - Dr. Kennedy, of the state board of health,
found a well defined case of leprosy at Graettinger, Palo Alto
county. The disease has reached an advanced stage and the patient
cannot live more than a year or eighteen months at the farthest.
The leprosy patient is a young lady named Carrie Peterson. Her
mother had been afflicted with the disease for two years when
Carrie was born, and later died of it in a hospital in the old
country. Although there are several other children in the family
of which the patient is a member, all are rosy-cheeked, smooth
skinned and absolutely without any indication of even a taint of
leprosy.
Found Murdered in His House.
SIGOURNEY, March 11 - George Fhulzberer, who lived near Keota,
was found murdered, having been pounded on the head with some
blunt instrument. The house was almost turned inside out, the
murders evidently being in search of money. As the old man lived
alone and was reported wealthy, there seems to
be no other explanation. The body was found in a corner of the
room, covered with a blanket. No clew to the murderers has been
obtained.
Child's Strange Death.
DES MOINES, March 12 - Joseph D., the 5-weeks-old child of Mr.
and Mrs. Wm. McElvogue, met with a strange death. The infant's
body, cold and rigid, was found in bed by the mother a short time
after she herself arose. The exact cause of death has not been
fully explained.
Beaten to Death
DUBUQUE, March 12 - During a fight between John Earle and his
step-son, Charles Redmond, aged 15, and Wm. Redmond, aged 19, the
old man was so terribly beaten that he died. The boys escaped.
Special Election Ordered.
DES MOINES, March 12 - Governor Shaw has issued a proclamation
for a special election to be held in Marion county on March 25
for the purpose of electing a representative, the office having
been made vacant by the death of the late Hon. H.M. McCully.
Smallpox Patient Tries to Escape.
BURLINGTON, March 9 - Dr. H.C. Taylor, the smallpox patient who
claims to have contracted the disease at the Cook County Hospital
at Chicago, made a desperate attempt to escape from the pesthouse
here. With the wire of his spectacles he picked the lock on his
shackles and then struck down Nurse Howard with a blow in the
face. Howard in falling managed to trip Taylor and held him until
the guard came to his assistance. Farmers in the vicinity have
twice attacked the pesthouse but were driven off by the guard.
IOWA CONDENSED.
-Harry Hamilton, a man 25 years old, who has been roaming around
the country, was instantly killed at Mt. Vernon. He was
attempting to board a Northwestern freight train, and was struck
by the limited, which was going in the opposite direction. His
neck was broken. He leaves a mother, Mrs. O.B. Hicks, living at
Portsmouth, O.
-Charles Gerber, a refined and educated German, is in jail at
Council Bluffs for obtaining money on worthless drafts. He has
secured cash in small amounts from many tradesmen in several
western Iowa towns. At the city jail he broke down. He said
between sobs that he was 62 years old, his home address is 314
Fulton street Brooklyn, N.Y., that he is connected with the firm
of Gerber & Co. of that city and his sons are well to do.
-Nick Nelson, colored, a few nights ago shot and instantly killed
Harry Brooks, also colored, at Fishville, a mining camp seven
miles northwest of Oskaloosa. The trouble occurred at a dance,
about midnight. Nelson was caught by some of Brooks friends and
disarmed but got away and was afterwards caught in a corn field
near Leighton. The sheriff had hard work to keep a crowd from
killing him. Nelson served two years in the
penitentiary for shooting at H.M. Crouse, conductor on the Rock
Island road. He is a hard citizen, and said to a reporter this
would mean a life job.
[transcribed by C.A., Sept. 2005]