Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume], August 04, 1908, Image 1

About Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916

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VOLUME 60
FOREST FIRES
FERN IE, B. C., IS COMPLETELY
WIPED OUT AND FIVE OTHER
TOWN8 ARE PARTIALLY DE­
STROYED BY THE FLAMES.
4/STJ,
PROPERTY LOSS
WILL BE $4,500,000
41**
fijWS, -,o
DNE HUNDRED SQUARE MILES OF
COUNTRY ABLAZE AND RE-
FUGEES ARE STARVING TO
DEATH IN THE VALLEYS.
-W'
Winnipeg, Aug. 3.—The latest
-jestimates of dead in the Elk river
...district by the brush fires which
have been ranging for a month
from Michel to Fernie is one hun
dred and fifty persons. The prop
perty loss is $5,000,000 In Fernie.
Six -thousand persons among that
city's inhabitants are homeless.
The residents have been taken
by trains to places of safety and
are now destitute.
Thousands of dollars have been
sent by western Canadian cities
this morning to the relief of the
.^destitute. Medical supplies are
^greatly needed. Fernie with its
-lumber mills and railway termi
i-nals is wiped out. The fire is still
^•raging around Hosmer and Spar-
Vood but Michel is safe, the wind
dying out at midnight. If a gale
Bprings up that city will be again
in danger soon: Seventy men in
,, .camps of the Elk River company
^"perished.
"*=8* Iowa Lumberman In Camp.
Chicago, Aug. 3 —E. W. Stees,
-v of Caron, B. C., who has exten
Isive interests there and at Fernie
..•"iwis in the city today. He declares
Jjie had received information from
Winnipeg to the effect that 90
lumbermen, employed by the Elk
1,^'Lumber company at Fernie had
Jost their lives.
Stees said that Peter J. Seip
"£pel of Dubuque, Iowa, and H. D.
^Campbell of Stillwater, Minn.,
-Hboth of whom are actively in
terested in the lumber trade, were
"••at Fernie with their families for
"wthe summer and he believes from
Sprinted accounts of the disaster
rShat they must have lost their
~lives. Stees declares the Eastern
^British Lumber company, with
^which he is connected, has lost
«lts. plant and about fifty million
Jffeet of lumber at Fernie.
^Cranbrook, B. C., Aug. 3.—Nine
towns on the Crow's Nest branch of
the Canadian Pacific railroad have
been wiped out. and many others are
In danger of destruction by the fierc
est forest fires ever known in Western
Canada.
One hundred lives are known to
have been lost, hundreds have been
injured and the monetary loss runs in
to the millions.
Both the Canadian Pacific and Great
Northern railroads have been badly
crippled in the territory affected, and
as telegraphic communication is al
most entirely interrupted, it is im
possible at this time to obtain definite
figures as' to loss of life and property.
The fire is raging in the Elk val
ley, the richest coal and lumber dis
trict in British Columbia. It is in,the
extreme southeastern corner of the
province, just north of the Montana
state line.
Jk These Towns Destroyed.
"^The towns known to have been de
stroyed with their populations are:
Fernie, 5,000 Michel, 1,500 Coal
Creek, 1,500 Sparwood, 200 Elko,
400 Olsen, 130 jwlorrissey, 320, Hos
mer, 400 McGillivray, 100.
Cranbrook itself has suffered a
property loss of *2,000,000 and its in
habitants are dividing their efforts be
tween a brave attempt to save their
own town and heroic measures to suc
cor surrounding communities.
One hundred square miles have al
ready been swept by the flames and
it is feared that scores of homestead
ers have met death in the deep woods.
For the past week bush fires have
been raging between Fernie and
Michel, but the inhabitants paid little
attention to them, beyond deploring
the great damage to growing timber.
Yesterday, fanned by a gale from
the northwest the flames swept east
ward and soon it was seen that Fern
ie was doomed.
The residents appelaed to the Can
adian *»u iflc railrcad for help and
special trains were rushed to the
(Continued on page 8.)
HSr —E
officers on 90 Mile Ride.
Chiefs Aug. 3.—Officers of. Fort
SfcerideE above the rank of captain
left the army post ttis morning for
One of "trenuous test ordered by Pres
ident P.ot'sevelt. The program calls
for-a n£nety mile ride which is ex
pected to bs completed by Wednesday
afternowit
THERMOMOTOR REGISTERS A
FRACTION ABOVE 98 DEGREES
AT 2 O'CLOCK—YE8TERDAY AL­
MOST AS HOT.
"Old Sol" bent upon making the
juice ooze out on poor weak mortals
who have nothing to do but work and
sweat and try to live meanwhile, has
pretty nearly accomplished his pur
pose. It is a cinch that if it were pos
sible to call the bet off even the ice
man would be on the quitting side.
The temperature today has reached
the highest point of the year and
while no prostrations have been re
ported the heat has been intense and
the breezes have been warm—even
hot, instead of the balmy kind sought
in the shade of the old tree at the east
side of the house where the hammock
is stretched to snooze the hot day3
away on the day of'r^st.
The mercury yesterday was at 98
degrees at the weather station in the
city hall at 2 p. m., and today in order
to go a little stronger and show that
he was still in the game, the we&ther
man permitted the temperature to
reach a fraction above 98. The tem
perature for August 3, 1907, was 79 at
2 p. m.
Chicago Hot at 93.
Chicago, Aug. 3. In Chicago and
vicinity today the mercury registered
93 degrees. Three deaths and several
prostrations were reported to the po
lice during the forenoon.
SUPREME LODGE
MEETS AT BOSTON
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS AND PYTH
IAN SISTERS OPEN 26TH
CONVENTION TODAY.
Boston, Aug. 3. The twenty-fifth
convention of the supreme lodge and
biennial encampment of the Uniform
Rank, Knights of Pythias, with the
annual convention of the Pythian Sis
ters, formally opened today with the
attendance estimated at from 75,000
to 85,000 delegates and members. The
Pythians will .hold their business ses
sions and parade and enjoy trips and
the city for 6 days, closing next Sun
day with a religious mass meeting.
HUGHES STILL BUSY
Race Track Interests About to Exper
fence One of the Most Severe
Shocks In Their History.
New York, Aug. 3. Race track in
terests are about to experience one
of the most severe shocks in their his
tory if the present plans of Governor
Hughes are carried out, according to
information received here today. Just
what form the proposed action of the
governor will take could not be learn
ed, but it was said that it was some'
thing which will shake Saratoga from
end to end and will take place within
the next days or so.
Thaw to Give Crippled Boys Home
Cresson, Pa., Aug. 3.—Following out
his idea of three years ago, when he
sent a check to the parents of Jimmy
Flaherty, a legless newsboy in Pitts
burg to send him to school for five
years, Harry K. Thaw has asked his
agents at Pittsburg to get prices on a
lot of vacant cottages here for the
purpose of establishing some sort of a
summer colony for poor crippled boys,
as well as orphans. There are., about
ten of the cottages owned by such per
sons as Andrew Carnegia, but which
have not been occupied for the past
seven years.
Member of Wilhelm's Cabinet Dead.
Berlin, Aug. 3.—Dr. Frederick K. H.
Von Lucanus, chief of Emperor Wil
liam's so-called civil cabinet, died to,
day.
..
Summary of the Loss in
British Columbia Fire
Fernie, B. C., Aug. 3.—The following is a summary of the loss of
property in the fire which has raged In East Kototeny since Satur
day:
'. .....
People killed—170. .r
People homeless—6,000.
District swept by fire—From near Cranbrook to within four miles
of Frank, Alberta, a distance of fifty miles.
Towns destroyed—Fernie, Coakcreek, Hosmer.
Partially destroyed—Michel.
Total property loss—Estimated at four and a half million,
Loss in Fernie—Two and a half millions.
Orlgian—A brush fire in the "Slashing" Cedar Valley Lumber
company across the river from Fernie.
Practically every insurance company in Canada interested.
THIS IS THE
HOnEST DAY
OF THE SEASON
^4*
CHICAGO FIRE
BLAZE STARTING FROM EXPLO
SION OF BARREL OF CHEMICALS
SPREADS TO ELEVATORS FILL
ED WITH GRAIN.
Chicago, Aug. 3. Fire starting
from the explosion of a barrel of
chemicals in the Burlington dock
transfer warehouse at Canal and 16th
streets this afternoon destroyed the
warehouse, one hundred box cars and
elevators "E" and "F," owned by the
Burlington company. There were over
half a million bushels of grain owned
by Armour and Co. in the elevators.
Firemen are now fighting to keep the
flames from the Union elevator. It is
estimated the loss will Teach a million
and a half dollars.
At 2:15 the fire is believed to be un
der control.
Big Fire at National Rendering Co
Lansing, 111., Aug. 3.—Fire dtfe to
spontaneous combustion destroyed the
plant of the National Rendering com
pany today, causing a loss of $75,000
James J. McKeag, a night watchman
was burned to death.
IOWA GIRL TO
SING IN OPERA
DAUGHTER OF SECRETARY WIL
SON GAINS FATHER'S.
CONSENT.
Paris, Aug. 3.—The friends of Mips
Flora Wilson—and they include the
entire American colony—are delighted
to hear that the parental bar has
been removed and that the pretty,
dark-haired daughter of the American
secretary of agriculture will appear
next year in grand opera. The proba
bilities are that her first role will be
that of Marguerite in "7"aust."
Miss Wilson has been studying for
three years under Jean de Reszke,
who has said more than once that he
is willing to risk his reputation as a
teacher in the Iowa State college, but
complish on the lyric stage.
Miss Wilson has already sung many
times in concerts in Paris and has
Bhown herself the possessor of a clear
soprano voice of wide range, much
purity and sympathetic quality.
In addition to being a singer Miss
Wilsqn is a linguist, a novelist and a
painter of considerable skill.. When
her father was made secretary of ag
riculture under President McKinley,
she was Btudying to be a school
teacher in the Iowa Statt college, but
when she went to Washington she be
came at once a welcome addition to
the White House circle.
Swift's Manager is Held%
Grinnell, Aug. 3. C. Thorpe, local
manager for Swift & Co., has been
arrested by local authorities and is
now being held here on a charge of
embezzlement. The specific charge
makes note of but $29 and some cents,
but it is probable that several hun
dred dollars of the company's funds
will be involved. Thorpe, it is alleged,
has been going a fast clip here for
several weeks. He is married, and
having lived in this place for several
years has become quite prominently
known among the business men of
Grinnell.
Ames Gets Argentina Students.
Ames, Aug. 3. Jose Perez Men
dosa, ex-minister of education of the
Argentine Republic, S. A., was a vis
itor at the State college Saturday. He
was accompanied by his two sons,
who will enter college in September.
Both of the young gentlemen have fin
ished courses in their own country,
had a year of study each in France
and Germany, besides two and one
half years in England. Two other
young men, natives of Paraguay,
came six weeks ago and are studying
agricultural conditions during the
summer,
J£+«
iM.
•J***.* *{1f
KICKS ON THE
RIVER CHARGE
IOWA STATE RAILWAY BODY FIL­
ED CHARGES AT WASHINGTON
AGAINST ROADS FOS THIRTY
CENT FEE AT DUBUQUE.
Washington Bureau of
The Ottumwa Courier
Washington, D. C., Aug. 3.
The Iowa State Railway commission
has filed a complaint with the inter
state commission against the Illinois
Central, the Dubuque and Dunleith
Bridge Co., the Burlington and A. B.
Stickney, receiver, on account of the
thirty cent charge Imposed for trans
portation of passengers across the
bridge at Dubuque.
It is alleged the roads make this
charge not on passengers carried to
Chicago and beyond but between Du
buque and all points in Illinois to all
points in Iowa. This is alleged to be
discrimination. The railroads com
mission asks that the commission
establish a reasonable rate for serv
ice and stop the alleged discrlmlna
ton. J. C. Welliver.
COUNTERFEITER
ARRESTED HERE?
BILL FAY OF ALBIA SAID TO MAN
UFACTURE NICKELS IN,
JAIL!
Because he is charged with pushing
the queer, William Fay, a former Ot
tumwan but fiowv*
was placed under arrest In this city
yesterday evening about 6:#0 o'clock,
by Night Captain Mat Mier and Officer
Ernest Kaul.
Fay is said to have passed spurious
coins of the five cent denomination.
It is claimed that he gave one of the
women of the under world two
nickels of counterfeit make to pass on
the public and thus get the queer in
circulation. The police department
got wise to the move and the arrest
of Fay followed shortly after. He is
held In the city jail waiting his ap
pearance before the federal tribunal
for counterfeiting.
Chief of Police Peter Gallagher
went to Albia last evening to secure
the counterfeiting apparatus which he
brought to Ottumwa. So far as known
but two counterfeit nickels have been
passed although a thorough search for
more of the bogus coin is being made.
NEGRO FATALLY HURT.
"Peaceful
Henry" Fields Shot by
Hugh Brown
of Clinton—Victim
Had
Half of Head Gone.
Clinton, Aug. 3.—"Peaceful Henry"
Fields, a Missouri negro, was shot
and mortally wounded Saturday by
Hugh Brown, aged 60 years, a Clinton
resident, in a fight at Brown's home.
Brown used a shot gun after Fields
had cut him with a razor. Fields lin
gers in a local hospital, with a re
markable tenacity to life, with half of
his head, one eye, nose, mouth and
part of his skull and brains blown
away.
CHILD DROWNED IN CHURN.
Two-Year-Old Son of S. L. Barr, Web­
ster City, Victim of Childish
Curiosity.: ...
Webster City, Aug. 3.—The little 2
year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. S. L.
Barr, who reside on a farm south of
this city was drowned in a churn re
cently. While playing about the
yard the little fellow found the churn
with several' inches of water in it.
While peering into it, he fell in head
foremost, and could not extricate him
self and there his parents found him
dead some time later.
Destructive Cloudburst at Nevada.
Verdi, Nev., Aug. 3.—A destructive
cloudburst visited this section yester
day afternoon. One life and scores of
livestock were lost. Cabins and a
great quanity of logs were lost.
Social at Columbus August 6.
Columbia.—The Columbia peopio
will give a social at the M. E. church
at this place Thursday evening, Aug.
6, 1908.
Mrs. W. W. Rapp returned home
Wednesday evening, after a three
weeks' pleasure trip, sipht seeing and
visiting In and around Denver, Colo.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Olney, of
Grover. Neb., visited at the Charles
Olney home Sunday.. They left on No.
10 Monday to visit relatives in Ottum
wa and Muscatine.
-Miss Anna Lawson, of Ottumwa, r«
turned missionary, will lecture at
the M. E. church at this place, August
23 and will conduct the Epworth Lea
gue services In the evening on that
fa*te.
QTTUMWA, WAPELLO COUNTY, IOWA, TUESDAY AUGUST 4, 190S TOMBEK
T'!v
Rio Grand arid
Rio Graiid West-
MAN KILLED BY
WABASH FREIGHT
A. HICKS OF LADDSDALE WAS
CRUSHED UNDER WHEELS OF
TRAIN AT BLOOMFIELD.
Bloomfield, August 3.—(Special)—
A. Hicks, a coal miner of Laddsdale,
was almost instantly killed a mile
north of here Saturday evening at
about 5 o'clock, by being run over by
a south bound Wabash freight train.
Mr. Hicks had been in Belknap where
his wife was visiting. He was walk
ing on the Wabash tracks from Bel
knap to Bloomfield to consult a doctor
who had been attending his wife, and
did not see the train approaching
from the rear until it was almost upon
him. He turned just before the train
struck him and made an effort to clear
the track, but too late. One arm and
a leg were severed from the body
and the skull was also badly bruised.
The train was immediately stopped
and the injured man was taken to the
Bloomfield station where he died
shortly after arriving. As his wife Is
in a serious condition she was not
notified for some time of the accident
as it was feared the shock would
prove fatal to her. The remains will be
taken to Laddsdale for interment.
ORANGE UNDERWEAR FOR ARMY.
Hat Linings of Same Hue Will .be
Used to Counteract Effects of
Actinic Ray. V•••%"•••
Washington, D. C., Aug. 3.—Beneath
their dull khaki uniforms, the soldiers
in the Pbilllpines soon will present a
riot of colors. This is due to the gov
ernment's desire to counteract the
heat in the insular possessions.
In an effort to protect thfe men
against the actinic ray, a series of ex
periments will be made in the use of a
wide colpr scheme in the underwear
of the boys in active service.
The first trial will be that of orange
red clothing. Five thousand suits of
underwear of this color soon will be
sent to the far east, accompanied by
the same number of hat linings of the
same hue. Other shades will be tried
if the orange fails in the things
hoped.
Missing Singer Located
Indianapolis, Aug. 3.-r-Graco Van
Styddiford, the operatic soprano, who
was reported mysteriously missing
in New York, is singing at the Fair
banks parkhouse.
l*
'\c| *HV'^ I
provu^UV
£\9\OOS
George Gould is Having a Strenuous
Time With His tiaiiroad Properties
GEORGE J. GOULD.
This photograph was taken in Mr. Gould's office
America and during his recent rail- road troubles.
New York, Aug. 3.—These days
have been strenuous ones for George
J. Gould. The Gould system includes
the following:
Wabash".'...'.... 2,514- 52,000,000
Missouri Pacific
system, (includ
ing Denver &
6,035 100,000,000
Wheeling*'Lake
Erie
Texas & Pacific..
Western Maryl'nd
Pittsburg Term
International &
465' 35,000,000
1,095 50,000,000
280 60,000,000
30 14,000,000.
Gt. Northern...,
10
4
^5,000,000
.J V-—-—•—*——
Totals 37,081 $1,683,540,000
Of these four are already in the
hands of a receiver. This Is due to
an unprecedented series of circum
stances which have placed the Gould
Bystem in financial straits. The West
ern Maryland was the first of the lines
to go into the hands of a receiver,
due, it is said, to the restrictions of
the commodity clause of the Hepburn
since his return to
act, which makes It unlawful for
railroad to own coal mines and trans
port its own products. As the West
ern Maryland's principal tonnage was
derived from its coal properties the
uncertainty as to its future terminat
ed in the receivership. Soon after, the
Wabash-Pittsburg terminal railway
met a similar fate, when the steel
mines of Pittsburg closed down and
thereby decreasing its earnings 7Er per
cent.
The failure of the International and
Great Northern road is explained by
its owners as due to the fact that the
Texas railway commission ordered the
company to make betterments amount
ing to between $3,000,000 and $4,000,
000 at a time when the earnings were
being lessened by $300,000 or $400,000
a month.
The other roads of the system, ex
cept the Wabash, have been in a more
or less bad financial condition for
some time. The Missouri-Pacific, it is
said, is in such bad physical shape
that railroad experts have stated that
the entire system should be rebuilt
from end to end.
SPEECH CONTAINS
BUT 5,300 WORDS
ACCEPTANCE OF
W.
J. BRYAN
SHORT ONE—NO IMPORTANT
.VISITORS TODAY.
Fairview, Lincoln, Aug. 3.—Contrary
to expectations the speech of accept
ance of William J. Bryan will be a
short one. He stated today by actual
count it contained 5,300 words. While
the issues of the campaign will be
discussed it is understood that they
will not be gone into at any great
length, his views being reserved for
more elaborate. treatment in several
speeches elntends making. It was
not anticipated that any important
visitors would come out to Fairview
today.
134 Bigamists In Des Moines?
Des Moines, Aug. 3.—One hundred
and thirty-four men "and women who
have their residences in Des Moines
may be bigamists.
This number of persons went
through the formality of procuring di
vorces here, but because of negligence
or lack of payment of attorney's fees
and court costs their decrees have
never been filed. Term after term the
cases remained on the calendar. The
judges announced they would demand
the filing of decrees in all cases set
tled. No decrees were filed, and the
cases involving these people were dis
missed. Under the law the signing of
the decree by the judge does not com
plete the record. It must be filed and
recorded in the journal with the costs
paid. It has been a custom in the past
for lawyers to hold up the decrees un
til they have received their fees,
clients in many cases believe they are
divorced and think they are only beat
ing the attorney out of his fees. Others
may pay the lawyers and the lack of
filing be neglected on the part of the
attorneys.
Since their hearing in equity court
and lftboring under the delusion that
they are separated, many of the per
sons have remarried.
Utes Try to Stir Navajos.
Denver, Colo., Aug. 3. Gen. Earl
D. Thomas, commanding the depart
ment of the Colorado, has been in
structed to dispatch immediately six
troops of cavalry to the Navajo reser
vation. The order came from the war
department yesterday and is Induced
by the fear that the 'renegade Utes
will induce the Navajos to rebel.
M-
TOOK A SIMILAR JUMP.
:2%
IN CORN BELT
CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADQ
HEARS WILD REPORTS OF DAM­
AGE TO WHEAT FROM "BLACK
RUST" AND GETS EXCITED.
CROP BURNING UP
A DISPATCH SAYS
WHEAT ADVANCED NEARLY
THREE CENTS A BUSHEL BE­
CAUSE OF REPORTS AND CORN
Chicago, Aug. 3. The scorching
hot weather throughout the corn belt
and the Dakotas and Minnesota
threw the board of trade into wild ex'
cltement today and sent the price of
wheat and corn soaring skyward. The
former advanced nearly three cents a
bushel and the latter showed almost
an equally sharp bulge.
Black Rust Scare Responsible.
Bullish sentiment in wheat, which
had been developing recently as a re
sult of "black rust" reports from the
northwest, broke out with intense
vigor today upon receipt of a dispatch
from Minneapolis which claimed
"black rust" is worse than In 1904 and)
that the crop is simply "burning up
with the heat."
Illinois Corn Burning.
The advance in corn waa helped
along by a dispatch which stated that
the corn crop in central Illinois has
begun to "fire," owing to the exces
sively high temperature.
At one time May wheat sold at
$1.01% and December touched 97 &
and September 9,4%.
May corn mounted to 65 1-8, De
cember to 65%, September to 76 5-8.
Oats #ere bullishly affected by the
Budden rise of wheat and corn.
CALL ME BILL"
SAYS MR. TAFT
THEN CANDIDATE TELLS COR
RESPONDENTS HOW HE^.
DROPPED THE "WILLIE."
Hot Springs, Va., Aug. 3.—"Just call
me Mr. Taft, and If you drop into collo- is
qulallsm call me Bill."
This was W. H. Taft's laughing re
ply yesterday when granting an audi
ence to a number of newspaper men
who had severally addressed him as
"Mr. Secretary." "Governor," "Judge,"
and "Mr. Taft."
"I first got the name Bill at Yale,'
continued Mr. Taft replying to a ques
tlon.
"Before I went there I had been "s
Willie in my home and among my
Cincinnati boyhood friends. But when t--:
I got through school I was called Will
at home. My younger brother, Harry, a
however, called me Willie, after a 'A
happening one day at college. Wo
roomed together on the top floor of
Framm hall and our room was just
over the middle entrance. Harry was
a freshman, I was a junior. He had
gone out and forgotten to take with
him a book he wanted. He came back
to the entrance and looking up on the
outside yelled Willie. In a second
there was a head out of every one of
the windows and seemed as though
"every one yelled at once. At any
rate there was one longer chorus of
O. Willie. That cured Harry. Ha
has called me Bill ever since.
Called Him "Bill."
"How about the 400 students?"
"Oh, they called me 'Bill' Just tha
same. You see I weighed 200 Chen."
HER DEATH SUDDEN
Mrs. Benjamin Rigsby of Van Buren
,County Passes Away at Home
Near Bentonsport.
Keosauqua, Aug. 3.—(Special)—-The
sudden death of Mrs. Benjamin Rigs
by, occurred Sunday morning at 2
o'clock at the home of her daughter
near Bentonsport. She was in ap
parently good health Saturday even
ing- but was taken sick only a few
minutes before death came to her.'
Mrs. Rigsby was near 70 years of age
and a widow. She leaves one daugh
ter, Mamie Rigsby and one son
Edward, besides other relatives to
mourn for her.
More Paper Mills Shut Down.
Watertown, N. Y., Aug. 3.—Four
mills of the International Paper com
pany in Watertown division are shut
down and 400 paper makers are out
of work for the time being.
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