The Thibodaux sentinel., March 13, 1909, Image 1

About The Thibodaux sentinel. (Thibodaux, La.) 1905-1912

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*
Official Journal ofthe Parish of Lafourche Guardian of tho Interest of the Town.
VOL XII
THIBODAUX, LA..pATüR DAY. MARCHS, 1 909.'
NO. 22
WRECKERS WITH CR0SSÏIE
Causes Derailment of Train
Near Irene.
[HE EHCISEE R IS S LIGHTLY HURI
Baton RowgfCitizens Greatly Inter
ested in Natural Gas Project.
' Peculiar Sinking of Ground
Near Abbeville.
Some one placed a crosstlle on
the rails of the Louisiana Railway
ind Navagation Company near Irene
to the upper portion of this parish,
ind derailed the engine, tender and
cars, and slightly Injured En
eans, who was placed in the sani
tarium at Baton Rouge for medical
attention. The wreck was cleared
in time not to interrupt traffic
ind officers from the local
sheriff's office and for the railroad
company are making a strict inves
tigation of the matter and hope to
trace the agency that led up to the
wreck. A reward of $50 is offered
by the railroad company for the ar
rest of the perpetrators of the deed.
Interested in Natural Gas Project.
The advent of the oil and natural
gas pipe line from the Caddo oil
field, as projected, is interpreted by
the best authorities here as being
the beginning of an era of construc
tion for manufacturing enterprises
!n Baton Rouge. With the large
river and rail transporation fracill
lies at hand and the wealth of raw
material within easy reach of the
city on every hand, it is the firm
opinion of the best posted authori
ties, local and foreign, that the city
will begin to move In the direction
of being a large manufacturing cen
ter. The culmination of the project
to pipe oil and gas through this city
to New Orleans Is watched with as
much interest here as It Is at New
Orleans.
Peculiar Sinking of Gronnd.
Earthquakes are unknown in Louis
tana, but the unaccountable sinking
of the ground on the farm of Fran
cois Polombo, about two miles north
of Abbeville, suggests such phenome
non. For a distance of about one
hundred and fifty feet the earth is
cracked open with a distinct depres
lon on one side of the fissure. A
ubbling spring and escaping gas on
couple of hundred yards dis
förftteft somé clew to the
cause of this unusual disturbance of
the earth's surface. The occurrence
has exicited considerable curiosity in
the community, and attracted large
crowds of sightseers.
Canning Factory Attracting Attention
The fact that the canning factory
at Baton Rouge is in process of erec
tion and is promised to be in opera
tion in the next few months has at
tracted considerable atention in this
Eection, and has been greatly in
strumental in promoting attention to
truck growing on the part of the
planters of this section. As soon as
(he officers are elected the manage
ment will begin energetic work in
the direction of assuring for the
plant an adequate supply of truck
and native wild fruit and berries to
keep the plant in operation.
Smallpox in Winn Parish.
The Parish Board of Health of
Winn held a protracted meeting and
adopted strenuous resolutions to com
bat. t.he smallpox in Winn parish.
Among the measures are perfect iso
lation. Teachers and public school
pupils are required to be vaccinated
and no child allowed to attend
school who does not present certifi
cate of vaccination. A pesthouse for
whites is now being erected here.
The most perfect confidence is felt
In the plans for successfully controll
ing and eradicating t.he disease in
this parish.
School Principal and a Patron Mix-up
Considerable excitement was cre
ated in front of the Parish High
School at Monroe by a personal en
counter between Prof. T. O. Brown,
the principal and L. T. Woodward,
I a patron. The trouble arose over
Woodward's son. Neither of the com
batants was seriously injured, al
though a doctor was called in to see
Mr. Woodward, who is alleged to
have been cut with a penknife by
Mr. Brown.
Water Admitted to New Locks.
The levee between the Palquemine
locks and the bayou was cut by the
engineers and the lock will be fill
ed after which the levee to the river
will be opened, admitting the river.
This event marks the beginning of
the end of the work on this lock
that, through delays for various rea
sons, has required nearly twenty
years to complete.
Alleged Embezzler Returned.
Sheriff Jack Parker of Monroe has
returned from Memphis with J. E.
Johnson, who was arrested on a war
rant issued here charging embezzle
ment.
Negro Arrested for Murder.
In response to a telegram from
Sheriff Marrero, of Jefferson parish.
Chief of Police David Yohaffey of
Jennings arrested Jesse Clark, a ne
uro, whi is wanted for the murder of
a section boss near New Orleans
nearly three years ago. Clark has
been a resident of Jennings most of
the time since the crime was com
mitted, but had not been located.
He was placed in the city jail, wait
a
is
tag the arrival of Sheriff Marrero. [eve
I STATE BOARD OP EDUCATION.
Against Practice of Parish Superin
tendents, Acting as Principal
While a majority of the members
of the State Board of Education are
in principle against the practice of
the Parish Superintendent acting as
the principal of a high school, it
now develops that It not by any
means is a settled fact that the State
Board when 1 meets on March 17 will
take action along these lines. The
probabilities are that the State
Board of Education will decide that
it has not the legal right to require
a Parish Superintendent to give up
the principality cf a school. Some
of the members of the Board are
known to'take the position that the
Board has no right in, law to.
shall divide his time; that is a mat
ter for the Parish Board to say. The
authority of the State Board of Edu
cation is confined to the qualifica
tions of the Superintendent, and to
determine whether or not he is quali
fied to hold the position. This
question Is coming up for decision
from Ouachita Parish, where charges
were made against Superintendent
Brown that he was acting as the Par
ish Superintendent and the principal
of the high school. There are
about seven Superintendents in the
State who do not give all of their
time to their office of Superinten
dent.
Smallpox Prevalent.
Smallpox Is prevalent In wards
one, three and seven of Caldwell
parish, but up to this writing there
has been no fatalities. All of the lo
calities affected are in the rural dis
tricts, and the disease is confined
mainly to negroes. Steps are being
taken by the parish health authori
ties to isolate the patients, and it is
believed that no further spread of
the malady will occur.
Workmen Must Live in Bogalnsa.
The men employed at the New
Orleans Great Northern shop at
Florenville, have been notified that
the train carrying the workmen
from Mandeville to Florenville will
be abolished, and the men will be
oblige to make Bogalusa their head
quarters. Many of these families own
homes, and it is a hard blow to
them, as it is also to many others
who reside here.
Organize Law and Order League.
The citizens of Ponchatoula, da
ploring the many atrocities committ
ed in the parish of Tangipahoa re
cently, have issued a call for a mass
meeting to organize a law and order
league for the purpose of assisting
the authorities in the punishment
and detection of crime and to affil
'iate with the parif.h league, which
has been organized at Amite City.
Potato Acreage Increased.
The week has been an ideal one
for farmers around Bayou Chicot
and much farm work has been done
during the last few days. A great
deal of corn has been planted, be
sides garden seeds of all descrip
tions. The Irish potatoes are com
ing up nicely and the crcp in this sec
tion will be three or four hundred
per cent larger than last year.
No Clew To Murderer.
The officers of Opelousas are still
without a clew to the identity of the
murderer of the negro girl Victoria
Eaglan, who was found dead on the
track of the Southern Pacific Rail
road about two miles south of thip
city. Though one negro has been ar
rested and is held on suspicion
there seems to be little or no evi
dence that he committed the crime
Farmers Make Good Headway.
The farmers of the Plaucheville
section have made very good head
way in their fields, owing to the fine
weather that has prevailed here for
t.he past few days. Most farmers
have about finished planting their
corn, and the preparation of the soil
for t.he next cotton crop will soon
be under way.
Push Work on Mill.
Progress on the tap road of the
Avoyelles Cypress Company, Ltd., at
Cottonport is rapid, and the laying
of crossties and rails will soon he
under way. Material to work on the
big mill proper has arrived and ft is
understood that work on the big
plant will not be deferred much
longer.
Father and Son Escape.
Joe Frank Dubois and Walter Du
bois, father and son, who were pris
oners in the pariah Jail at Crowley,
under charge of carrying concealed
weapons, have escaped. The elder
was a member of the road gang em
ployed building roads for the parish,
and the younger had been paroled.
Miss Fannie Nelkin, of Natchito
ches recovered a lot of valuable jew
elry which she lost two years ago
while going from the Texas and Pa
cific depot to her home. The jew
elry was found in the possession of
a negro woman who had found the
bag and appropriated its contents.
Rally at Grand Prairie.
The advocates of the parish divi
sion movement opened their camp
aign for the creation of the new par
ish of Evangeline at Grand Prairie
Sunday. A number of local advoca
tes of the government were present
and delivered addresses favorable to
the cause. The election to take the
sense of the voters on the question
is five weeks off, but both the pros
and antis are hard at work, and will
continue active in the field until the
[eve of the election,
HEWS NOTES FROH WASHINGTON
Happenings of the Weak Briefly
Told—The Latest News
From the Capital •
The House passed the Appalachian
bill.
Congress passed a bill revising the
copyright laws.
The general deficiency bill waa
passed by the Senate.
Fred W. Carpenter was appointed
Secretary to the President. « *
All of the members of President
Roosevelt's Cabinet resigned.
The house, by a vote
to
. «P «
official residence at the White House.
Ben S. Moore, of Monroe, La., sent
President Taft a unique walking cane.
Southern senators began a filibus
ter in the Senate against the penal
code bill.
A movement has been started to
change the date of the inauguration
to May 1.
Roosevelt is puzzled over the pro
blem of how to dispose of his stock
of 800 "big sticks."
The War Department will send a
snagboat to Cane River, La., to re
move obstructions.
The cadets of the Virginia Mili
t ary Institute were presented with a
silk flag at Washington.
James Richardson Stevens, of Ala
bama, was appointed National Bank
Examiner at New Orleans.
Senator H. D. Money, of Missis
sippi, delivered a notable speech in
the Senate on the race question.
President Taft sent the nomina
tions of his Cabinet to the Senate
and they were promptly confirmed.
The American cruisers Pennsyl
vania and California are investigat
Ing the trouble in Central American.
Wyron T. Herrick, of Ohio, for
business reasons, declined an ambas
sadorship at the hands of President
Elect Taft.
The Government engineers are puz
zled over the question of how to re
store Jefferson Davis names to Cabin
John Bridge,
Ex-President Roosevelt before he
retired issued an order closing the
Naval Stations at New Orleans and
Pensacola, Fla
Everybody at Washington is happy
over the resignation of D. W. Crum,
the negro Collector of Customs, at
Charleston, S. C.
The conferees on the agricultural
appropriation bill agreed to an ap
propriation of $225,000 to fight the
cotton boll weevil.
The new tariff bill has been tenta
tively completed by the Republican
members of the House Ways and
Means Committee.
William Loeb, Jr., who was Sec
retary to the President under Roose
velt, was appointed Collector of Cus
toms at the port of New York.
The Louisiana delegation In Con
gress called on President Taft and
ask him to revoke the crder closing
the New Orleans Naval Station.
By a vote 47 to 35 the Senate re
fused to put a statehood rider on
the House resolution looking to the
prevention of discrimination against
American Jews traveling in Russia.
There is a rumor floating around
Washington that the Supreme Court
has given an intimation that it will
sustain the validity of an income
tax if a case again brought before
that tribunal.
Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry,
made formal application to be reliev
ed from duty as Commander-in-Chief
of the Atlantic battleship fleet, and
Rear Admirial Seaton Schroder, has
been appointed in his place.
The Senate Committee on Judiciary
voted to report a disagreement on
the resolution providing for an in
vestigation of the absorption of the
Tennesee Iron and Coal Company by
the United States Steel Corporation.
The Democratic members of the
Senate conducted a successful fili
buster against the reconstruction
provisions in the penal code bill Af
ter the objectionable sections had.
beep stricken out the bill was pass
ed.
Speaker Cannon, of the'House of
Representatives, declared him
self in favor of changing the date
of the presidential inauguration from
March, 4 to May 1, and aided that
as one Representative in Congress
he would lend his aid in any effort
to bring this about.
"I witnessed the dreadful weather
conditions that prevailed in 1872,
when four or five hundred people
caught their deaths," he said. "I
recall the Harrison inauguration,
with the soaking, chilling rain
storms, and the snow and icy gale
that made life miserable at Cleve
land's second inauguration. If the
change of date is made it might as
well be fixed later than April, for
even an April rain would cause great
discomfort and mveh sickness, and
I should think that May 1 would pro
mise more certainty for fair weather.
The final act. though unofficial in
so far as the House was concerned
tcok place in the Senate chamber,
where both houses witnessed the in
coming of the new administration.
It was reported that Oscar Strauss
had been offered the ambassadorship
to Japan.
The Senate was more critical in
confirming Mr. Taft's cabinet than
ever before.
It was stated that the records of
the Federal land office might be tur
ned over to the State of Louisiana.
WIRE FLASHES
The Pope is recov
illness.
The Coiima Vole
in violent eruption. .
The storm damaa
Md., is nearly $1,001
Ten persons perishj
house fire in New
Railway traffic
been paralyzed by
The Winn Parish:
tided $1,000 to
-Convicts in
be worked/on
ig from his
Mexico, is
Baltimore,
> a tenement
fermany has
ird.
Jury pro
llpox.
wish will
roads,
'made at
his preliminary examination at St.
Martinville.
Two attempts were made to wreck
Louisville and Nashville trains near
Montgomery.
Three young lady school teachers
were injured in a runaway accident
at West Point.
Dan Maybe was indicted at Jack
son, Miss., on the charge of murder
ing Sam Reber.
Attorneys for W. A. Sorsby, at
Jackson, < Miss., will not ask for a
change of venue.
The Dawes interests brought in a
gas well at Vivian, La., with 50,000,
000 feet daily capacity.
The Guatemalan Government has
ordered the teaching of English in
the schools of that country.
Mrs. Hattle Pope is under arrest
at Montevallo, Ala., charged with
the murder of her aged mother.
T.he plant of the Tan Mile Lumber
Company, Ten Miles, Miss., was de
stroyed by fire. Loss $75,000
Ex-President Roosevelt announced
for the first time that he would sail
from New York for Africa on March
23 at noop.
The grand Jury st Memphis re
fused to indict O. N. Wisner, former
President of the Lancashire Com
press Company
Police Captain W. H. Mathews, of
the Fifth Precinct, at Washington,
D. C., was shot and killed by Pa
trolman Collier.
Fannie Rice was married at Colo
rado Springs to P. W. Ryder, a Bos
ton traveling man, and will retire
from the stage. .
The Servian Go»^ment has mod
ified its demandi oft^Austrla, and an
early settlement of the Balkans dis
pute seems probable.
Mrs. J. H. Reynolds, Matron at
the Escambia County (Fla.) Poor
Farm, died from excitement over fire
at the institution,
The village of Masran, Asiatic
Turkey, has been destroyed by an
earthquake. One hundred and fifty
people were buried in the ruins.
It is learned that leases were se
cured a year ago on land in West
Baton Rouge and Pointe Coupee Par
ishes to operate an oil and gas pipe
line.
The death of Hon. S. N. Sample
creates a second vacancy in Missis
sippi senatorial ranks, Hon. Sam
Whitman having been elevated to a
chancellorship.
Every lawyer, physician and den
tist in Louisiana will have to pay
a privilege license this year, and
the returns will more than offset the
expenses of the State Auditing De
partment.
Mrs. Baker Sively, Jr., of Jackson,
Miss., who recently secured a verdict
for $30,000 against her mother-in
law at Newton for alleged alienation
of her husband's affections, eloped
with her husband.
Joseph B. Keallng, United States
District Attorney at Indianapolis,
Ind., refused to prosecute Delevan
Smith and Charles R. Williams, who
were indicted in connection with the
Panama" libel case, and resigned
from his office.
The peonage cases involving offi
cers and employes of the Jackson
Lumber Company Lockhart, Ala.,
will be appealed, to the United States
Supreme tîoùft, pfdviding a rehear
ing is not granted by the United
States Court of Appeals.
On motion of Senator Aldrich the
Bailey resolution regarding presi
dential interference with executive
communications to Congress was re
ferred to the Committee on Judiciary
by a vote of*52 to 25. The vote was
on strict party lines.
The following negroes were exe
cuted in Louisiana: Wallace and
Benjamin Jones, brothers, at Port
Allen, for the murder of Conductor
Hall; Charles Davis, at Port Allen,
for murdering Penitentiary Guard
W. H. Boatner; Charles Madison, at
Lake Charles, for criminally assault
ing Sidonla Kelly, a negro girl; An
drew Washington, at Tallulah, for
the murder .of his wife, and Jack
Ratler, at Franklin, for murdering
his wife.
P. U. Benjamin, former Alderman
at Natchez, was fined $500 on plead
ing guilty to a charge of illicit re
tailing.
Five suspects at Little Rock, Ark.,
in connection with fake contests
were indicted for larceny and obtain
ing money on false pretenses.
A special freight train, running
between Angola and New Orleans
on the Red River Valley Railroad,
was derailed at Irene Station by
train wreckers, and Engineer C. J.
Williams slightly injured.
BALTIMORE BIT BY STORM
Damage to Public Service Cor
porations $700,000.
100 MILES Of WIRE ARE DOWN
Traffic Greatly Impeded in the East
Trains In and Out of Wash
ington Delayed Many
Hours.
Baltimore, Md.—Latest and care
ful estimates based on information
obtained, place the damage by the
stoTn^fatnrda^ to public service cor
fTOOjMO^ to. 4J
of George R. GaitBer, whô~"âf "the
last election was the Republican can
didate for governor, was found dead,
a victim of the storm, beside the
tracks of the United Railways, by
linemen of the road. His body was
frozen stiff. It is thought that
Granger attempted to walk from the
home of friends in Mount Washing
ton, a suburb of the city, to his
home in Forest Park, a distance of
several miles and that he was over
come by the cold.
It Is estimated that at least one
hundred miles of electric wires lie
prostrate within the limits of the city
as a result of the storm and more
than five hundred poles are down.
The long distance telephone peo
ple report six hundred poies down
between here and Washington while
between here and Havre De Gras
about five hundred sections of wire
are down. Between this city and
Harrisburg scattered wires are brok
en and many poles are down. All
the trouble in this direction-is south
of the Susquehanna river.
The town of Annapolis is a mass
of tangled electric, telegraph and
telephone wires. Communication by
rail from this point to Annapolis is
almost normal.
Hardships Endured.
Washington.— v»ashington was
badly tied up. Trains were few and
far between, running generally from
five to six hours behind their sched
ule. -Little parties of those who
went from this city to attend the in
auguration ceremonies straggled
with all sorts of stories of hardships.
Traffic out of Washington, they re
port, was seriously muddled and
there was little hope of relief for
twenty-four hours or more. Passen
gers on particularly belated trains
told of making forty miles in ten
hours. There was no dining car on
the train and sandwiches commanded
fabulous prices.
Traffic Prostrated.
Philadelphia.—The most severe
rain and sleet storm of the winter
prevailed in eastern Pennsylvania,
Delaware and New Jersey Saturday,
and as a result all wire communica
tion with the south was broken off.
The telegraph, telephone and rail
road companies announced that thoy
had lost ail their wires between
Wilmington, Delaware and Balti
more. The telephone companies
say they encountered the worst trou
ble about forty miles from Balti
more. Between Wilmington and Bal
timore it is reported that poles and
wires were carried to the ground by
either the wind or the heavy coat
ing of ice and snow with which they
were encumbered. Train service be
tween this city and Washington has
been greatly hampered on account
of the slow movement of trains made
necessary by the lack of wires.
FRENCH PRESS COMMENT.
Views on the Outgoing and Incoming
President.
Paris—The papers of Paris show
the consensus of opinion is that
Roosevelt has had a remarkably
successful and picturesque career;
that he has aroused the moral forces
of the United States, and interna
tionally has filled an important role
on the world's stage. Although he
is a great preacher, he has been dis
tinctly a man of action, "an athletic
in politics as well as in sport, war
and theology." Mr. Taft, although
less Impulsive than his predecessor,
is regarded as a man of great capac
ity and moral strength; consequent
ly, he is characterized as a "safer"
President, both for America and Eu
rope. "Neither the United States nor
Europe, ' one paper says, "need now
fear the theatrical coups which up
set them In the Roosevelt regime."
SALOME DANCE FORBIDDEN.
Police Stop Gertrude Hoffman's Per
formance in Kansas City.
Kansas City, Mo.—Gertrude Hoff
man, thé actress, was enjoined by the
Circuit Court here from presenting
the Salome dance during the remain
der of her engagement here in the
leading part of the ,'Mimic World"
on the ground that the dance is
Inimical to public morals.
PAYS DEATH PENALTY.
Mnrderer of a Women Hanged in
Nebraska.
Lincoln, Neb.—R. Meade Shum
way, convicted of the murder of Mrs.
Jacob Martin was hanged Monday af
ternoon at the Nebraska penitentia
ry. The drop fell at c-:30. He was
pronounced dead at 2:08. Shumway
kept his nerve until the end. He
walked calmly to the scaffold pro
testing his innocence before the
death march began.
GIST OF TAFT'S ADDRESS.
Defines
His
Toward the
Attitude
South.
The steps which my predecessor
took and the legislation passed on
his recommendations have accom
plished much, have caused a general
halt in the vicious policies which
created popular alarm, and have
brought about in the business affect
ed a much higher regard for existing
law.
It is imperatively necessary that a
tariff bill be drawn in good faith in
accordance with promises made be
fore the election by the party in pow
er, and as promptly passed as due
consideration will permit.
The putting into force of, J*wa
afcalj
may
the- conservation
eral Government, including the most
important work of saving and re-,
storing our forests, and the great
improVment of waterways, are alj
proper government functions which
must involve large expenditures if
properly performed.
We should have an army so organ
ized and so officered as tr. be capa
ble in the time of emergency, in • o
operation with the national militia
and ander the provisions of a proper
national volunteer hv, rapidly to
expand into a force sufficient to re
sist all probably invasion from
abroad and to furnish a respectable
expeditionary force, if necessary, in
the maintenance of our traditional
American policy whlcii hears the
name of President Monroe.
One of the reforms to be carried
out during the incoming administra
tion is a change of our monetary
and banking laws, so as to secure
greater elasticity in the forms of cur
rency available for trade, and to
prevent the limitations of law from
operating to increase the embarrass
ments of a financial panic.
The Panama Canal will have a
most Important bearing upon the
trade between the eastern and the
far western section of our country,
and will greatly increase the facili
ties for transportation between the
eastern and western seaboard, and
may possibly revolutionize the trans
continental rates with respect to
bulky merchandise.
I look forward with hope to in
ceasing the already good feeling be
tween the South and the other sec
tions of the country.
It may well admit of doubt wheth
er, in the case of any race, an ap
pointment of one of their number to
a local office in a community in
which the race feeling is so wide
spread and acute as to interfere
with the ease and facility with which
the local government business can
be done by the appointee, is of suffi
cient benefit by way of encourage
ment to the race to outweigh the re
currence and increase of race feel
ing which such an appointment is
».kely to engender. Therefore, the
Executive, in rwogai tu-; the ii'-gro
race by appointments, must exercise
a careful discretion not thereby to
do it more harm than good. On the
other hand, we must be careful not
to encourage the mere pretense of
race feeling manufactured in the in
terest of individual political ambi
tion.
OVER A THOUSAND LOST.
Great Boat Disaster Reported on the
Canton River.
Victoria.—A disaster on the Can
ton river involving the loss of more
than one thousand lives followed the
overturning of a kerosene lamp on a
flower boat while t.he steamer Akima
Maru, which reached this port, was
at Hong Kong. The boat was burn
ed to the water's edge, the flames
reaching to the other boats and per
mitting no one to escape owing to
the dffiiculty of moving the cumber
sume flower boats lying along an un
broken line made fast from chains.
SERVIAN CRISIS ENDED.
The Belgrade Government Has Re
ceded From Its Position.
Berlin. — Dispatches received at
the Foreign Office here confirm the
reports that the Servian Premier
had declared that Servia, on the ad
vice of Russia, France, Great Britain
and Italy does not insist upon terri
torial compensation from Austria
Hungary. Servia regards the ques
tion of the autonomy of Bosnia and
Herzgovents as settled through the
Turkish-Austrian agreement, and she
will not bring the matter up again.
NEGRO LYNCHED.
Slayer of Deputy Sheriff Shot to
Death by Mob.
Atlanta, Ga.—News has reached
here of the lynching at Blakely, Ga.,
of John Fowler, colored, who was in
jail at that place charged wlt.h th?
murder of Deputy Sheriff Murchison
Monday. The negro was taken from
the jail by a crowd of about twenty
five and shot to death.
SAFE BLOWER CAPTURED.
Booty and 7,000 Stamps Recovered
in Room.
Birmingham, Ala.—James O Con
nell, partner of George Barton, the
noted safe blower, was captured
here by local officers. O'Connell was
in room 13 of a local hotel, and a
large quantity of booty was recover
ed in the room, including about 7000
stamps. The two men are believed
to have been the robbers of the post
office at Outhbert, Ga. —
REFUSES 10 PROSECUTE.
Federal District Attorney in In
diana Creates Sensation.
GOmENT 'S ACTION DENOUNCED
The Attorney Declines to Aid in De
lavan Smith's Extradition Be
lieves Government's Work
Is Unlawful.
Washington.—United States Dis
trict Attorney Keallng, of Indiana
polis, has resigned rather than par
ticipate in the efforts of the Depart
ment of. Justice to bring Delavan
Smith and Joseph Pullzter to Wash
ington to stand trial for criminal
Won with publicatiç
railroad.
District Attorney Keallng, in a let
ter to the Attorney General, dated
March 2, says:
"I beg to inform you that I have
to-day sent my formal resignation as
United States Attorney for the Dis
trict of Indiana to the President of
the United States, with the request
that the same be accepted no later
than March 15, 1909.
"I am informed that indictments
have been returned by the Grand
Jury of the District of Columbia,
against Delavan Smith and Charles
B. Williams, proprietors of the In
dianopolis News, for criminal libel
and that steps will be taken to re
move them to that district for trial.
As both are in this district, under the
law it will become my official duty
to assist in such removal proceed
ings.
"For almost eight years I have had
the honor of representing the Gov
ernment of the United States as at
torney. During that time I have pro
secuted all alike, without fear of fa
vor, where I had an honest belief
in their guilt.
"I have been compelled on several
occasions to prosecute personal
friends, but in each case I only did
so after a thorough investigation .had
convinced me of their guilt.
"In this case I have made a care
ful investigation of the law applica
ble thereto. As to the guilt or inno
cence of the defendants on the ques
tion of libel I do not attempt to say.
If guilty they should be prosecuted,
but properly indicted and prosecuted
in the right place, viz: at their home.
It is only with the question of re
moval that I have to do.
"I am not in accord with the Gov
ernment in its attempt put a
strained construction on the law, to
drag the defendants from their homes
to the seat of Government to be
tried and punished, while there is a
good and sufficient law in this jour
s isdlctlon in the State Court.
"I believe the principle involved is
a dangerous one, striking at the very
foundation of our form of govern
ment. I cannot, therefore, honestly
and conscientiously insist to the
Court that such is the law, or that
such construction should be put on
it. Not being able to do this, I do
not feel that I can, in justice to my
office, continue to hold it and de
cline to assist.
"In order, therefore, to relieve us
both of any embarrassment, I have
tendered my resignation and have
asked that it be accepted not later
than March 15, 1909. I have made
it of this date in order that President
Taft, for whom I have the highest
respect and admiration may have
time to name my successor."
Mr. Keallng has held the office of
United States District Attorney for
nearly eight years, and his standing
with the Department of Justice is
said to be high.
WHAT'S DOING IN WASHINGTON.
Senate Confirms Nominations and
Extraordinary Session Adjourns.
Washington.—The nomination of
Wm. Loeb, Jr., to be collector of the
port of New York, and Beekman
Winthrop to be assistant secretary
of the nevy, were confirmed by the
senate in executive session.
A committee was appointed to
wait upon the president and inform
him that the extraordinary session
of the senatewaa-raady to adjourn.
When Senators Frye, and DanieTT
who formed the committee which
went to the white house returned to
the capitol they reported that the
president had nothing further to
communicate, the session of the sen
ate was then adjourned sine die.
President Taft has issued a procla
mation calling congress to extraordi
nary session March 15. While there
was nothing In the call which hinted
as to the purpose of the session, its
object has heretofore been rtaterl to
be to revise the tariff an:l transact
no other business. The weather cal
amity which overtook the national
capital on inauguration day. how
ever, has created such a general pub
lic demand for a change of date for
the inauguration that the prediction
of congressional action on this ques
tion seems to be general.
LIBERTY OR DEATH.
Rice's Murderer Says Imprisonment is
Worse Than Electric Chair.
New York.—Albert T. Patrick, who
was convicted of the murder of Wil
liam Marsh Rice, made a sensational
appeal to the appellate division in
Brooklyn to free him from impris
onment for life or send him to the
electric chair. He declared that im
prisonment for life was a greater
punishment than the death penalty.