Republican News Item.
VOL. XV. NO. 35
CAPITOL SUITS
ARE SETTLED
State Receives 51,485,000 to
End Gases.
DROP CRIMINAL ACTIONS
Accused Pay $1,300,000 In Cash and
Surrender Sanderson and Huston
Warrants For $185,000.
The legal actions resulting from the
frauds in the furnishing of the Penn
sylvania state capitol were brought to
a close in the Dauphin county yourt,
at Harrisburg, Pa., when President
Judge George Kunkel handed down
decrees affirming an agreement of set
tlement between the commonwealth
and various respondents and sustain
ing the demurrers tiled by the trust
companies.
The decrees require the payment to
the state of $1,300,000 and the sur
render of warrants by the John H.
Sanderson estate aggregating SU»B,OnO
and by Joseph M. Huston, achitect,
amounting to $77,000. As soon as the
money was paid over the criminal ac
tions agaiust various persons, not in
cluding the action against Huston,
were formally dropped.
The cases closed were two actions
In equity and twenty criminal actions.
In one case $1,100,000 in cash was
paid over and in another $200,000. In
the cases of the trust companies tlie
demurrers were sustained because the
principals having effected a settlement
the sureties could not be held. In the
case of T. Lincoln Eyre he filed an an
swer and the case closed without testi
mony being taken.
Special pleas were made by Lyman
D. Gilbert in behalf of William P. Sny
der, Frank G. Harris, E. B. Harden
bergh and James M. Shumaker, setting
forth that they be joined in the pro
ceedings to avoid prolonged litigation.
All set forth that they were not culpa
ble.
The court then made the decree in
the case against H. Burd Cassell and
others, known as the Metallic Furni
ture case, to this effect:
First —That the demurrers filed by
the Commonwealth Trust company,
Harrisburg Trust company, Annie E.
Barr and the Lancaster Trust com
pany, executors of Sam Matt Fridy,
deceased, are sustained and the bill is
dismissed without costs.
Second—That the demurrers filed by
H. Burd Cassell, E. L. Reinhold and
E. B. Reinhold, Penn Construction
company, Frank G. Harris, E. B. Har
denbergh, James M. Shumaker, Jo
seph M. Huston, William P. Snyder,
W. Roger Fronefteld, executor of Wil
liam L. Mathues, are overruled.
Third —That the bill as to T. Larry
Eyre and his sureties, William P. Sny
der and the estate of Sam Matt Fridy,
is dismissed without costs.
Fourth —That the loss sustained by
the commonwealth is hereby in ac
cordance with the aforesaid stipula
tion filed in the case ascertained and
assessed in the sum of $200,000.
Fifth —This decree to be satis-fled of
record upon the payment of $200,000
and payment of the record costs.
In the case against the estate of
Sanderson and others a statement was
made to the court by the attorney gen
eral explaining the differences and
then a decree was made to this ef
fect:
First —The demurrers filed by the
sureties are sustained and the bill is
dismissed as to each of said demur
rants without costs.
Second —The demurrers filed by
Harris, Hardenbergh, Snyder, Frone
field, Shumaker, Huston, the Common
wealth Title Insurance and Trust com
pany, Dimner Beeber and Pedro G.
Salome, executors of Sanderson, are
overruled.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK,
HUG-HESVILLE, JPJL
CAPITAL STOCK
$50,000 W. C. FRONTZ President.
Surplus and FRANK A. REEDER, Cashier.
Net Profits, .
75,000, DIRECTORS:
Transacts a General Wm. Frontz, John C. Laird, C. W. Sones,
Banking Business. W - C.Frontz, Frank A.Reeder, Jacob Per,
Lyman Myers, W. T. Reedy, Peter rontz,
Accounts oflndivid- j A s Bal] John Bull,
uals and Firms
solicited.
Safe Deposite Boxes for Rent, One Dollar per Year.
3 per cent. INTEREST PAID ON TIME DEPOSITS.
LAPORTE, SULLIVAN COUNTY PA. FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1910.
PORTER CHARLTON.
Center of Interest In Ameri
can-Italian Extradition Case.
CHARLTON CASE HELD UP
Habeas Corpus Proceedings Halted by
Death In Lawyer's Family.
The hearing in the habeas corpus
proceedings at Trenton, N. J., brought
to prevent the extradition of Porter
Charlton to Italy to answer for the
murder of his wife, was postponed un
til Jan. 23.
The postponement is due to a death
in the family of one of the lawyers ap
pearing for Charlton. The case was to
have been heard by Judge Hellstab in
the United States circuit court.
The prisoner, who was in court in
custody of a deputy sheriff, was re
turned to the Hudson county jail at
Jersey City.
Selden Auto Patent Invalid.
The United States court of app<a!B
reversed a decision by Judge Hougu in
New York, in which he upheld the va
lidity of the Selden automobile pat
ent.
Judge Hough's decision was handed
down in September, 19U9. It affected
every owner or manufacturer of gaso
line automobile made or used in the
country and involved many millions of
dollars.
It is expected now that the hard
fought and long drawn out case will
be carried to the United States su
preme court for final decision.
The gist of the upsetting of the pat
ent was to the effect that Selden had
a patent on a car that made use of the
Brayton two-cycle engine, which wa.%
of the constant pressure type, but that
his patent could not be considered as
covering the Otto gas engine, of the
four cycle, constant volume, type.
Moreover, the Otto used a carbureter
and electric ignition system, things not
provided for in the Selden patent.
Therefore it was ruled that the de
fendants in the case, Henry Ford and
Panhard and Levassor, among others,
do not infringe the Selden patent.
Big Locomotive Order.
A contract for 19G locomotives for
the Harriman lines has been awarded
to the Baldwin Locomotive works in
Philadelphia.
It is one of the largest orders ever
received at one time by the plant. The
contract calls l'or delivery of the loco
motives during the spring and summer
of this year. The cost will be $4,000,-
000.
Boy of Five Kills Grandmother.
After his father had been arrested
in connection with the shooting to
death of his grandmother, a five-year
old bay at Danville, Ky., confessed that
he had shot her accidentally while
pointing an old shotgun at her In fun.
He hid in an outbuilding ail rlgtU.
GALE DRIVES
& 17 TO DEATH
Three Barnes Beaten to Pieces;
on Gape God.
TOW LINE PARTED IN GALE
Many Phlladelphians Among Victims
of Disaster on Dreaded Sands on
Massachusetts Coast.
The tragic history of the Peaked
Hill liars, near Highland Light, Mass.,
ieceived a substantial addition when
three coal barges were driven on the
dreadel sands at the Knuckle of Cape
Cod. and seventen lives were lost.
The barges were the Treverion,
Captain F. I. Brown, of Lncolnville,
Me., and six men; the Corbin, Captain
C. Smith, of Philadelphia, and four
seamen; the Pine Forest, Captain M.
\V. Hall, of Provineetown, Mass., and
four sailors.
The Treverton was bound to Port
land, Me.; the Corbin to Portsmouth,
N. H., and the Pine Forest to Marb'e
head, Mass. The three barges sailed
from Philadelphia.
It was froai the tug Lykens that the
barges broke adrift just as the dou
bling of the cape was almost accom
plished. The gale was blowing fifty
miles an hour when Highland Light
was passed, and hauling well into the
northward, made the ten miles of sand
dunes around this point to the Race,
the worst kind of a lee shore. The tow
lines snapped and a few minutes later
the barges were in the breakers.
In the marine history of Cape Cod
no large vessel has yet grounded on
Peaked Hill bars and escaped destruc
tion. The three barges began breaking
up almost immediately, and by day
light wreckage was coming ashore and
sunrise disclosed but one of the three
barges remaining, and that one, the
Pine Forest, was showing every indi
cation of following the fate of the oth
er two.
On the beach stood three life saving
crews, powerless to aid the men who
could be seen clinging to the wreck
of the Pine Forest. Stretching out for
800 yards was a seething mass of tum
bling seas, in which even a lifeboat
could not have lived, while the dis
tance was too far for a shot from the
life gun. The tug. which hovered in
the oiflng, was unable to run in close
for fear of grounding also.
The life savers patrolled the beach
and their watch was soon rewarded by
the discovery of two bodies tossing
about in the breakers. These were
hauled ashore. About each body was
strapped a life belt, on which was
stenciled the word "Treverton."
In the meantime the Pine Forest
was being hammered mercilessly. The
crew clung on until about 10 o'clock,
and then, giving up hope of help from
shore, launched their own lifeboat and
tumbled into it.
The second sea that hit the barge,
after the crew left her, swept around
her stern, and those on shore saw the
four men thrown into the surf. This
completed the fatalities of the day,
and the life savers hauled their appa
ratus back to the houses, but contin
ued their patrol for bodies.
The Lykens remained around until
it was seen that all the barges v/ere
wrecked and then ran around into
Provineetown.
The disaster was one of the heav
iest in loss of life on Cape Cod in
many years.
The bodies from the three wrecks
came ashore quite rapidly after the
tide had turned, and.it 2 p. m. twelve
bodies had been recovered and were
taken to a temporary morgue at Prov
ineetown.
WOLVES EATING SETTLERS
Traveler, Back From Alaska, Says the
Packs Aie Desperate.
Several resi ' t if the west coast
of Prince of Wales island, southeast
ern Alaska, have been killed and eaten
by wolves during the last year, ac
cording to Charles A. Sulzer, of New
York, who has just returned to Seat
tle, Wash., from the north.
Mr. Sulzer says that the wolves, hav
ing killed off all the deer, have become
desjierate with hunger and now come
up to the doors of the miners' cabins.
TRIED TO KILL HIS BRIDE
Young Husband Attacks Harrisburg,
Pa., Girl With Hammer.
Following a quarrel with his bride,
Joseph F. Robb, of Baltimore. Md., in
jured her skull with a hammer, in
flicting wounds which are expected to
result fatally.
The attack was made while the
young woman was in bed at their
home, 226 South Chester street. Hobb
then went to the river front and jump
ed into the water, but swam ashore
and was arrested. The bride was Miss
Julia Dean, of Harrisburg, Pa.
Fli/E HELD IN
BLACKMAIL PLOT
Sent Letters to Maryland Far
mers Demanding Money.
ONE CONFESSES TO GRIME
Threatened Death and Destruction of
Property Unless Demands Were Ac
ceded to Promptly.
Accused of blackmailing opeiations
in Somerset county, Md., Noah Thom
as, Frank Braxton, Thomas Savage,
Charles Dennis and John Fields are
held at Salisbury under S4OOO bail
each.
Salisbury, Md., Jan. 10. —Accused of
blackmailing operations in Somerset
county, Noah Thomas, Frank Braxton,
Thomas Savage, Charles Dennis and
John Fields are held here under s4ooo
bail each.
It is charged that the five men
formed a blackmailing society and
sent letters through the mails de
manding sums of money on the pen
alty of death. Though the operations
were confined alone to Sorueiset
county, it is believed the alleged band
had also sent letters into Worcester
county.
Residents of the two counties were
terrorized by the receipt of letters,
which in some cases threatened the
destruction of property unless the de
mands were acceded to promptly.
Harry Cluff, a farmer residing near
Princess Anne, was the first to receive
one of the blackmailing demands. On
Dec. 21 he found a note in his barn
which read as follows:
"Dear Sir —If you do not put SSO in
your mail bo* by Wednesday evening
we will burn your barn down before
Sunday, and you do not want to put
any guards out neither. Warning.
"SECRETARY."
A few days later other persons be
gan to get letters. W. F. King, cash
ier of the l'ocomoke National bank,
received a demand that he raise the
pay of farm hands to $1.25 a day or he
would be annihilated with a bomb.
Samuel Twilley, a hotel proprietor;
Edward Langford, county commission
er, farmer and lumber dealer; Benja
min Jones, a butcher of Pocomoke,
and Milton L. Veast, Frank E. Mat
thews, James Mitchell and Frank Fl
fer, all farmers, received letters simi
lar to the foregoing.
Mr. Cluff did not heed the "warning
note," but sent to Baltimore for De
tective Robert W. Walter, who secured
the services of a colored detective
named Williams. Williams started in
to work as a farm hand among the!
colored employes.
Braxton was the first man arrested,
and upon cross-examination confessed,
implicating Thojnas.
Braxton said the first letter was
sent to Cluff because his wife was
convalescing from typhoid fever and
they thought Cluff would part with the
money to prevent any excitement.
The federal authorities may be ask
ed to prosecute, as the letters were
sent through the .nails.
Gallagher Gets Twelve Years.
James J. Gallagher, who attempted
to kill Mayor Gaynor, of New Yo.k.
in Hoboken, N. J., as he was a Don.
to sail for Europe last August, wa
found guilty in Jersey City of atrocious
assault with intent to kill Sae-t
Cleaning Commissioned Edwaids. ol
New York, who was shot while at
tempting to aid Mr. Gaynor.
Justize Swayze sentenced Gallagher
io twelve years in state's prison at
Trenton, and further until the cost of
prosecution is paid.
Jersey justice, proverbially swift,
moved with celerity in Gallagher's
trial. The jury was chosen in a little
more than ten minutes, two of the men
selected having acted on the Jury thai
declared Gallagher sane.
Assistant Prosecutor Vickers opened
for the state, taking exactly four min
utes. The employes of the steamship
company told how Gallagher came to
the steamship and inquired for Ma. or
Gaynor. Their testimony was taken in
five minutes, and Commissioner Ed
warde took the stand and told of the
shooting and how he went to Mayor
Gaynor's assistance.
Soutn Carolina Loses i-ropeiiei'.
The United States battleship South
Carolina, now on her way home from
Europe, reported to the navy depart
ment by wireless that she lost her
port propeller and shaft. In spite of
the fact that she will complete the
journey on her starboard propeller,
the South Carolina will arrive at
Hampton Roads about Jan. 12.
85 Fishermen Swept to Death.
Eighty-five fishermen were carried
out into the Caspian sea on an ice
floe at Astrakhan, Russia. Tuesday. A
steamer was requisitioned at Baku
and sent to the rescue, but the chances
that any will escape death are poor.
STEPHEN B. ELKINS.
West Virginia Senator Dies Sud
| den!) In Washington.
w
jjj
\ S
Senator Elkins Is Ce;.d.
Senator Stepuhen B. Elkins, of West
Virginia, died at his home in Wash
ington.
Sudden collapse, following a lung
illness, caused his dealb. The end was
not unexpected, for the senator had
been sinking lor hours. At his bed.-iide
were Mrs. Elkins, his two sons, Blaine
and Richard Elkins; his daughter,
Miss Katheriue Elkins, and Henry Gas
saway Davis, his father-in-law.
Mr. Elkins had been sick for several
months. He was unable to attend the
sessions of congress when it convened
early in December and had bfen con
fined to his home all the fall. Every
effort had been made to bring him
back to health, but it was unavailing
and the last few days septic poisoning
is understood to have developed, and
this probably caused the end. The
funeral took place on Saturday at El
kins, W. Va.
Inside Explosion Wrecked the Maine.
The war department at Washing
ton is receiving reports from those
who are engaged in raising the sunktn
battleship Maine from Havana harbor
which tend to show that the disaster
was due to an internal explosion.
In the mud and silt in which the
hull lies buried have been found much
coal and the bones of some of the
crew of the ship, who met their deaths
when the explosion came and the fchip
sank.
Engineer officers think the coal and
the bodies of the men were blown
from the battleship by an explosion in
one of the air tight compartments in
which was stored powder and other
explosives. They do not think the coal
could have been blown from the hull
of the battleship by an outside explo
sion.
Spanish authorities contended that
the sinking of the Maine was the re
sult of an internal explosion. It was
the popular belief in thlu country t' at
some Spaniard had wreeke i th Maine
through the use of a mine or some
high explosive because of this co n
try's sympathy ior Cuba. The wave ol
indignation that swept over (he coun
try precipitated the war with Siain.
With the present progress of the
work the hull should be raised by
April. There is some fear that th ■ hull
may break in two while being rai-ed.
Befoer this occurs, if it should hap
pen, those in charge of the work will
know the cause of the sinking of the
Maine.
80 Dying Daily of Bubonic Plague.
Reports from Fudziadian, Russ.», say
there are ei o hty deaths daily from the
bubonic plague in that section. The
foreign colony is threatened.
COLE'S 4ggj
Up-To-Date
whatever it may lie—"''shall I buy? Don't ponder over these things,
nor spend your time looking at pictures in "cheap goods" mail-order
catalogs. Come to our store and let us solve the problem. We have
a fine variety of standard goods to choose from. When you think of
HARDWARE think of COLE'S.
SANITARY PLUMBING.
We give special attention to Piping, Steam, Hot Water and Hot
Air Heating. General job work and repairing In all branches, prompt
ly and skillfully executed
Samuel Cole, - Dushore, Pa.
* YEAR
ADDS $45,000,000
TO PENSION BILL
House Passes Bill to Give
Veterans More.
The national house of representa
tives pnsned the Sulloway general pen
sion bill. This measure grants pensions
ranging from sl2 to $36 a month to all
soldiers who served ninety days in
the United States army in the Civil
War, and who have reached the age of
sixty-two years. The bill adds about
$45,000,000 a year to the pension roll.
Opposition to the measure was ex
pressed by some members upon the
ground that its terms were too gen
eral. It provides for the pensioning
oi all Union soldiers regardless of dis
ability, the only requirement being
that they shall have attained the age
of sixty-two years.
The general scale of pensions fixed
in the new bill according to age is as
follows: Sixty-two years, sls a month;
G5 years, S2O a month; 70 years, $25
a month; 75 years, s3ti a month.
It was declared by the advocates of
the bill thai 100 veterans are dying
every twenty-four hours.
NORTH POLE STILL LOST
Peary Admits He Made No Chart of
Journey In Arctics.
Admitting the North Pole is as much
lost as ever, and that all future at
tempts to find it must be independent
enterprises, unaided by his own work,
Captain Robert E. Peary, the Arctic
explorer, answered a cross-fire of
questions at a hearing before the
house committee on naval affairs.
The captain told how he wanted the
glory of tiie polar achievement for
himself, declining to let any member
of his expedition, other than Henson,
togo on the last dash with him, how
his publishing contracts had preclud
ed him from testifying before the com
mittee last spring, and how members
of his expedition had been prohibited
from writing about the trip.
Captain Peary, replying to repeated
questions as to tiie results of his
Arctic trip, said that he had not yet
prepared such a chart as would en
able any one to follow in his footsteps
to the pole, but he "imagined" that he
had data by which he could prepare
such a chart.
He said the position of the North
Pole could be determined just the
same as the equator, but the trouble
was the comparative low altitude of
the sun. which never gets higher than
22V2 degrees above the horizon. For
that reason ordinary obs rvations
could not be relied on with accuiacy.
Hughie Jennings Weds.
Hugh Jennings, the manager of the
Detroit club of the American ball
league, and Miss Nora M. O'Hoyle
were married at St. Peter's cathe.lral
at Scranton, Pa. Right llev. Edmund
F. Prendergast, the auxiliary bishop
of Philadelphia, officiating and cele
brating the nuptial mass. John F. Mur
baugh. of Elmira, N. Y., was best man
and Miss Amelia O'Boyle, the bride's
sister, bridesmaid. The honeymoon
tour will be to San Francisco.
Calls on National Banks.
The comptroller of the currency is
sued a call for a statement of the con
dition of the national banks at the
2lose of business Saturday, Jan. 7.
Son Succeeds Elklns.
Davis Elkins was sworn in at Wash
ington as the senator of the United
States from West Virginia. He is tiie
eldest son of the late Senator Stephen
P. Elkins, and is the third generation
of the family to represent his st ite in
the upper branch of congress. He wm
appointed by the governor of West
Virginia to serve until the legislature,
which Is Democratic, elects a succes
sor to his father.