VOL. 50— NO 12
ITEMS CONDENSED,
RUSTY GI N SHOOTS BOYS.—
While handling an old rusty breech
loading shotgun, which had been a
relic of the family for several genera
tion*, Frederick Murphy aocidently
shot 111* brother*, James and Wood
ward, who were playing near While
the Murrhvs were entortainlnr guest*
one of the visitors spied the gun stand
ing behind a door in the kitchen, and
the elder Murphy warned those pres
ent not to touch it. The older of the
sons, however, said it was empty, and
he believed he would remove the rust
from it for the purpose of hunting
squirrels and pheasants. While he was
in the act of breaking it the trigger
struck against a chair and a loud re
port followed. The younger boys were
playing on a conch and the contents
struck them.
MONUMENT TO COMMEMORATE
FORGE. —Commemorating the erect
ing of the first iron forge in 1717, a
granite monument has been erected
along the French Creek, at Coventry
ville, Chester county. It bears the in
scription, "Coventry Forge. 1717."
Upon it is also carved a brief history
of the forge, which was used in times
when the English king held the Colon
ies in subjection. Hundreds of cannons
and muskets used in the Revolutionary
war were moulded at the forge. The
monument was erected by the Chester
County Historical Society.
MOURNERS GET SCARE —About
100 persons in attendance at the funer
al of Mrs. Anna Bailey, an aged wo
man.at Loganville.were given a shock
while the body was being prepared to I
he lowered to its final resting place.
One of the supports upon which the
casket was placed broke.and the corpse
was precipitated to the bottom of the
grave, about six feet. The jar loosen
ed the upper part of the casket lid:
but the pall bearers and others quick
ly brought the body to the surface and !
the lid was fastened and lowered.
TO TAX BACHELORS.— Shaking j
in the Baptist ohnroh ar Allentown. i
Evangelist .T. J. Wicker advocated an j
extra tax on bachelors. He said: "Mar
riage makes the home and homes "are |
the salvation of the nation. I believe
every man should marry, and if he
persists in walking in single blessed
ness he should be taxed twice, as much
as a married man. If he will not sup
port a family, let him do something
to support the state."
ADVICE FOR LONG LIVING—" If j
you want to live long and be happy, j
get plenty of sleep, and do not let lit
tle things worry you," is the advice
given by John Pollitt of Chester, who
roeentlv passed his ninety-first birth
day. Mr. Pollitt lias always enjoyed
remarkably good health. He never
chewed or smoked tobacco and has al
wavs eschewed strong drink.
COSTLY MATCH PLAYING.— |
Playing with 'matches in the straw
'tack on the farm of Valentine Urich,
of West Myerstown. tenanted by Ezra
Spitler. at Hamlin, the small grand
son of the latter caused the destruc
tion by fire of one of the finest barns
in Lebanon Valley. The stock was
saved, but the crops were consumed.
The loss is 85.000.
KILLED ON CULM BANK.—An
nuknown man supposed to have been
a tramp, was found by the workmen
of"the Alaska colliery, of Mt. Carmel,
lying on a culm bank,bis body burned
to a cripp. It is supposed that he went
to the bank attracted by its warmth
and was overcome by the fumes while
taking a nap and was roasted to death.
TARGET SHOOTERS KILL BOY.
—While shooting at a target which
they had up in a field,one of the shots
from a party of men, including John
Lawson. Ferdinand Hough and James
Christian,all prominent men of Wash
ington. went wild and hit and killed
the four-year-old son of H. O Forrest
er, a wealthy farmer near Miday.
WATER'S COST.—Beneditto Tri
poda.who shot and killed Mariano De-
Pasqnale in West Scranton, because
the latter objected to an insnlt offered
the wife of Bennie Ricardo when she
spilled a glass of water on Tripoda,
has been sentenced to twenty y°ars in
the penitentiary.
BLOCK AND TACKLE BURGLAR
—A burglar entered the bedroom of
Charles Hinkle, of Sliamokin, early
Tuesday as he slept, and with a rope
owered Hinkle's trunk Tcontaining
<175 from a second-story window,broke
it open and escaped with the money.
CRAWLS AFTER POISON.-The
wo-year-old son of George Mundell,
if Reading, crawled on top of a chair
,nd removed from the sideboard a box
of pills and swallowed twelve of them,
ajh containing one-twelfth grain of
poison, but a physician saved his life.
SAFER IN THE ClTY.—Evidently
ielieving that the city was a safer
-lace than the woods dnring hunting
»son, a pheasant was seen on the
iof of a honse in the central part of
iltoona, and a rabbit darted down a
insiness street yesterday.
fUcmtotn* American.
r -\ *'
ROAD WOULD
8E BURDENSOME
Two petition* relating to imiiortaut
road improvement* wore presented to
court yesterday, one praying for the
widening of road in Valley township
and the other for a re-view of a road
in West Hemlock township.
The West Hemlock petition which
was signed by thirty-nine inhabitants
of that township represents as fol
lows :
"Tlmt a road as been lately laid out
for public use by order of the court
dated June <>, 1910, beginning at the
blacksmith shop of August Shnltz in
saiil township on road leading from
Barbary Shnltz to Jerseytown and ex
tending by several courses and dist
ances thereof to a point in the public
road where the same leads froui .Tames
Boone's, which said road, if confirmed
by the court, will be very injurious to
your petitioners and burdensome to
the inhabitants Jof the township
through which the same will pass,
" Your petitioners,therefore,showing
that they are persons interested, res
pectfully pray your honorable court to
appoint three persons properly qualifi
ed to review the ground proposed for
saiil road and make report of their
proceedings at next term. (Signed) L.
C. Shnltz, sup., C. 13. Shnltz, sup.,
H. E. Crossley, snp., B P. Shnltz,
William E. Moore,T. M. Wintersteen,
S. H. Vonght, H. G. Sandel, William
Gething, P. E. Sandel, J. J. Herman,
Jasper Stetler,Matthew Mans, Augusta
J. Mans, Albert Hartnian,.T. M. .lack
soil, A. J. Tanner, Joseph H. Hutchi
son, John Hawkins, Frank Crossley,
Charles S. Aruwine, D. W. Ande, A.
M. Blolin, John Arnwine,Lloyd Bom
boy, P. Mausteller, c. F. Styer.W. H
Snyder, J. M. Moore, Joseph H. Win
tersteen, T. .T. Betz, J. H. Welliver,
11. H. Heller, Peter Shultss, William
W. Lobach, Jr., W. C. Whipple, Evan
Hawkins, William T. Gething, John
Dyer".
Calvin Derr, Frank Cromis and Jame
F. Ellis, surveyor, were appointed re
viewers on the above by the
court.
The petition praying for the widen
ing of a road in Valley township was
signed by the supervisors, T. W. Pur
sel, Levi V. Beyer and William K.
Davis. The road in question is the one
leading from Bine's saw mill to the
Danville and Washingtouville road.
The petition asked that viewers bo ap
pointed to inspect the highway and
make report to court.
John Kobinson,Thomas Vansant and
James F. Ellis, surveyor, were ap
pointed viewers as prayed for in the
above petition.
GRAND JURORS' REPORT
The grand jury, which completed an
inspection of the public buildings Mon
day afternoon,has made the following ;
recommendations:
That the county prison be painted 1
on the outside; that a new lighting
system be installed; that the plumb. !
ing be improved and the cement floor i
repaired.
That the roof on the courthouse be
repaired and painted.
That the footwalk of the river bridge, j
plank of which are broken, be repair- ;
ed.
THE GREAT HOAX
The Morning News will tomorrow,
in a special six page paper, publish a
bit of Danville history which will bo
of interest to every reader of this pap
er. It is the story of what is probably
as groat a practioal joke as was ever
perpetrated.
Very few peoplo now living remem
ber the visit of the Japanese Royal
embassy to Danville in 18t>0, but it
caused as great a furore as this town
has over known. Tito story of this
event has been written for The News
by a Danville man who participated.
It is one of the most Interesting bits
of Danville's past that has ever been
written.
Those who desire extra copies of the
paper aio asked to leave their order at
the ofliee today.
Has Resigned Position.
W. Baldy Smith, of this city, who
has been employed by the Pennsyl
vania railroad for nearly four years,
being clerk in the superintendent's
office at Sunlinry, has resigned his
position and will goto Pittsburg
where he was accepted a position with
the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.
Baldy has hosts of friends in Sunbury
who will be sorry to see him leave,
but will wish him much success in his
field of labor.—Sunbury Daily.
RETURNING FROM THE FIELDS
—Some of the idle Pottstown iron
mills are resuming and the men are
being called in from corn-hnsking and
other on'side occupations, which they
took up to help fill the dinner pail.
DANVILLE, PA., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20. 1910
ELMER HALDERMAN
UNDER ARREST
An arrest was made at Berwick yes
terday morning, which may establish
l the identity of at least one of the band
1 of robbers that has been cracking safes
j right and left in this locality dnring
i the last three months.
It appears that the D. L. & W.
Kail road company, whose stations at
Danville and Bloomsburg were rob
bed, in order to prevent a similar oc
curence at Berwick had a special offic
er on the watch.
It appears that about 1 :I!0 o'clock
yesterday morning the officer fancying
everything was secure stepped outside
! the the station, leaving a modern rifle
i with which he was armed inside the
j building. He had only proceeded a few
I steps when he was confronted with a
i man, who flourished a formidable look
j ing revolver in his face and ordered
! him to throw up his arms. There was
:no other alternative but to comply,
! and the watchman wholly at the mercy
| of the robber was conducted to a point
jat some distance from the depot and
j ordered to get out of the way as quick
| ly as he could. The watchman started
lon a run, while the robber returned to
j the station.
j The watchman by a circuitous route
j gained the station aud crawling in
i through » back entrance and succeed
i ing in getting hold of his trusty gun
| tie entered the office aud surprised
I the robbers at their work. Before the
| fellow that had held him up could get
hold of his revolver the watchman had
J him at the point of his gun. Two oth
ers no doubt thinking that the officer
] had assistance fled precipitately leav-
I ing their companion to 1 lis fate.
i The officer had the robber at his
mercy, but it was not until after a
hard fight that he succeeded in hand
cuffing tlio fellow. The latter was then
placed in the lockup.
Yesterday morning the officer called
up Chief-of-Police Mincemoyer re
questing him to como to Berwick to
see whether he could identify the rob
-1 her. Chief Mincemoyer went up on
i the 10:1S> D. L. & W. train and pio
ceeded to the lockup, where at the
first glance he recognized the man as
Elmer Haldeiman, who with David 1
Barret was implicated in the robbery j
at W. H. N. Walker's, this city, July i
:i, 1905.
Halderman yesterday was very sul
len and uncommunicative. Up to last 1
evening there was no clew leading to j
the identity of the other two members j
of the gang, who escaped. Halderman j
will be given a hearing in Berwick j
todav. Meanwhile the lock-up in ;
which he is confined is heavily guard- I
ed at night.
On Halderman's person after his ar
rest was found a most complete :is
calibre revolver capable of doing ter
rible execution in the hands of a des
perate man.
For the part that he played in the
robbery at W. H. N. Walker's Halder
man on November 15, 1905, was sent
enced by Judge Staples to five years
in the Eastern penitentiary. It has been
but a comparatively short time since
he was released.
GOLDEN WEDDING
Mr. and Mrs. D. D. Williams yester
day in a quite way observed the fif
tieth anniversary of their wedding at
their home, Lower Mulberry street.
Members of the family were present
as follows: Mr. and Mrs. Enoch Wil
liams aud daughter, Mr. aud Mrs. Elias
Williams aud son,of Valley township;
Mr. and Mrs. William Davis aud son
of the latter, Lincoln Fenstermacher,
of this city.
Mr. and Mrs. D. 1). Williams were
1 married in Danville by {the Rev. E.
F. Jones. Mrs. Williams' maiden name
, was Miss Sarah Prosser. Botli husband
j and wife are natives of Wales. Mr.
Williams came to this country with
his parents in 1810, when ho was less
' rliau two years of age. Mrs. Williams
I arrived here in 185(5.
At the age of nine years Mr. Wil
i liams began to work in the ore mines,
j Later ho was employed in the rolling
1 mill Finally ho removed into the
I country and for twenty-nine years fol
lowed farming.
Mr. Williams is seventy-two years
of age and his wife is seventy-one.
Both are in good health and promise
to enjoy many more anniversaries of
their wedding.
POTTSGROVEHIGH SCHOOL
Contractor Kcefer, of Sunbury, who
built the new High Sohool building
for East Chillisquaue township at
Pottsgrove, has the building complet
| ed and ready for occupancy. The arch
itect will be present this week to in
spect the work and it will be turned
over to the Board of Directors on Sat
urday. It is expected that it will be
j occupied by the schools on Monday
! next.
j In Norway persons who have not
i been vaccinated are not allowed to
i vote at any election.
COLLATERAL
INHERITANCE TAX
' Yesterday morning Judge Evans
| handed down an opinion in re petition
j of Register of Wills for citation upon
Ellen Coleman Bennett, administra
j trix p. t. a. of John R. Bennett, de
j ceased, to show cause who collateral
i inheritance tax should not be paid,
j The case was argued last summer and
; attracted a good deal of attention. A
' synopsis of the opinion follows:
! The testator, John U. Bennett, died
| in the ctiy of Mentor, State of Ohio,
| June '.'lst, 1903. At the time of his
I death he left a will written by him-
I self, iu the ctiy of Paris, France. Hi
will was admitted to probate in the
I Register's Office of Montour County,
| June 28th, 1905. The will gives his
I entire estate to his wife, Ellen Cole
| man Bennett, with the exception o
! $25,000, which is given to his sister,
i Sarah Craig Bennett.
Soon after the probate of his will,
i his brothers and sisters threatened to
! institute proceedings to contest the
| probate of the will upon the ground
| that John R. Bennett at the time of
! his death was a resident of the State
j of New York and not a resident of th
I State of Pennsylvania, and that under
the law of the State of New York, his
| will was void as to them,aud that they
I were entitled to his estate in prefer
ence to the respondent,the widow. On
I Jany. 17th,190(5,this threatened litiga
t ion was compromised aud ended by
1 the widow, Ellen Coleman Bennett,
the respondent, paying to the testator's
; brothers and sisters the sum of $130,-
iHio. and they executed and delivered
ro her a release.
Under the above state of facts two
I questions aris -: (1) Is the Common
wealth entitled to collateral inherit
ance tax upon the $1:10,0(10 paid by the
i widow to the collateral heirs in com
■ promise of their threatened litigation?
(2) Is the Commonwealth entitled to
such tax on the legacy of £525,000 be
, queathed by the will to Sarah Craig
, Bennett, but never paid to or receiv-
I ed by her?
j In our opinion the first of these
i questions should be answered in the
! negative.
1 In order to settle the threatened
! litigation and avoid further dispute
i and establish the will, the respondent
l compromised with the brothers aud sis
ters, the proposed contestants,aud paid
to them SIBO,OOO in compromise and
settlement. Clearly she bad the right
to do so. There is not even a breath
of suspicion that there was collusion.
Pepper's Estate 159 Pa. 508; Ken's
i Estate 159 Pa. 512; and llawley's
j Estate 214 Pa. 525, are authority for
i the proposition that collateral inher
itance tax cannot be imposed upon
money paid in good faith in compro
mise of threatened litigation.
The second question raised in this
case involves the payment of collater
al inheritance tax on the legacy of
$25,000. bequeathed to Sarah Craig
Bennett, a sister of the testator, aud
iu our opinion should be answered in
favor of the Commonwealth. It is true
that the legacy has not been paid to
or received by the legatee. The legatee
however, in consideration of her share
of the SIBO,OOO. released anil discharg
ed Ellen Coleman Bennett from the
payment of the legacy. This she too
clearly had a right to do. It was a
matter of her own concern. But in so
doing she could not defeat the right
of the Commonwealth to the collateral
inheritance tax on said sum.
In Frank's Estate 9 C. C. R. (562,
Judge Hanua decided, that a devisee
or legatee may waive all claim and
refuse the bounty of a testator or her
right to share as a distributee, but if
she bo a collateral heir or stranger to
the blood of the testator, the tax re
mains due aud payable and accrues
immediately upon the death of the
testator or intestate, and that its pay
ment cannot bo evaded by conveyance
to one whoso right of succession is not
subject to the tax.
As Judge Hanna says "tlio Common
wealth would easily and constantly be
deprived of her revenue provided for
by tlio Act of 1887, it payment of the
tax could thus be avoided "
And now, October 17th, 1910, the
citation heretofore issued upon the
administratrix c. t. a. of John R.
Bennett, deceased, to show cause why
an inventory and an account should
not be filed and a collateral inherit
ance tax should not be paid on the
sum of $130,000. with interest, is dis
charged; and the citation to show
cause why a collateral inheritance tax
should not be paid on the $25,000
legacy bequeathed to Sarah Oraig Ben
nett is made absolute, and Ellen Cole
man Bennett, the administratrix, is
ordered and directed to pay to the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
through its proper officer, a collateral
inheritance tax of 5 per cent, on $25,-
000, together with interest thereon at
twelve per cent.
Analysts *av that, butter is the most
nutritious articla of diet, and that
bacon comes next.
ONLY ONE CASE
WILL BE TRIED
Court for October term convened at
10 o'clock yesterday morning with
President Judge C. C. Evans and As
sociates Blee ami Welliver on the
| bench.
i The constables of the county were
j sworn, after which they presented
their returns. With two exceptions no
i violations of the law were reported.
1 The constables were called before
: court and each one was questioned
, separately as to the condition of the
i roads in his towsnhip or ward. As a
! rule the roads were reported good, the
| stones having been raked off according
' to law.
i The constable of the second ward of
the borough of Danville reported the
streets of that ward as in a very bad
i condition. He had reported them, he
! said,both to the chief burgess and the
borough council but that "no atten
tion was paid to it." The court refer
red the matter to the district attorney,
1 directing him to send up a bill of in
dictment, if he found facts to be as
reported.
In dismissing the constables Judge
Evans stated that since the last term
of court he has had occasion to drive
I over nearly the entire county of Mon
' tour and that he was gratified to state
i that he found the roads one hundred
| per cent, better than in Columbia
county.
Accompanying the return of Harry
W. Yeager, constable of Valley town
ship, was the following petition:
"We, the undersigned tax payers of
Valley township, notify Harry Yeag
i er, constable of said township, to turn
over to court Levi V. Beyer, Samuel
R. Pursol aud William K. Davis, sup
ervsiors, for maintaining a public
nuisance in the public road known as
the road" leading from the
Washingtonville road to Mooresburg
.by maintaining ditches, posts, rails,
i piles of loose stones and deep mud
; holes, iu the middle of said road and
maintaining a bridge too small to
the high water which spreads
| out and floods the property below.
I "Also to turn over to court Charles
I Cornolison for plowing up said public
road and farming same and to turn
; over to court Levi V. Beyer, supervis
ior of said township for aiding and
| abetting the said Charles Cornelison
' iu plowiug and farming the aforesaid
| road, making it too narrow :
(Signed)
CHARLES M. MAUS,
F. W. DIEHL,
A. H. WEITZEL."
Ralph Kisner addressed the court
! explaining that the highway in ques
tion is in dispute and has been for
| over forty years. He urged that the
; road be relocated. Judge Evans
i the same view and suggested that the
supervisors are the proper persons un
der the circumstances to take the ini
tiative and move for a re-location.
The suggestion of the court in the
premises was acted upon and the sup
ervisors at once began procedure look
ing toward a re-location.
'Squire R. G. Auten was appointed
foreman of the grand jury. Noah
Stump was appointed tipstaff.
In the case of Annie and Elizabeth
Ashton a nol. pros, was allowed by
the court. The girls had pleaded guilty
and presented themselves to court for
sentence some two months ago. The
evidence in the opinion of the court
did not sustain the charge, which was
a serious one, and the defendants were
ordered to appear at court in October
for trial.
When the case came np yesterday
District Attorney Gearhart explained
that he had been unable to secure any
additional evidence. Under the cir
cumstances the court permitted a nol.
pros.
Before permitting the girls togo,
Judge Evans gave them some good ad
vice. They had been in jail for over
four months. The Judge reminded
tlieni that they had no doubt been
guilty of very improper conduct, and
ho hoped that their imprisonment had
taught them a good lesson. It was not
too late for them to reform and become
good women.
Salvator Palminsano, an Italian,
was admitted a citizen of the United
States by the court.
All the civil cases were continued
with the exception of the trespass suit
brought by Sophie G. Eckman against
the Lehigh & Willies-Barre Coal com
pany and the case of John C. Zaner
vs. the P. & R. Railway Company. A
jury was impaneled in the "coal
dirt" case but it will not goon trial
until October :ilst. Meanwhile the
jurors will personally examine the
premises of the plaintiff alleged to be
damaged, as well as the collieries of
the defendant coal companies. The
jurors were instructed to appear in
court at 9 o'clock this morning when
"showers" will be appointed by the
oonrt to conduct them on their tour of
inspection, which will occupy a week
or ten days.
Continued on Last Page.
THE ZANER
DAMAGE SUIT
The case of John C. Zaner v*. the
P. R. Railway company, which
went on trial Monday, will be given
to the jnry early thi* morning. The
taking of testimony was completed
last evening.
The case proceeded slowly yester
day. The first delay occurred when
it was discovered that Russell Urn
stead. wdio assisted at the autopsy of
the horse, was confined to his home by
illness and that it would be necessary
to take his deposition.
.'.ccordingly yesterday morning E.
S. Gearhart, representing the plaintiff
and Attorney Wolverton and Rliawu
for the defendant, accompanied by
Prothonotary Thomas G. Vincent and
Court Stenographer Linville drove out
to the home of the witness near Fenst
ermacher's corner, aud took his testi
mony.
It was with the assistance of the
witness that the autopsy was made,
the latter holding the lantern. On the
inside of the horse a big clot of blood
comprising several quarts was found.
In addition to the plaintiff, who was
recalled. Veterinarian J. O. Reed
testified during the forenoon.
Upon reconvening for the afternoon
W. H. Rhawn moved for a compulsory
non-suit. Each side spent about half
an hour in argument, when the court
refused the motion.
Simon Wolverton, Jr., opened the
case for the defendant. He declared
that the crew had taken every pre
caution and that it was necessary for
the engineer to sound the whistle
when he did—that neither the engineer
nor any of the crew were aware of
Mr. Zaner's presence with his team at
that point. The train, he said, was
running on a "green signal" which
indicated that there was a train on
the block. Whistling was necessary
also, he said, because of the proximity
of the crossing.
The witnesses called by the railway
company in succession were: Edward
F Gorman, civil engineer; Harry F.
Smith, train despalcher; Edward Dy
er, telegraph operator of the block
office at Danville: and Mr. Fonst,
engineer of the freight train, the
whistling of which.it is alleged, caus
ed the accident.
The engineer declared that he did
not see the plaintiff, as he was on the
other side of the cab; also that, he not
only had a right to sound the whistle
at that time but that it was absolutely
his duty to do so under the circumst
ances.
This morning an hour or so will be
occupied by attorney's pleas and the
cliargo of the conrt. after which the
case will be given to the jury.
In re estate of M. Lizzie Wagner,
deceased, report of rule confirmed ui
si.
In re estate of Elizabeth S. Ka::e.
deceased, report of sale is confirmed
ni si.
Final account of Daniel Acor,acting
guardian of Andrew A. Acor,confirm
ed ni si.
Iu re. Andrew A. Acor, an alleged
weak-minded person. Bill of costs til
ed and approved and the guardian,
John Coleman, is directed to pay the
same out of the funds of the estate.
In re estate of Jacob Flick,deceased,
report of ni si.
In re estate of Henry C. Snyder, de
ceased, return of sale confirmed ni si.
In re estate of Jacob W. Weller, de
ceased. sale ordered as prayed for.
The first and final account of James
N. Welliver, executor of John E. Wel
liver, late of Danville, Pa., deceased,
was confirmed ni si.
The first and final account of Dallas
Snyder, son of Jacob ,T. Snyder, late
of Danville. Pa., deceased, was con
firmed ui si.
The first and final account of Jona
than P. Bare, executor of Caroline
Fry, late of township of Mahoning,
deceased, was confirmed ni si.
First and final account of Jonathan
P. Bare, trustee, under the will of
Caroline Fiy, deceased, of the share
of the estate said decedent devised for
the use for life of Mary Ann Eliza
beth Bell,a daughter of the said deced
ent, and who is also now deceased,
confirmed ni si.
The first and final acconnt of John
D. Ellis, executor of John J. Bardole,
late of the township of Anthony, do
ceased, was confirmed ni si.
Tlio first and final account of Frank
Carey, administrator,of Mary F. Wel
liver, late of the township of An
thony, deceased, was confirmed ui si.
Petition of the supervisors of Lime
stone township asking that the order
to open the Beufield road in said town
ship be held up nutil such time as it
may appear to the court more practic
able and reasonable to enforce the said
order; also, jietitiou asking for the
appointment of viewers for a bridge
on said road.
Now October 17, 1910, above petition
presented and after due consideration
rule is granted to show cause why the
EBTAHLIBIIED IN 1855
UNIQUE FORM OF
JURY SERVICE
j Thedntieaof the juror* in paneled in
| the case of Sophie G. Eckman y*. the
Lehigh & Wilkea-Rarre Coal company
j are certainly unique Today they en
ter upon an extended view, preceding
| the formal opruint' of the trial, which
j may occupy a week and lead them
, over several hundred miles.
! The jury selected are :
| Charles Kramer, George W. Kapp
Thomas Good.William Russell, Harry
,E. Camp, E.fC. Welliver, Alfred D.
! Smith, U. G. Guliek, Walter Vincent
I John Cooper, Jacob Rhoades, John C.
j Foust.
j The jurors, who were selected Mon
| day, were called before court yester
j day afternoon. The case was o]>ened
jbyE. S. Gearhart. The object is to
| recover damage for land permanently
| injured by coal dirt brought down, it
j is alleged, from the defendant's coal
! works, through the Catawissa creek.
I The farm damaged lies along the north
[ branch at lioaring creek and in most
| part is composed of river bottom land.
The tract damaged is level and con
tains IS)?., acres Prior to 1902 it was
| very fertile ami yielded heavy crops.
I In 1902 a heavy flood occurred, which
1 deposited enormous quantities of coal
i dirt,culm and sulphur on the 19% acre
tract. During the year 1903-4 another
! heavy flood occurred, which, it is al
leged, completed the ruin. Following
1902 corn could not be raised on the
tract. Any crop failed to yield more
; than half, although eveiy effort was
| made to reclaim the land.
| Judge Evans charged the jury, ex
j plaining what is expected of it be
| tween the present and the formal be-
I ginning of the trial, on Monday, Oct
; ober :ilst Accompanied by the sheriff
and two sets of "showers" the jurors
this morning will leave South Dan
ville on the (i :5S Pennsylvania train
for the farm of the plaintiff at Roar
! ing Creek.
: Judge Evans explained that the de
fendant contends that, if tiiere is any
[ considerable quanity of coal dirt on
| the farm of the plaintiff, the defend
! ant can not be held responsible alone,
: as scattered along between the mouth
|of the Catawissa creek and Scranton
| there are many other coal works, all
j of which are sources of coal dirt. Aft
or examining the farm of the plaintiff,
| therefore, the jurors will in all prob
j ability be conducted not ouly along
the Catawissa creek to its headwaters,
where the defendant's coal works are
1 located, but will he conducted by the
showers along the North branch all
the way to Scranton. The conrt in
formed the jury that no doubt four
days or more will be occupied in their
examination of farm and water couises.
! Sheriff Startzel, who will accom
' pany the jurors, will pay all car fare
| and hotel bills.
i "Showers" appointed are as fol
lows: For the farm —representing
j plaintiff, William Vastine; defendant,
j Hiram Purdy. For the colliery—rep
resenting plaintiff, Boyd Trescott; de
fendant, Mr. Dodge or Mr. Cochran.
TRAINS COLLIDE
The engine of fast freight No. 56
bumped into the pusher of another
j freight train ahead of it just south of
Bloom street crossing on the P. & R.
i about 8:30 o'clock last night,
i The engine of the fast freight sus
tained some damage about the pilot
but was able togo on with the train.
I The sudden stop caused the cars to
buckle wrecking a house car contain
! ing merchandise at the Spruce street
I crossing near the rear of the train.
It was necessary to bring the steam
| derrick down from Catawissa to clear
away the wreck and the track was
blocked half the night.
The crew of the fast freight claim
that they were running on their own
time. The cause of the collision could
! not be learned.
JUST LIKE BERRIES. Charles
Fehn, of Newportville, has established
a record by growing 41 pumpkins on
one vine, their total weight being 977
pounds.
prayer of the petitioners should not be
granted Returnable to next argument
conit. C. C. Evans, P. J.
Sophie G. Eckman vs. Pennsylvania
Coal Co. Trespass. Petition to quash
summons. Now October 17, 1910, upon
presentation of tho foregoing petition
of the Pennsylvania Coal Co. verified
by affidavit rule is granted to show
cause whv the* summons in the case
should not be quashed and the return
thereon by the Sheriff should not be
set aside. Returnable at next argu
ment court.
Daniel W. Kaercher, an attorney
of Pottsville, was admitted to practice
at the bar of Montour county.