The Cedarville Herald, Volume 26, Numbers 1-26

T 'A For Fxeellerice Our Job Work will compare with that of any other firm*. , . *«*« This item when marked with‘aft ■ Index, deemt# that year suhscrip* is pact tJjst; and a prompt fCttfe* mi-ui Is earnestlydesired, TWENTY-SIXTH YEAH. N 0 , 3 . CEDARVILLE. O H IO , FRIDAY. JANUARY 23 . 1903 . P R IC E £ !*0Q A Y E A S . ? ' h >'•- 'l e ­ ss. oc. . I t . '« <*adel nder, Rockland mg thun - :iGod has it?” quea- split all a pitying th a t her .—Bangor . Egypt and ting pure i journal- . ist stupid nough to * i .of clean give him- He ex- . ll provide athe. is. tave been ough the ned a t &11. ; scale of.' ostmaster cards, 18 its fo r 50 00 cards, •apped in lean boy, heboygan, ng a fle ­ ets to be- / iO, . He sue* due paiiit ts of In'* labor and ished his tty- ith a bad ition, a I Ik are re con* ;* o f f * . VafiiiW n f . % a sa iM s- In His O w n Home, Last F r id a y Night, for the P u r ­ pose of Robbery .—-A ssa ilan t Believed Not to • H a v e S ecu red a G rea t S um of Money ■ "y j against, the suspects. Prosecuting At- SOUTH CAROLINA ON TRIAL j terney Howard conducted' the oxom- ination, Harve and bis wife Bailie, Chas,, the suspect and Jennie Jeffries, the girl who found Harris, were all placed on the stand /or examination, Mr, George E.- Sb roads testified to having seen- Mr. Harris alive about six o’clock ou the night before the murder. Hr. M. I. Marsh was also rexamined as to the nature of tbe 1o On Sunday night Doc- of Xenia and Marsh DAYTOfJ BLOOD HOUNDS TRfllli SUPPOSED (MURDERERS * , * .p ,■ l’-_ ^ . TV*. Officers and Detectives Putting Forth. Every Effort, to Land the Right Parties.—Five Suspects Have Been Arrested, Only Two in Prison at the Present Tim^.—Victim was Found by Jennie Jeffries, a Sis­ ter of One of the Suspects.—Blood Hounds do'Valuable Work in the Mysterious Case.— Trail Charles Jeffries and Elza and E lva Shingledecker.--A Growing Sentiment Against Such Characters, Causes - Inhabitants to Become Indignant. wounds, tars DeHaven jajid Coroner-Johnson—made- further- examination of the body at. the ' home of Mr. Thomas St. John, ■where it * lay. A t the present writthig there haB been no verdict rendered. I f there is law and justice in South Carolina there will be one Tillman lets in the state as soon as a trial for murder can he carried to a conclusion. Gonzales, the editor shot by tbe iieu- .tenant governor, is dead, anil the state of Bouth Carolina is itself on trial at the bar 'o f public opinion. I f the murderer goes, free the state will be more disgraced than it already has been by the - Tillman stain upon its -eseutcheonv Never before” in the history of Greene county ha^ there been such a fien lish murder to record as - that of , Jncob Harris, a widower, 65 years of age, who lived alone in a four room house on the street facing the Penn­ sylvania railroad. After tbe announce- ment of the crime the highest excite­ ment prevailed and hundreds of peo­ ple crowded around the little bouse to get a glimpse of the victim. I t is need­ less to say that Cedarvilie never be­ fore passed through what *she did on . Saturday last. Throughout the en­ tire day crowds could be seen . bn the K street ready at a moments notice to moh the guilty assailants. During Sunday there was considerable inves­ tigation by the local officersand never . -has there been a time when as great. a number of citizens congregated in the mayor’s office; The room was crowded to suffocation by persons wSo hoped to get a glimpse of the five sus- . peels that were then behind the bars. Never before did tbe telephone come into use as it did on this occasion, particularly,, with the country people, . all Were anxious to hear the latest de- velopenjents. was found. No-doubt the person or obtained valuable in some respects, persons thought he had monoy about we regret that wo cannot , give it to his under clothing. As Harris was a an anxious public, Trn 03 r w « b turned trapper it was supposed that lie had loose ou hip Own recognizance. Elva sold his furs.a.day or so previous, and or “Big Kid" Shingledecker was that the assailants expected to make a brought out next atid plead guilty to good sized haul. At .this time the a charge of assault and battery on officers have failed to find where he Lesley Smith in March. He was giv-. sold bis furB if there was any such en a fine and costs $26.16 ami twenty sale. I t is contended by some that' days in the work house. ' This is his Harris bad money hoarded away, but first appearance to the public since according to the Oorouer and Frosp- tha t time, as he escaped from officer curing. Attorney they are not of this Kennon. Ellis McMillan was-corn- belief/ Tbe house was not furnished mitted to the work house on an yu- in » way that wouid lead one to be-( paid fine. The . grass w i l l be green iieve that the owner had any great (and the sun shining on both sides ot amount of money. I t was just a few the.fence when their time, is worLed days prior to the crime that money had been borrowed of George Boyd and D.,S. Ervin. HowtheVictimwas Found. A 'girl named Jennie-Jeffries, was. passing the house, occupied and owned by Harris, nbout 10:30 a. m., Saturday morning and according to her story heard some noise in the house, she Btepped to the side door next to the ally and noticed that the interior of the house wiis torn Up* She then called her mother, Mr8' Bailie .Jeffries, who in turn notified Charles Harris, a pepbew of the vic­ tim, who .lives .near. By the time Charles Harris .arrived Dan Coffey was passing and the two entered the house after Some hesitation, Investi­ gation disclosed- rite fact that Harris had been murdered. They found the body of Harris lying on the floor on his back with his left arm over his forehead. Word was sent out into town and in a few minutes the house was surrounded with people anxious to know how the deed had been com­ mitted. An examination proved that the bead and face had been beat­ en almost into a pulp* Doctors Marsh and Stewart were present and pronounced that the victim had been dead a t least ten hours. The sight in the room is- one that will never be forgotten by those who entered be­ fore tbe coroner came* To find spots of blood here and there; bloody hand marks on the .walls, the floor resemb­ ling tbe slaughtering pen, only pic­ tures what a terrible battle took place on that Friday night. Harris imd evidently not retired as h e was found with his boots and clothes on. Rdbbefyjhe Motive. The condition o f the interior of the . home indicates that the purpose of the murder was for robliery. In two of the rooms were bed* and each had been torn up and the bed ticks slit anil tbe straw on the floor. Cup­ boards* draws In the bureau, and dif­ ferent boxes had been rnmsacked from top to bottom and even five or six packages of coffee had been emp­ tied on the floor. A further proof that tbe murder Was committed for robbery was that Harris* money box bad been broken open, the lock being still in the ring, His clothing that be wore indicates that hi* pockets bad been segtdhed* Even hi* under tbirt bad been, examined for this pur­ pose, a* is indicated by the condition of his clothing a t the time the body Workof BloodHounds. The excitement of the terrible crime had scarcely abated until a sub­ scription paper was in circulation, so­ liciting funds to secure blood hounds to track the supposed .murderers. A telephone message to the Chief of Po­ lice fit Dayton secured- bounds in charge of'Captaia Harriman, who ar­ rived about four o’clock, Saturday afternoon. The crowd that gathered to watch the work of the doge was placed at about 500 in number, and great was the excitement*. The doge were given a scent from the tools used to conimit the awful deed arid-, went at once down the railroad track to tbe home of Harve Jeffries. Three times did the dogs go in this direction and it was- with difficulty that they were.taken from the bed in which Charles JeffrieS’slept the night pre­ vious. The dogs next went to the east part of town to the home of Minnie Hamilton, thence down town following a trail of Charles Jeffries. About six o’clock another trail was taken this time the dogs went down the railroad around ’to the home of John Shingledecker, where the two boys, Elva and Elza, twins, known os tbe “Big Kid” and “ Little K id,” were lounl* Charles Jeffries and both of the Shingledeckers were a r­ rested that night. On Sunday after5 noon Ellis McMillan and Tom Tracy wore placed under arrest. AH these men have served sentences in the pen­ itentiary for burglary. When the officers searched the homes of these men they found some clothing that was though to be of great value m the case, but latter proved different, Tbe five men were placed in the three cells and an officer was there constantly to keep them from get'ting into a conversation and fixing a story to relate when placed on trial* DetectivesSent For. Sunday afternoon,. Messrs,* Lee Crawford and William Nortliup* were driven to Xenia where they took the fust, train to Cincinnati to secure detectives to work up the case. As the former is ft cousin of C h ie f o f . Detectives for Cincinnati, Kslph Crawford, the services of two experts were secured. Prosecuting Attorney Howard was up Monday looking after the later development in the case. A number of.witnesses were put through the “ sweating process** on Tuesday, before the close questioning of the officer*. Tuesday afternoon there Was nn examination of the suspects in the. case, Thomas Tracy being the first to lie called* The examination was co, ducted behind closed- doors before the officers and * represent a tive of the Herald, As the case? is an important one and evidence out. These two charges will hold them should further evidence ' In turned up against them in the mur­ der case. “ Little. Kid" Sbinglctleck- er and Charles Jeffries each had a partial hearing which wiis continued until this morning. On Wednesday the detectives spent part of the day a t the Harris home Searching through the house to see what could lie found. aud twei.ty of our citizens asiriug that the County Commissioners offer some reward lor the apprgheusion und con­ viction of the person-or persons who murdered Jacob Harris: , Jan . .21, 1003. To this H onorable B oautj of C ounty C ommissioners of G keene C ounty , Orinx ■ Gentlemen:—We the undersigned,' nembers of council aud other citizens of the village ;of Cedarvilie, Greene Co., Ohio, do petition your Honor­ able Body to oiler a suitable' reward for the apprehension of. the person or. persons who murdered our fellow citi­ zen, Jacob Harris, on the 16th day of January, 1903, "And we.also petition your Houor- ible Boby to make a cash appropri­ ation and place tiie same in the hands, of your .worthy prosecuting Attorney, to help pay the expense of making an; effort to bring the guilty party to justice^ • • • PrisonersContented. SheSawThree °The Herald 1ms been informed that three men were standing at the north­ west corner of Miller and Railroad street last Friday night between the hours of eleven and twelve o’clock. Mrs. Harriet Porter was on her why home from Mr, J . 11, Wolford’s, where she had been assisting with the serving of a supper during the even­ ing, when she saw these three men' 8iaudiugnt the point stated above. She being alone and not being very- anxious to ascertain ns to ,who the parties were hurried on. home, never thinking of anything out of the ordi­ nary. As tli4e met) were fitandlug only two or three hundred feet from the Harris home, there is strong sup­ position that these arc the parties who committed the murder. A t this time the moon was shining bright nud it is regretted that the parties are not known, ' . - Charles Jeffries and ‘(Little Kid’* Shingledecker, the only two prisioners in jail nt present, that are held in connection with the Harris ..murder, seem very w£ll eoritehled, About (heir only amusement is a deck 6t cards aud . odcassionally smoking a cigarette Three square ntenls a day and a good warm place to sleep seems to strike their fauey. Last Sabbath afternoon members ’ of the Howie church called at the jail, and prayed with the prisoners. A number ol tbe late copies; of “Leaves of Healing” were left for reading. I t it bard to tell at this writtiug just how long the boys will be held but it is, probable they will 'remain until the officers are thoroughly satisfied they bad no con­ nection whatever with the killing of Harris, Brotherwas also Murdered. A remarkable fact iu connection with the murder of Jacob Harris, is that a brother, John Harris, who while marshal of Cedirvii’e, was shot atid killed, nineteen years ago while making, an arrest. For ibis crime Isauc Weymouth, who. hung himself in Springfield several ;uoutbs ago, Was tried, but was, acquitted,. Bloody Coat Found. The officers have in their possession a coat that can not be accounted for. I t was found west of town hear the Northup crossing, which is only a short distance from the Jeffries borne, Wednesday. The coat Was discovered by George Smith and brought to head­ quarters. According to the examina­ tion of the garment by the detectives there are quite a number of blood spots on it,. The-center piece has been taken out of the back for some Funeral Held Monday. • - The body of the murdered man was taken to the home of his sister, Mrs. Thomas St, John who resides on the Clifton pike, the funeral being held' last Monday a t ten oYLrk. There was quite a large number of of people present, ns Mr. Harris had many relatives in tin's section. His son, Thomas Harris, of Cincinnati, arrived Sunday. The services were conducted by ReV. Middleton of the M, E. church. Burial took place at, the ci metnry north of town. Will RemainIn Prison. The-coiitiinied hearing of Jefferies atid Shingledecker did not take place this morning as intended A turn in the condition of uffairs led the officers to defer the hearing until later. On Thursday Charles Jeffries ami Elza Sliingle'deeker signed agreements to remain in prison until tbe officers see fit to have their hearing. The prin clpal article in the agreement is the releasing of the qflieers from all dam ages for their imprisonment, The AStrangSentimentGrowing. There has been a strong sentiment growing all week and it is showing its self plainer every day that thm citi­ zens of this place will have to take 'some notion towards tbe ridauce of a certain class of people from the town. There is in the west end of town sonic eight or_ten houses aud al­ most the same number in the east end that are occupied by a very low class of citizens. 1’eople that- cannot be called citizens for they, have been the source of much annoyance both to the officials an- to the public* in general, I t is within these • few houses that have been harbored, the largest per cent of prisoners that have, appeared in the mayor's court in the past four or five years. I t was with- these same houses that the .five or six persons resided that were sent to the penitentiary for looting the- Dal­ las residence about two years ago., luvai iably when property is stolen the officers are required to search these houses and nine times out of ten the property is there. ‘Now the question his come to the public, as t o . who.is responsible for these people being in our midst. To allow the murderers ot Jacob Harris to go free will estab­ lish u dangerous precedent for the vil­ lage of Cedarvilie. I t cau not be de­ nied that the crime is one of the best planned and executed .the special of- ficers^ever had the priyelege of inves­ tigating in a great number of years of experience. There is every , ihdi-, cation that the terrible deed jvas eom mitted by- local talent and •whether the accused persons are proven guilty or not, .it behoves every citizen to be ou the look-out, fur such a successful deed will only lend to others. Then for the safety of the people in this community we must banish this class of people from our midst. I t is hardly necessary to take the same steps as javp been taken in the city of Spring- field. That city has a 's tre e t known as the Levee,” a place where only ilio lowest o f people reside, where the officers first go when looking for stolen goods and where they first visit in search of oue who has committed a ireat crime. The citizens of Spring- field could stand the outrages no onger and at the last session of grand jury the property owne.a were indict­ ed for renting their houses to this class of people, consequently the in- mbitants have within the past few weeks most a)l been driven irorn the city pending a heavy fine. In a town the size of Gedarville it is hardly nec­ essary that such rigid steps bo taken. We believe that moral persuasion can be brought upon the property owners to require the people to vacate, for c jrtainly no tax payer would shelter such,characters if he has the best interests of his town and people at hearl.. S o li is a t present, in these houses we have the lowest of charact­ ers sheltered against the will and de­ sire ot a moral community, I t cer­ tainly will not he necessary for the public to come forward and demand that these houses be cleared of this class of people, The murder of Jacob Harris has coat a life and east a stain on tbe morals of tile community of Cedarvilie. Will her citizens toler­ ate Duels people longer? There was never a more cold blood­ ed murder than that pf Editor Gonza­ les by the younger Tillman. , No mat­ ter what provocation might have been given in tbe paper edited by Gonza- les-and there is no assurance that anything said was not true and just, however much it might bo in violation of good taste-it affords no excuse for the cold blooded, assnsaim.tion of which-Tillman is guilty. The shoot­ ing Was iu flagrant, violation' of the “ code of honor” supposed to govern in such cases in. the south, barbarous as that code is held to be iu the north. I t was deliberate, cowardly murder, and there is no other term applicable, Besides, Leut. Gov. Tillman was a high officer of the state, sworn to not only obey- bu t also t o ’execute the, laws'. He had no excuse for Carrying a djeadly weapon, no justification iu tbe law or iu good ‘'citizenship. He .should have set an exumple- of ohedi-. ence. to law, not its flagrant violation. South Carolina.owes to' itself that Tnlman, taken red handed in a brut­ al' aud cowardly murder, be given owift justice. Political bias or preju­ dice should have up influence iu his case one way or another. Position in- class consideration should not be per­ mitted to effect the case, That Till­ man holds uext to the highest position iu the state, should, not check the course of justice or cheat the gallows of.itftdue.,,' STEALING COAL. reason, while the pockets and sieves-.time lin'd arrived for their hearing hr arc good. The color i s , of- a brown Jrelease. The two boys only ask lbr cast and evidently hud been hurried, a good fire, tobacco and three square in the snow and not discovered until,menlft-a day. A number of witnesses the thaw. A t present the officers are | have been before the officers to ex unable to find anyone who can recog- J plain different things iu connection iiizc the coat and they ask that tbs, with the case. public inspect and report. I t is on exhibition a t ’the tnnyor’s office, CitizensAskforReward. The following petition wa* cireu Coroner Heldinquest. The Coroner’* inquest held in the mayor’s office Saturday afternoon and night and as fi.f ns known did not latcd and eigtud. by come one hundred1bring out fifty damaging evidente A woman, probably fifty years of age, was found Tuesday evening near tbe railroad. She bad*escaped from tbe insane nsyhnn at Columbus on Monday and walked a l l J the way. Officer Kennon took her in charge and placed her i a the jail corridor where she Btfiyed Tuesday night, Wednesday a representative of the in­ stitution came and took, tho woman back to Columbus. The woman was desirous of reaching her home, iu Union county but was going In tho Wrong direction. She spent tho en­ tire day fit tho jail but would talk to no one excepting Win, lliffe, who put her through an inquisitive exam­ ination, The coal confiscation scheme is hurting public morals worse than the loss of coal hurts the, railroads and shippers. Oii’e' wrong can never cor­ rect another'-—Toledo Times. That is the gospel truth; every word of it. The law makes no excuse valid for stealing; there may. be palliating circumstances, but when oile takes something belonging to another, the law defines it ns a crime.. In several sections of the country, municipal au thorities have “ winkedat” the stealing of coal; in one city the work house au­ thorities refused to admit persons con­ victed of stealing coal and 'Sentenced to punishment. This may have seem­ ed the proper thing to do, under mit- jgating circumstances, but was a dan- g -rous thing to do So fur as its moral effect upon community is concerned. I t would be cheaper in.thq long run for business men to raise a fund- to Bupply coal to those who are unable to purchase it, than to have a senti­ ment grow up in any community that it is right to steal coal when the weather is cold, nnd oue has -not the. money with which to purchase it, I f it is right to steal coni it is fright to steal food or clothing, or any other necessity, nnd if it is right to steal a necessity there are hundreds who would consider it no wrong to steal jewelry, money or luxuries. The con­ doning of crime beg ts crime, for the penalty and certainty of punishment for crime are made doubtful. The state, county', the cities and the citi­ zens each have modes of relieving the wants of the poor, and in every case one or the other will do so,- which mttkes the pretext for stealing coal, or anything else, very flimsy.—Dayton Herald., j . NOTICE, The annual meeting of the share holders of the Cedarvilfe Building and Loan Association will take place nt the mayor’s office, Cedarvilie Ohio, Saturday, February 7, 19 >3, tor the election of, directots, and for such other business as may come before tho meetings, Polls open from seven to nine. A ndrew J ackson , • . Bec?yi. U.P. CHURCHHISTORY BY 10 , F. 0 . BOSS Before the history ;e concluded, it is fitting and proper that we pay a well deserved tribute to one who, though still living, is worthy of recog­ nition and Inerits the thank* of the congregation. We refer to Mr. Robelrfr, M. Jackson. , t For over 14 years he waB the leader df the choir and did more to bring it to a high degree of efficiency, and ■ the church music to a high standard Of excellence and the praise service to a trimly skillful rendering than any other one of the congregation. H e ' gave hia labors quietly and grataitouB- !y, was unsparing in his time arid pains, aud devoted his rare musical talents and energies, without reserve in the development o f this part of the church services. * No one will ever know the anxieties that he felt during all those years, and they were years marked by untiring faithfulness. While the attendance at choir meet­ ings was marvelously punctual, the secret.of it was to be found in the de­ votion of the leader to his duty and his passionate love for his chosen irfc. He had,the power to transmit hip enthu­ siasm for music .to his pupi -i. Mr. Jackson was an enthusiastic lover of music. Those. who knew him beBt say that he sang before he left the, cradle; Music was most congenial to his nature. When but 14 years of age, a friend brought a violin to his father’* home. * I t wai the first one he had ever seen, anti he took it op 1and tried to play, and the first pull o f the bow evoked sweet tones find gave the prophecy of the fulurri - artist. < H e soon became proficient, the befit1vio­ linist in tbe community and a teacher of this ma tchiess instrument, Being an ardent lover of music'he developed, along with his instrument­ al skill, into a good tenor singer and 1 eader. He thoroughly studied the rudiments of music,.fitting himself for • teaching, and “ rode the circuit” Ofthe school houses of the community in­ structing classes in vocal music. Along in the years of 1864-1869, there was an Academy in Cedarvilie whoso principal wfis Prof. Fleming, a fine scholar aud teacher. He felt the need of music being taught, and em­ ployed Robert Jackson to teach yo.cal milsic in his Academy, The' profess­ or was not long in discovering that he tad been, fortunate- in his selection, !:Ie told many that he never before ntd found a teacher th a t could make the “ Transposition o f the Scale” so interesting arid so clear as Robert M. : Jackson. He seemed to possess a.mag- nctisrn that wrought enthusiasm iu ns pupils. This was theigecret of the great interest the Old Choir had in the weekly meetings of /those years*' The excellence of that choir was due t o ; his leadership. He set before them the example of unfailing punctuality. He held up before them a high stand­ ard of efficiency and he was unspar­ ing and self sacraficing in .his effort* to render acceptable praise. His work also extended beyond the choir. While perfecting the talents of hi* chosen helpers, he kept a sharp watch for latent talents, which when found were soon enlisted and developed, thus constantly urging and laboring for tbe.improvement of the si tdng of the congregation* No record is to be found if any recognition of his truly her ic ser­ vice. No tribute has ovef h, en paid to his work aud devotiou ns leader-o f the old choir in its palmiest days, lift labored on for years without atly ex­ pression of commendation, or appre­ ciation for hLservices, and he retired without so much as a vote o f thanks* [Continued on last pi goj Tn rough the offbits of Miss Jeiiuic Bratton the library has Imd another donation' of hooks from tbe Honorable Whitelaw Reid. 1nr, books have ar­ rived and are at the fn ighfc house and they will lie placed on the shelves as soon as the proper papers arrive. The gift is made filling ft former statement, that when 1000 Volume* were ou the shelves, an, additional gift would be made* -rUfft Golden Rule Flour* “ I lmvc used Ayer’s Hair Vigor for thirty year.?, 1 1 is elegant for n hair dressifi" r,r.d for keeping the hair from npliutiig at the end**’ *** J*A. Grucncnfildcr, Grantfork, 111* (Hair-splitting splitis friendships. If the hair­ splitting is done on your own head, it loses friends for you, for every hair of your head is a friend** Ayer’s Hair Vigor in advance will prevent the splitting. If the splitting has b?gun, it will step it* $l .«0 a fettle. Alt f l tf «>ur rtfiTWrht wmftot sromty v##, »An<l«» one dnulit an* -m yrift aspwftj yfttl aliottie. m *nt*andj i t ni t i Wa* .