NEWS: Items from the Cambria Freeman, January 30, 1903, Cambria County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Patty Millich Copyright July 2008. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ _________________________________________ Cambria Freeman Ebensburg, Pa. Friday, January 30, 1903 LOCAL AND PERSONAL Mr. John Lahey, of Lilly, spent a few hours in town on Monday. Mr. J. E. Shields, of Loretto, was a visitor to Ebensburg on Monday. Dr. Claire Fitzgerald, of South Fork, was a visitor to Ebensburg on Monday. Mr. John G. C. Bearer, of Spangler, spent a few hours in town on Monday. Mr. Henra [as spelled in the newspaper] Dunman, of Barr township, was a visitor to Ebensburg on Tuesday. Mr. George E. Meisel, of Carroll township, was a visitor to Ebensburg on Tuesday. Mr. William O'Hara, of Munster township, spent a short time in town on Monday. Mr. N. I. Roberts of Johnstown, was in town on Thursday in attendance at the funeral of Evan D. Evans. A petition is being circulated for a Sunday train between Ebensburg and Cresson. A Sunday train will fill a long felt want. Mr. and Mrs. Abel Lloyd, of Ebensburg, will celebrate their golden wedding this (Thursday) evening at their home in this place. Mr. Frank Fresh, of Nicktown, recently slipped on the ice and falling, fractured both bones of his right leg between the ankle and the knee. Dr. T. M. Richards, who has been absent at Zanesville for several months in the interest of a business house in Zanesville, Ohio, returned home on Friday. Mr. John Murphy, of Munster township, who has been on the sick list for some time, is again able to be about and will soon be fully recovered. At the sale of the Richard Owens farm in Cambria township on Saturday last, the farm consisting of 95 acres, coal reserved, was knocked down to Ira Bloom for $3,252 and the coal was bought in by John M. Hughes at 29 per acre. One day last week Mr. Jacob Holtz, of New Germany, brought to town a sled load of coal weighing 7,800, the net weight of the coal being 6,600. Considering the fact that Mr. Holtz's pair of horses only weigh about 1,100 apiece the pull is pretty hard to beat. About 900 acres of coal land in Barr and Blacklick townships have recently been optioned by Henry Duman, of that locality at $50, $60 and $80 per acre, the latter price including the surface. Rembrandt Peale, the well-known coal operator is the prospective purchaser. Monday morning fires broke out the house of D. H. Stroup of Glen Campbell and destroyed it and his photograph gallery, and the house of James France adjoining. Mr. Stroup's loss is estimated to be $2,000 and Mr. France's $400, the latter covered by insurance. The Pennsylvania Railroad company several days ago took out of service a passenger coach used on the Cambria and Clearfield Division because it is said a woman with smallpox had ridden in it. It was side tracked at Cherrytree and thoroughly fumigated before being used again. A stuffed calf's hide owned by William Fisher of Mt. Union is quite a curiosity. Some time ago the calf was born at Johnstown, but died in three weeks, and the skin was stuffed in Buffalo. It is made up of one head, two eyes, three ears, two bodies and two tails and eight legs. A sensation was created in Altoona social circles on Wednesday by an announcement that Miss Clara McAlarney, of the Mountain City, had brought suit for breach of promise against John G. Gorsuch, liveryman, claiming $5,000 damages. Gorsuch's marriage several weeks ago to another woman was a society event. Over in Blair county, the judicial term of Judge Bell expires on the 1st Monday of January next. Judge Bell is a candidate for the Republican nomination for the office and William S. Hammond, Esq., of Altoona, who has served two terms as District Attorney in that county has announced himself as a candidate for judicial honors. Mrs. Rachel Brode, of Altoona, and her nephew, Berry Dodson, of Altoona, were convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the Blair county court on Saturday. While Mrs. Brode was holding a masquerade party at her home, a party of boys congregated outside. A quarrel ensued between the masqueraders and the boys and in the melee a boy named Ambrose Gehl was shot and killed. Mrs. Edward Parrish, who has been quite ill at the home of her son- in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Brown of the East ward is improving. Miss Gertrude Ferguson, of this place, has been selected by the directors of Jackson township to teach the Joint school, the former teacher having resigned. The Cambria Powder company whose factory is at Seward, has been sued for an aggregate sum of $80,000 damages by four widows, whose husbands were killed in the explosions of June, 1900. The four suits entered at Greensburg are for $20,000 each. Sixteen children were left fatherless, two having been born after the explosion. It is claimed that the deaths of the four men were due to carelessness on the part of the company. The tunnel built by the Pennsylvania Railroad company on the Middle Division, two miles east of Altoona, has been completed. On Monday the tracks were connected, and Way Passenger west, known as No. 31 and Mail Express east, known as No. 34 were the first to pass through. The tunnel which is one mile long was built for the purpose of eliminating a curve. It was built by Contractor Kerbaugh and is a fine work of masonry. It will be used only for the passenger service. On Wednesday morning about 3 o'clock Lambro Yraresco, a young Italian, broke into the post office at Gallitzin by pushing out a large window. The noise of the glass falling attracted the attention of Policeman James Lees who rushed to the scene and caught the man in the building. Yraresco immediately, on being discovered, pulled out a revolver and tried to commit suicide by shooting himself, the last shot being fired into his left ear and producing a wound that may prove fatal. He was arrested and is now in charge of a government officer. A freight wreck in which four trains participated blocked all the tracks about midway between Wilmore and Portage on Sunday morning and delayed traffic for several hours. None of the trainmen were injured. Freights were standing on tracks Nos. 1 and 2, when another came along on No. 3 and stopped. Shortly after, another train crashed into the one standing on No. 3 and the impact wrecked the cars on the other two tracks in such a way that it was a long time before the debris was cleared up. It is said the property loss will exceed $10,000. William Murray, of Myersdale, Somerset county, Tuesday morning about 6 o'clock, before starting to the mines, went into the coal house where he keeps his kegs of powder to fill his flask in which he keeps his daily supply. His miner's lamp furnished the light. The light must have fallen over for soon stray grains of powder began fizzing and they traveled toward the keg. Murray fought them a little but had to retreat. Just as he reached the door of the coal house, the powder in the keg was reached and there was a violent explosion, burning the back of his head and one of his ears very seriously. His face and eyes show signs of explosion. He will not be able to work for some time but had a very narrow escape. Powder and the open lamp do not mix except at a great risk. Standing over her husband as he lay sleeping Monday night, Mrs. Fannie Estabol, of Crabtree, Westmoreland county, sent a bullet crashing into her brain and died two hours afterward. Her husband is agent for the Loyalhanna Brewing company of Latrobe. The man who was elected coroner of Huntingdon county, Dr. G. G. Harman, is now acting sheriff of that county, brought about by the death of Sheriff Wilson. The law of the state provides that when the sheriff is removed from office by death or from any other cause, the duties of his office devolve upon the coroner. Dr. Harman will continue in the place until the governor fills it by appointment. But such appointment extends only to the next general election, which will be held next fall, when a new sheriff will be elected in the regular way. Messrs. J. C. Cameron and Isaac Griffith of Indiana, left for Cambria county on Monday to negotiate for the purchase of a big tract of land being between Spangler and Nicktown and which is owned by Stadden & McHugh, the Glen Campbell lumbermen. The deal will probably be made as it is said there are only a few minor details to be agreed on by the contracting parties. The tract contains 5,000,000 feet of good timber, convenient to railroads and it will take between five and six years to complete the job. Stadden & McHugh will sell only the surface, retaining only the coal, with which the entire tract is supposed to be underlaid. It is the intention of Messrs. Cameron and Griffith to put modern machinery in place on the workings and also to operate lath and shingle mills. But very small waste will be made in the cutting. [Indiana Messenger] The Protection Mutual Fire Insurance company of Cambria county, at its recent election, held at the office of the Secretary, T. W. Dick, elected the following officers for the ensuing year: J. M. Thompson, John J. Evans, Webster Griffith, V. S. Barker, John Lloyd, J. G. C. Bearer, Wm. J. Buck, John C. Gates, D. W. Lake, Mathiot Reade, W. J. Hoppel and John L. Stough. At a meeting held for organizing, the following officers were elected: President, Mathiot Reade; Vice President, J. G. C. Bearer; executive committee, John Lloyd, John J. Evans, and James M. Thompson; Secretary and treasurer, T. W. Dick; Agents:, Geo. A. Kinkead's Sons, R. R. Davis, Ebensburg, and I. E. Roberts, Johnstown. The Cambria Mutual still maintains its place as a safe, reliable and cheap company. The company has been in existence 16 years and has levied only 18 assessments in that time. The last one having been levied over two years ago. It is gradually increasing its business along safe lines. The suit brought by John M. Metzler and D. M. Thompson, executors of Ephraim W. Metzler, against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to recover $860,000 damages in the Blair county court, has been settled to the parties. The late Mr. Mentzer was a Hollidaysburg coal shipper, owning mines located at Ben's Creek, this county. He alleged that the coal company was illegally discriminating against him by granting drawbacks or rebates on coal shipments to the business competitors, and he brought suit under the act of 1883 to recover treble damages. These shipments extended over a period of twenty years. The defense was that a large portion of the claim was outlawed by the statute of limitations and that Mr. Mentzer had sold free on board cars at mines, and that consequently he had not suffered by reason of the alleged discrimination. The exact basis of settlement could not be learned but it is said that the amount approximates $75,000. Suits of a similar character are pending against the railroad company by Max Frick, of Blandburg, $100,000, and J. E. Schmittle & Co., of Lloydsville, $56,000, each of this county. THE BOROUGH CANDIDATES On Saturday evening at 7 o'clock the Republicans of the borough of Ebensburg met at the council room and nominated the following candidates to be voted for at the ensuing election, February 17, 1903: Burgess: Ed. James; Tax Collector, John F. Tibbott; Auditor, George Thomas. East Ward: Council, E. H. Davis; School Director, Stewart Kinkead; Judge of Elections, Isaac Davis; Inspector, William Gray. West Ward: Council, Herman Apel; School Director, S. L. Reed; Judge of Elections, Hosea Evans; Inspector: M. Isenberg. After the Republicans were through the Democrats met at the same place and nominated the following ticket: Burgess, H. A. Shoemaker; Tax Collector, Lester Larimer; Auditor, Dr. D. H. Shoemaker. East Ward: School Director, R. L. McBreen; Councilman, M. J. Stoltz; Judge of Elections, J. D. Thomas; Inspector, Joseph Brown. West Ward: Council, F. C. Lloyd; School Director, M. D. Bearer; Judge of Elections, Robert Bolsinger; Inspector, Thomas James.