NEWS: Items from The Cambria Freeman, April 1, 1904, Cambria County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Patty Millich Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ _________________________________________ Cambria Freeman, Ebensburg, Pa. Friday, April 1, 1904 Volume XXXVIII, Number 14 Local and Personal M. F. Watts has sold his large farm near Gallitzin to R. C. Edelbute, the wholesale liquor man of the mountain town, for a consideration given as around $12,000. It is not known what disposition the new owner of the property will make of it, but Mr. Watts will move into Gallitzin to live. Fes Tibbott of this place left Saturday morning for Pittsburg where he will enter the West Penn Hospital for the purpose of undergoing an operation. He was accompanied by his sister, Miss Mary Tibbott. Dr. D. E. Fisher and son of Lilly were in this place Monday and Tuesday. Mr. Fisher was a witness in the Lilly murder case. Oscar Hofmann, one of our obliging barbers is visiting friends in McKeesport this week. James Warner of Blandburg who served on the jury of Billy Bell here last week was a pleasant caller at this office on Saturday. Mrs. D. E. Davis of the East Ward returned home after visiting her parents in Carrolltown and other relatives in the North of the county. A. P. Storm of Cresson was in Ebensburg on business Monday. John Barnett and Alexius Adams, two of Chest Spring's citizens were in town Monday and while here were pleasant callers at this office. Flinton Notes John I. Meyers, of Reade township, one of the best known men of this part of the country, is critically ill. He has been sick for some time and as a result of a surgical operation performed by several physicians some time ago, it was found that every one of his vital organs is badly diseased and an enormous cancerous growth was found in his stomach. It is a case of much surprise to all physicians acquainted with it and it is very remarkable that the man is yet living, as he has taken less than a cup of nourishment in six weeks. Fire at Mountaindale On Tuesday the residence and general store building of John E. Kuhn of Mountaindale was burned down. The estimated loss is about $5,000, fully covered by insurance. Davis Confesses Crime Notwithstanding the fact that in court three months ago the negro, Frank Davis, swore before God and man that he was innocent of the murder of Laura Taylor on the Frankstown Road last fall, he on Wednesday, confessed to Warden Reynolds and County Commissioner W. S. Stutzman that he and he alone was responsible for the death of the woman. The colored man has acted for some time as if he had great load on his mind. When he was approached by the Messrs. Stutzman and Reynolds and asked if he had really murdered Laura Taylor, in reply he said that he had. According to the man he was at first sorry that the razor with which he committed the deed was not sharp enough kill him also but that since he had received sentence of death he was glad that he would have time to prepare to meet his maker. Davis said that there was no necessity of informing his mother and other relatives who live in Savannah, Ga., of his incarceration in jail and his approaching death on the gallows. His mother, he said, was a Christian and he wanted to meet her in Heaven when he died. Jealousy or spite had nothing to do with the murder of the Taylor woman, according to the murderer. It was the result of drink. Davis, in his confession Wednesday, did not dwell much on the terrible crime in Cocaine alley but instead attempted to give what might be called a dissertation on the uncertainty of life. He said that he had never imagined for a minute that he would ever be in a murderer's cell. He told his listeners that he was getting prepared to die on the gallows. He stated with apparent sincerity that he would walk to the place of death happy. The condemned man was born in Savannah Sept. 23, 1874, and is therefore 30 years of age. He has a mother, six brothers and three sisters living in the Georgia city. Miners Dismayed Demands of Operators at Altoona Seem to be Excessive Altoona, Pa., March 30. - The Central Pennsylvania operators and miners' joint scale committee met here again last night to adjust the wage scale, but deadlocked, the committee adjourned until today. Meantime the committee members will confer with the delegates in the miners' convention regarding a compromise which national officers have advised to effect. It is with dismay the miners learned that the operators insist on a 55 cent ton for pick mining. They hoped concessions would be forthcoming last night, but they were not. They do not want a tie-up in the field but such a thing is not impossible unless the miners are willing to concede more than the 5.55 reduction they voted to accept. "Billy" Bell is Acquitted Jury Also Decides in Favor of Mrs. Gablotz of Lilly. Frank Davis receives his Sentence. Our criminal court grew interesting this last week. One man was sentenced to death another who was on trial for his life was acquitted and a woman on trial for murder was forgiven. And only one of the three occurrences that seemed to please everyone was the forgiveness of the woman. The sentencing of Davis, the colored murderer and the acquittal of Bell occurred on Friday afternoon. The day was a remarkable one in the annals of the criminal court of Cambria county. When the Bell case closed and the jury filed from the room, Davis was brought before the court, standing erect, the court faced the criminal before the bar and slowly but solemnly pronounced the sentence of death upon him. Such was the setting for the acquittal of "Billy" Bell for the very moment that the words of the death sentence fell upon the ears of the colored man, a jury divided in sentiment was deciding whether or not Bell should stand before that same bar and hear the same words. The situation was one seldom paralleled. It was not to be wondered at that with the sudden breaking of the tremendous tension of those three days, the mother of the defendant broke into hysterical weeping at the reading of the verdict, and that Bell's wife, with her children around her, sat with swimming eyes and voiceless lips, literally stunned by the news. It was no certain message for which she waited. When the jury filed into the room the defendant's lips parched, face twitching, fingers clenched convulsively and eyes like those of an animal at bay, knew that his grounds for hope were fully equaled by his cause for fear. The case was a "close" one, so close that the strain upon the defendant, the attorneys and the jury was clearly apparent to those who watched the proceedings. From the beginning it was a fight. The prosecution patiently and persistently spread its net of evidence around Bell. Strand after strand was deftly severed by the defense. At the end of the trial came the question as to whether or not there was enough stands left to hold the prisoner. It was yes or no to the jury. At 2 o'clock the jury took the case and at 5 o'clock, they answered, "No." The conduct of the case was in every way creditable. The prosecution left nothing undone that could in fairness be done. It was evident from the start that Attorney Frank P. Martin was making one of the fights of his life, and his handling of the case was a matter of general comment here. No point in the prosecution was left unattacked. The most unimportant incidents and circumstances, as well as details that seemed unimportant were all used to reinforce the salient points of his defense. His closing argument was dramatic and convincing. It was an uphill fight for the defense and a fight that a single error might have lost. It was a fight that makes the victory all the more of a credit. Jury Forgives Her Ending in a Case in which Blood on Baby's Nose Figured This case in which the jury forgot the crime in pity for the offender - more credit to them - was one of a different character from the Bell mix up. The woman in the case was a native of Poland. Her name was Gablotz and she lived with her husband and her little baby at Lilly. About a year and half ago she came from Poland to join this Gablotz and the pair lived - after a fashion of their people - in a tiny shanty near the above named town. They differed from their neighbors only in this: Gablotz worked a little harder and drank less than his comrades and his wife was a little more reserved, a little less free spoken, a bit more thrifty, a little more liable to have her face shining with soap and her simple apparel cleaner than her associates. They were in no wise remarkable. There is nothing, however, on the record to show that they were not happy. Sometime in January last the wife became a mother. The child was probably red-faced and ugly. Mrs. Gablotz however, contended that not even in Poland where the children were the handsomest in all the world was there such a baby. On the night of February 27th about 7 o'clock in the evening, while Mr. Gablotz was absent from home, one Andy Ivan staggered into the presence of Mrs. Gablotz, drunk and on mischief bent. The mother was sitting upon the bed that served for chairs in that house, nursing that wonderful baby. Ivan grabbed the mother. There was a short struggle. The baby fell to the floor. The man was pushed back into the middle of the room. Now the evidence would dictate that just at this juncture Mrs. Gablotz picked up her baby and discovered the fact that the end of its beautiful little nose was red with blood. It dawned upon Mrs. Gablotz that her wonderful baby had been injured by the brute with whom she had just been struggling. Quick as light her hand reached to an adjacent shelf, like a flash she struck at the drunken hulk before her. That was the beginning and the end of the tragedy - so simple is the passing of a life. It is not clear from the evidence that at the time she struck, Mrs. Gablotz was being attacked by Ivan. It was not clear that her person was in danger. It was not proven that she thought of anything but the blood on the baby's nose when she struck, but she struck nevertheless. Good mother. It were better to have struck with a club - a real light club. It was unfortunate for Ivan that the knife was so near. But Mrs. Gablotz simply had to strike with something. What mother wouldn't? The brute had caused the nose of her baby to bleed. Mother's hearts were made before laws and if the laws don't take account of them so much the worse for the law. Mrs. Gablotz obeyed an instinct. One cannot think of the statues of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania when some brute has made a baby's nose bleed, as mothers and jurymen who have wives well know, - if learned judges don't. Such was the case as it went to the jury. The district attorney quoted law to the twelve good men and true. Then the judge said wise things to them. Counsel Doerr for the defense smiled and looked in no wise alarmed. Most of the men on the jury had a wife and babies at home. The case was safe - and so it was. It took the jury just 7 minutes to forgive Mrs. Gablotz - such was the happy termination of the case. No one had been harmed but Ivan. He was evidently a man whom a little killing did not hurt. The jury, Attorney Doerr, Mr. and Mrs. Gablotz and the baby all went home happy. The district attorney shed no tears at losing the case. The court had occasion to reflect upon the difficulty of regulating a woman's conduct by law when some brute has not only attacked her but made the nose of her baby bleed. There are some things that puzzle courts and that, remarked the man, is the reason why we have juries. Saturday was Sentence Day Court convened at 9:15 Saturday morning and adjourned at 11:20, the entire session having been devoted to pronouncing sentences in the following cases: Eddie Rodgers, aged eleven, charged by Supervisor Aaron Stutzman of West Taylor Township, with being a nuisance, had been adjudged not guilty, but was ordered to pay the costs. John Sprock who appropriated funds belonging to Liquor Merchant Philip Bender was directed to pay a fine of $50 and serve six months in jail. Guncona Glo and Antoni Bou had been found guilty of stealing $104 from their roommate in a South Fork boarding house. For this Glo was sentenced to pay $25 fine and serve four months while Bou's fine is fixed at $50 and the jail sentence of nine months. Mike Nightengale, who upon being released from jail last Tuesday immediately attempted to annex Constable Bradley's overcoat was directed to pay the costs and further sentence suspended. For an assault committed upon Thos. McConnell of Tunnelhill, Charles Ward was sentenced to pay the costs, with further sentence suspended during his good behavior. Ward, whose besetting sin is drink, promised Judge O'Connor to sign the pledge. Because he allowed his wrath to carry him so far that he struck a man in the ribs with a penknife, John Rabel was recently convicted of aggravated assault and battery. Monday he was sentenced to pay a fine of $50 and serve nine months in jail. The next case was that of Antonio Petkof of Cambria City, who had been convicted of surety of the peace. Petkof who has been in jail for some weeks, has been acting queerly of late, having developed an unnatural appetite for the heads of matches and other combustible articles. He was remanded to jail awaiting an investigation of his sanity. A fine of $30 and four months in jail was the sentence in a case in which August McGough of South Fork was convicted of aggravated assault and battery. George Motha and John Monthilowitch will serve eighteen and thirteen months, respectively in the Western Penitentiary. This is for breaking into one of the Kerbaugh Company's tool houses and stealing tools to the amount of $30. Leo Costlow, aged eighteen, convicted of robbery came up for sentence. His mother, who was in the court, pleaded his youth as an extenuating circumstance and said that in case the boy were discharged he would enter the U. S. Navy. Judge O'Connor released him with the proviso that he enlist at once. William Maley convicted of desertion, was released on his own recognizance in the sum of $300 and ordered to pay his wife $5 a week. For larceny, E. Wohnnen paid the costs and had further sentence suspended during good behavior. J. W. Shirey and John Micha, both convicted of assault and battery got fines of $5 and $10 each and jail terms of one month and four months respectively. L. Mlinacher, accused of felonious assault and battery by Joseph Puhala, had a little jury trial Saturday. He was found not guilty but directed to pay one-third of the costs. Andy Gresco and Sam Puhala were found guilty of hitting another foreigner with a beer bottle. Gresco was fined $50 and ordered to jail for six months, while Puhala's fine was $25 and his jail sentence four months. After Obadiah Reese had been appointed Supervisor in Cambria Township, on motion of J. W. Leech, court adjourned until the arrival of the afternoon train (Monday). Cambria G. O. P. Ticket For Congress - John M. Reynolds of Bedford. State Senator - Jacob C. Stineman, re-nominated, State Representative - Edward E. Hohmann, re-nominated; Edmund James of Ebensburg. Prothonotary - Charles E. Troxell, re-nominated. Register and Recorder - Arthur Griffith of Johnstown. District Attorney - J. W. Leech of Ebensburg. Poor Director - John Davis of Blacklick Township. County Surveyor - J. L. Elder of Ebensburg. Coroner - W. B. Prothero of Johnstown.