NEWS: Cambria Freeman; 1907; Ebensburg, Cambria Cnty., PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Patty Millich Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ Cambria Freeman Ebensburg, Pa. Friday, 14 Jun 1907 Volume 41, Number 24 Local and Personal The people in Ebensburg and the many friends of Captain Tom Davis, throughout the county, learn with regret that his condition still remains very critical, with little hope for his recovery. J. C. Brown, one of our valued subscribers from Altoona, was an Ebensburg visitor Monday. Mr. Brown was a former resident of Summit and for many years was in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad company which company has retired him with a pension. Captain and Mrs. Hugh Bradley of Hollidaysburg were the guests the early part of the week of their daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Scanlan, of the Centre ward. Mr. Bradley's son, John, who has a national reputation as a hunter of big game, will shortly leave New York for a hunting expedition to the North Pole. The condition of Mrs. Benjamin Jones, wife of ex-County Commissioner Benj. Jones of Cambria township, is unimproved and is still confined to her bed. Ex-County Commissioner T. M. Sheehan and ex-County Auditor F. A. Farabaugh of Patton were visitors at THE FREEMAN office Wednesday. Undertaker Eugene Bearer of Conemaugh was a visitor to the north of County Wednesday. John Drury of Johnstown is in the County seat on business. Late News of County J. G. Schwaderer, one of the most popular young men of Cresson, has been taken to a Philadelphia hospital to receive treatment for tuberculosis. J. R. Pmeltzer, who had been located in the Cresson & Clearfield office at Cresson, has been transferred to the offices of the same corporation at Barnesboro. Patrick Lynch, of Clearfield township, returned from his trip to Ireland Tuesday evening. He left Messrs. Mellon and McCauley on the "ould sod," where they will stay for several weeks yet. Pat had a fine time in the land of his forefathers but still thinks U. S. A. the only country on the face of the globe. (Patton COURIER) The Rev. Father O'Donnell, Pastor of St. Thomas' Catholic church at Ashville, received a broken nose Friday while playing in a game of base ball between a team from Ashville and one from Juniata. Father O'Donnell was playing short-stop and while catching a ball he collided with a man running from second to third base. The Cresson School Board organized Monday of last week with the following officers: President, R. D. Mainwaring; Secretary, F. J. Burgoon; treasurer, Charles F. Buck. An invitation has been extended the township school authorities to meet with those of the borough and discuss a number of questions now pending between them. Six Men are Badly Burned in Explosion Were Playing with Squibs at Greenwich with a Powder Can Nearby Sparks Got in the Explosive By the explosion of a 25-pound of giant powder at Greenwich mine near Barnesboro late Saturday night, six men were so badly burned that three of them will die while the other three will be maimed for life. The injured: Nicholas Yanes, aged 33 years; hands, face and body, very seriously burned. John Mihalovic, 21 years; face and body seriously burned. Will die. Steve Moravich, 36 years; hands, face and body burned to an extent that he cannot survive. Mike Drouth, 22 years; hands and face burned but condition is not critical. Jacob Brichter, 42 years; face and hands burned; condition not alarming. Mike Mehalowich, 42 years; feet and face burned. Injuries not serious. The accident occurred at a late hour. Medical aid was secured within a short time and the men were rushed to the Memorial Hospital at Johnstown. Seventeen men boarded in the house in which the explosion occurred. Ten of the number slept in one room upstairs. Of these men, seven had gone to bed Sunday night. The other three were amusing themselves burning squibs. These squibs are used in setting off-blasts by the miners. There was in the room an open can containing 25 pounds of powder. Some of the sparks from the squibs found their way into this can. The explosion which followed blew off doors and windows and practically wrecked the house. The explosion was heard for a distance of several miles. A great number of people were attracted to the scene. The presence of these curious people saved the building, which caught fire after the explosion. The flames were extinguished with great difficulty. Dr. Prideaux of Greenwich happened to be in the vicinity at the time. He summoned Dr. McMillen of Barnesboro. The six men mentioned were horribly burned. Faces blackened and swollen and bodies burned so badly that the skin was dropping off were the results of the criminal carelessness of the miners who played with the squibs. The men were taken to Garman's Mills first and then brought to Johnstown. There was a large quantity of powder and dynamite in the house which did not explode fortunately for all of the men in the place at the time. Irene Gray Now on Trial For the Murder of Lewis H. Haney, of Portage, this County, at Spangler, December 6, 1906 The case of the commonwealth vs. Irene A. Gray, charged by E. H. Knee with the murder of Louis H. Haney at Spangler by shooting, the 6th day of December, 1906, was taken up Thursday morning before Judge O'Connor. The case is one that has attracted more than usual attention in the north of the county on account of the defendant being well known in Carrolltown where he was reared; in Ebensburg, where he had gone to school; and at Spangler, where he was in business when the trouble occurred. The prominence of his father, ex-Sheriff Joseph A. Gray of Spangler, one of the best known business men in the north of the county, who is doing all he can in his son's defense, lends added interest to the case. The Commonwealth is represented by District Attorney J. W. Leech and S. Lemon Reed of Ebensburg and William Fairman and the Jefferson county bar and the defendant by M. D. Kittell and Philip N. Shettig of Ebensburg and Percy Allen Rose of Johnstown. At 9:18 Deputy Clerk of the Court of Oyer and Terminer Stewart Kinkead requested the prisoner to stand up and hold up his right hand. He was arraigned by Clerk Kinkead reading the indictment and he asked to be tried "by God and his country." The empanelling of a jury began at 9:21, each prospective juror confronting the prisoner while the usual questions were propounded as to having formed or expressed an opinion, etc. Up until the noon adjournment six jurors had been secured, the commonwealth having exercised six peremptory challenges and the defense eight, while two jurors were challenged for cause and one was excused. In the afternoon and the evening the filling of the jury box was finished. The members of the jury are as follows: Patrick Dolan, foreman;, Johnstown; Wm. McNeelis, Clearfield township; Jas. Devlin, East Conemaugh; John Roger, Jackson township; Joseph A. Bomgardner, Richland township; William J. Bowen, East Conemaugh; Dennis W. McGough, East Conemaugh; Pius Schrift, Croyle township; Robert Monahan, Washington township; Cornelius Hunt, Conemaugh; S. J. Klemstein, Lilly; L. F. Hummel, Ebensburg. The last two were talesmen. The case which promises to be a hard fought one was opened for the commonwealth by S. L. Reed, Esq.; the first witness called was J. L. Elder, who was simply required to identify certain maps and plans of the home of Irene Gray and it surroundings. The prosecution played one of its strongest cards when it called Mrs. E. Z. Haney, widow of the man for the killing of whom Irene Gray is on trial for his life. Mrs. Haney's Story Mrs. Haney, who now lives in Portage, told her story somewhat as follows: She had gone to Spangler to visit her daughter, Joyce Haney, who, according to the line being developed by the prosecution, was Irene Gray's housekeeper, but by the contention of the defense was the common law wife of the defendant. Haney came to Spangler two weeks following the advent of his wife. Mrs. Haney stated that her husband came to spend Thanksgiving with the Gray household at the invitation of Irene Gray himself. Affairs were apparently smooth enough until the Wednesday evening following Thanksgiving. Then, stated Mrs. Haney, Gray and Joyce started to jangle. "He called my daughter very hard names," said Mrs. Haney. The girl's father became incensed, stated the witness, at the language and stated to Gray that if he was going to go on that way, he would take his daughter away. The witness stated the defendant declared that he wished the girl would leave. The morning following, Mr. and Mrs. Haney and their daughter ate breakfast together, Gray staying in another room. The trio then started to pack up things that belonged to the girl. Gray put in several objections, stating that his things were being taken. Finally, declared Mrs. Haney, the defendant demanded a bracelet worn by Joyce Haney and when the trinket was refused him, struck the girl in the face. Mr. Haney interposed in defense of his daughter. Gray, according to Mrs. Haney, first threw a stove lifter at her husband then threw him on a bed and proceeded to choke him. Mrs. Haney and her daughter ran for help and met Irene Gray's mother and sister on the way to the scene. The defendant then went to the hard ware store, stated the witness, and returned with a revolver in his hand. He was met by his sister, Bertha, who attempted to stop him. Mrs. Haney testified that the defendant pushed his sister aside, saying, "I wont (sic) shoot you, Bertha. I am after him.' The defendant then made his way into the room where Mr. Haney was and shot three times at the deceased. Promotion of Former Chest Springs Man Edwin T. McGough, a former resident of Chest Springs, is now Captain of detectives of Pittsburg. He was appointed to the position on Saturday by Superintendent McQuade to succeed Captain James Eagan. He has entered upon the duties of his office and his many friends in Cambria County will wish him every success in the position. Mr. McGough became a detective in Pittsburg several years ago and earned a reputation as a "thief catcher" the country over. He was frequently called to other cities where there were large gatherings to prevent the influx of "crooks" and has made a number of important arrests while acting in this capacity outside of Pittsburg. Governor Vetoes the Pension Bill! – Extract Disapproves Measure Intended to Benefit Veterans of the Civil War Says Treasury is Overdrawn Harrisburg, June 11 Gov. Stuart today vetoed the bill pensioning soldiers of the Civil War who served in Pennsylvania regiments and are now residents of the state. The chief reasons for vetoing the bill are that it is crude in form and bears evidence of having been passed without mature deliberation and if it were to become a law, it would be necessary to reduce the appropriations to the state's public and private charities. The governor states that although it was asserted on the floor of the Senate when the bill was under consideration that it followed the lines of the pension law of Maine, a comparison of this measure with the Maine law demonstrates that the measure omitted many features of the pension law in that state. [snip] Court Takes Up its Grind – Extracts [snip] John Cazzilla, Steve Stofko, Harry Fish and Andy Harvel, fornication and rape. Costs, $100 fine on first charge and sentence suspended upon other charge. Cologaro Chiza of Barnesboro, charged with felonious assault and battery and carrying concealed weapons, was found guilty. Mrs. Chiza is an Italian woman of about 25 years of age with a young child in her arms, a boy about five years old and her husband by her side. The 8th of last March, according to the story of Vincent Spagnola, he was passing the house where the Chiza family lived when he heard a rap at the window and Mrs. Chiza whom he had only met a few days before at a christening beckoned for him to come in. He had only reached the third step on his way in when Mrs. Chiza opened the door, pointed a revolver at him and fired, the bullet entering his face above the right eye and coming out of the left eye, destroying the latter with which his knowledge of the case, ending until he found himself in a hospital in Johnstown where he remained for 28 days. He is an Italian, 50 years of age, with a wife and 11 children. The defense alleged that for some time past he had been confronting Mrs. Chiza with indecent proposals and that when she found him following her to her home she, in her rage and excitement, picked up a revolver and in self defense fired the shot. The jury in its verdict recommended the woman to the mercy of the court. [snip] An unusual trial was that of John Patrarch, charged by J. R. Slates of Franklin with a disgusting crime. This was heard before Judge O'Connor. All of the witnesses whispered their testimony and what they said was heard only by the Judge and jury. The fellow was found guilty but no sentence was given. [snip] Dr. Frank U. Ferguson of Gallitzin, charged with an infraction of the cocaine laws, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay the costs and further sentence suspended.