NEWS: Cambria Freeman; 1909; Ebensburg, Cambria Cnty., PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Patty Millich Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ Cambria Freeman Ebensburg, Pa. Friday, 1 Jan 1909 Volume 43, Number 1 Pertinent Personals Attorney W. A. McGuire of this place was in Lilly Wednesday night attending the meeting of the borough council. Mr. McGuire is solicitor for the borough. Miss Vera Brown of Cresson was the guest of Miss Mary Bell of Ebensburg Thursday. Miss Brown is a student at Darlington Seminary, West Chester. The Hon. Edmund James has returned home from South Fork where he spent several days at the bedside of his daughter, Mrs. W. I. Stineman. Spurgeon Mahon, son of Rev. and Mrs. Mahon of Ebensburg, spent Christmas with his parents. He is a student at Indiana Normal. Ray Bolsinger left Thursday afternoon for a week's trip through the east. Miss Minnie Stuart and Mary Bell spent the holidays at the home of the latter in Indiana. The condition of Mrs. Mary Parrish, who has been suffering with heart trouble, is regarded as critical. Messrs. Robert Cassidy and Maurice Luther attended the Leap Year dance at Gallitzin Wednesday night. Philip Fenlon of Ebensburg went to Philadelphia Wednesday where he is to undergo an operation for an old ailment. Mrs. J. O. Fetter, who spent the past six weeks with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Port, in this place, left Tuesday for Pittsburg in which vicinity Mr. Fetter will be located for some time and where they expect to reside for the present. Additional Personals Miss Martha Jones, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Jones and a student at Seton Hill, Greensburg, spent the holiday in Ebensburg with her parents. Miss Emma Pruner and Miss Thecla Shoemaker of Ebensburg, who had been in Pittsburg hospitals for some time past, have returned to their homes in this place. Melville H. James, the Ebensburg correspondent of the Johnstown DEMOCRAT, returned Monday from Scranton where he had spent Christmas with his mother. Miss Helen Barker who is attending Wilson College at Chambersburg, Pa., spent the Christmas vacation with her parents, Hon. and Mrs. A. V. Barker in this place. Mrs. S. W. Donahue and Mrs. Holden W. Chester of Carrolltown are visiting here as the guests of their mother and sister, Mrs. Eckenrode and Mrs. F. C. Sharbaugh. James R. McKeever of Philadelphia arrived here Sunday and spent a few days with his sister, Mrs. Philip N. Shettig at the Shettig home in West Horner Street. Ernest Weakland, who is employed with the National Packing Co., in New York City, spent Christmas with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Luke Weakland in this place. Miss Frances Thompson, daughter of W. R. Thompson, is spending several days in Johnstown as the guest of Miss Martha Davis, daughter of Ex- Sheriff Elmer E. Davis. The Misses Josephine and Hortense Donegan of St. Augustine spent several days this week with their sister, Mrs. Bert Bender of the Bender Hotel, returning home Thursday. Charles Weakland, son of Mr. and Mrs. Luke Weakland of this place spent the Christmas season among his many friends here. Mr. Weakland is employed as purchasing agent for the McCall Magazine Co. of New York City. Wellington Good, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Millard Good of the West Ward, left Monday for Pittsburg to enter a hospital for treatment. Mr. Good has not been well since injured in a football game a year or more ago. County Commissioner Conrad Hahn of Johnstown made his last official trip to the county seat Monday. Mr. Hahn did not seem to be very sad over the fact that he retires from his position on Monday. Messrs. Phil Bender, Robert and Russell Leech, William Smith and Warren O'Hara were among the students who were home from the various colleges to spend the Christmas vacation. Inmates Entertained Mrs. Carrie Dilworth entertained the inmates of the county home on Christmas. A number of young women from this place added joy to the occasion by decorating the interior of the home with greens and flowers. Steward Grey and the other officials of the institution are profuse in their thanks for the kindness of the women in helping to bring cheer to the unfortunate. Miss Lloyd Entertains Miss Elsie Lloyd, daughter of Postmaster J. G. Lloyd, entertained a number of young people Thursday night in honor of her friends, Miss Ruth Connell of Johnstown and Miss Harriet Shaffer of Altoona. A very enjoyable time was had. Progressive games were the feature of the evening. Going to Hospital Mrs. W. I. Stineman of South Fork, daughter of the Hon. Edmund James of Ebensburg, is to be taken to Philadelphia tomorrow where she will undergo an operation at the Presbyterian hospital. Mrs. Stineman has been ill for some time, but has recovered sufficiently to undergo the operation. Breaker Broke Barker's Auto Front Axle on Car Snapped and Machine is Demolished Allan Barker of Ebensburg has already sent for new parts with which to repair his Franklin touring car, wrecked in an accident which happened last Monday afternoon. The damage done to the car amounted to about $1000. Mr. Barker expects to place it in good shape for early spring use, but will replace it with a larger car before summer. Mr. Barker, T. Stanton Davis and Mark Frailey were returning to Ebensburg on the road near Jamestown when the front axle broke as the car was passing over a "breaker." The axle dragged on the ground for 200 feet, it being impossible to stop the machine, owing to a disarrangement of part of the handling apparatus. Finally the car was steered into a telephone pole and stopped. The frame was broken and one of the front wheels demolished and the steering gear wrecked. Isaiah Brown will likely repair the machine. She Didn't Want to Marry Him Cambria County Young Lady Goes to Cumberland but Changes Her Mind A dispatch from Cumberland, Md., says: Miss Margaret Chirdon, a pretty girl of Ashville, Cambria County, arrived here Monday at noon to meet Thomas Jefferson Armsy of Davis, W. Va., the pair having arranged through correspondence to be married. Miss Chirdon late Monday night was about to give her intended up when he arrived. He had missed one train and was obliged to walk 15 miles across the country to get another to reach here the same day. The marriage license was procured after the license clerk was aroused from bed, but this did not end the disappointment. The services of a priest to tie the knot were sought but he refused because the girl could not produce a letter from her pastor. Armsy, a Protestant, suggested being married by a Protestant minister and later they would be married by a priest, but the young woman would not consent to this. After a fruitless conference they decided to separate. Mr. Armsy then paid the girl's hotel bill and her return fare home. Fool Kills Himself and Innocent Woman Johnstown Man Turns Gun on Three People, Injuring All, and Then Shoots Himself in Head One Dying John Stormer of Johnstown, a blacksmith, aged 40, shot his own wife, her brother and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. William Kurtz of McKeesport, and then sent a bullet into his brain, dying instantly. The tragedy occurred in front of the Johnstown Railway Company's waiting room in Moxham Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Kurtz died Tuesday and her husband is not expected to live. Stormer, who lived on Highland Avenue, Moxham, had been separated from his wife during the last two years. Mrs. Stormer went to McKeesport and made her home with a brother, William Kurtz, and for the holiday, Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz and Mrs. Stormer came to Johnstown to visit the parents of Mr. Kurtz and Mrs. Stormer, Mr. and Mrs. John Kurtz of Highland Avenue. The visit was to terminate Sunday afternoon for Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Kurtz, who were accompanied to the street car by Mrs. Stormer. On the way to the car the party had to pass the Stormer residence and were unknowingly followed by John Stormer. The shooting, in full view of a large Sunday afternoon crowd, followed in a few minutes and caused great horror. Mrs. Stormer and Mrs. Kurtz were in the act of shaking hands with Conductor Robert Rudge in front of the waiting room when Stormer stepped up and opened fire on the women with an automatic magazine Colt revolver. Mrs. Stormer fell at the first fire, just managing to drag herself into the waiting room. Stormer next fired at Mrs. Kurtz and then at her husband. The three wounded lay still where they fell and the assassin, thinking his plan for a triple murder had succeeded, fired a bullet into his own head, dying at once. A street car was utilized to carry the wounded to the Memorial Hospital, while Stormer's body was taken into the waiting room, where it lay for some time until claimed by an undertaker. Stormer had been drinking heavily for several days. Just before Christmas he went to McKeesport and acted suspiciously. On Christmas Day he waited outside the German Evangelical Church in Moxham where his wife was attending services, but she eluded him. That night he told his father he had resolved to go over to the Kurtz home and kill everybody there. A brother locked him in his room. Kurtz was shot through the body. Mrs. Kurtz was shot in the hip. Mrs. Stormer was shot in both legs and sustained a scalp wound. It is said Stormer, on reaching Johnstown, made an ineffectual effort to effect a reconciliation with his wife. His motive for shooting Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz is not known. Kurtz for several years conducted a small printing office in Ringgold Street, McKeesport. He and his wife lived with the latter's parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Loeber on Jenny Lind Street, that city.