NEWS: Cambria Freeman; 20 Dec 1912; 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, 20 Dec 1912 Volume 45, Number 50 Personal Mention Dr. D. H. Shoemaker of Pittsburg returned home Sunday after spending a couple of days in his Ebensburg office. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Davis of this place have left for St. Petersburg, Fla., where they expect to spend the winter. Alvin Evans of this place has been confined to his home during the past few days by illness. Mrs. M. J. Stoltz are visiting in Pittsburg this week. Fritz, young son of Mr. and Mrs. David L. Owens, who live about two and one half miles from Ebensburg, fell from a pony at his home Sunday and received a fracture of an arm. Nicktown News Frank Fresh has two large carbuckles (sic) on his neck. Charles Smathers and son, Leon, was seen on our streets last Friday. Simmelsberger Sick When Peter Simmelsberger of the township was taken sick on High street Monday his two dogs were worried. They kept their eyes on their master continually. E. C. Parrish, who supported Simmelsberger out to the sidewalk so he could get some fresh air, was an alarming spectacle to the dogs, which believed he had designs on Simmelsberger. They growled and the hair on their necks and backs stood up very straight. The old man didn't seem to get any better so it was decided to send him to the poor house to recuperate for awhile. "But I won't go without my dogs," he said. "They're my friends. I want them to go with me." So folks put Simmelesberger in the big poor farm bus and he was taken to the country home, the two dogs running alongside the vehicle, showing plainly by their actions that they wondered what was the matter with their master and what all this trouble was about. Investigate Tomorrow Coroner C. A. Fitzgerald has continued until Saturday his proposed investigation of the registrations and operation of mid-wives in Johnstown. The large number of still births in Johnstown will be the cause of the investigation. Helen Graver, aged one day, is the first case that will be considered by Dr. Fitzgerald. The midwife employed in this case is not registered and the investigation will be started at once. One month during the present year the number of stillbirths was equal to one-seventh of the number of births. E. O. Jones Victim of Unfortunate Accident Edward O. Jones, the popular tinner of this place, met with a most painful and what might have proved to be a fatal accident. He was putting the slate on the house being built of Mrs. Elizabeth Griffith. He was working at the highest point. His feet were resting on a 2x4 that was supported by snow guards. The guards gave way. He shot over the roof and fell a distance of more than thirty feet, striking the frozen ground. Friends came to his help and found him suffering excruciating pain. Dr. Bennett conveyed him in his automobile to his home. That afternoon he was taken to the Mercy Hospital in Johnstown. His hip bone was badly fractured and there was also a fracture of the femur. It is thought that he has suffered no serious internal injuries. He has been able to rest but little as yet but at this writing he is some easier. He has the sympathy of a community of friends who wish him a speedy recovery. Father McHugh Transferred The Rev. Father Henry McHugh of St. Agnes' Catholic church, Pittsburg, has been appointed rector of St. Cancie's church, Knoxville, Pittsburg by the Rt. Rev. J. F. Regis Canevin, D. D., bishop of the Pittsburg diocese. The appointment takes effect at once. The Rev. Father McHugh is a native of Wilmore, this county, and for 20 years was rector of the St. Bartholomew's parish during which time he erected the present church edifice at Wilmore. He was transferred to Pittsburg 17 years ago. Sanitarium to Open The new Cresson state sanitarium for tuberculosis will be opened Dec. 26, according to notice sent out by Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, commissioner of health. The sanitarium is the highest inhabited place in the state and yet easily accessible to the main lines of travel, east and west. The new institution will accommodate 360 patients. The state sanitarium at Mont Alto is devoting half of its thousand beds to the care of advanced cases of tuberculosis and the Harrisburg sanitarium, on which rapid progress is being made, will be giving up almost entirely to the care of Advanced sufferers. These three institutions will enable the state to care for more than a thousand indigent sufferers in advanced stages. Not Guilty of Killing Mathieson Pegram smiled a broad smile and displayed a great amount of ivory Wednesday afternoon when a jury returned a verdict, finding him not guilty of manslaughter in connection with the killing of Warren Barnes, another Johnstown black man. He smiled at the jury, the judge, all the court officials and the audience, then he went over to the jail to get his clothes. They were handed out the door to him and Pegram went to Johnstown. It will be recalled that Pegram some weeks ago shot and killed Barnes as the latter was choking and maltreating his white wife. The grand jury ignored the indictment charging murder, but returned one of manslaughter. It was on this charge that Pegram stood trial. Didn't Mean to Kill "It was an accident! I didn't mean to kill him!" shrieked Sam Staple in his cell Monday morning when he learned that John Sanderson of Nanty-Glo, the aged Scotchman stabbed Saturday night, was dead. Staple broke down and cried. Then he shrieked and wailed at the misfortune that had overcome him. For quite a while he refused to listen to the guards or trustees, declaring that he hadn't meant to stab Sanderson at all - that the cutting was an accident. Some distance away from Staple's cell, George Henderson, the Conemaugh youth convicted last week of the murder of Fern Davis, listened quietly to the Italian from Nanty-Glo. In another part of the jail Oscar Krumenacher, who was put on trial for murder Wednesday and Mathieson Pegram who was tried the same day for killing the negro Barnes, could hear every word uttered by Staple. The latter will not be tried until March. Mouse Makes a Scene John Mouse, convicted of the murder of Harrison Brown, the rural mail carrier, created a scene in Somerset county criminal court when sentence was imposed on him by Judge W. H. Ruppel. Maus (sic) declared he was innocent, that a man named Charles Ason, believed to be an imaginary person, committed the murder, but that if he had to die he would show he was "game" and would make no fuss about it. Judge Ruppel overruled the motion of Attorney H. C. Holbert for a new trial and an appeal may be taken. Second Degree Krumenacher Escapes Highest Penalty for Killing at Lilly In May The jury in the case in which Oscar Krumenacher was charged with the murder of Michael Bradley at Lilly last May returned this morning with a verdict of guilty in the second degree. The jury was completed as follows: John A. Grazier, coal operator, Seventeenth ward, Johnstown; E. K. Griffin, farmer, Richland township; W. T. Bryan, machinist, Twelfth ward, Johnstown; Charles C. Bash, carpenter, Twenty-first ward, Johnstown; J. H. Custer, farmer, Croyle township; J. C. Allshouse, miner, West Taylor township; E. G. King, engineer, Twelfth ward, Johnstown; M. O. Sherbine, farmer, Summerhill township; Thomas Forsyth, farmer, Portage township; R. L. Bowers, merchant, Reade township; Jacob Crook, farmer, Susquehanna township; Caleb Plummer, miner, Portage. The Messrs. Bryan, Bash, Bowers, Crook and Allshouse were members of the jury that last week convicted George Henderson of first degree murder for the killing of Fern Davis. The session Wednesday night was taken up in large part with the introduction as evidence of a number of letters written by Krumenacher since he was lodged in the Ebensburg jail. Under date of Oct. 19 he wrote as follows: Shooting Done for Revenge John Brown, Lilly, Pa. Dear Sir: Here is the truth about the whole affair. Give this letter to the court. The shooting was done through jealousy for revenge. I got the gun from Edward Hughes for that purpose. The first day I went gunning I could not find the two I was looking for. If I had, Maxwell would have been under the sod. I made up with Maxwell and then I went after the other fellow. When I found him that day, I pointed the gun past him. He thought I intended to miss him and ran toward me. When he was 10 or 11 feet from me, I jerked the gun in line with him and fired. He staggered forward and grabbed me by the shoulders to keep from falling. I seen the first shot fixed him so I didn't fire again. I just had enough whiskey in me to give me plenty of nerve. When I pointed the gun at him something seemed to whisper into my ear. You'd better cock the hammer. Oh! No, I thought, this is a double action revolver. It will explode by pulling the trigger. We had a fight a short time before and I had it in for him. I told Harry Seabolt that I was going to shoot him and then I went and did it. The first stories I told and the letters I wrote are not true. I put them out to hold the case back a while. Jess Benton did not see it right and he is mistaken in his story. The killing is a mystery to him. The jackasses thought I was crazy. They thought I had heard a ghost and stopped me from pleading guilty the last time, but I can tell you there are no bugs on me. Do you think a crazy man could write a letter like this? I don't regret what I done. Yours respectfully, Oscar Krumenacher "Shooting Not Premeditated" Letters written to John Brown, constable of Lilly, and to Mrs. Michael Bradley, widow of the victim, dated Sept. 6 read as follows: "I have discharged my attorney and my witnesses and have withdrawed my defense. I have placed myself on your hands and your mercy. I was drunk at the time. I was in a good humor. This killing was not premeditated. I shot to miss and scare him. I ask you to punish me for this offense and I ask for justice and to have the punishment regulated according to the offense." Krumenacher wrote another letter to the Rev. H. M. O'Neill of Ebensburg which was not delivered and in which Krumenacher said it was wilful (sic) murder. He wrote still another letter to Jesse Benton in which he told Benton he had withdrawn his defense and had discharged his attorney and witnesses and in which he said he did not want Benton to uphold him any longer. "Let me go. Don't say anything about it or talk to anybody about it. It is all a mystery to you," Krumenacher said. Victim's Son Testifies Charles Bradley, the 21-year-old son of the victim, said when his father came from the mine and saw Krumenacher, he accused the latter of lying about him. He saw Krumenacher had a gun and tried to get hold of him, but that Krumenacher shot his father. Jesse Benton, an eye-witness, described the commission of the crime. Chester Leahey witnessed the shooting but his evidence developed nothing new. W. G. Wissinger testified he saw Krumenacher around the mine that afternoon. Kyle Leahey testified in the same effect. Several other witnesses were heard, after which the trial was adjourned until Thursday morning. May Have Been Murder The Johnstown police have been notified of the finding of the dead body of Robert Kersumoti along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad tracks at Berlin, Somerset county, and that there were many evidences of murder. He had been run over by a train, which merely severed a foot. There were cuts on the head as if inflicted by a knife and other injuries. His pockets were rifled and his watch missing, the chain being broken. There are no clues.