Krt. Btiti Hi.torlc.l boc.
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SEMI-WEEKLY EDITION EIGHT PAGES
VOLUME XXVI11
PLATTSMOUTH. NEBRASKA. MON DAY, MAY 17, 1909
0. 217
STRUCK BY TRAIN
AND IS CULLED
Peter Johnson, While Seeking
Shelter From Storm Hit By
Schuyler Train
From Saturday's Pally.
The disastrous storm which swept
over Cedar Creek yesterday after
noon about four o'clock was indirect
ly responsible for one death at least.
Peter Johnson a resident of that
place, was struck and instantly kill
.ed by the locomotive of the Schuyler
train about four o'clock In the after
noon. From 'reliable reports It would
seem Johnson who formerly had been
employed on the section at Cedar
Creek, had been fishing at Metzger's
pond east of the village when the
terrific rain and hail storm came up.
As the hail is reported to have been
as large as hen's eggs and big wal
nuts, it naturally gave him a bad
beating up. He started to go down
the track to the iron bridge which
spans the creek west of the pond and
it is presumed he was struck by
the engine before he could get to
the bridge. From the appearance
of the body it Is evident he was
struck from behind as the back of
the head was crushed In and there
were other bruises on tne body which
plainly showed the direction from
which the crushing blow had been
struck.
After being struck by the train the
unfortunate man was dragged for
probably one hundred and fifty or
sixty yards. One leg was cut off and
the body badly mutilated. The
engine crew did not know of the ac
cident at the time and It was not
until South Bend was reached that
the discovery of Johnson's fishing j
rod in the pilot ot tne engine ser-
ved to notify them of the accident.
Information was at once telephoned
down the road and the body was
found. It was taken to the Burling
ton station at Cedar Creek where it
was held pending the Inquest today.
The facts as to the cauii of the
disaster may never oe known but
doubtless they are as above stated.
The storm which was raging at the
time served to drown out the noise
of the oncoming train and the un
fortunate mau rushed on hoping to
escape from the pelting hail until
death overtook him. Fred Miller was
engineer on the train which struck
him.
Johnson was a man about 35 years,
of age, well known in Cedar Creek
and vicinity. He was married and
leaves a widow and one child to sur
vive him. He was a Spanish-American
veteran, having been wounded in
the service and drawing a pention.
Owing to his injuries he had not
been able to work a great deal. The
widow and orphan are in receipt of
the sympathy of all In the loss of
their husband and father.
The entire eastern part of the
state last evening received a very
heavy rainfall which Is of great bene
fit to the ground and to the newly
planted crops. In this city the
heaviest rain fall occurred about 7
o'clock and It was sufficient In vol
ume to arouse anticipations of an
other flood which, however, did not
materialize. It was the first heavy
rain since the completion of the new
pavement and considerable specula
tion was Indulged In as to how the
pavement would carry the water. It
la a complete success and there was
at no time any danger but what the
pavement -would be ample to handle
all the water which would get to it.
The worst feature of the new scheme,
however, seemed to be at the cor
ner of Sixth and Main streets where
the street was full from curb to curb
according to eye witnesses there. As
the rain was not near so heavy as
flood rains usually are, considerable
apprehension was manifest by the
occupants of the buildings at that
corner. The water also washed
great quantities of mud Into the
pavement at Sixth and Pearl and
Sixth and Vine streets. This was
doubtless caused by the fact of Pearl
and Vine streets being higher than
Sixth. In other sections of the city
the rain did a great deal of washing
on the hills and several of the streets
are left In bad shape and will have
to be repaired whether the road fund
Is overdrawn or not.
The creaks leading to the sewers
were In many cases, clogged with
branches of trees and other debris
which Impeded the flow of the waters
and caused minature floods along
them. The necessity .r cleaning
out the tile and uTicnes and that,
too, speedily was demonstrated. One
good feature of the rain was the
washing of a great deal of the mud
off of Main street. This left the
street In fairly passable condition
save that it Is Impossible to cross
the street during the progress of a
rain without having to swim in the
center of it. The report that a man
(aught a bass and a rroppie !n the
street center during the rain is denied.
A very heavy soaking rain Is re
ported to have passed to the west
and southwest of the city during the
evening. Peoule coming in from near
Murray report a very heavy rain
west -of that town while dispatches
tell of a terrific downpour which
passed down the Platte yesterday af
ternoon croslng to the northeast and
striking Dellevue about 4:40 p. m.
It Is reported last evening that anT
other cyclone had hit that town,
but, fortunately, this was untrue.
The rain did wash an Immense
amount of trash and mud down on
the Burlington tracks about one mile
north of town and No. 2 was delayed
nearly an hour and a half during the
mud could could be shoveled off the
tracks. It passed through here
about 6:30 last evening. No track
was washed out and the delay was
! occasioned simply by the blocking
of th? track by tragh
The Rock Island was tied up
about the same time by a washout
near Meadow opposite Louisville.
The rain swept down the hills In
such volume thnt a section of their
track was taken out and trains
were delayed or detoured over the
Burlington tracks to Lincoln. Wire
communication was also broken with
Omaha.
The Missouri Pacific was tied up
on account of a washout between
Kansas City and Leavenworth and
the morning train seriously delayed.
From other points in this state and
Kansas conies reports of bad wash
outs and delay to trains and mails.
Kansas and Oklahoma report bad
tcrnadoes and cyclones at several
places with attendant loss of life and
great property damage.
From' passengers wlio were on No.
2 last night from Omaha it ia learn
ed . that the rnllfall near Bellevue
must have been enormous. The train
first encountered fallen trees from
the hills west of the tracks which
caused it to stop until the obstacles
were removed, when It ran on a short
distance only to meet with further
obstructions In the shape of mud
and trash washed down from the
hills and covering the rails to the
depth of Beveral feet. This ended
progress until the section men could
remove the litter. Meanwhile the
water was rushing down the hills
behind the train with such force that
a portion of the track was torn out
and the train left hung up between
two troubles, the slide on the track
ahead and the washout behind the
train. Eventually after more than
an hour of work the train was re
leased and came on to this city.
Passengers coming down from Ce
dar Creek this morning report that
the storm at that place was terrific
In violence. Hall stones of unpre
cedented size fell covering the ground
to the depth of several Inches. Some
of the people aver that hall as large
as hen eggs fell at intervals wlftle
all agree that walnuts were at least
the smallest they were. Exposed cat
tle and hogs suffered greatly from
the atony hall. In addition there
were regular deluges of rain and
creeks and streams were soon beyond
their banks. One spectator stated
that standing In the depot at Cedar
Creek during the height of the hall
storm, the rails of the track only a
few feet distant were Invisible. Af
ter the storm had passed hall stood
over the ground to a depth of six
Inches or more.
Incoming farmers from the pre
clnrt and southwest report the rain
In that action as very heavy and
streams as being out of their
banks. A number of bridges have
been taken out and the loss will run
up into the hundreds of dollars easl
ily. No damage from hail is report
ed to amount to anything, the entire
loss being caused by excessive wa
ter fall.
K. of I. Elects Officers.
Hastings, Neb.. May 12 The strte
convention of the Knights of Phythias
and the Pythian Sisterhood ad
journed at Hastings at a late hour
Wednesday evening. Two hundred
and fifty delegates were present and
a splendid convention was enjoyed.
The officers for the coming year
were elected In the afternoon -The
balloting lasted for two hours aud
a half with the final result as fol
lows: Grand chancellor, W. T. Denny of
Omaha.
Grand vice chancellor, W. H. Cor
rell of Plainvlew.
Grand prelate, John W. long, of
Loup City.
Grand keeper of records and seals,
W. H. Love of Lincoln.
Grand moster of exchecquer, ohn
B. Wright of Lincoln.
Grand MaRter at arms, A. C. Waf
fer of Schuyler.
Grand Inner guard, John W. Fet
ter of Norfolk.
Grand outer guard, W. S. Pettltt
of Falrbury.
Supreme representative, W. W.
Young of Stanton.
Grand lodge trustee, Carl Kramer
of Columbus.
The Pythian Sisterhood adjourned
this noon.
The election of officers of the
Pythian Sisterhood resulted as fol
lows: Grand paBt chief Mrs. Alice Truell
of Lincoln.
Grand chief, Mrs. A. Parks of Cen
tral City.
Grand senior, Sister Leyda of Falls
City. '
Grand Junior, Mrs. Caroline Poth
am of Lincoln.
Grand manager.Mrs. Pnty nf Oma
ha. Grand mistress of records, Mrs.
Minerva Bnshnell of Fremont.
Grand mistress of finance, Sister
Kennedy of Genoa.
Grand protector of temple, Mrs.
J. E Wilson of Broken Bow.
Grand ou'er guard, Mrs. Ma
Stoddard of Auburn.
Giv.id representatives Mrs. Sarah
Dln-kk of Fremont nnd Mn Rose
Tivoy ol Silver Creek.
Grand Chief Mrs. Nellie Marion c;f
i citioual organization lia: b";u
present throughout the convention
and has taken an active part In the
deliberations. Little business of
special interest was done by either
the temple or the lodge In the way
of legislation.
Railroad Men Here.
From Friday's Dally.
General Superintendents Byram
and Throop and Superintendent
Flynn of the Omaha division of the
Burlington, were a part who spent
several hours In the city this morn
ing and noon making the inspection ot
the Burlington properties here. Mr.
Byram Is accompanying his successor
Mr. Throop over his territory and
mnklng hi macualnted with It. The
several superintendents who report to
the Nebraska dlvlson at Lncoln ac
company the general superintend
ents over their respective divisions.
The officials travel In General Su
perintendent Byram's car and are
drawn by "Q" engine No 414 which
Is especially equipped for that work,
having a small enclosed cab built over
the front end of the locomotive for
the accommodation of the officials
when Inspecting. They left Lincoln
this morning at 7:30 running to
Pacific Junction via the old main
line, returning to this city at eleven
o'clock and taking dinner In the car
after which they Inspected the local
properties and continued to Omaha
this afternoon Inspecting the prop
erty there and on the way. Tl.ey will
likely lay over there this evening.
The train is In charge of Conductor
Ledwlth and Engineer Coffman.
There Is no particular significance In
the trip.
(rnnd Army Closes Kcwxlon.
York, Neb., May 13. The grand
army of the republic closed Its ses
sion today attesting Its appreciation
by resolutions of gratitude. This
morning the election of department
officers was the most Important fea
ture which resulted with much op
position In the election of II D. Rich
ards, Fremont, department com
mander; I. N. Thompson, Falrbury,
senior vice commander; Henry W.
Abbott, York, Junior vice command
er; Dr. Fred Brother, Beatrice, treaa-
urer; J Hlckle, Lincoln, chaplain.
All were duly installed during the
afternoon session. After a spirited
contest Falrbury was selected as the
place of holding the next encamp
ment In 1910. Wednesday after
noon business meetings were held by
the Grand Army In the opera house,
the Women's Relief Corps In the Me
thodist church. The ladies of the
Grand Army in Odd Fellows hall.
The report of the Grand Army show
ed a net membership of 4,641, there
having been 500 names added to the
during the year and a loss of 500
deaths and suspension, thus Having
the total the same as reported last
year Wednesday evening a camp fire
w:u held In the opera house, pre
sided over by Post Commander John
Lett. The exercises opened with the
song, "Marching Through Georgia,"
lid by Cen. A. V. Cole. Addresses
were made by Judge Lee Estelle,
Judge Fawcett, T. J. Majors and Dan
Nettleton A prize essay on our flag
was given by Clark Pine, a high
school student, who was presented
with a handsome badge by the Wo
man's Relief Corps. The Veteran's
Quartette and the Civil War musi
cians furnished several musical num
wlth tho audience singing "America."
The Woman's Relief Corps elected
Mrs. Clara J. Hughes, Fremont, de
partment president; Mrs. Elizabeth
Pine, senior vice pruident; Mrs.
Susan Gould, Junior vice president;
Mrs. Addle Hough, Omaha, treasur
er; Augusta Taylor, Broken Bow,
chaplain . The Ladies of the Grand
Army elected Mrs. Clara Lyons, Oma
ha, department president; Nora Kid
der, Fcrlbner, senior vice president;
Jennie Knight. Llncdln, chaplain, and
Mary A. Gancher, Lincoln, treasur
er. Appoints Two Citizens of Cuss.
From Saturday's Dolly.
Gov. Shallenberger yesterday hon-
dored two Cass County citizens wit hap
pointments as delegates to the navl
gaton congress to be held on July
7 to 9 In Yankton. S. D., In the per
sons of Judge H. D. Travis nnd Col
M. A. Bates, both of this city.' The
object of tlhs congress Is to promote
the navigation of the Missouri River
and Its tributaries and it promises
to be a notable gathering of the In
terests of the great Missouri valley.
It Is not yet known whether either
of the two gentlemen honored will be
able to accept, the date being too far
In the fguture. The delegation Is
headed by Mayor James Dahlman as
chairman.
Still Another Rain.
From Friday's Dnlly.
This city and vicinity early this
morning was treated to another heavy
rain which did an Immense amount of
good although It washed the hills
badly at places. The rain struck the
city about 1:30 a. m. and continued
for quite a while, the rain falling
heavily. There was no hail mixed
with It. The storm was general over
this part of the county and seemed
heavier west and south of this city
than here.
Reports from Union are to the ef
feet that there was quite an amount
of hull fell there which did some
damage to wheat and fruit although
the extent Is not definitely known.
runner reports from the rain and
hail storm of Wednesday evening
show It was confined to a narrow belt
running almost due east from Mur
ray to the river and crossing over
into Iowa. On both the. north and
south of this belt there was hall
but not of sufficient size or force to
do much damage. In the belt which
was about two miles wide, It Is
reported virtually all the fruit s de
stroyed and wheat very badly dam
aged.
lUylor Incorporates.
Articles of Incorporation have been
file with the county clerk of the
firm of C. W. Baylor & Co. The
Incorporators are Url Gillette, C W
Baylor and Guy II. Reese. The ar
tides set forth that the name of the
corporation shall be C. V. Baylor &
Co. and the principal place of bus!
ness shall be Plattsmouth, Neb. The
business of the corporation la to
handle coal, wood, fuel and feed and
they shall have power to erect and
maintain the usual and necessary
buildings for such purposes and to
buy and sell real estate for the pur
pose. The capital stock Is placed
at 12,500 dlvlden Into shares of 1100
each. The life of the corporation
shall be for five years. The board
of directors shall consist of a pre
sldent.secretary and treasurer wh
shall hold office for the term of one
year or until their successors are
selected and qualified. The limit of
the corporation Is placed at ft, 250
The corporation succeeds to the pres
ent business of C. W. Baylor
VAUDEVILLE
Entertainment
of Prof. Austin a Success
From Friday's Dnlly.
The vaudeville entertainment given
last evening at the Parmele by the
members of St. Mary's Guild for the
very laudable purpose of raising a
fund to be used in building a parish
house and remodeling the rectory.
was greeted by a fine crowd, the at
tendance being beyond expectations
considering the threatening appear
ance of the skies. And all who pat
ronized the entertainment departed
more than pleased as It was an enter
tainment of the highest order of mer-
The entire program passed off In
splendid shape and scarcely a number
on It, but what met with an enthusi
astic encore.
The direction of the affair was In
the hands of Professor and Mrs. H. S.
Austin to whom the greatest praise
should be bestowed for their superb
work In directing the talent which
made up the program. It would be
fulsome praise to attempt to add to
the many good words which have
been said In time past In these col
umns of the work of these two ex
cellent directors of entertainments.
Suffice Is to say that this entertain
ment ranked above and beyond any
that they have handled in this city,
and this Is the unanimously express
ed belief of all attending.
One of the features of the evening
to score a success and win approba
tion was the work of Miss Ella Mar
garet Dovey, who was the accom
panist for the several musical numbers
of the program. In addition to the
opening number "Rags, Ragged
Gags,' Miss Dovey's work throughout
the entire program displayed a su
perior skill well worthy of, tho. many
words said of her.
Miss Edith Dovey, assisted by
Misses Nora Livingston, Lillian
Dwyer, Marie Fnnger, Jennette Pat
terson, and Masters Geo. Dovey,
Chas. Dovey, Milton Austin, Bon
nie Fnnger, Wm. Coates and Mere
dith Coates, htaged "A Child's
Dream" a bit of fancy which caught
the crowd and was very pleasing. The
song "A China Doll" from the opera
"A Broken Idol" was given In fine
style and greatly appreciated. Miss
Dovey seems to be well on the high
way townrd the grent success which
her elder sisters have attained in
opera roles, although she Is yet but a
child.
A bright, witty dialogue was given
by Master John Falter and Ben Wind
ham, and they did excellent work
In It, ench showing a marvelous ap
titude for german dialect roles. The
piece was also one full of spark
ling, up-to-date Jokes and kept the
audience In a continuous roar of
laughter. The act met with a warm
reception.
"Harvest Moon" given by Mrs.,
Austin was one of the geenulne win
ners on a program where all num
bers were of that class Assisted by
Misses Catherine Dovey, Marie Doug
lass, Vesta Douglass, Marie Donnel
ly, Gretchen Donnelly, Gladys Sul
livan and Messrs George Dovey,
Chns.lloppInK, Wayne Murphy, Clyde
Murphy, Fred Mann and Clarence
Statts, she presented this musical mel
ange fully as well as the most finish
ed professional could have done, and
the audience demonstrated Its appro
val by a hearty encore.
Miss Mildred Cummins who Js,
easily the character artiste of this
city gave "Dixie" a negro monolo
gue, and Miss Cummins made a bril
liant aud pronounced success of her
number. From her entrance upon
the stage until she had bowed off
for the final encore sho was the re
cipient of enthusiastic applaus
which enme from genuinely dellgh'.
ed spectators.
One of the numbers which took
well with the crowd was the turning
exhibition given by the members of
the active turner class under direc
tion of Director Ernest Wurl. The
Secures Fine Anlnutl.
Charles C. Parmele this noon shipp
ed a fine Shetland pony by express
to A. A. Hyres of Ilavelock. The an
imal Is a beauty, one of the prettiest
of Its kind seen In this section In
yeara. Mr. Parmele raised the lit
tle animal from a colt and It pained
blm to part with It. Certainly Mr.
Dyers will have an animal which will
A LIES A HIT
Under Direction
members participating In addition to
Mr. Wurl were Messrs Emil Droege,
Fred Jess, Fred Dawson, Fre Mann,
Charles Reynolds and John Maurer
and they did great work performing
many difficult feats upon the bars
and showing the result of careful and
pains-taking worj.
The Plattsmouth Quartette con
sisting of Messrs Glen Scott, Clarence
Staats, George Falter and Jennings
Selver gave a number of selections
which cnrrled them Into popular
favor at once as fine vocalists. The
young men have not been singing to
gether a great while but during that
time they have developed marvel
ously and give promise of soon rank
ing as the best quartette In this sec
tion. ."The Two-two Train" a delightful
ly humorous sketch was given by
Prof, and Mrs. Austin and It was an
electrifying success. This wus an
other of the numbers which scored
heavily with the audience and met
with a prolonged and enthusiastic
encore Their work In this Ilttlo
sketch added much to the laurels
of this excellent couple, nnd was
equal to the best seen here by pro
feesslonals, A novelty depleting the seven
ages of woman bnby, child, girl,
young lady, bride, motheer, grand
ma was given by Misses Nora Liv
ingston, Dorothy Brltt, Margaret
Dovey, Florence Dovey, Mesdames C.
W. Baylor and J. II. Donnelly as well
as the baby, and It was a charming
story of life, As In every other case
It was presented in such a manner
that the audience could not helpbelng
pleased with It and it received Its
due share of the applause.
A distinct hit was achieved by Miss
Catherine Dovey who gnve the star
number from "A Prince of Tonight"
one of the latest operatic successes.
Miss Dovey assisted by Messrs Geo.
Dovey nnd Clarence Staats sang most
charmingly "I Wonder Who's Klss
4ng Iter Now." In her rendition of
this piece Miss Dovey displayed tlio
many excellent qualities of the Item
comic opera artiste and, always as
strong favorite with Plattsmouth
audiences, sho more thnn met their
expectations.
Perhaps the one feature of tho
bill which took the audience com
pletely away from Itself was the read
ing of Mrs. Wm. Balrd. Having
been a resident of the city for only
so short a time Mrs. Balrd's great
abilities were known only to those
who had been fortunate enough to
hear her In parlor readings and lust
evening the audience was quite c:i
prepared for the treat In store fir
them. She read "Hobby Shnfto" by
Homer Green and her rending sim
ly astonished the audience who hnd
not expected so wonderful a dis
play of art and talent. Tliey were
carried away by their t ntliushM r.ul
at the close she was compelled to
respond with an encore giving the
"Poem Without Words," a pnntonilno
which convulsed the audlcuco aud
caused It to applaude without lim
it. Plainly Mrs. Balrd has Instnlled
herself in the hearts of Plattsmouth
as one of the best entertainers this
city contains.
The closing number, "Tho Clang
of the Forge," given by Prof. II. S.
Austin assisted by Mr Jennings
Selver, was a fitting finale to an en
tertainment of rare excellence Prof.
Austin as can quite well be Imagined
received an ovation from the audi
ence for his work and It was well
deserved.
All In all, the entertainment marks
an epoch In such events In thid city.
Superbly handled In every detail, It
was a success of the most pronounced
character and tho purpose for which
It was given benefitted greatly by It.
Financially the Guild cleared a nice
sum and was put well along on the
way toward the goal of their efforts;
be the envy of his Havelock neigh
bors. The little nag was carefully
boxed up for shipment and stood the
process as If It was an every day
occurrence with It. It Is an Ideal
animal for Mi Hyers and If he learns
to prize It as much as Mr. Parmele
did there Is small probability of his
ever parting with It.