The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current, April 15, 1909, Image 2
TERRIBLE ACCIDENT AT ELEVATOR William R. Murray, Jr., Meets Frightful Death This morning C. Lawrence Stull and Fred Helsel had occasion to go to the elevator of W. R. Murray & Co near the M. P. depot, to iook after lome business matters. On entering the engine room they were shocked and appalled at the horrible sight hlch met their eyes. The body of William Murray. Jr., was found by them to be lying upon the concrete floor of the engine room, resting up on the knees and face downward while the walls were bespattered by blood from the unfortunate man's bead, the back of which had been beaten Into a pulp by either the fly wheel of the gasoline engine or the shaft upon which the wheel revolves. The men at once hurried to the office of Agent Hugh Norton of the M. P. railway tome 200 feet south of the elevator and informed blm of the terrible tragedy which had taken place. Dr. J. 8. Livingston was hast ily summoned and hurried to the ele vator,' arriving there within a few minutes of the discovery of the acci dent. He was even then too lalw to do any good and saw at a glance, that Mr. Murray was dead and had been for some time before his arrival. The body was rigid In death and It was apparent the accident had happened tot loss than an hour before his ar rival. .. Later In the day the body was conveyed to the undertaking rooms Of 8trelght & Btrelght where It was dressed for the grave.' The funeral ill be held on Saturday April 17 at 2 p. m.. No Inquest will be held on the body, the cause of 'death being sufficiently evident to satisfy the au thorities. From an examination of the body and the circumstances surrounding the finding of It, the prevailing Idea la that Mr. Murray who had left his borne t Mynard for the elevator' at sometime around eight o'clock this morning, had arrived there and had started up the gasoline engine. After doing t,hU he had went Into the eleva tor proper from the engine room and while here the engine had evidently stopped. ' Returning to the engine room he had started the engine ' up j once more And had turned his buck t6 the revolving fly-wheel. From this wheel runs out a shaft several Inches in length. .Tlio theory Is that In turning about and swinging hlH back upon the wheel, his cont caught upon this projecting shaft Which In stantly hurled him over backwards, striking the' buck of his head upon the concrete floor. The entire back of the skull was crushed In and blood and brains oozed from the terrible Injury. The body must have turned over several times by the flying wheul for the blood and brains from the head were scattered about the walls. The cont had evidently torn loose from tho shaft and Murray WILL NOT FAVOR LAW with a desperate effort had tried to crawl from 'under the cruel beatings of the wheel and shaft as be was on his hands and knees , when found That he had ever been conscious af ter the first, cruel blow Is hardly probable and the crawling action was an Instinctive one. As there were no witness to the terrible occurrence the manner of its happening Is alto gether problematical. The coat of the dead man was torn In the back while the overalls which be had on were also badly torn at the back. All these things Indicated that the accident happened as set out above. . Immediately after returning from the scene of the accident Dr. Llv Ingston endeavored to have Sheriff Qulnton take charge of the body pending the disposition of It by the relatives who were Immediately no tilled, but the sheriff considered that he had no occasion to move In the matter and nothing was done. Judge A,,N. Sullivan who Is related to the dead man, was notified and through him ' arrangements were made to handle the body. Wm. R. Murray, father of the deceased, was notified at Mynard his home and hurried to this city at once. The funeral 'of Mr. Murray will be held, from his late home at 2 p. m. Saturday, April 17. ,Wm. R., Murray, Jr., was born at the Murray farm some four miles south of this city on January 18, 1882 and was therefor 27. years, 2 months and 27 days old. He was a .most lov able young man and possessed a great many friends throughout this section, all of whom, were shocked and grieved to learn of his untimely end. He was a very brlght young man and one. uni versally esteemed as one of the best of the younger men who have grown up here. A native son of Cass Coun ty, he. came of sturdy stock which has made, the county and the state what It Is. He was thrifty, generous and . upright a man , without one to cher i IhIi an 111 thought against him. All Fraternal Congress Measure Meets With Disapproval Head Consul A. R. Talbot of the Modern Woodmen of America, who Is chairman of the legislative committee for that order, has announcel that the uniform bill governing rates of fraternal beneficiary societies will not be enacted into law In any state this year. The bill, otherwise known as the minimum assessment rate measure, was backed by the National Fraternal Congress, an organization dominated by four or five hlgh,rate societies. Its defeat all along the line ity convinced the various legislatures that the seven million members of fraternal societies objected to higher rates being forced upon them through the creation of what was termed a fraternal Insurance trust. Mr. Potter, the Illinois superin tendent of Insurance, summed up the situation in an authorized state ment which follows: An Illinois View. "In the opinion of the department it would be unwise for the state to undertake a regulation of rates. Dills to establish minimum rates which must be charged with the fraternals have been circulated among the mem bers of the legislature, but have not been Introduced yet. The Insurance department Is op posed to them and the state adminis tration w ill be, but hundreds of mem bers of such organizations have ac- PERKINS HOTEL GUTHM AN & CORY. Proprietors Plattsmouth, : : : : Nebraska are has caused Jubilation in the Modern Woodmen of America, which led the. qujred the Idea that the state pro fight against the proposed increase poseg to ra,se the rateg for f raternaJ of rates. Opposition Strong. So pronounced was the sentiment in Nebraska against the fraternal con gress bill that It was not even In troduced In the legislature here. Not Y v t t ? ? ? r T ? y X Insurance and the legislators hear from their consituents. "The fraternals asking for such action are unwilling to have them selves restricted by the general Insur ance legislation and the state admin- only the Modern Woodmen but the Oration Is unwilling to establish hUT life had been spent In these pre clncts wfjere everyone knew him only for the good that was In him. ' Ho was tUe on of Wm. R.. Murray and.wjfe. two of,th most estlmable.of people and both of whom survive him In addition ho hon surviving five sis ters and one brother. The sinters are Mrs. Ella Emery of Lincoln, Neb., Mrs. Lorena Parker of this city; Mrs Alice Fleming of Omaha; Mrs. Hat tie Truelsen of Omaha and Mrs, Ada Longworth of Omaha. Nelson .Mur ray, the surviving brother, Is now a resident of Takoma, Wash. - Those who have been called upon to mourn the sad ending of this no ble young son and brother, are as sured of the profound sympathy of the entire community in their ter rible affliction. Woodmen of the World, Royal High landers and other societies of this state were lined up in a solid phalanx of opposition. Nearly one-third of the total membership of the legisla ture was made up of M. W. A. mem bers, and when this fact became known the uselessness of attempting to secure legislation not approved by that order deterred anyone from even offering the uniform bill for consid eration. The purpose of the measure was to compel societies having comparative ly low rates to raise them to a cer tain level fixed by what Is known as the fraternal congress table. Its op ponents claim "that. the proposition came primarily from old v. and. non progressive orders which have- lost In membership during . tlje recent years because of Inability to compete with the younger and more vigorous ones, The older societies as a ruie must charge more for insurance than the others, on account of the. .aver age age and death rate, among -their membership being higher. . The adop tlon of the fraternal congress table would equalize-conditions -and .tyike away the advantage of the organiza tions which have been built; up, in the past decade or two. r,j " - - Woodmen Out '"" . , ; ; Last August the Modern. Woodmen of America withdrew, from thtia.- tionaIT Fraternal congress when that body voted to ask the varloiis slate legislatures to pass a bill requiring' all fraternal societies to. charge the same .rates. The Modern Woodmen 'ipon withdrawing from that federa- rateg for them unless they propose to come under the legal reserve In surance regulations. "The Modern Woodmen bave had the question of Increased rates up In their councils several times, and while the officials bave wanted to Increase the rates the membership has refused. The state administration takes the position that the question must be left to the societies themselves to handle.'! Lincoln News. RATES $1.00 PER DAY We Solicit the Farmers' Trade t and Guarantee Satisfaction, t WHEN IN THE CITY GIVE US A CALL The Perkins Hotel T T -V t t t f ? ? ? ? .6. .A .A. A. .6. frwrrFrvt ' where newspapers Water Republican. scrap. Weeping nop puonciy announces us poucy, 10 come8 the otner wlth a poetical ef- be that of opposition to the state leg- fuBlon Btating that, it is not' charit- Work on New Depot. Work started this morning on the Hew freight depot of the Uurllngton. The structure Is to be a frame one 84x60 feet In slzo and will be modeled after the building destroyed. Master Carpenter Hodengrcn of Omaha di vision wns In tho city over iilnht nnd this morning was engaged In making arrangements for getting tho work under headway. It Is his Intention to push the construction of the building to an early finish." It will be, neces sary to obtain permission of the city authorities to erert the bull llng as It Is within the fire limits, but no troub In Is. expected along this line. The bulldlni,' Is. badly needed Just now as the arrival of spring goods Is com tnenclng and several cars are being used at present to store them In. The building will occupy the site of tho old structure at the foot of Malr st reet. Here to Attend Fiiiici-hI. B. F. Allen and son Oscar of Wa bash, came down Monday to attend tho funeral of Mrs. A. C. Reach. Mr H. F. Allenhns been quite poorly of late and while here concluded that It would be taxing himself too much to remain, so returned home on the 11:- 15 train. He Is one of the old neigh bors of Mr. and Mrs. Deach, had known them since coming to Ne braska. Several of the old neigh bors from the vicinity of WabaHh were down to attend tho- funeral. Weeping Water. Republican;. - . . "I'd Rather Die, . Doctor, than have my feet cut off,' said M L. Bingham, of Princevllle, 111. "But you'll die from gangrene (which had eaten away eight toes) If you don't" said all the doctors. Instead he used Bucklin's Arnica Salve till 'wholly cured. Its cures of eczema, "fever sores, boils and burns and piles as tound, the world. 25c at F G. Frlcke & Co. i ' : 1 It Helps a Little There are two ways of booming a town. Now over in Plattsmouth where the Interurban is rapidly near tng completion on paper, they have two newspapers, both working hard to build up Plattsmouth, and both snapping and snarling at each other. One says the other is a political trickster, office 'seeker, word mani pulator' and old time ring machine man'.' The other says his contem- perary never upholds decency, and even reflects on his own spotless character, which Is as unlike snow as earth mixed with water. And then To Rebuild Bridge. Master Caprenter Hedengren Is au thority for the statement that the Burlington will shortly commence the rebuilding of the bridge over the drainage ditch between this city and Pacific Junction. The ditch at pres ent is spanned by a steel bridge And It Is the Intention of the company to replace the present structure with a longer one making the opening over the ditch wider. The track at this point will also be raised. some' nine inches. During last spring when the river was so high and overflowed the bottoms, the opening at the bridge was found to be too small to handle the water and the company determined to increase It to a size which would permit draining the bottom.- The work will take some time and will be expensive: ': L A :. - train which had passed Just a short time before. There were five men la the party but one of them took alarm and escaped. The four captured men were returned to Omaha on the spec ial which reached there about mid night. It la estimated that thousands of dollars worth of goods have been stolen from the trains in the last few weeks, and Is Is believed that' rnoBt of them had been secreted In or near the soap works. A great mass of stuff was captured at the works last night and the search of the prem ises will be continued today. The ex-convict Adair who was captured Is and old offender and had given the officers and pris on authorities no end of trouble dur- ln ghls career in this state. Some five years ago he escaped from the penitentiary and the officers had a hard time capturing him again at Au rora. ' His brother- was employed at the soap works for some time past. Mrs. Isabel Rlchey made a flying trip this morning to Lincoln, return-J ing this evening on No. 2. Millinery Spring Opening Thursday, Friday nnd Saturday will have on display a beautiful litie of pattern Hats, the most Popular shapes and designs Please call and sec in" Ml1 IS IMi yor V lit r " 1 , HI l ! Omtm legislatures fixing a minimum standard, table of assessment rates It Is contended .that with a represen tative form of government each'or- ganlzatlon is entirely competent to enact the necessary laws and provide for such assessment rates as are deemed essential from time to time, if based upon their own' experience, hintory and conditions. The rates contemplated in the uni form- bill are practically as high as the premiums charged by old line '.onipanles. The effect of this bill, it Is asserted, would compel the mem bers on one organization to pay more than the cost of Insurance In such societies or an excess over Its obli gations, while the members of an other society, charging tho same rates would not be collecting actual costs. The M. W. A. held out for the princl nle of self government, without In terference by state legislatures in the matter of rates. Nearly all tho fraternal societies In the United States co-operate with It opposing the enactment of this bill and only foui- or rive took opposite ground. The Insurance commissioners of Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and various other states publicly announced their an tagonism to the measure as being wrong In principle and dangerous In practice. Head Consul's Work. It Is not generally known that Head Consul Talbot of this city, In behalf of all societies opposed to this minimum rate mensure, has had act ive charge and direction of the cam paign against rate legislation In thirty-eight states where legislatures were In session this winter. The bill has been defeated overwhelmingly In the states of South Dakota, Minneso ta, Missouri, Texas, Iowa, West Vir ginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Kan sas, California, North Dakota and Oklahoma. It is now peiidlnit In Ill inois and Michigan and Secretary Ray. Mr. Talbot's assistant, received word that the Insurance committee of .these two states will next week report tho bill for Indefinite post- ponetnent. , This will ronsuninto a complete victory for these federal societies thot believe In the principle of self government. The exact situation wns placed be fore each member of the Modern Woodmen by Head Consul Talbot and the bend officers of similar orders did likewise with their respective mem berships. The result of this public- able to throw stones at a glass house. That Is another way to boom a town, for people like' to live .. - . Make Capture, c ri .' ' Ah Important capture was made last night by Burllngtoi special of ficers and Omaha 'detectives at ' the old 'soap' works 'Ju'Bt north' -'of " La Platte ; The men'- captured' ''-'We're members of a band 1 of .freight :car thieves'' who have beefr plying their vocation for the past" several weeks on freights out of Omaha.- The men captured included 1:tln"l"1ex-c6'nVlct named "Robin" Adair," his' brother and two other men 'who were un known to either the Burlington Of ficials or the Omftha' deteetlves' The raid was planned 'by Spacial Agent Malotte of the Burllhgtcri,j Who-1 se cured the C"-oprotl9n of iWOniaha. authorities' and' whw as',la8t night accompanied by - Officers MSchmldt, Searle ahd Davenport : and Defectives Ferris and Dunn of Omaha. The party left Omaha on a special train1 which left Omaha about 8 ' o'clock and made ft run to the old soap or ren dering works Just 'north of LaPlatte. The four men.- were, caught red handed by the officers being engaged in picking up goods thrown from a You're going to put you're old head in to a new hat one of these clays in the near future. If your head is ths least bit irregular, (9 out of every 10 are) you'l (ret a misfit. Chances are the man that's Belling you will stretch the hat with an old out-of-date' wooden stretcher, or if its a little large he'll Pad5t- ' , : .v . That's all nonsense, don't rtand for it. . . If YOU COME HERE: First we'll show you by far the largest assortment of hats that has ever been shown in Plattsmouth. Second we'll make the hat fit your head exactly tor at long as you can wear. it. This we do by means o( our new French conformateur, which device takes ' the axact shape of your head,' heats the hat and shapes it permanently. .,, r,.r Another thing we do is to put your name in the hat. We'll be glad to shape your old hat for you, if you'll bring it in. .r Stetsons $3.50 to $5.00 Fricd's & Albcrtini's $2.00 to $3.00 Others $1.00 to $2.00 Q '-'''-. 1 ",;"' ... m Up Before the Bar. N. H. Brown, an attorney of Pitts burg, Xtl, writes: "We have used Dr. King's Netv Life Pills for years and find them such a good family medicine we wouldn't be without them." For chills, constipation bil liousness or sick headache they work: wonders. 25C at F. G. Frlcke & Co. Regret .Action. Gus. Peln of Pender, Neb., came In several days ago for a visit with his wife and family. Mr. Pein who had been employed In a salopn at Pender for. the past year Is thrown out of employment by the election of a dry board and the adoption of 'ho"" license at the recent election. He states that a number of people who voted for a dry town have since regretted of their ction and now want to sign a petition for a saloon. This petition will be presented to the village board and the saloon men hope to' have It granted and a license issued. Mr. Pein returned to Pender this noon on the mail train. ' :