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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1914)
Ifeb State cut urn VOL. XXXIII. PLATTSMOUTH, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 1914. HO. 23. plate J , , Mystery of the Disappearance of John A. John son, Who Disappeared About Three Months Ago Is Solved. FOUND IN RIVER Money and Papers are Been in Water a Long Time and Badly .De composed Undoubted Suicide From "Wednesday's Pally. The rush in sr muddy waters of the old Missouri, which in the years that it has been pouring: its flood toward the oceans, has claimed many as its victims, has yielded up another of those who have sought forgretfulness in death in its mighty waters and with it the worst fears of the friends of John A. Johnson of this city, who disappeared some three months ago, has proven true. This morning at an early hour parties at Nehraska City fishing and working along the bank of the river noticed what seemed to be a human form floating down the stream, and putting1 out in a boat discovered the body of a man, badly decomposed, which they towed to shore, and at once notified the sheriff of Otoe coun ty of their ghastly find. On the person of the man was found ?22 in money and papers and a check i book that proved h:m to be John Johnson of this city, for whom a thorough search had been made by his friends in this place. The Otoe county authorities at once notified Sheriff Ouinton and this official, with E. C. Hill of the Bur lington storehouse, where Mr. Johnson had been employed, de parted this afternoon on No. 2 for Nebraska City to look after the body. The disappearance of Mr. John son has been one shiovvded in mystery, as he dropped complete ly out of sight, leaving no mes sage as to his intentions to his friends with whom he had been spending a social time on the night of December 13, 1913. He left the room where he was en joying himself with the friends, leaving his overcoat in the room and promising to return in a short time, but since that time no word or trace of him was found until the discovery of the body was made at Nebraska City this morning. A few days before his disappearance Mr. Johnson was promoted from the clerkship he held in the local store department of the Burlington to be the chief clerk at Alliance, Neb., in the same department of the railroad, but he did not seem pleased at the prospect of leaving this city and his friends, but being of a very quiet nature did not say much on the subject to anyone, but it was apparent that he was grieving over the matter and it was prey ing on his mind to such an extent that he decided to end his life. He ' was practically alone in the world, as his mother died a few months previous to his disappearance. Storkeeper E. C. Hill of the Burlington store department re turned this morning from Ne braska City, where he, in company with Sheriff Ouinton, were called there by the finding of the body of John A. Johnson in the river near there. There is no doubt of the body being that of Mr. Johnson, as the papers found on the body served to identify him without doubt The body, was discovered about eighteen " miles below Nebraska City, near Peru, by Charles Bas come, one of the farmers in that Eft AT NEBRASKA GITY Found Intact Body Has locality, who, hearing some shooting near the river, went over to investigate the cause and noticed the body floating out on the current of the river, and put ting out in a skiff which was tied nearby, secured the body and towed it to shore, where it was held until the authorities could be notified of the find. Mr. Hill and the sheriff made arrangements for the care of the body and its shipment to this city, where it will arrive this afternoon at 4:40 over the Missouri Pacific, and will be taken to the undertaking estab lishment of Streight & Streight, where the. funeral will be held to morrow morning at 10 o'clock. On the body of Mr. Johnson when found was a gold watch, a deposit slip for G.25 and 22.01 in money, as well as a number of documents that gave his name, as well as the fact that h was in the employ of the Burlington in this city. The body was badly crush ed by the ice and had undoubted ly been caught and held by the ice until the river opened up for spring, and the rise in the river which has been on for the past two weeks had evidently started the body on its journey down the river. The death of Mr. Johnson is a very sad blow to all who knew him here, as he was a most pleas ant and kindly gentleman in his dealings with all whom he came in contact, and his untimely end is felt very much by tiiose who knew him best. There is no doubt that he made away with himself, as there were no evi dences of foul play on the body when it was taken from the river, and although the grief of his friends will be intense it is a re lief for them to know what had become of him, as they made every effort to get some word of his whereabouts, not knowing whether he was dead or alive. SMALL SIZED RUNAWAY OCCURED LAST EVENING From "Wednesday's Dally. The delivery team of August Bach, the grocer, last evening furnished quite a little excitement on Main street about G o'clock, when they started to run away. and for a few seconds it looked as if they might do considerable damage, but parties ran out into the street and succeeded in stop ping the team before they had been able to run more than half a block. The team, which is a very spirited one, evidently be came frightened at something and started out suddenly, throw ing the driver. Earl Hyde, out onto the pavement, together with a number of boxes which were in the wagon. The young man was not injured seriously, escaping with a few bruises, and after the team was stopped mounted the seat and drove back to the store on lower Main street. A horse that was tied on the rear of the wagon is supposed to have caused the team to become scared. . The Journal advertisers are do Ing the business. MISSING BOY FOUND BOUND AND GAGGED Found Bound and Gagged Near the Bridge at Marble Street and Chicago Avenue. From "Wednesday's Daily. The mystery that surrounded the disappearance of Otto l'ilney of this city was solved last even ing, when, about 8:30, B. J. Hal- stead, clerk at the Thomas' meat market, who was returning home from town, discovered the boy bound and gagged, lying along side the walk near the bridge on Marble street and Chicago ave nue. Mr. Halstead was walking along at a leasurly gait smoking, and as he passed along saw what he thought at first was a log, but as he drew near saw it was ap parently a person, and stopped and asked him what he was doing there, but received no reply, and made a closer examination and noticed that the boy was bound with ropes. The discovery of the bound condition of the boy naturally startled Mr. Halstead and he hastened to the home of V. J. Bookmeyer nearby, where a lantern was procured, and in company with Mr. Bookmeyer, he hastened back to the boy, and by this lime several others had come up and the boy was gotten up and the ropes, which were tied around his arms above the elbows, re moved. The legs of the boy were fastened with a piece of heavy wire, but this was not drawn up tightly and the gag in his mouth was a small handkerchief. As soon as he was unfastened he was taken to the home of Mr. Bookmeyer, where medical as- istance was summoned, as it was thought at first that he might have been injured in some way, as when picked up he had placed his hand to his head, as if he was in jured, but he refused to say any thing in regard to it. A telephone message was sent to the home of Sheriff Quinton, where the father of the boy and Anton Peterson were in consultation with the sheriff in regard to making a search for the boy, and they at once hastened to the Bookmeyer home, where the boy was resting. Otto refused to give any satis factory answers to the questions put to him by his father and the sheriff, statin;? that he had been crossing the Warga pasture, near his home, Monday afternoon, just after he had left the house, and did not remember anything fur ther until he was picked up on the avenue, and he stuck to this story, despite the questioning. From the manner in which he was bound and his vague answers to the questions it is thought that the boy had put on the ropes, wire and gag himself in order to avoid receiving punishment for his hav ing ran away from school and home Monday. He had evidently not been lying where he was found very long, as parties passed there about fifteen minutes be fore the discovery was made and there was no sign of anyone there at that time, and this lends strength to the theory that the "stunt" of binding and gagging was the work of the young man himself. He was down on the street this morning, and when questioned by a representative of the Journal stated that he did not remember a thing of anything that occurred after he was in the pasture and didn't even know of anyone tieing him up. When asked as to whether he was gagged or not he said he did not know, but the parties who had found him had told him that he was gagged when found. The boy, when confronted by the county attorney and sheriff at the court house, broke down and came across with the story of his trouble. He stated to ' the authorities that he had ' some trouble over the losing of a sum of money belonging to his paper route and had been scolded by his parents about the matter and de cided to make his getaway, and walked down the Missouri Pacific tracks to Union, where he'eaught a freight train for Nebraska City and remained in that city over night, returning home yesterday afternoon on a freight train over the Missouri Pacific, and securing the wire and rope tied himself up in order to lessen the force of the punishment he expected would be meted out to him at home. He was allowed to go with a warning to be more careful in the future and not try to put on any more such "stunts." THE W. C. T. U. EH) IKI DELIGHTFUL DEEP me m wis. kerr From Tuesday's Dally, The W. C. T. U. held a most delightful meeting yesterday aft ernoon at the homo of Mrs. S. E Kerr, and the occasion was one filled with a great deal of pleasure to all the ladies in allendance. A very interesting program of papers on the subject of "Chil dren and Mothers" was given by the different members and the subjects were handled in a very able manner by the ladies and tilled with much profit to those who were present. A very tempt ing and delicious luncheon was served by the hostess at an ap propriate hour, which added greatly to the pleasures of the afternoon and brought to a close one of the most pleasing meetings the V. C. T. U. has held for some time. One of the features of the afternoon that greatly pleased the ladies was the announcement that Miss Ftoena Shaner of Missouri, one of the organizer nf the W. C. T. U. work and a prominent work er along the lines of the advance ment of the women, would be in the city on Monday evening, March 23, and would give a lec ture at the First Methodist church, to which the members of the society and the general pub lic is cordially invited. Miss Shaner is one of the ablest speak ers in her state and her visit here is being looked forward to with much pleasure. CLARENCE WHELM IS RELEASED FROM THE INSANE ASYLUM From Wednesdays Daily. The following special from Hastings, Neb., will be of interest to the residents or this city, as the young man mentioned in the item was stricken while he was employed here in the Burlington shops, being overcome with the heat, and was taken to Hastings by his father: Clarence Whelan, son of Mr. and Mrs. O. A. Whelan, formerly of this city, who now live at Bladen, has been released from the Ingleside hospital, having en tirely recovered according to Su perintendent Baxter. He is now at Bladen. While working in the railroad shops at Plattsmouth last summer Whelan became violently insane after being over come with heat. High Price for Hogs. The following, taken from the South Omaha Drovers' Journal of last Saturday, will certainly dem onstrate that there has not been a great decline in the hog market up to the present. It also shows that Cass county is still at the top in raising fine stock: "R. H. Ing werspn' of Nehawka was at the yards today with a load of hogs of his own raising and feeding that averaged 333 pounds and sold at 8.70, the top price. They were Durocs of very pood quality as shown by the price. This was Mr. Ingwerson's first shipment to this market." For Sale. One IGO-acre farm three and one-half miles southeast of Greenwood, Neb. Call on or write, A. D. Welton, or Farmers' State Bank, Greenwood; Neb. DELIGHTFUL TIME ST THE OLIVER HOME Mrs. Kate Oliver Celebrates Her Seventy-fifth Birthday at Her Home. From VVednesaaya Dally. St. Patrick's Day is always an event that is looked forward t'1 with pleasure in the family of Mrs. Kate Oliver of this city. ,i the day is not only the anniver sary of the patron saint of old Ireland, but is also the birthday of this estimable lady, and each year the members of the family gather at the old home to as-ist in celebrating the event. Yesterday was the passing of the seventy-fifth milestone in the life of Mrs. Oliver, and in honor of the occasion her handsome home on North Third street was the scene of a most delightful gathering of the relatives and a few old-time friends. The home was very prettily arranged for the occasion, as there was a lavish display of flowers throughout the rooms, sweet peas and tulips be ing used for this feature of the decoration, while throughout the rooms the prevailing note was o St. Patrick's Day, green forming the chief feature of the dero ra tions. The dininsr table, -where the company sat down at noon to a thoroughly enjoyable repast. was arranged in a very artistic manner that made a very beauti ful setting for the happy event. The places were designated by tiny Irish flags, while the sham rock occupied a prominent place in the decoration of the tabl but the main feature of this part of the decorations was the large birthday cake with its seventy-five candle, and which bore the Iegand "1039-1914," in green and white, and some real Irish sham rocks from the "old sod." These birthday anniversaries have always been great events in the Oliver home, and the one this year was particularly celebrated from the fact that the mother has only just recovered from a very serious time with her arm. havim.' suffered a fracture of that mem ber a few weeks ago, and there was no limit to the enjoyment de rived in the occasion by this worthy lady and her family. Those who were present from out of the city to take part in the celebration were: Mrs. D. P. Aylsworlh, Kansas City; Mrs. Charles Eads and daughter. Mrs. W. W. Ward, and little son. South Omaha; Mrs. A. W. Hallam and son. Oliver, Omaha; Mrs. Anna Miller, a sister of Mrs. Oliver, and son, Roy Miller and wife, and daughter. Miss Kate Miller, Fort Crook: James W. Mitchell, sec retary of the Council Bluffs Com mercial club, and wife. After the delights of the din ner the company spent the time in visiting with each other, and a photograph of the mother and daughter was taken to remind them of the pleasures of the day in the years to come. Called to Chicaqo by Death. From Tuesday's Daily. Lat evening Mrs. M. Archer departed on No. 2 for Chicago. Ahere she was summoned by a message announcing the death of a sister in that city. The mes sage announcing the death was received at noon and Mrs. Archer at once began preparations tr. journey to the Illinois city to be present at the funeral, which will occur this afternoon at Chicago. The death was a great shock to Mrs. Archer, as she was not aware of the serious illness of her sis ter, and in her loss she will re ceive the sympathy of he many friends. Eggs for hatching from S. C. Rhode Island Rec's, 51.00 per 15: $3.00 per 100. Extra choic- mat ings, 52.00 and ?3.00 per 13. A. O. Ramge. Letter flies at tho Journal office. Draws Ten Days in Jail. From Tuesday Daily. The ca-f of ib, state vs. J.--. Milb-r and lii"r" Za har can.. up for hearing !h: m.-miri- " Justice Ardo r's c.i.rJ. an I :! two oiin- rio-n wiT" f ; i T : . ! u'liit; of havin-r stolen some bra-- a' ! copp-r from .1. W. M r "f Greenwood on 1 .1 S t M "I;d'V. Tff two men were s:en a -':,;. n-.- .. ten days jn jail and t" pay th-co-ts of the j.f. .--ru! i. .ii. arid will tie 'lie-ts at the Hotel d- M.I1- speaker until the am- i.r? f t!i sentence is served oi;t. PETITION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER FILED IN THE DISTRICT COURT From Tus-lay's Dahy. A petition for a l'-!i''cr,iry re- sfrainimr order was hod in th- district court thi- afternoon en titled William Nickels v-.Chirl.-W. Ti-ro-r. The petition ,.f the plaintitT gives that h- has ha 1 a tract of f.me fifty ruT'- of hind eat of Murray which wr.s i : . J . -. t to the liTe interest o f To! t ri M. Wiley, who has in-e died, ar d -ince lor death the plaintiff ha- e-e! in fllll i.o.-ess j,.., ,,f Jij.. land. The fifty acr.-s was lea-.. by the plaintifT to Ai t!:-;r C...p.-n. haver and iuy toke- f..r th a- on of llli. and on the if.th d y of March the defendant. Ti-r.er. broke and detVoed f.-eee, round in tr the land ar.d o n::,;!!-! damn-re to the extent of s7."o. Th hearing on inaki:--j t he te i j., r ir re-draining order t r : t T . - -r.er from ! i r: -jt further dan.a-e will be heard on March 27th. A!! the parties to the -uit a-e Weil known re-dden's ,,f tie- Murru neji-hborhood. a:.d the hear.:-- of the ae will doubtless attract much attention from it... resi dents of that seetion. PRESBYTERIAN LADIES HAVE DELIGHTFUL TIME From WedncJi'.iv-ii D-"v. A large number of th- t!:-::.!",r and friends . f the f.ad,e-' Auxi liary of the prebv!erja!i rhur. h were very pleasantly ent-rtam-d by Mesdames F. B. ;. .. Will Warga. J. M. Roberts and Mis Margaret Ilod-ert. at the t.otr.e . f Mrs. Uoirts veterday -i:-rri"":i. this beinu- their regular n.eetii;-. The regular lu.M'i , i.,n w.i held. after which a hort program consist inir of a piano -eject i-.n bj Miss Honor Sejbert. re:v!:r:-- b Miss Anna Hi-el. ..cai i by Miss Mathild- Yaibry and read me by Mis Ve-ta D-ej-ja-s. wa--riven. This program was a very plea-inir feature of the after noon's entertainment. Following the program the ladies indnl-ed in sevvintr. social conversation a::d other ;!T:iu-en n ' -. wlih made the hours pas- all tn quickly. Delightful refreshments were provided by the hutesses. which materially aided in the pleasure-. Fn deference t.i the season each gllest wa presented With little green fags a a souvenir f th occasion. There were -. rue sixty four in attendance, wh . n their deparijre. declared Mesda-ie-Shopp. Warsra. Roberts .,rd Mi" Hodgert as beinir -jdendu! enter tainers. Bert Cooper Visits City. This inornin- Itert i"i r. a former Piatt -ni-'iil h 'i;;i.- man. and wife arrived in th- ci'y t spend a few hours visitirjr with th oid friends of Mr. Cooper. Mr. and Mr-. Cooper are r tur:n::- t their home at Seattle. Wa-hir. ton. after a visit in New Y- rk with the brother of Mr. Oo.r, Levi Cooper, and al at different eastern cities abnz tlo'-.r rou'e. The many friends of the yor:-,- man were very much pleased t see him and to meet Til- -!iarr!un-wife, although re-retti;: that they could n t make a l-uii-er stay here with them. Mr. Cooper was a son of Henry Cooper arid wife, who were ani"n: the arl residents of th city, and he was pared to manhood h 're. See our assortment rf Ze hand kerchiefs in, laii. childrc-; an i cents'. Zuckvreiler 5. Lutx. CELEBRATES HIS SIXTY-THIRD JBIRTHDAY A Large Numbr of Fr-'erds of Harry Johnson Assist in Wail ing It a Pleasant Event. I.a-t even !! v J .V -i received U h , o . . ' . I - p-;-e fio'M a r .: : f I. friey.d- on to- -iv y-ttor.j b -i-.!; a:::oc;-.a. t . v- ' V. l.I ""- . .e' ' : J - e.J ; p!ea-a:;tly by If.- - . f h :. - f th- . ve;..: a ! b.. - .-; v a s a T o-?. .. . . . .Mr. lob: -o.j was i- d .. .v . f hi- fr:e;.d- b. d I !-e ,. i- and ".s n .,- ( . -v , o r of t he w .iv - -. -a had 1 : ad "I f tf . . - r : v Mr-. 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