The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-01-04
News Items.

Scranton, can talk, waltz, and play mouth
organ
a stallion that cost stock company of
farmers. near Philadelphia, 81, 800. was sold
al auction for SO.
Jack Ramsey, the outlaw now 10 the pen
itentiary, is engaged on a history of the
Cooley gang and their raids
Dismissed from his school by the direct
ors on the ground of ineompetency, u. P.
Miller. Of Lancaster county, has saed the
board for 5000 damages.
J. c. BIakeny. who forsook the principal
ship OF the Salisbury schcol TO dig in the
mines for bis health, was instantly killed,
one day last week, by fall Of coal.
John L Alexander. at one time one of the
most prominent men in the anthracite coal
region, was found early Friday morning
sitting at the foot OF tree. frozen to death.
The trial Of Rev DR.. Charles A Briggs, o
the Union Theological Seminary, New
York, upon the charges of hereticai teach
ing, ended Friday evening with signal tri-
umph for the accused professor.
Dynamite exploded in q quarry near
Greensburg. Thursday, and one man was
killed end dozen Others seriously injured,
some Of whom will die. As they are Ital-
iAns, they are known only by numbers.
The first and final account Of the estate OF
the late Congressman Samuel J. Randall,
filed in Philadelphia Friday morning. show
ed that he left property valued at S7s9.7f,
while the fees OF undertakeFs and physicians
who attended him were Sl,l93i5.
EE Prothonotary John W. Mentzer, of
Lancaster county, was last Thursday con-
victed of embezzling 81, ,252 "a. This money
was collected by him as tax on writs, and
belonged TO the State. He kept the money.
When he was placed on trial he made no
defense
Instead of putting his money in bank,
John McFadden, an employe of the Lucy
Furnace. at Elston, Pa, kept his 81 200 saw
ings in his trunk. Last week while ne was
absent thief opened the trunk and took all
the money. Il was the hoardings Of MeFAd-
den's lifetime.
Mis,aking ammonia for whiskey, John
Farmer, Hiram MeElroy and John Slower
of Lancaster, Pa, drank copiously in order
to overcome the cold on the way to a ball.
All three suffered terribly, and are not yet
out of danger 1t was Farmers flask, and
he got it from a cupboard in the dark.
Four persons were killed aud twice that
number injured. Thursday morning, by the
collision of Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne
locomotive with heavily loaded street car
at the junction of Forty-seventh street and
Stewart avenue, Chicago. The engineer and
TWO watchmen at the crossing are under ar
rest pending an investigation Of the aeci-
dent
The Pennsylvania State Board of Agricul-
ture's annual meeting that will be held in
Harrisburg, beginning January 25. will be
laden with great importance. Questions
pertaining directly to the farmers, such as
roads, fences and taxation, will be discuss
ed. Delegates from all farmers organiza-
tions are invited to atieni and snomi, qles-
tons relating to agriculture. which will be
answered
At Wampum, Pa, Thursday morning,
Joseph Davidson, prominent hardware
merchant, while alone in his store, shot him
self in the head. aud died q few hours later
The suicide left a letter addressed to his
wife but the contents have not been made
known to anybody else, and probably will
never be made public. Davidson was As
pears old. weli-to-io, and leaves a wife and.
four children. Even his most intimate
friends are al loss TO account for his self
murder.
Mr.. John d. Rockefeller, the Slandardoil
msgnate, does not propose TO wait until the
Lord shall have called him hence TO dispose
of so much of his vast fortune as he cares to
devote TO charitable uses. Within three
yeaus he has given 10000 toward the
founding and maintenance of the Uniyersi-
ty of Chicago. His latest gift Of 81 600 O0O
was Christmas offering-the principal sum
10 be reserved forever Is an endowment, and
the income to be used in the remuneration
Of instructors.
President Harrison has received from John
F. Healy, consul at Funohal, MADEIRA Is
lands, u cane made from the wood Of a
house on Porto Santo, occupied by Christie
pher Columbus at the time he was resident
there. Columbus married the daughter Of
Perestreilo, who was the ruler of the island
He was a sailor and explorer Of note himself
and the discovery OF the Madeiras is by some
attributed TO him. The cane is Of dark wood
bat, unlike most of the growth Of that local
ity, is comparatively light.
One Of the strangest murder cases ever
brought 10 light in Eastern Arkansas, is the
one in which John Thomas, thirteen-year-
old boy, is charged with the murder Of bis
mother on Monday of last week, in the
dark country neighborhood south Of where
! they lived. The boy is apparently Of sound
mind, and when seen acknowledged the
murder, and gave as his reason that she got
the gun aud gave i TO him and compelled
him to shoot her under the threat that she
would shoot him if he did not do as she told
him to do. Medical experts believe the boy
sane and that his story is correct. He does
not seem to recognize the enormity of his
offense. He was remanded 70 jail to await
the action Of the Grand iorv