The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-28

the bill and said he could we'll imagine
deplorable condition of affairs and unfor-
tunate situations in a city in the event the
bill should pass. Mr.. Huff expressed him
self as in favor of abolshng coroners in
quests altogether. He said he could count
on the fingers of one hand the crimes which
have been feTreted out by cOroners which
would not have been ferreted out by other
officials There is nothing in the present
son from taking charge of d body found any
where. There may be an unWritten law
that a body must not be touched until the
coroner shall have viewed 1T in some back
woods county but i'm southern Indiana
where education and civilization flourish"
How about lynchings?" interjected Mr..
Noel.
Yes" said Mr.. Huff, amid much laugh
ter. and lynchings. and ! expect there will
be more of them. In southern Indiana we
give a body humane treatment"
RIDICULED CORONER'S INQUEST.
Mr.. Cunningham favored the bill and cited
a case where man was killed in sawmill
and the body was not moved for fifteen
hours in order that the coroner might view
it, when the accident was witnessed by half
a dozen persons, all of whom knew it was
an accident and did not need to have the
coroner come out to tell them how it hap
pened. Mr. Bonham likewise favored the
bill in a strong speech. He ridiculed the
average coroner's inquest and read from
verdict of a coroner in his home county,
wherein the official found that This death
was caused by an electric shock. commune
Gated to him by placing his hands on an
arc light connected with a live wire bearing
$500 volts while he was voluntarily examin-
ing said arc light for the purpose of learn
ing how to trim ii" Mr. Bonham said that
a large number of people had seen the acct
dent and knew now the man was killed, but
the coroner had to hold, an inquest. run up
a large bill of costs and then tell everybody
what was we'll known before.
Mr.. Whitcomb of Marion, favored the
bill and Mr.. Blankenship said he OPP
posed to the bill. He said tina. the saWmill
accident cited convinced him that his posi-
ton was right, as he believed that the tes-
tmOny in that case should have been taken
by the coroner and preserved in the event
OF a suit for damages. Mr.. Blankenship at
some length referred to a case in which wit
nesses swore that a man had cut both his
wind pipe and jugular vein, while the
animation of the coroner showed that he had
not. Mr. May said that indianapolis is not
the only place in the State. although some
of the mem bers seem to think it is, and
that Marion county is not the only county
in the State He claimed that no other officer
receives so much from fraud as does the
coroner. The vote was demanded and when
Mr.. WillOughby voted he said he had been
in favor of the bill, but Mr.. Blankenships
eloquence had so moved him" that he would
vote no nc "a and he did. The bill passed by "A
ayes TO D noes.
Those voting against the bill were Baker
Of whitley Barlow. Blankenship, Burrer,
Heuring, Holcomb. Knots, Messick Nor
rison Neal Noel. Rifenburg Ross Shide-
Ter, Strong, Vogel Willoughby and Little
ton. Those absent were BeardSley CraVens
of Monroe, Roose and Stevens.
Mr.. Artmans bill making it unlawful for
any company furnishing natural or manu-
featured gas for heating or Illuminating pur-
poses to charge more than the amount pre-
scribed in an ordinance of the place wherein
the company is operating. was passed by a
vote of 50 ayes 10 p noes Mr.. Eichhorn
asked for unanimous consent that the word
Ordinance might be qualified by under
which the company is operating" and Mr..
jected it could not be included.
Mr.. Fullers bill, which requires that not
less than three stockholders of a telephone
company Incorporated under the laws of
this State shall be elected directors and pro-
viding that a majority of them shall be resi-
dents of the State, was passed by 81 ayes
to noes. Mr. Noel's bill to legalize the in
corporation of Casteton, this county, was
unanimously passed
CONCERNING CITY TREASURERS.
Mr.. Graham's bill providing that orders
issued by city treasurers. when there is no
money in the proper fund with which TO
pay them, shall bear interest al per cent.
until there be money in the treasury and
that these orders shall be good for taxes,
was passed by Sc ayes and noes.
Mr.. Halls bill to amend the law regulat-
ing heavy hauling on roads was reported
by him with the amendments which the
ih'uSC olucTeu Wien the Dill was last up.
The rules were suspended and the bill
passed by "a ayes to noes. 1t provides
that when gravel or macadam road is
thawlng through, is in condition to be
cut up. the load on narrOw-tire wagon
shall not exceed 5000 pounds in weight. in
Guiding the wagon, and on a broad-tire
wagon IL shall not exceed g 700 pounds, in
cluCIng the wagon A narrow tire is one
which does not exceed three inches in
width. The bill to legalize the acts of Mar
kle. huntington county, was passed by S3
ayes and l no. 1t was introduced by Mr..
Dilley.
Mr.. kirkpatrick moved to reconsider the
vote by which the bill by Mr. Roots to APP
prOpriate 81 800 for the care of the criminal
insane at the State Prison was defeated
Mr.. Whitcomb, of Marion. moved to adj
JOurn, bat Speaker LittletOn said he had
but one more engTossed bill on his desk
and he desired to put it on its passage
DuTham's bill for the prohibition of the
killing of quail and grouse for three years
was put on passage. Mr. Roberts opposed
the bill and many others desired To speak
but were cut off by the demand for the
previous question As the result nearly
every member took his minute to explain
his vote and the roll call became a series of
opportunities for fun by the members. The
BIN was defeated by s. ayes 10 20 noes.
The lobbyists became SO active during the
inornnE that many of the members were
not TO be found when their names were
called or the different bills This was more
than Mr.. Shideer could stand and he COM
plained about il, and declared II interfered
with work Of the House. Mr.. BlankenshiD