The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1902-01-09
OVER THE STATE

lOOh d QOSe Ol CdIUOilC dClu. ne SUI
was in Jail at the time the deed was
committed.
A letter has been received from An
drew Carnegie stating definitely that
he will provide $4,000 for a library at
Marshalltown providing the conditions
heretofore named are complied with.
A lot has been donated and the coun-
Gil has taken steps to provide for the
'library's maintenance.
Newt Boyle. a stone mason and
a highly respected citizen of Urbana,
small town east of Vinton, was
found dead in the road between Vim
ton and Urbana. A shotgun was found
lying across his lap and charge of
shot had blown away the entire back
of his head. Lie had been extinct for
some hours when the body was found.
E. j. Meller of Webster City has
just fallen heir to a portion of an
estate in Germany worth several mil
lion dollars. Mathris Meller died re-
Gently in the fatherland, leaving an
immense estate to which are several
heirs. e. ]. Meller is one of these.
He has just been notified by the
National bank of Laporte, Ind, where
the other heirs reside. Meller is a
boollkeeper and was a stakeholder in
the Strohmyer Shoe company, which
banllrupted lately.
l.. w. KlinEer the promoter of the
proposed interurban railway between
Terry and Abel has announced his in
to inspect some of the systems there
far thn nf hoe
ideas for the new road in which he
is interested. He will be gone some
weeks. but it is the intention OF those
intere sted in the project to push the
WGlk as fast as possible, and they
hope to have part of the road COM
pleted by fall. LATE Higgins of Des
Moines has been engaged to make the
survey and he will commence early in
the spring. The road is to extend
from Abel to Perry, and at Panther
postoffice branch will be. run west
to Panora and later to Guthrie Center
1t may be extended west to Harlan
and Council Bluffs some time in the
future. A branch will probably be
run from Abel to Van Meter
With unparalleled audacity, gang
IF burglars practically rifed the
Brown dry goods store at De Soto
of it's contents, hauling away in wag-
ons nearly $1,000 worth of plumber,
consisting of clothing, dry goods and
jewelry. Manager d. j. Forbes says
the loss will more likely exceed this
estimate than fall below it. Entrance
was obtained by smashing the glass
in rear door. lifting the latch and
then forcing open the double doors
into the main room. They apparently
worked at leisure for they thoroughly
overhauled the entire stock, selecting
the best goods. Absolutely no clue
was left. Bolts of dry goods were found
scattered along the wagon road for
short distance, having evidently fallen
from wagon in the hurried flight
of the robbers, but the trail! can be
followed only half mile or so. when
all trace is lost. 1t is aptrehended
that the robbers will have difficulty
in concealing or dis2osing of So much
plumber and that they will be caught
soon.
With three blows of his fist Frank
q. Ferguson, carpenter. almost in
stantly killed Leonard Shelgren of
Cherokee during quarrel at Sioux
City boarding house. The blows broke
Shelgren's nose and caused concus.
sion of the brain, from which he died
forty-five minutes later. Ferguson and
Shelgren quarreled over the latter's
3-year-old child which was being
cared for in the boarding house. Shell.
gren, who is widower, handled the
child so roughly that Ferguson took it
from him and placed it in another
room. On his return Shelgren showed
fight and made a vicious lunge at
Ferguson, who then dealt the fatal
blows in return. He himself notified
the police of the affair, not knowing
his victim was likely to die. 1t was
discovered later that Ferguson served
two terms in the penitentiary, the
last time for ten years for robbery OF
a rich farmer near Oto During his
first term at Anamosa prison, he was
concerned in an instruction anon,
the prisoners.
wagon load of clothing, dress
goods, valises, jewelry and furnishing
goods belonging to the Brown Dry
Goods company of De Soto were re-
covered by the Des Moines police de-
partment. Tne goods were found Sc
cretcd in an old coal shed and hidden
in various portions of the house at
212 Tenth street, and occupied by
Martin Jones. Chief Mathis was given
tip that an extensive plant of
stolen goods could be found at the
house mentioned. Officers McKircher.
Barnes and the chief repaired to the
house and proceeded to serve a search
warrant on Mr. Jones. Bolts of fian.
nels, dress goods, and pieces of Jew
elry were found hidden between the
SPRINGS and the mattress in two beds
More of the goods were found in the
attic, others in the cellar and some
in closets. Nearly wagon load of
readymade clothing was unearthed in
a coal house in the rear of the house.
When Jones was asked to explain the
presence of the stolen plumber in his
house and on the premises, he refused
to talk further than to declare that he
did not know. However, his wife, who
is afflicted with sciatic rheumatism.
from which she suffers torture, con-
fided to the officers, after extended
persuasion, that the goods had been
brought to the house just before day
light in the morning after the robbery