Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-12-10

The annual bazar for the benefit
of st. Paul's church will occur to-
morrow, Dec. 10th. The ladies
have worked hard to make a sue
cessful display of wares for Christ
mas presents and also for every
day use, and hope for unlimited
patronage. Dinner will be served
at IL o'clock; supper from $50 on.
1t is hoped there will be many
competitors for the prizes offered.
There being so few of the ladies
and so much to do, it has been i'm
possible to make individual re-
quests for the butter, bread, cakes,
etc., but everybody is invited to
compete. The articles of food
entered will help to provide the
meals. In the competition for
prizes at the bazar, the bread and
cake should be baked on Wednes-
day and entered by 8 o'clock A.
NJ. Thursday, Dec. 10th. In refer
ence to size of loaf of bread it is
not necessary to weigh the bread;
about two pound size will allow
for uniformity in baking. Mrs.
Mann Ringo will receive all entries
as usual at the Academy of Music.
John Douglas, aged twenty-five,
who lived at Iron Mountain, was
knocked OFF the railroad track by
No. 9, a south bound passenger
train, between Pilot Knob and
Middlebrook, about h~alf-past
twelve o'clock Sunday morning,
and instantly killed. Douglas and
a boy about fifteen years old, by
the name of Morris, were returning
to Iron Mountain from Piedmont.
They had ridden on a freight train
as far as Doubling Spur, north of
Pilot Knob, and had started to
walk from there to Iron Mountain.
They had proceeded about a half
mile when they saw the passenger
train coming. The boy says he got
off the track and told Douglas to
get off, too. Douglas told him that
he would get off in time but the
boy, becoming alarmed, grabbed
hold of Douglas and tried to pull
him off. He was unable to do so,
and, seeing that the engine was
going to hit him, the boy barely
escaped. The train was going at
a high rate of speed and knocked
Douglas nearly fifty feet, crushing
his head and breast. The engineer
evidently did not see the man as
the train never slackened speed
but went hurrying on it's way.
The boy went to Middlebrook,
gave the alarm, and that afternoon
Coroner Clarkson was summoned
and an inquest was held. Before
the Coroner's jury Morris testified
that Douglas was drinking before
they left Piedmont and that prob
ably accounts for his strange con-
duct in staying on the track and
facing certain death. The verdict
of the jury was in accordance with
the foregoing statement. The
deceased was a member of the
Woodmen's lodge at Iron Noun
tain and has a widowed mother
residing there. The funeral was
held at Iron Mountain Monday.
About twenty-eight years ago,
Josiah B. Barnes, then treasurer
of Reynolds county, suddenly dis
appeared, and from that day until
a week or ten days ago, he was
never heard from. | knew him
we'll and was surprised greatly
when his shortage" was dis
closed, and still believe his wrong
doing was not premeditated but
grew out of weakness and good
will to too many friends" Be
that as it may, his after-life is no
longer hidden from those who
knew him in his better days. The
following special from Alto Pass,
ILL.,, dated Dec. Z, will be read with
interest by many people in this
section: "The mystery concern
ing the life of Samuel Botkin, for
twenty-five years a prominent
resident of Golden, who dropped
dead at his clearinghouse re-
Gently, has been cleared up by
letters received here from his
former home in Missouri, where
his wife and other members of his
family still live. AT the Coroner's
inquest a demit from a Masonic
lodge at Ellington, Mo-, was found
on the body, bearing the name of
Josiah B. Barnes, and an investi-
cation brought explanatory letters
from prominent citizens of Elling-
ton, among which was one from
his son, j. B. Barnes, Jr. His up
right life while a citizen here ban
ished suspicion that his reticence
as to his past life was caused by
his wish to hide a crime, but the
letters positively identify him with
Josiah B. Barnes, former Treas
urer of Reynolds county, who was
a defaulter. For twenty-seven
years he hid his identity under the
name of Botkin, and his wife had
not heard from him since his
second year of absence. She is
still living near Centerville, Mo-,
- IL.