Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1905-10-12


Cashier w. j. Underwood shot
and instantly killed an early morn
ing thief at his home Tuesday last.
He was awakened about 1 o'clock
by a noise among his chickens,
and grabbing his shotgun which
was near, he proceeded to the
chicken yard to learn what the
the trouble was. One old hen was
out in the lot and seemed to be in
great trouble. He located her in
an instant and flashed his search
light in that direction. This
frightened the intruder and it rose
to fly away. But, it was not to get
away so easy, and Mr.. Underwood
leveled his gun and fred a shot
after the escaping thief. 1t was a
lucky shot in the dark, for on in
vestigation he found the thief lying
prone upon the ground not far
from where he was standing. The
thief proved to be an owl, an
enormous one, for it measured four
feet from the tip of one wing to
the other. And this was not the
first time it had got into trouble
from its night prowlings, for it
carried on one of it's feet a steel
trap, that had evidently hung there
for a long time, for it was very
rusty and showed other indications
of long wear by MI. Owl. But his
owlship is through with this world.
No more will he ply his profession
around the barnyard where he lies
in wait and pounces down upon
his victim without the least warn
ing. Just what he will follow in
that other land we will not even
make a guess, but we trust his
soul is at rest, and even though he
died in the act of a theft, we for
give him.-SteelUiIe Democrat.
There are many inquiries con-
corning the enforcement of the
compulsory attendance law. A
few of them have been answered
by the State Superintendent as
follows: 81. The home instruction
given in lieu of the school must be
regular and during the usual
school hours every day equivalent
to the instruction given in the
school. 2. The court, not the
teacher, school clerk or truant
officer, may excuse. The court
need not excuse children on ac-
count of their living two and one
half miles from the school. Able
bodied, healthy children go further
than that without considering it a
hardship. 8. A child may be ex-
cused by a court if it can not pro-
cure proper clothing, but not on
account of inability to buy books.
The school board must furnish
books for those who T unable to
buy them. 1t is hoped that there
will be a charitable organization
in every school district to furnish
clothing when necessary. 4. 1t is
the duty of the attendance officer,
or district clerk in a district not
having attendance officer, to prose-
cute parents who fail to comply
with the law after due notice has
been given. 5. A parent who
thinks he has a good and sufficient
excuse for not sending his child to
school should not wait to be no.
titled. He should secure written
excuse from the court and have it
ready to present when notified.
The law does not contemplate that
the court wait for prosecution.
Secure excuse and stop prosecu-
ton. 6. The attendance law is not
in conflict with Sec. 9764, which
gives school boards authority to
suspend or expel pupils from
school. When the conduct of a
child is such as to demoralize the
school, he should be sent to the
State Reformatory. No child
should be turned out of school for
slight infraction of rules"
The following was telegraphed
to Mondays Globe-D Democrat from
Flat River, Mo-, under date of Oc-
tober 9Th: "In a desperate pistol
duel with one or two cracksmen,
who blew his safe and rifled it of
St4OO in cash and checks, Buck
Sonar, a saloon keeper at Clay
town, two miles west of here, was
shot through the left ankle and
seriously wounded this morning.
The desperadoes escaped on
horses, leaving Sonar on the
ground in a pool Of blood. They
have not been captured. Sonar
was awakened at s O'Clock by the
sound of an explosion in his
saloon, which adjoins his resi-
dence. Revolver in hand he crept
downstairs and out into the road
way, failing to notice that his
movements were being watched
by a sentinel posted behind a tree.
Peering into the window, he saw
a masked man moving among the
ruins of his safe, working by
lantern light. Sonar took careful
aim and sent a bullet crashing
through the window at the kneel-
ing figure. The light was extin-
guished. Sonar fired a second
time. At the same time the sem
tinel outside opened fire on Sonar
The saloon keeper fell, shot
through the left leg. Then the
desperate deliberately emptiec
his revolver at the PROSTATE figure
Sonar answering each shot with
one from his own revolver. Not
word was spoken during the fusil.
ade. The safeblower emerged
from the saloon while the two mer
outside were reloading their re.