Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1911-10-05
THE NEWS Of
WEST VIRGINIA {

I.t -. Z. = -. 81 q y. =
FaIrmontThe Hope Gas Com.
pany's well. At WofthInkton, was
struck b. lightning Tue derrick was
destroyed. s. 8
Beckley Albert Carmen; the IS
year.old son Of c. W. Carmen, super.
iptendsnt OF the Oswald coal minea,
near here, was instantly killed in one
Of the mines by falling under an elee-
trio motor.
Elkton. Former United State Sem
ator Henry g. Davis. chairman Of the
West Virginia Semi-C Cent enniai Com,
missfOn, appointed to COO operate with
the State Board Of Trade Committee
IN arranging for celebrating the semi
centennial anniversary of the State,
has announced his intention OF calling
q meeting in the near future for the
purpose Of definitely deciding whether
the celebration win Rs held RI 1912.
Martinsburg Az 6 meeting OF the
Jewish residents Of Maftinsburg plans.
looking to the erection Of d handsome
synagogue were made and q commit
tee Is negotiating for the purchase Of
the old Wysong Hall property on East
Burke street, to be used as 4 site for
the proposed new house of Worship
The price Of this property Is said to
be $4,000.
ParkersbHrg E. SommerAe Of
Hamnick, committed suicide in the
county jail here by drinking carbolic
acid. He had been sentenced to serve
three days for being drunk in the Bal
timore and Ohio passenger station by
Squire w p Rathbone only few
minutes before he took the acid. Som
merfeld came here Wednesday from
the Roam county oil field, where he
had been employed.
Martinsburg The third annual
apple carnival under the auspices Of
the Berkeley County Horticultural So
ciety was held In the City Market
house here with a very large and
handsome display Of fruits from all
sections of West Virginia. There was
large attendance, and among the
visitors were many prominent fruit
growers and dealers from Pennsyl-
yania, Maryland, West yirginia and
Virginia. The handsome silver chal-
lenge cup presented by the Martins
burg Board of Trade for the best five
boxes Of Berkeley county apples was
won by the Faulkner & Bowers Orch
ard Company. This was the premier
trophy Of the carnival.
Charleston-Mrs. Dbra M Thumm,
wife Of John Thumm, merchant,
living on Crescent road, is under ar
rest in connection with the, death of
her two stepsons, Herbert and Wal
ter, in 1905, presumably from
ptomaiI1e poisoning. Mrs. Thumm's
arrest followed an investigation made
by private detective agency. One
night in 1905 the three children of
Thumm by former wife became yio-
lently i'll and two of them died.
Romie, aged IL, the eldest, recovered.
DR.. Myers, who was called, says he
noticed an odor Of arsenic. The cor
oner failed to conduct an examination
at that time, which accounts for the
delay in the investigation. The State
will base It's case on the testimony Of
Romie Thumm, who said that on the
night OF the tragedy Mrs. Thumm
gave each of the children cup Of
coffee and insisted that they drink II.
He said that his two brothers drank
theirs, but that he partook of only a
III
man. Young Thumm recently left
home because, he says, his step
mother made second attempt on his
life. Thumn, 1t is said, owns con-
siderable property, ana this. the State
will make an effort to prove, furnishes
the motive for the alleged crimes. The
bodies will be exhumed. The Thumms
| are we'll known and are considered to.
be worth a good deal of money Ever
since the death Of the two boys the
stepmother has referred to them in
endearing terms and deploring their
deaths. Mrs. Thumm denies We
hemently the charges made against
her. She declares she will be able to
prove her innocence When she learn
ed that the bodies of the two boys are
to be exhumed she declared that the
chemists examination would prove
her Innocence.
CIarksburg. Crazed with grief over.
the death of his father, r. }. Nutter.
as the result of a coal mine accident,
and over the return of his bride Of
three weeks to her home at Bower,
Randolph county, as the result Of q.
misunderstanding, Ollie Nutter, aged
81 years. leaned over the coffin CON
tanning his fathers corpse, at mid
night in their home at Enterprise and
fatally shot himself.
Lapland,s only railroad 10 being
electrified.
The mouth Of an oyster IS near the.
hinge Of the shell. N
nh Z nldAct man If the heavens was