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Newspaper
Ashton Gazette
Location
Ashton, Illinois, United States of America
Date
Jan 24, 1907
Page
3
A dense fog crash of the Queen City Special eastbound from Chicago with freight No. 38 near Fowler Indiana left twenty five dead and forty injured. The combination car burned, most victims in the head car burned or crushed. Rescue efforts halted by intense heat.
US battleships Indiana Missouri and gunboat Yankton under Admiral Davis cease mercy work in Kingston after Governor Swettenham orders removal. Marines and ship surgeons depart Jamaica with supplies for Cuba. Many earthquake victims lack medicines and care as local authorities fail to provide. Davis contends immediate compliance with the governor’s request would harm dignity of the United States.
About 100 lawmakers heard Dr. Frank Billings of Chicago report that 60 to 80 percent of inmates in state insane asylums could be cured with proper treatment. He urged state supervision of county almshouses, epileptic and consumptive colonies, water care at insane hospitals, and possible relocation of Joliet penitentiary to a smokeless higher ground. Governor Deneen attended and discussed the measures.
The New York School Journal notes rising momentum for sex instruction in public schools. Dr Mary Putnam cites minimal coverage in twenty cities except some talks in three girls high schools. Critics urge careful presentation, oppose external physicians, and suggest using student leaders to guide peers.
In Paris an official denial refutes a claim that France ceded Tahiti to Great Britain. The report had circulated as an international diplomatic rumor, prompting clarification from French authorities.
Decatur senator James A. Henson introduces a bill to establish a whipping post with a maximum of fifty lashes, to be administered by court-appointed officials. The measure allows mitigating circumstances and notes that a victorious husband would not be charged with wife beating. Illinois also considers a five-member railway safety commission and blue laws crackdown, with bills from John O Hruby and Senator Cruickshank signaling a broader legislative clash.
A direct primary bill sponsored by Mr. Egan of Chicago includes a referendum and allows municipal corporations to vote on direct primary nomination of all officers except school trustees. It would also vote on state central and county committeemen, mirroring the Dougherty measure from two years prior.
Representative J R Boulware of Peoria introduced House bill No 1 adding a circuit court clerk in Peoria and four other counties with branch courts. Allen of Vermilion drew laughs by presenting a petition seeking poultry theft made a penitentiary offense, signed by 108 constituents.
Mr Hruby introduced a bill to repeal the Sunday closing law bringing the saloon issue before the House. The prevailing view is the measure will not clear committee. Senate approves bills for session expenses including $22,000 for incidental expenses and $100,000 for employee pay.
Representative B. M. Chiperfield proposes a bill to outlaw coercive interrogation methods in police custody. It would criminalize thumb screws and torture devices used to obtain confessions, making such actions a felony. Confessions forced by coercion would be inadmissible unless freely given and voluntary.
A Sandford Indiana powder explosion derailed a B F Four passenger train causing the locomotive to be hurled off the track and multiple cars to burn. At least 35 people were injured with several fatally. Causes vary from concussion by a passing train to a nearby oil pipe gas ignition. Other railroad disasters nationwide reported the same day include fires, signal misreads, and track defects.
The Illinois Central railroad faces a state action in the Supreme Court over unpaid back taxes. Attorney General Stead filed the bill seeking an accounting to determine damages and tax amounts. A summons was issued through J. H. Lord, Springfield agent, initiating litigation likely to move through lower courts or a master in chancery if the Supreme Court directs. Governor Deneen hopes for a quick, decisive outcome before leaving office. The exact amount sought is not stated in the bill, and lawyers differ on how long the case will take to resolve.
A laborer Hartfield died after drowning in a pond near the tracks while another man Walter Stein assisted, with police investigating. Other items report a miner’s fire loss at Springfield Colliery, a Chicago and Alton wreck in fog, boatman deaths, public notices, and state appointments under Governor Deneen. Includes Epworth Chautauqua dates at Havana and various local incidents across Illinois.
Indiana Tracy, dubbed the king of rail thieves, faces trial after a long-distance consultation with Indiana officials. John Locke, held by Milwaukee police, is set to stand trial in Charles or De Grady area towns with burglary charges. Det Grady believes he can convict in Indiana.
Ol Peterson, a Chicago laborer, was arraigned on a charge related to disposing of his child's body. He claimed lack of funds prevented burial and said he burned the body in a foundry where he worked. He was fined 25 dollars and jailed briefly.
Fr F Lewis pastor at St Charles National Church was dismissed by a vote of the congregation at its annual meeting after he refused to resign. He had served as pastor for two years and faced criticism from members. A committee offered to confer and seek his withdrawal but he declined to resign.
John J. Hanberg of Chicago appointed to State board of pardons. Andrew Russell of Jackson to join, replacing Charles P. Wilk. Fred L Leo Austrian of Chicago fills Lincoln Park post, replacing Ed A. Lina.
Florian Afton, an Ottawa gardener, wins a seven year custody battle with Hastings H. Hart of the Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society. Judge Gibbons orders his daughter Sarah 17 and sons George 13 and Frank 11 to join him in their old home. Afton endured fires, the death of his wife and two children, arrests, and a 5,000 mile chase across Cook County as he fought to reclaim his family amidst charges of child trafficking. He vows to expose alleged abuses by local officials and charities.
Private William A. Dawson, of the Third United States artillery, traveled from Seattle after a dream led Miss Cora Dawson to identify him as her missing brother. Reunited after twenty years, Dawson learned he had been raised near Rockford after an orphanage, enlisted three years ago, served in Nome, and was stationed in Seattle with Company E.
George Everett, 23, a prisoner in Rockford, bolts from a custody train car amid Chicago station chaos. Handcuffed to a fellow inmate, he slips free during a window jump as Sheriff Joseph Collier pursues toward Joliet. Shots fired, but Everett escapes into freight lines. recaptured plans follow as authorities pursue. He had been sentenced to one to twenty years for burglary.
Dora Cadle of Waukesha Wisconsin writes to Mount Vernon school directors claiming she owed tuition for 34 years but evaded payment by misrepresenting her age as 20 when she was 21. The board canceled the debt as the amount could not be determined.
Fairfield resident Mrs. Nancy J. Sechrest seeks the $12 000 estate of the late D. Cook in Mount Vernon probate court declaring she is the sole heir and only child of the deceased sister. Cook died November 15 without a will, leaving gold held in an iron safe. Sechrest is described as poor and crippled. Triplets Born to Mr and Mrs Dow Connor Hoosier township Clay county. Modern Woodmen of America lodge gifts include a Jersey cow. The male offspring named Teddy Theodore and Roosevelt, weighed 7 5 and 5 pounds respectively.
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