The Newark Journal.
I
Published In The Famous Big Bottom Country. Where Alfalfa Is King.
$1 Per Annum.
..
Newark, Independence County, Arkansas, Friday September 9, 1904.
Vol. 4, No. 37.
\ \vs ' VC
GOVERNOR JEFF DAVIS,
First Man Ever Elected Governor of a Southern State for a I hird Tern
DROWNED IN WHITE RIVER
Gasoline Launch Ran Against a Snag
in White River near Clarendon
and Three Drowned
Clarendon, Ark. Sept. n.—.John
II. Higgle and Miss Mamie John
son of Stuttgart and Mrs. Leta
Vasgein of Mullen, Idaho, were
drowned in the Whitt* niver near
here, about s o’clock last evening,
while returning to Clarendon from
up the river in Mr. Higgle's gaso
line, launch.
Two other members of the par-'
tp, V. J. Dawson and Miss (fret
chen Shaw, wert* saved been list* of
their being in the forepart of the
boat when the stern sank to t lie
bottom. They were coming tlown
stream at a speed of about fifteen
miles an hour, when the boat ran
squarely into a snag in such man-;
ner that her bow ran up clear from
the water and the stern sank. The
engine was located near the rear
and the weight of this caused the*
stern to sink until it reached bot
tom. The three who were drown
ed were seated near the back end.!
Higgle was lighting a lantern when
the boat struck the snag, and the
shock threw Mrs. Vasgein and
Miss Johnson back onto him, with i
the result that none had a chance
to secure a hold on anything. Hig
gle was said to be an expert swim
mer, and was probably carried
down by the women, who clung,
to him.
Dawson and Miss Shaw were!
just able to keep their heads above!
water, by clinging to the brass I
rail on the front of the boat. They
were rescued from their position
in the water by some timbermen,
who were attracted by Miss Shaw's
screams and went out after them
iu a boat. They were not in the
water long enough to suffer injury
from the experience.
The launch was owned by Mr.
Higgle and was one of the finest on
the river, it was about thirty feet
long and could seat about fifteen
. *
people.
Frank Butler committed suicide;
near Lafe, (ireene county, a few,
days ago by shooting himself. He
was 55 years old and is survived
by a wife and several children.
DR. LIGHTLE FOUND GUILT'i
rrial at Searcy Resulted in Conviction
and a Fine of $2,000 and Six
Months in Prison.
Searcy, Sept. 3.—I)r. R. (i
Lightle was this afternoon adjudg
id guilty of the offense of violat
ing the grave and his punishmen
was fixed at six months in jail an<
t fine of $2,000. Under the law
>f Arkansas the offense is a misde
meanor, punishable by a tine o
not less than $100 and imprison
ment in the county jail not les
than six months. The trial wa
by jury in the court of Justice W
K. Harlan.
The sensational feature of th
trial was the appearance on th
witness stand of Walter Gregory
who turned states evidence and tol<
the story of the robbery of Ed
Pitts’ grave and the substitutioi
:>f the Itod.v for that of Dr. Light
le, who had planned to leave ii
>rder that life insurance to the a
mount of $21,000 might be collect
*d on the representation that tin
remains of Pitts were those o
Lightle. Gregory implicated Dr
Lightle and John V. Roberts.
Roberts is under bond to appeal
for trial at J udsonia on Septerobei
il.
Dr. Lightle was adjudged guilt;
ind his punishment fixed at a fim
ds $2,000 and six months in jail.
The verdict was retuuned aftei
July a short deliberation. It wa:
evidently no surprise to the citi
zens of Searcy.
Dr. Lightle has taken an appea
:o the circuit court of White coun
:y. His liond is fixed at $2,000.
Dr. Lightle if a deacon in the
Presbyterian church at Searcy
Tregory is the son of a preacher
Roberts is a Sunday School super
nteudent, and officiated as Wor
ihipful Master of the Masoni*
Lodge under the auspices of whicl
die body of Pitts was buried a
hat of Lightle.
Roberts’ trial will come up be
fora J ustice E. S. Smith at Jud
>onia September 21, In* having se
cured a change of venue.
The 6-year-old daughter of Wal
Swains, of Nettleton, was bit
:en by a snake Monday and onL
lived a few hours.
KILLED BY A VICIOUS MULE
Thirteen-Year-Old Son of Mr. and
Mrs. A. Hammond Pawed
to Death by a Mule.
'lames Hammond, the 13-year
<>id son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Ham
mond who live about three miles
s°iith of town on Padgett Island,
lost his life Fast Friday by being
pawed in the abdomen by a vici
ous mule.
1 he boy and his father and some
I other parties were on route to
' Batesville, each driving a team of
nudes to a wagon. While crossing
W lute river on the ferry at Bates
ville the boy was pawed in the
abdomen by one of the mules
; hitched to his wagon while trying
to quiet the animal as they were
being ferried across the river.
1 he accident occurred about sun
down and the little fellow lived
until live o’clock Saturday morn
ing. but never regained conscious
1 ness.
I he sympathy of the entire com
munity is extended the parents in
! their sad bereavement.
LYNCHED NEAR CROSSETT.
Crossett, Ark.. Sept. 5.—A ne
L gro who attempted to assault two
white girls Saturday night was
captured at this place Sunday by a
posse of farmers and lynched. He
. was taken to a place about three
. miles from Crossett and strung to
a tree, after which the mob vented
^ its rage by riddling the body with
bullets. The assault upon the two
^ girls took place at the Bonham
-1 plantation, about 35 miles from
- Crossett.
COLLISION NEAR WYNNE.
. Wynne, Ark., Sept. 6.—Cotton
. Belt express No. 38 run into a
westbound Iron Mountain freight
: train about three miles east of
^ Wynne this morning about 5:10,
, smashing both engines and derail
ing five cars. None of the passen
] gers on the Cotton Belt was injur
ed, the only sufferer from the ac
j cident being the fireman of the
. freight train.
The Iron Mountain and Cotton
Belt trains use the same track
. from Wynne to Memphis. The
, Iron Mountain train was running
• on the time of the express and had
orders to bike, the siding at Leves
que, five miles from Wynne. It
. is claimed that the engineer went
. to sleep leaving the heavy freight
train to pilot herself.
No. 38 pulled out of Wynne on
> time, and the engineer, George
Barnett, says he had no intimation
of danger until he rounded the
. curve, three miles from Wynne,
and saw a headlight bearing rapid
ly down on him. He shut off his
engine and applied the air and
succeeded in almost stopping his
train before meeting the freight.
None of the passenger cars was
derailed, though the forward cars
was slightly damaged and the pas
sengers severely shaken up.
Serious Cutting Affray.
Henry Mitchell was seriously
, stabbed at a meeting at a country
. school house near BooneviHe last
Sunday night and is not expected
- j to live. The parties who did the
cutting are said to be ( harlie, Ld
and George Halford, all of whom
are brothers. Tha trouble is nlleg
■ ed to have come up over a false
■ report the Halford boys are said
r to have circulated about Mitchell s
sister.
DAVIS’ PLURALITY IS 34,074
Governor Davis Has Carried the State,
But Gets Independence Coun
ty by Only 68 Votes.
According1 to official and unoffi
cial returns the plurality of (iov.
Davis in the election Monday is
34,074. This leaves out of the cal
culations Madison and Little Riv
er counties Both these counties
are close, and the official count
will l>e needed to determine how
they went.
Myers is credited with plurali
ties of 1,100 in three counties, and
Gov. Davis with 35,174 in seventy
counties. It is not believed the
official figures will materially
change these estimates. In 1902
Gov. Davis’ plurality was 48,103.
In 1900 it was 43,936. In many
S counties the vote was very close.
Governor Davis only carried this
j county by 68 votes, Benton by 39
and Carroll by 20. He lost Desha
by 100 votes, Newton by 500 atid
Searcy by 500.
.Jefferson county is the banner
democratic county, having given
j Governor Davis 2,000 majority.
THK COUNTY TICKET.
Returns from the county have
been hard to get, and the election
commissioners have seemingly
{ been in no hurry to give out the
! results. A Journal representative
i went to Batesville Wednesday ev
ening to try to get a tabulated
statement of the returns, but fail
: ed to do so.
The county went against license
, by about 300 majority, and it seems
that both the amendments are lost
in this county. The road tax is
safe by an increased majority.
The total vote polled in the
county was 2,962.
The vote received by each of
; the candidates was as follows:
Davis...
Myers..
I Wilmans
j Penrose.
75
The total vote for the county
candidates was as follows:
\V. A. Oldfield. 2,308
Chas.F.Cole(for pros, atty). 1
T. A. Gray (for pros. atty). 1
Haney. 2,372
Coleman. 1,318
Wycough. 2,535
Pearce. 2.534
Arnold.2,516
Morgan. 2,456
Wald rip. 2,508
Stewart. 2,494
Ham. 1,516
Wilson. 507
Montgomery. 2,551
Caldwell. 2,524
For Amendment No. 8. 788
Against Amendment No. 8. 940
For Amendment No. 0. 984
Against Amendment No. 9. 993
For License. 1.142
Against License. 1,505
For Road Taq. . 1,931
Against Hoad Tax. 588
HF.Sl'I.TS IN BIG BOTTOM.
llig Bottom gave Davis 143,
Myers 68. Wilmans, prohibition
ist, 1, and Penrose, socialist, <>.
For license 202; against license
: 20.
For road tax 174: against road
tax 8.
,1. T. Tharp and W. H. .Jones
were elected justices of the peace
and S. W. Clark constable.
The vote for the three candidates
for justice of the peace was as fol
i lows: Tharp, 193; .Jones, 115;
Saylors, 104. Clark, for consta
ble, had no opponent.
WANT TO GO TO JACKSON
Public Sentiment Favors Annexing^
This Part of Independence to
Jackson County.
A strong sentiment has develop
ed within the past few days to pe
tition the coming session of the
legislature to cut off a block of
territory here and attach it
Jackson county.
The people south of White riv
er made an effort a few years ago
to have the legislature attach that
territory to Jackson county, and
they have never become thorough
ly reconciled to remain a part of
Independence county, even after
the refusal of the legislature to
grant their request, and strength
ened by the present strong senti
ment in favor of the scheme in
this township, the legislature
would very likely grant the re
quest.
The majority of those who favor
the proposed plan of annexation
to Jackson county (and that, by
the way, seems to be everybody in
the territory effected) seems to be
pretty well agreed upon the pro
posed lines of the territory to !>e
annexed, which are about as fol
lows: Beginning at the intersec
tion of the county line with the
north boundary of Bogan town
ship and running west along the
township line to White River
township, thence south on the
township line to Big Bottom,thence
west on the township line to Mag
ness township, thence south on the
line between Magness and Big
Bottom to the White river, thence
south around the township linen
between Christian, Salado and
Fair view to the Jackson county
line.
If the change should be effected
it would deprive Independence
county of its wealthiest territory
and perceptibly reduce her reven
ue. But it would make Jackson
one of the wealthiest counties in
the state.
Sentiment in favor of the pror
posed change is the outgrowth of
the shabby treatment given New
ark and Big Bottom at the hands
of some of the big high-cock-a-Ior
ums at Batesville in matters per
taining to the welfare of Newark,
and this section of the county.
CHARLOTTE CHIPS.
Miss Josie Moore is visiting'
friends at Sulphur Rock this
week.
T. V. R. Dorr carried a nice lot
of sweet potatoes to town the oth
er da.v.
Miss Ethel Long of Tennessee,
is visiting friends and relatives at
this place.
Miss Esther Churchill who is
quite sick with fever is not ini
! proving very much.
Some of the good looking peo
ple of Charlotte attended church
at Convenience Sunday and Sun
day night. All report a nice time.
Mrs. 1*. H. Harris and little
daughters, Helen and Violet, and
little son, Homer, left Saturday
| for Riggers where they will spend
! about two weeks, the guests of
Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Rawlings.
For Sale. 4<> acres of best bot
tom land two miles south of New
ark. M ill grow alfalfa or any
thing else that requires good soiL
Apply to T. J. Raney.