Cortland Evening Standard, Monday, August 11, 1902.
FOURTEENTH WEEK OF STRIKE.
Mr. Mitchell Says Strikers Are In Good Shape—Contributions Coming In.
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Aug. 11.—The fourteenth week of the anthracite miners' strike begins today. President Mitchell is authority for the statement that the strikers are in good shape. Contributions to the relief fund are coming in from many quarters now and the dissatisfaction which was at first evinced over the distribution has now disappeared and the strikers have settled down to what they believe is going to be a much longer siege than was first anticipated.
A $20,000 contribution from the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen is expected by the strikers within the next 10 days. It is said 400 lodges will contribute $50 each. Other railway brotherhoods are expected to follow suit.
There is a well authenticated report in circulation that the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal company may start up work at its Wanamie colliery some day this week. At the office of the company, however, those in charge refuse to give out any information.
A general review of the whole strike region shows that unless the operators can break the ranks of the strikers by starting up a colliery here and there the men will be inclined to remain out for some time yet. The amount of relief to be distributed will not satisfy all, but the miners seem to be willing to make some sacrifices in that direction in the hope that eventually they will win.
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| Wu Ting Fang. |
PRESIDENT ENTERTAINS
The New and Former Chinese Ministers at Lunch.
Oyster Bay, Aug. 11.— Sylph with Prince Chen and suite, Minister Wu and Third Assistant Secretary of State Pierce arrived at this place a few minutes after 12 o'clock today. The president received them on the porch. The prince and the other visitors lunched with the president. They will leave at about 3 o'clock.
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| J. P. Morgan. |
PAGE FOUR—EDITORIAL.
Promiscuous Life Insurance.
There is a practice in Europe which has never been introduced in this country and is not permitted here by which any one can take out an insurance policy upon the life of any one else without the permission or knowledge of the insured. This would seem to be a dangerous custom and one that could easily lead to fatal results through the temptation to crime with a view of realizing on the policies. A man's peace of mind might easily be disturbed to learn that it would be financially a good thing for hundreds of strangers if he should suddenly become the victim of a stroke of apoplexy, or a railway accident, or a bullet fired by an assassin.
Many Englishmen took out policies on the life of King Edward and when the recent dangerous operation was performed on the king it is not improbable that some of these persons would not have been sorry if the operation had been followed by Edward's death.
J. Pierpont Morgan is now the object of these insurance policy men, and a dispatch from London says that hundreds of Englishmen are taking out policies on his life.
It is not uncommon in this country for a man at the head of a large business interest to protect them from the consequences of his death by becoming a party to a life insurance contract, the premiums on which are kept up by the company with which he is associated; but that is an entirely different matter from the European plan under which a total stranger can get insurance on the life of an important personage.
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| Benn Conger. |
MONEY OR LIVES.
Demand Upon Hon. Benn Conger and Brother Jay Conger of Groton for $12,000.
TWO MEN ARE CHARGED WITH THE CRIME.
Harlow Casar and John Collins Under Arrest—Were at the Place where the Money was ordered left--Running Fire of Shots before Capture was made—Men Profess Ignorance of Charge, but fail to explain why they were at the barn.
Harlow Casar, 45 years old and son of a well-to-do farmer of the town of Groton, Tompkins county, and John Collins, 35 years old, employed upon the farm adjoining that of Casar's father, are in the Tompkins county jail at Ithaca charged with the attempt to extort $12,000 from Hon. Benn Conger of Groton, for two terms member of [state] assembly from Tompkins county, and his brother, Jay Conger. The attempt failed owing to the nerve of the would-be victims and to the well laid plans of Sheriff Seaman and Under Sheriff Sayre. The two evidently thought to frighten the Congers into giving them the money.
The Threatening Letter.
On the 28th of July a letter addressed to Hon. Benn Conger was mailed in the Ithaca postoffice. It was received by Mr. Conger next day. Written in a large, cramped hand the letter was in substance as follows:
"We want $12,000, half in gold and half in greenbacks. You are to place it in a strong black sack at the corner of Stacy Barrard's barn near Groton at 11 o'clock on the night of Aug. 9. If you do not do this we will kill you so that the next man we tackle, who will be your brother, will have sense enough to give us the money. We mean business."
Turned Over to the Sheriff.
The letter was unsigned. Last Friday Mr. Conger took the letter to Sheriff Seaman at Ithaca. The sheriff then planned to trap the writer. Fred L. Clock of Ithaca went to Groton to make a map of the Stacy farm buildings. Saturday Undersheriff Sayre with three deputies, George Whipple, Charles Colegrove and Fred Clock went to Groton and with four men from that town secreted themselves in and about the barn.
A little before 11 o'clock Friday night a horse and carriage left the Conger stable in Groton and went to the Stacy barn. A bag containing a roll of brown paper and a large number of carriage washers was left at the designated corner. The carriage returned to the Conger home.
Deputy Opens Fire.
In half an hour another carriage stopped at the spot where the bag had been placed. Harlow Casar left the carriage and was picking up the bag, when one of the deputies fired and ordered Casar to hold up his hands. Casar with an oath ran to the carriage. He and Collins drove furiously down a steep hill to escape. The deputies gave chase on foot. Finally Deputy Whipple obtained a horse and bareback rode through a strange section of the country in the dead of the night after the two men.
Thirty or more shots were fired by the deputies as they ran, but only one took effect and that in the leg of the horse driven by Casar. The two men in the carriage slowly drew away from Whipple but he stuck to the pursuit. He stopped for a lantern at Farmer Jackson's, but Jackson thinking Whipple a horse thief fired four shots from a revolver at him. Whipple then obtained a lantern at the next house and returned toward Jackson's. He met Collins in the middle of the road, armed with a revolver. Collins worked for Jackson and had just come in. Whipple, suspecting that Collins was the man he was after, arrested him and started back toward Groton.
Horse Bleeding to Death.
Casar's home was next to the Jackson farm and the rest of the posse had reached that point when Whipple and Collins returned to it. Collins said he had been with Casar. The latter was then found in bed, but his white horse in the stable was slowly bleeding to death. Casar and Collins pretended to be greatly surprised over the affair and said they had driven fast because they thought they were being pursued by robbers. They were placed in the Groton lockup and Sunday great crowds gathered to discuss the affair.
Casar and Collins maintain a studied attitude of innocence and profess not to know any of the circumstances preceding the firing of the first shot. They acknowledge that they are the men who were at the Stacy barn, and that they were fired upon, but seem unable to satisfactorily explain their presence at the barn. Neither will talk.
It is known that both men were in Ithaca the day the letter was mailed from there, and it is claimed that there is a similarity between the writing of Casar and that upon the letter received by Mr. Conger. Neither of the two men has previously had a bad record and all are surprised at the possibility of their having made such an attempt. Neither is married.
No Inquest Necessary.
Coroner E. M. Santee was called to Virgil, N. Y., yesterday to investigate the cause of the death Saturday night of the 3-months-oId son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Slatterley, who live 2 miles beyond Virgil. Dr. Santee decided that death was due to cerebro spinal meningitis and malnutrition, and that an inquest was not necessary.
ANOTHER BIG SHOWER.
Streets Were Flooded and Many People Well Soaked.
Another big shower visited Cortland at about 12:30 today and for the next half hour the streets were fairly afloat. The rainfall was .80 inch. Before the rain began to cease hundreds of people were trying to get back to their places of work or business and nearly all got wet.
At the corner of Main and Tompkins-sts. the culvert from the Squires building to the Messenger House corner again demonstrated its lack of capacity to carry off the water. The whole square at the intersection of the streets was several inches under water, the great quantity of water coming down Tompkins and South Main-sts., flooding it all. It rose over the curb on the north side of Tompkins-st. and at one time was close up to the postoffice door sill and was near to flowing into the basement of the Standard building.
As the rain ceased and the water began to subside Mayor Brown came around the corner on his way home to dinner. Just then his neighbor Dr. Reese came over from the Messenger House having made a long detour and jumped over several miniature rivers to get across the street. Beholding the rueful expression on the mayor's face as he was gazing at that inefficient culvert and at the bad work he had made, he inquired:
"Are you the mayor of this city?
"No, I am not the mayor of anything just now, but you are a Prohibitionist though, and I guess we can give you all the cold water you want today or this season.''
And they went on together laughing.
Railroad-st. on the east side of the city was again deluged. The culvert under the Lehigh Valley tracks was completed Saturday night, but there was not time to dig the ditch to connect with it. Today the whole street and side walk in the neighborhood of Pomeroy-st. was under water, but there is a prospect of better times to come when the whole connection is complete.
TO PAVE DRIVEWAYS
By Order of the Health Officer of the City of Cortland.
Today Health Officer Carpenter ordered the driveway at the rear of the Schermerhorn block on Main-st. to be paved. It is stated by the contractors that the paving at the rear of the Grand Central block on Railroad-st. will be started soon.
COMPLIMENTARY DINNER
Given by C. F. Bagley to His Employees and Friends.
Mr. C. F. Bagley, local representative of the United States Express company, gave a dinner yesterday to several of the company 's Cortland employees and to a few railroad men at the Grand Central restaurant. The bill of fare that was furnished by Proprietor F. P. Barney was a fine one, and the tempting spread was relished by the party as a whole. The excellent music of Messrs. Emmet Kane, violin, and Harry French, piano, whom Mr. Barney has secured to furnish music for all dinners and suppers, was a fine addition to the attractiveness of the place. Mr. Bagley had eleven guests at his table.
BREVITIES.
—Republican caucuses in all six wards of the city from 7 to 9 o'clock tonight.
—The majority of Cortland milkmen will hereafter make but one delivery of milk a day.
—There was a large crowd at the park Saturday night and the fireworks were very fine and much enjoyed.
—A son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Morse of Blodgett Mills was brought to the hospital this morning to be treated for typhoid fever.
—The Sylvan Beach excursion was a large one yesterday. Eleven cars were well filled when Cortland was left. Seventy-five people joined the train at this station.
—The registration of children in the public schools of Syracuse shows that there were 21,358 pupils, of whom 10,534 were boys and 10,824 girls. This exceeds the registration of the previous year by 268.
—New display advertisements today are—Buck & Lane, Chrysolite ware, page 6; S. Simmons, Clothing prices for August, page 6; Warren, Tanner & Co., Linen, duck and white pique skirts, page 4: Perkins & Quick, Sponges, page 6.
—Dr. E. A. Didama on Saturday night received from Mr. E. D. Mallery, who with his family is spending a few weeks at Sylvan Beach, two fine specimens of yellow pike. It is quite evident what is occupying part of Mr. Mallery's time while on the lake.
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