Hanford Journal Hanford, Kings Co., California Tuesday, 30 JULY 1895 *********************************** BIRTH -- HOWARD -- In San Francisco, July 26, 1895, to the wife of W.H. HOWARD, formerly of Hanford, a son. [from Local Paragraphs column] -- A 10-year-old boy named GLINE, who was out in search of work, was found dead last Wednesday evening on the Jen JAMES ranch on the West Side. No particulars have been obtained regarding the cause of his death, other than that he was found alone, dead. [from Local Paragraphs column] -- A rumor is current that Ceil BARBOUR, son of J.W. BARBOUR of this city, has died at the Fresno Hot Springs, where he went with his father. Intimate friends of the family here do not believe the report to be true. ------------------------------------------------------- THE DAVIDSON CASE -- A Great Deal of Legal Talent and Much Interest Manifested In It -- Just after the 'Journal' had gone to press last Tuesday afternoon, John E. DAVIDSON was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and murder. Jean GAUDIN, whom he assaulted, swore to the complaint. The alleged assault was committed by DAVIDSON while arresting GAUDIN, the latter having been surrendered by one of his bondsmen. GAUDIN was badly cut in the back of the head by a pistol in the hands of DAVIDSON and has been nearly ever since in the county hospital. DAVIDSON has been out on bonds since his arrest, Porter MICKLE and W.S. CAMP being his bondsmen in the sum of $1000. GAUDIN is an opium fiend commonly known as "Rickety," and has been employed in C.C. SPINKS' saloon as cook, or waiter. He was charged with robbing Kirk CLARKE of $15 and on his trial the jury disagreed. The District Attorney appeared before Justice Randall and moved that the case against "Rickety" be dismissed, which was done. The preliminary examination of DAVIDSON was to be held at 9 o'clock yesterday forenoon, but was postponed until this forenoon, until Miss TALBOT could come down to report the case in short hand. There was a formidable array of legal talent in Justice Fassett's court when the preliminary examination came up this forenoon. District Attorney SHORT was assisted by attorneys Frank PRYOR and Rufus ABBOTT, while for the defence appeared Dixon L. PHILLIPS, R. IRWIN and Horace L. SMITH. Quite a number of witnesses have been examined and their examination concluded about 4 o'clock this afternoon, when Rufus ABBOTT made the opening argument for the prosecution and the case was postponed until tomorrow morning. The defence is that "Rickety" resisted DAVIDSON, who was legally appointed an officer to arrest him, and that he "Rickety" made a motion as if to draw a weapon and assault DAVIDSON. ------------------------------------------------------- JUDGE LYNCH ACTED -- A Fiend in Madera County Receives His Deserts From His Neighbors -- On Tuesday morning of last week a man named Victor ADAMS shot and killed his father-in-law, I.L. BAKER, a Justice of the Peace of O'Neill's, Madera county. They had had trouble in the little town over a colt, which resulted in BAKER being followed home by ADAMS and filled with shot from a gun in ADAMS' hands. The latter escaped to the brush and swore he would not be taken alive. Several weeks ago ADAMS had sent his wife's 6-year-old daughter, the issue of her former marriage, to herd some sheep. In the evening she returned, but the father would not let her have anything to eat or come into the house until she had brought back the sheep. She wandered out into the night. The next day the neighbors hunted for the little child and found her 10 miles from home in a pitiable condition. ADAMS had also maltreated his wife. But justice overtook this cold-blooded murderer much quicker than it usually overtakes the people of his stripe in this State. BAKER's brother organized a posse of citizens and succeeded in capturing the murder. While they were bringing ADAMS to O'Neill's, a body of men rode up, and covered the men with the prisoner with guns. They then gave ADAMS a few minutes to make peace with his maker, but he spent the time in pleading for mercy such as he never showed to his victims. In a short time he was swinging to a limb of a tree, where his body swayed for hours before the Coroner came out and cut him down. -------------------------------------------------------- STOLEN HORSES -- From Kings County -- Recovered at an Indian Reservation -- 3 Indians Were Implicated in the Crime, But They Could Not be Convicted, So Were Dismissed -- 3 native sons of the golden west languished behind the bars of the Kings County bastile last Wednesday. They were brought here from the Tule River reservation and in their persons exemplified the old saying that the best Indian is a dead Indian. They soon secured their release, but they did not clear themselves of a suspicion that they were the accomplices of horse thieves. Several weeks ago a gray mare belonging to J.T. BAKER was stolen from a pasture near this city. Mr. BAKER employed Constable BERNSTEIN and his deputy, Frank GRIFFITH, also Wm. DOUGHERTY, to hunt for the animal and the horse thief. They made a long trip to Hollister and Salinas on a wrong clue and returned here much disappointed. Soon after their return Constable BERNSTEIN got a very small clew -- simply that a Mexican had had a gray mare shod in Porterville. On Friday the trio set out for Porterville, going via Visalia, where Frank HAFLEY, a deputy under Sheriff Merritt of Tulare county, joined them. From there they proceeded to Porterville and then divided into 2 posses and went to the Indian reservation in the mountains, 24 miles east of Porterville, on Saturday. They searched all day Sunday in and about the reservation for Mr. BAKER's mare, but without success. On Monday, GRIFFITH got a clue that some Indians had horses hidden on the reservation, and he found 1 of the Indi ans ( Henry LAWRENCE) who had helped to hide the horses. GRIFFITH skillfully extorted a confession from him that he knew where the horses were, but LAWRENCE claimed that he had been hired by 2 other Indians to hide them. He showed the officers where 2 stolen horses were hidden. Frank RYAN and Chas. MAXWELL, other Indians, were then placed in irons, when they confessed where 3 more stolen horses were hidden. The 2 first horses recovered was a buckskin horse belonging to E.P. O'BRIEN of this city, and a gray mare for whom an owner has not yet been found. The other 3 were all mares -- J.T. BAKER's, Mrs. KIRKENDAHL's and Porter MICKLE's, all stolen from the vicinity of this city. They were hidden in crevices in the rocks and surrounded by brush, and a horseman could ride within a few feet of them and not see them. The Indians confessed that the horses had been hidden 2 days & nights, during the time the officers were hunting for them at the reservation. The animals were all in poor fle sh an d some were footsore. The BAKER mare had been branded by the thieves. The Indian RYAN claimed that he had traded a saddle horse and a riata to a Mexican for the BAKER mare. All 3 Indians and the stolen horses were then brought to Hanford, the horses were turned over to their owners and the persons charged with grand larceny. Mr. O'BRIEN's horse had been gone a year; the other have not been gone long. The Indians were in jail but 1 day, as there was not sufficient evidence to convict them of having stolen the horses, and they could not be held on any other charge here on account of their residence being in Tulare county, so the District Attorney, when the case came up for hearing, moved that they be dismissed, which was done. The recovery of these horses demonstrates that more or less stolen stock could be recovered to the owners if the latter would assist the officers financially in the search. The local officers' fees are so small under the fee bill passed by the last Legislature that they cannot afford to take chances of financial loss in the hunting for stolen stock and it looks as though the most feasible way of stopping the petty thieving now so prevalent in this and adjoining counties is for farmers and stock men to club together for mutual protection, and to assist officers, financially and otherwise, in the work of ferreting out the thieves. Constable BERNSTEIN has put a feather in his cap by his recent capture, but great credit is also due to his deputy, Frank GRIFFITH, who has an old established reputation as a criminal catcher and on the recovery of stolen stock. Evidently the horses were not stolen by Indians but by people of a lighter color. The Indians can be found at the reservation if wanted again and it is certainly to be hoped that the thieves who [some missing] Indian Jim, one of the Indian police from the reservation, came down to take back a horse stolen from the reservation some 4 weeks ago and which was found by officers in a pasture near this city. The arrested Indians returned home with him on Friday. ----------------------------------------------------- A HIDDEN FIRE -- It Causes a Heavy Loss on House Furnishings - Narrow Escape of a Hanford Dentist From Asphyxiation -- Losses and Insurance -- A fire which occurred in the residence of Dr. A.D. CAMERON in this city at 3 o'clock last Friday morning was one of the hardest for the firemen to locate of any which has occurred in this city. It is not known how the fire originated. Dr. A.D. CAMERON and family were away in Canada, and his brother, Dr. Charles CAMERON, was the only one occupying the house. A party of bachelor friends visited him the evening before, and there being a lunch to serve, a fire was built in the stove to heat water. The fire may have caught from the stove or from a lighted cigarette or cigar. The fire was between the walls of the house and it was some few minutes before the firemen could locate the fire and chop their way into it. The flames did not do a great deal of damage, but the heavy force of water through the Holly mains did great damage to the furniture of the house and to the plastering. Dr. Charles CAMERON had a narrow escape. He was sleeping upstairs and when awakened by the smoke he gave an alarm by firing off his pistol. The lower floor of the house was full of smoke and he did not dare venture going down the stairway of the house, so he tied a sheet to an article of furniture in this bedroom and slid down on it to the ground, where, owing to the effects of the smoke and his nervousness, he fainted away. Neighbors cared for him and he soon returned to consciousness. The furniture in the house was insured for $3200. It embraced some choice paintings by noted artists and the furniture was very nice. The house belongs to J.H. DOPKINS and is located next to his own residence, on the west. It was insured for $1500. The smoke from the fire blew down Douty and Harris Sts., and residents of the Hotel Hanford, Hecker block, the Ven Dome hotel and other buildings on 7th St. thought the smoke came from the buildings they occupied. The firemen ran down to 7th St. before they could locate the fire. Mr. DOPKINS states that he could probably have put out the fire with a few buckets of water, but, as usual, there was none in the public water mains, the tanks having been drained dry by parties using water during the night. The fact that for several hours every morning there is no water in the mains is a constant menace to the safety of this city, particularly to residents away from the business center, and either the city ordinance requiring patrons to cease using water between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. should be enforced, or else Messrs. ROBINSON & RAWLINS should see to it that the tanks are never allowed to go dry. If the ordinance referred to is enforced, it should be amended so that patrons could use the water till 9 p.m., and there is little or no excuse for parties using water after that hour, now that there is, at all times, such a good pressure on the water in all parts of the city. Dr. A.D. CAMERON was telegraphed for and is now on his way home. ------------------------------------------------------- NEW PAINT SHOP -- Now Opened in Hanford -- Prepared to Do All Kinds of Work -- Hanford now has another 1st-class paint shop. M.A. FULLER, a recent arrival here from the East and an experienced man at the trade, has rented the upper story of the addition recently made to the Hanford Agricultural Works building, and when a 'Journal' reporter visited him 1 day last week Mr. FULLER was found busy, with an assistant, painting buggies. He is prepared to do all kinds of work in the line of painting, decorating, graining and paper hanging. He will take contracts, large or small, and we believe he will do as he says he will -- give the people good value, in labor and material, for the money paid him. W.R. GREENBURY, well known to our people as one of the best and most artistic sign writers that has ever been in Hanford, has been employed by Mr. FULLER and our people can be assured that they will at the new shop get 1st-class work in that, and no doubt all, lines. ------------------------------------------------------- CONSTABLE GEORGE BERTKIN and his deputy Charles MARTIN were in Hanford last Thursday. They were searching for Claude ARMSTRONG, the youthful desperado of Traver, who, when they attempted to arrest him, shot at them and escaped in the darkness. ARMSTRONG is only about 18 or 19 years of age. He is believed to be not far from Traver and make trips to his home in that town every few nights. R.J. KING was over from Traver on Friday and he said that a few days previously the youngest JOHNSON boy rode ARMSTRONG's horse by his house. The officers have both given up their jobs in that town and are devoting their entire time to hunting the young desperado, so they state, and will take him the next time, dead or alive, if they get the drop on him. The Constable says that 2 of the 3 bullets fired by ARMSTRONG came too close to him for comfort and he will take no chances with the young desperado. ------------------------------------------------------- LOCAL PARAGRAPHS -- -Henry COUSINS in his suit against his guardian, J.M. FOX, in the Superior Court at Visalia, was last week given judgment in the sum of $11,383.15. Henry is a son of Mrs. C.K. RAGAN, formerly of this city. -Geo. VOLLMER, who came up to visit his wife and see his new daughter, returned to Mojave last Sunday. -Dr. S.C. PAGE, son of Samuel PAGE of this city, has permanently located in Visalia and has his office with Dr. F.A. COOMBS. -John A. WILSON and family, Miss Georgie BROOKS, Will BROOKS and Clarence RUGGLES passed through Hanford this morning on their way to Pismo, on the coast. -A.P. BICKFORD, of Excelsior, who has been in the Opera House building, in care of a nurse and in charge of the Odd Fellows, is slowly improving. -Miss Florence STARR is at home after a year spent at the Normal School in Los Angeles. She has an engagement to teach in the southern part of the State, says the Tulare 'Register.' -Miss Irene TAYLOR, daughter of Mr.&Mrs. A.V. TAYLOR, went to Oakland last Saturday to attend school. Miss Clara KELLY, of Oakland, who has been visiting the family, also returned home. -C.B. HAMILTON, a former resident of Hanford, arrived here last week from Topeka, Kansas, on a short visit. -The charge of battery made against Elsie THOMAS by J. ESPEASSE, was dismissed by Justice Randall last week. -Mrs. HUBBELL, who has been visiting her sons in this city, left for her home in Wisconsin yesterday. CHARLES HUNTER, an opium fiend, who had been entering houses in this city where only women were at home and insolently demanding food, was arrested by Marshal McGINNIS last Friday and sentenced to 10 days in jail. A SURPRISE PARTY was given to Wm. MILLIGAN, near Mill Creek, on Monday night of last week, on the occasion of his 76th birthday. A large number of his neighbors gave the old gentleman a complete surprise. He intended to go to Tulare that day, but his daughter-in-law, Mrs. James MILLIGAN, put up a job on him and got all the rigs off the place so he could not go. He gave the guests a hearty welcome, however, and a most enjoyable evening was spent, winding up with a nice supper and a dance. BEECHER CHURCH, the 12-year-old son of Capt. CHURCH, of Lakeside, had his left arm broken just above the wrist last Friday. He tripped on the shafts of a cart and lit on a scantling with his hands. Dr. DUNCAN was called and put the arm in splints and Beecher is getting along nicely. THE TERMS which Fred EDMONDS and James CROSS were serving in the County jail expired last Saturday. They packed their clothes with the expectation of leaving and were disagreeably surprised when they were taken before Justice Randall and each given 100 days more in limbo for the escape they made from the jail a week previous. They have learned that is pays to behave one's self and obey the law, even if a fellow is already in jail. ARTHUR ROE, who was employed by Frank SHARPLES in doing laborers works on the new county hospital at Visalia, was overcome by the heat on Monday of last week and was placed in care of a physician. He seemed to lose his reason for a time. He was brought back to his home in Hanford and is now able to be about the streets. AL SHIELDS, of Cross Creek, we hear, watched last night for a coyote who had been stealing chickens from the farm. During the still hours of the night he saw something move and blazed away with the result that one of his father's cows is now carrying 7 buckshot. PROF. W.S. CRANMER was in town the latter part of last week for a short visit with his sister, Mrs. N.P. DUNCAN. He has been fortunate in securing the principalship of the Benicia High School and Grammar schools combined -- one of the leading educational positions in the State. ------------------------------------------------------- GRANGEVILLE -- -Mr. Eben SANBORN is on the sick list. -Miss Grace HOOVER, who has been suffering from brain fever, is about the same. -Marcus POWELL came over from the West Side Wednesday. He reports crops much heavier than usual. His brother Will is not much improved in health. Transcribed by Dee Sardoch To see more old newspapers, visit http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/