Hanford Journal Hanford, Kings Co., California Tuesday, 2 APRIL 1895 ************************************ BIRTH -- GARCIA -- In Hanford, March 22, to the wife of Manuel GARCIA, a daughter. BIRTH -- McCREARY -- Near Excelsior, Kings county, Cal., March 30, to the wife of Wm. McCREARY, a daughter. BIRTH -- BLEVINS -- In Hanford, March 31st, to the wife of James BLEVINS, a son. [from Local Paragraphs column] -- The father of R.H. MYERS, the attorney formerly of this city, died in Los Angeles last Wednesday. He had for several months been suffering from paralysis and his death was deemed only a matter of days or hours. ------------------------------------------------------- A SELMA MURDER -- T.B. BALTHROP Killed the Traducer of His Wife's Character - The Dead Man Made a Statement that He Wronged the Woman and Regretted the Scandal He Had Made - [transcriber note -- from the article, it appears the heading is incorrect in the name of who did the killing] The shooting was the result of a scandal, which has been the subject of investigation by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. BALTHROP and Mrs. G.F. JORDAN had been engaged in conducting a restaurant there. JORDAN and his wife have been living apart, and Mrs. JORDAN had commenced a suit in the Superior Court against her husband for a decree of divorce. In conversation with different persons here [Selma], BALTHROP, it is alleged, made serious charges against Mrs. JORDAN. Mrs. JORDAN is a member of the Presbyterian Church. A member of the church preferred charges against Mrs. JORDAN, implicating some of the leading society men in the scandal. The church had the matter on trial last Tuesday afternoon and evening, the day previous to the murder, with closed doors. The charges against Mrs. JORDAN were not sustained, and the church court completely exonerated her. The pastor signed a written pledge agreeing to publicly vindicate her from the pulpit next Sunday morning. Wednesday, the restaurant had been closed and POWELL, the cook, went to the residence of Mrs. JORDAN's husband, south of town and told him of the sensational talk about his wife. POWELL induced JORDAN to come to town to defend his wife from calumny. JORDAN armed himself and came to town. He saw BALTHROP on the sidewalk, in front of KIBOURN's drug store. JORDAN jumped out and accosted BALTHROP and a quarrel ensued. BALTHROP struck at JORDAN, who had his 44 calibre pistol in his hand at the time. BALTHROP stepped back into the drug store, and as he did so, JORDAN pulled his pistol, took deliberate aim and fired. BALTHROP fell to the doorway dead, with a bullet in his heart. As he fell he drew his revolver from his pocket, and it fell out of his hand. JORDAN was immediately placed under arrest, and was taken to the County Jail at Fresno. The coroner was notified and an inquest was held the same night. BALTHROP was a brother of J.W. BALTHROP of the firm of BALTHROP & ESTEY, grocers, at Selma. The deceased formerly resided in Visalia, where he was well known. He was in the saloon business there. Wednesday evening's issue of the 'Irrigator,' printed a few hours after the shooting occurred, contained the following statement by the deceased: "I wish to acknowledge to the public that certain statements alleged to have been made by me derogatory to the character of Mrs. JORDAN, and which have been generally circulated to the injury of both Mrs. JORDAN and myself, were and are unqualifiedly false. Such statements, if made at all by me, were made about 14 months ago, and I declined to make any denial of such statements to the church committee last Monday because I entertained the mistaken idea that the best way to hush the matter up was to refuse to make any statement. I had, however, previously, denied that there was any truth in the statements reported to have been made by me. "I regret that I have been instrumental in causing any such scandal, and am willing to consent to any equitable and fair arrangement which will satisfy Mrs. JORDAN. "I do not wish to be understood as questioning the veracity of the persons who reported that I made to them such statements concerning Mrs. JORDAN, but I do say that I have no recollection of having made such statements I was at the time under the influence of liquor and did not know what I was saying, and further that such statements, if made by me, were and are untrue. T.B. BALTHROP" ------------------------------------------------------ FESTIVE ATTORNEY GRADY -- He Has Another Exciting Escapade -- A Divorce Suit the Result -- W.D. GRADY, a Fresno attorney who is well known in Tulare and Kings County as well as in Fresno, is again in the public view in an unenviable light, as the following telegram from Fresno, dated last Monday shows: At 1 o'clock today a boisterous encounter took place on the platform of the Pullman car which runs between Fresno and San Francisco and occupies a side track here during the day. The participants were W.D. GRADY and Leon HART, a clerk in a clothing store. HART demanded admittance and GRADY threatened to kill him if he entered. While they were fighting at one end of the car Mrs. HART was seen to run from the car at the other end and disappear. Railroad men separated GRADY and HART. The story is that GRADY and Mrs. HART have been sene to visit this car on many occasions. Yesterday they visited it again, and a private detective, or some one acting for HART, went to the store and informed him, and he ran to the car with the above result. Mrs. HART is a handsome woman, about 22 years old. She and her husband were married 6 years ago. Within 1 hour after the encounter HART began preparations for a divorce by hunting witnesses, and he found plenty of them. The injured husband is about 26 years old, and is a clerk in Hart & Levy's clothing store. GRADY dropped out of sight and it is said that he left on the next train for Los Angeles. ------------------------------------------------------- LOCAL PARAGRAPHS -- -J.E. RAWLINS is again a resident of Hanford. Up to last Friday he had been somewhat of a stranger for a time. -Miss MARSH has closed her kindergarten for a few weeks, on account of illness among the pupils. -Wm. McGUIRE of Hanford won the Demorest medal at Stanford University last week. -The condition of the little daughter of James and Frances MILLER, who has been dangerously ill, is slightly improved. -W.D. STANLEY of Pasadena has come to Hanford to reside. -A.E. GRIBI has invented a small block puzzle, which he is having patented. It bids fair to rival the famous 15 puzzle. -Frank PURCELL, a pupil of the public school, broke his arm again last Thursday, at the public school grounds. It was just 45 days since he broke the same limb before. -Mrs. M.J. WRIGHT of Sacramento, wife of Surveyor-General WRIGHT, arrived here last evening to visit her daughter. Mrs. Newton C. TERWILLINGER, says the Visalia 'Delta' of last Thursday. -Mrs. C.S. MERRILL will receive a patent to a timber claim on the West Side proved up on by her husband before his decease. -Arthur GENTHNER, engineer at the Hanford flour mill, is about to erect a nice cottage in the Biddle addition, in the NW part of this city. FRED KIMBLE and wife, who are in Honolulu, have written to relatives here that they expected on the 2nd of April (today) to sail on the steamer 'China' on an excursion to China and Japan. They will form part of a party of California people, who will no doubt have a very pleasant journey together. THERE IS A NEW CONDUCTOR (Mr. CULLINHAM) and a new brakeman on the Hanford branch of the C.P. road. The genial and courteous conductor, Mr. KORN, and brakeman BACON, are missed from their old run. They have not yet been assigned to other positions. ------------------------------------------------------- [heading missing -- believe it should be Grangeville] -- -Mrs. WILCOX (nee BLOYD) returned to her home Saturday. -Walter RAILSBACK is home on a visit to his parents, Mr.&Mrs. Caleb RAILSBACK. He is looking in the best of health. -Mrs. STACEY, accompanied by her little charge, Robert OWENS, have left for a visit to Lodi. They will be gone several weeks. -Henry COTTON and wife, who have been for some time working for Tim SUTHERLAND, have gone to take charge of a ranch in Fresno. Their friends wish them success in their new sphere. -The measles and whooping cough seem very loth to leave this place. 2 of Geo. RITCHIE's little folks are still very low with the latter disease, and Floyd LANE, we understand, was taken down with measles Saturday. ARMONA -- -Geo. M. WEEMS, principal of the Jeffersonville, Ill., public school, is expected soon to spend the summer with his brother, H.L. WEEMS. Transcribed by Dee Sardoch To see more old newspapers, visit http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/