Ref: Town and Country Newspaper Pennsburg, Montgomery County, PA Saturday - November 28, 1903 KILLED BY SHAFTING IN STOVE WORKS John KEFFER, of Royersford, was killled Saturday morning at the stove works of Floyd, Wells & Co., in that town. He attempted to put on a belt on one of the small wheels of the machinery when his coat sleeve caught and he was whirled to death, being thrown around at least thirty times before he was discovered and the machinery stopped. When released he gasped but once. Nearly every bone in his body was broken. KEFFER was 50 years old. He is survived by a widow and one son. DEADLY WORK OF A HUGE CRANE One dead and three injured was the casualty record at the Scott Works of the Reading Iron Company on Friday. The dead man is Orlando FISHER, aged 28. The injured: Leopold STAHL, fracture of the spine and scalp wounds; Charles W. GILBERT, bruised; Richmond MOSER, bruised. A crane, which extended about fifty feet in the air, was preparing to lift a huge iron flange into position. The men had arranged all the tackling when the crane, weighing 60,000 pounds, fell on the iron foundry, crashing through the roof. DROPPED DEAD IN COURT G. William CLEWELL, aged 66, a leading business man of Reading, dropped dead in the Court House in that city, on Monday afternoon, as he was about to take the stand as a witness in a trial. The trial had to be postponed on this account. WERE WEDDED IN THEIR NEW HOME The marriage of Linwood COX to Miss Kathryn GERHART, of East Greenville, was solemized on Wednesday afternoon at 4 o'clock in the couple's newly furnished home on Fifth street, in that borough. The wedding was a private affair only the immediate families of the contracting parties were present. Rev. C.M. DeLONG, of East Greenville, officiated. Shortly after the ceremonies a wedding dinner was served and the happy couple left on the 5.21 train on a brief wedding trip to Washington, D.C., and other points of interest. The couple will be at home in the new house of N.B. KEELY after December 10. WERE WEDDED ON THANKSGIVING DAY Peter J. TAPPER and Miss Emma L. KNERR, of this borough, were on Thanksgiving evening quietly married at the home of the bride in the presence of only a few intimate friends. The groom's parents reside at Lancaster, but Mr. TAPPER has been a resident of Pennsburg for many years. He is a carpenter by trade and works with contractor A.H. BEYER, of Red Hill. He formerly was at home with John SCHOLL, near Pennsburg, and the bride is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin KNERR, of this borough. The young couple will reside in Pennsburg. BURGLARS WRECK SAFE The safe in the office of W.H. GRISTOCK & Sons, of Collegeville, dealers in coal, lumber and feed, was wrecked on Monday morning by dynamite. The burglars secured less than ten dollars and some insurance papers. The noise made by the explosion attracted the attention of Louis INGRAM, who resides almost opposite the office of GRISTOCK & Sons. Mr. INGRAM raised his bedroom window to ascertain the cause of so much noise. He saw five or six men standing about the entrance of GRISTOCK's office. "What's the trouble?" inquired INGRAM. "Go back to bed and mind your own business," was the reply. INGRAM's curiosity being aroused he was in no hurry to go to bed utnil he was persuaded by two shots from a revolver. The bullets struck the woodwork a short distance from where he was standing. Without asking any more questions Mr. INGRAM closed the window and hastened to secure his revolver. When he again made his appearance the men had disappeared. It is believed that they boarded a freight train on the Perkiomen Railroad. When Mr. GRISTOCK arrived at the office that morning he found that the interior was badly wrecked. The door had been blown off the safe by a heavy charge of dynamite and it was practically useless. The burglars had effected an entrance by prying open a door in the rear of the building. Previous to the time that the safe was robbed, the thieves had broken into the office of the Collegeville Machine Company, and experienced no trouble in opening the safe as it was not locked, but nothing was secured in the money line. They then proceeded to help themselves to tools and wended their way towards the GRISTOCK mill, where they broke into the boiler house, and with the use of additional tools, which they found there, secured entrance to the office and blew open the safe. The office furniture is almost demolished. The telephone was blown loose from the wall by the force of the explosion, window panes broken, and the ceiling has large dents in where pieces of the safe must have struck. The safe was blown part way through the partition. Residents residing in that vicinity say that the force of the explosion was teriffic. In their haste to escape the thieves left a chisel lying on the clerk's desk. Twenty dollars in counterfeit money which Mr. GRISTOCK had stored away in the safe for the past twenty years, was taken by the thieves. This may lead to their identification. MR. MENSCH FELL DOWN STAIRS Dr. J.G. MENSCH, of Pennsburg, met with an accident early Monday morning while on a visit to his classmate Dr. BUCHER, of Lebanon. The doctor fell headlong down a flight of stairs. Luckily he had no bones broken, but his left hip was severely injured, so much so that he was unable to walk. He was accompanied to Lebanon, by his daughter Katie, who after securing a rolling chair brought her father to his home in Pennsburg that same evening. The doctor was placed in his bed where he remained a couple of days, until the injury permitted him moving about. OLD MILL BURNED KEPLER's mill, one of the oldest landmarks in Upper Montgomery county, was totally destroyed by a fire that broke out in the ancient building shortly before 10 o'clock last Friday night. It is located in Lower Pottsgrove, near the entrance to Sanatoga Park. The fire was discovered by Harry SWINEHART, conductor on the Pottstown Passenger Railway, who reached the Sanatoga terminus of the line at 10 o'clock. He saw flames issuing from the old mill. He ran into the Sanatoga Inn and notified A.H. BRENDLINGER. Mr. BRENDLINGER and several men, together with the trolley crew, hastened to the mill. The flames were bursting out of the upper stories of the mill. It was built in 1783, as was attested by a stone high up off the gable end of the mill. The over-shoot wheel, a large 16-foot affair, was replaced by a turbine wheel, made necessary by the low water in Sanatoga Run. The mill was built by a man named BOSSERT, who was succeeded by Peter YOST, who built an addition to the mill in 1805. Mr. KEPLER, the present proprietor, entered the employ of the WILDERMUTHs, who then operated the mill, in the latter 40's, and ten years later he purchased the farm and mill property. His brother, Reuben, ran the farm, while Edmund operated the mill. Reuben KEPLER died a number of years ago. COG WHEELS AMPUTATE FINGER Charles PFLEIGER, of Pennsburg, lost his fore finger of his right hand, on Thursday while cutting corn fodder at Thomas MARSTELLER's place in Pennsburg. After being through cutting the fodder Mr. PFLEIGER grasped the large cogwheels and started to run the knives rapidly. He succeeded but he was not satisfied that way so he wanted to catch the revolving wheel in order to stop it. While so doing his finger was caught in the cogs and was badly smashed. Dr. Wm. HUNSBERGER later amputated the finger at the first joint. WHEEL KNOCKS OUT HIGHWAYMEN While on his way to market early Wednesday morning John MOORE, a farmer of near Norristown was held up by a highwayman, who jumped for the horse's head. The animal shied and the front wheel of the wagon struck the would-be robber, knocking him down. Before he could recover his feet MOORE whipped his horses and fled. FELL ON STOVE AND BURNED FACE BADLY Joseph KULP, the fourteen year old son of shoe dealer Horace KULP, of Pennsburg, met with a painful accident on Wednesday morning. He had a dizzy spell and fell on the stove. His cheek was badly burned, so much so that the skin came off. A physician was summoned who dressed the wound.