The Meridian Tribune (Meridian, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, October 12, 1923 Page: 2 of 8
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THE MERIDIAN TRIBUNE
CLEM GRAY INDICTED
IN BALLARD SLAYING
CASES OF THREE OTHER MEN
HELD IN TRAGEDY TO BE
SPEEDED UP
IS NOW UNDER SENTENCE
Charges of Murder Followed Finding
of Nude Body in Creek Near
Mount Pleasant
Mount Pleasant, Texas.— A true
bill charging G. C. (Clem) Gray with
the slaying of Otis Ballard has been
returned by the grand jury, in spe-
cial session.
Papers will be served upon Gray,
who is in the Tyler, Smith County,
jail, in order that his trial may be
hastened.
It was announced that the cases
of the other three men, held in jails
at Paris and Greenville, in connec-
tion with the slaying of Ballard, will
be acted upon at once.
There is no excitement in town,
«althought large crowds were gath-
ered about the courthouse.
Jury commissioners are selecting a
special venire of 300 men to report
Thursday.
Gray, on a plea of guilty, is un-
der a ten-year sentence on a charge
of robbing the Rosewood State Bank
at Rosewood, Upshur County.
The nude body of Otis Ballard,
who disappeared from his home at
Mount Pleasant late in September,
was found by searchers in Cypress
Creek, near Mount Pleasant, four
days later.
Ballard was a witness against
Gray in the Rosewood bank robbery
case.
A formal charge of murder in con-
nection with the slaying of Ballard
was filed against Gray.
Gray has been shifted about from
jail to jail, the authorities fearing
violence. On one night in particu-
lar, he occupied three cells in as
many different jails and counties. He
now is In the Tyler, Smith county,
jail.
State rangers were called when
Gray's case involving ,the bank rob-
bery charges were heard at Gilmer.
Gray has made a statement to of-
ficers in connection with the killing
of Ballard.
Tyler, Texas.—G. C. (Clem) Gray,
charged in the slaying of Otis Bal-
'ard, in a true bill returned by the
grand jury at Mount Pleasant has
been taken to Mount Pleasant to face
trial, officers reported.
BLAMES EDDYViLLE
SIEGE ON WOMAN
Police Say Monte Walters' Widow
Furnished Arms to Three
Convicts
Louisville, Ky.—Mrs. Lillian Wal-
ters, widow of the reputed leader
of a trio of convict murderers found
' dead in a barricaded mess hall at
the Western State penitentiary, Ed-
dyville, when the building was enter-
ed after an eighty-one-hour siege,
faces the possibility of a trial on a
charge of murder as the result of
the slaying of three prison guards in
the break for liberty of her hus-
band and his companions.
In a signed statement made pub-
lic by, police, Mrs. Walters, who is
in custody here, admitted an active
part in obtaining and smuggling into
the prison the pistols which thf
guards were killed.
' B. McGregor, State Attorney
General, in a message to C. C. Molloy,
County Attorney of Lyon County, ask-
ed that warrants charging Mrs. Wal-
ters, James Sparks and Andrew Haw-
kins with murder in connection with
the smuggling of weapons to the
convict gunmen be issued.
f Sparks, it was said here, is a foi»
mer convict and Hawkins an escaped
negro trusty of the prison.
Mr. McGregor indicated that the
warrants requested were to charge
murder in the first degree on tij£
ground that the persons named all
were accessories before the fact to
the outbreak in which the guards
were «lain and which resulted ulti-
mately in the death of the gunmen
trio.
Former Consul Dies in St. Louis
St. Louis, Mo.—Harold H. Titt-
toann, 70 years old, American ""Consul-
ate General at Rome from 1874 to
1884 and in the American Consular
service at Lyons in 1873, died at his
home hers from pneumonia.
Portuguese Revolt Reported at Oporto
London.—Revolution has broken
out in northern Portugal, according
to an unconfirmed report received
here from the Spanish-Portuguese
frontier. It is said to center about
Oporto, where martial law was pro-
claimed.
1C1 Year-Old Woman is Dead
Brenham Texas.—Mrs. Martha
Shropshire, 101 years old;
the eldest person in Washington
i r.t; n;ed at the home of her
ir'ere :'rs. Nettie Esles Fischer, and
Avas t r if d at Prairie Lea Cemetery
' re husbands and seventeen broth-
ers ai:d sisters preceded her to the
grave. She was born in Georgia, but
lived in Brenham more than seventy
years. She had no children, but
reared several nieces and nephews.
PRAYING WOMAN
SLAYS PRIEST
Congregation Attempts to Mob Kill-
er, But Police Storm Edifice,
Save Her.
Chicago.—The Pvev. Basil Stetsuk,
Greek Catholic priest, was shot and
killed by Mrs. Emily Strutynsky of
Remey, Pa., as she knelt before him,
ostensibly to make a confession, at
the 9 o'clock mass at the St. Mich-
ael's Greek Catholic church here
Sunday.
Mrs. Strutynsky, who is 55 years
old and the mother of two children,
declared to the police that the Rev.
Mr. Stetsuk had accused her hus-
band, himself a Greek Catholic priest
at Remey, Pa., of appropriating
church funds while he was minister
to a Chicago congregation.
She declared the alleged chai'ges
were false and said she came to
Chicago from Remey, nine days ago
for the express purpose of seeing the
priest to avenge what she believed
the wrong to her husband. She
went to the church last Sunday, she
said, but the opportunity to kill the
priest did not present itself. And
she decided to wait.
About 300 worshippers sat in the
pews of the church as Mrs. Strutyn-
sky, heavily veiled, walked down the
middle aisle, before the nine o'clock
mass to the altar. She walked to
the confessional box at the right of
the altar. There, out of sight of the
congregation, she knelt as though to
offer confessioH, but instead drew a
pistol from the folds of her dress
and fired five shots at the priest,
standing before her.
"Two of the bullets struck him and
passed through his head. Exclaim-
ing, "Oh, God, help me." the Rev.
Mr. Stetsuk staggered to the main
aisle and then to the ste?>s of the
church, where he collapsed. He died
in an ambulance on the way to the
hospital.
Members of the congregation were
thrown into a panic but two women
seized Mrs. Strutzynsky as she
emerged from behind the altar, the
pistol still held in her hand. Squads
of police were forced to fight their
way to the altar, where members of
the congregation were threatening
the life of the woman slayer. At the
police station where she was taken,
the woman told her story without
hesitation.
GRAIN EXPERTS HAVE
STARTED ON TOUR
Finance Corporation Chiefs to Probe
Need of Credit Throughout
Wheat Belt.
Washington.—The special commis-
sion of government officials headed
by Managing Director Meyer of the
War Finance Corporation left Wash-
ington to go among the wheat farm-
ers of the central west, to carry out
President Coolidge's orders to aid
In the promotion of co-operative
marketing associations.
Mr, Meyer was accompanied by
Frank W. Mondell, a director of the
War Finance Corporation, and H. S.
Yohe of the Bureau of Agricultural
Economics, Department of Agricul-
ture, the other two members of the
commission and Floyd R. Harrison,
the managing director's assistant.
The delegation will stop in Chi-
cago, where a series of conferences
is planned, by which the itinerary
of the trip thereafter will be deter-
mined. They carried data of meth-
ods in use by the cotton, rice and
jtobacco growers of the South and
the fruit growers of California in
co-operative marketing, and are pre-
pared also to explain to the produc-
ers how the government may aid
them in a financial way, either
through direct loans from the War
Finance Corporation and the new
intermediate credit banks or through
loans to commercial banks, in com-
munities where the co-operatives may
be organized.
Simultaneously with the departure
of the commission headed by Mr.
Meyer, the Federal Farm Loan Board
made available figures on loans by
the credit banks, which disclosed
that more than $2,000,000 had been
advanced to co-operative wBeat
marketing associations since the
banks began functioning early in
June.
Worms Attack State Bridge
Baltimore—The teredo, a worm
which bores into and honeycombs
wood under water, has attacked the
piling of the State bridge over Sine-
puxent bay at Ocean City, built sev-
eral years ago. A diver has been
making an inspection. His report is
expected soon by Chairman John N.
Mackall, of the State Roads Commis-
sion.
Jesse James' Gun Yield $10.
Omaha.—A pistol said to be one
used by the bandit Jesse James,
came recently into the possession^!
Albert G. Thomas of Council Bluffs,
Under the handle of the weapon
Thomas found a gold certificate for
$10.
Gov. Neff at Lovelady.
Lovelady, Texas.—Gov. Pat M. Neff
spent a few hours here Friday. He
was en route to the State farm, 12
miles west of here.
MARTIAL LAW IS
ENDED IN TULSA
Six Witnesses in Flogging Cases Still
Missing as Court Closes Its
Inquiry.
Tulsa,Okla. — Martial law, which
came upon Tulsa County as a lion on
August 14, passed like a lamb in the
early hours of the Sabbath of October
seventh.
The military force which at one
time numbered nearly 500 officers
and men, when removed by order of
Acting Adjutant General Charles E.
McPherren, consisted of less than a
score of enlisted men and four offic-
ers. So gradual has been the removal
of the troops that Tulsans have
scarce-y been aware of the decrease
of the numbers—until they awoke and
found them gone.
Flogging cases unearthed by the
Tulsa military commission numbered
121 at the time of the last public
statement from the inquiry board
dated September 23. Of 30 informal
tions filed by the military in the coun-
ty or district courts, 14 have reached
the stage of preliminary hearing.
Six witnesses who disappeared late
in September after having told theii
stories to the military commission,
still were missing without trace as
the investigation closed. Lloyd and
Floyd Cook, brothers, and their wives*
and Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Golsby, are
those missing. They have been
sought by the troops in four counties,
Then the Goolsbys could not be pro
duced in district court to identify
testimony before the military regard-
ing the whipping administered by a
masked band, five men named in mili<
tary information were released.
On October 2 when the Cooks failed
to appear against men who attacked
their homes, burned one house and
killed an unborn infant, the trial ol
James Hyde and Morris Evans was
indefinitely postponed.
The Cooks left their homes out in
the country following notes of warn,
ing saying: "We have been here
and you had better leave."
Miner Meriwether, grand titan of
Tulsa Klan No. 2, still is at large in
California. Meriwether has been
named before the commission and
long has been sought by the intelli
gence staff attached to the martial
inquisitorial body.
SAYS DEATH LURKING
IN HOME BREW
Health Official Warns of Poison In
Intoxicants Made in Cellar
and Attic.
Chicago.—There is a greater evil in
beer "with a kick" than in moonshine
whisky, according to a bulletin Is-
sued by Dr. Herman N. Bundesen,
Chicago Commissioner of Health.
Both the bootleggers' "real" beer,
illicitly manufactured and sold, and
the home brew concocted in cellar
and attic contain many dangerous
poisons, the bulletin stated.
Many automobile accident fatalities
caused by intoxicated drivers are due
to drinking alleged "real" beer, ac-
cording to Dr. Bundesen.
Poisinous adulterants have been
found in many samples of beer anal-
yzed by the health department, the
bulletin said.
Haste and improper methods of
brewing produce a variety of poisons
in improperly made beer, according
to the bulletin. Numerous cases of
metal poisoning have been traced di-
rect to illicitly made "real" beer or
wine to which a "spike" has been
added, Dr. Bundesen said.
Home brew may contain arsenic,
lead and copper in sufficient quanti-
ties to produce violent illness and
even death, he said.
Coolidges Spend Quiet Sabbath.
Washington. — President Coolidge
spent the quietest Sunday since he
entered the White House. In the
morning he accompanied Mrs. Cool-
idge to church. Returning, he went
to his office for a few minutes. There
were no callers and no afternoon
outing,
Opposed to Belligerent Spirit
Geneva.—Associating itself with
the efforts of the League of Nations,
the international Masonic conference
with New York delegates participat-
ing, adopted resolutions exhorting
the members of Freemasonry the
world over to oppose the spirit of
belligerency still manifest in many
countries. The members were urged
to strive to insure respect for inter-
national engagements.
Keeling Approves Bonds.
Austin, Texas.—Attorney General
Keeling approved $40,00 sewer
plant bonds for Clarksville, serials,
5 3-4s, and $10,000 Limestone County
Road District No. 12, serials 5^s.
Rate Cut Helps Refineries.
Washington.—The Interstate Com-
merce Commission in a decision in
the case of the Tidal-Western Oil
Corporation et al. vs. the Wichita
Falls & Northwestern Railway Com
pany et al., held that the rates on
naphtha in tank car loads, from Con
stantine refinery near Zebel, Okla.,
to Burkburnett, Texas, were unrea
sonable. The commission gave the
railroad until Dec. 1 to put into ef
feet new rates on naphtha between
the two points, which shall not ex-
ceed $11.25 a car.
WITH THE
HIGH SCHOOL
CLASSICS
I Wllllllllllllllllllllinilllllllllli:!IIIIII!!]!llllllllllilllllll!!lll!llllllll!lli;il!!ll|||II|li!||||||||||||l!||^
By MARGARET BOYD
(© by Margaret Boyd.)
"I tell you yet again, Banquo's bur-
led; he cannot come out on's grave."
—Macbeth.
"That the dead are seen no more,"
writes Samcel Johnson, "I will not
undertake to maintain, against the
concurrent and varied testimony of
all ages and of all nations. There is
no people, rude or learned, among
whom apparitions of the dead are not
related and believed. This opinion,
which perhaps prevails as far as hu-
man nature is diffused, could become
universal only by its truth; those that
never heard of one another would not
have agreed in a tale which nothing
but experience can make credible.
That it is doubted by single cavilers
can very little weaken the general
evidence; and some who deny it with
their tongues confess it by their fears."
The great majority of ghosts are, of
course, frauds; but r • research organi-
zation has ever been able to prove that
all ghosts are frauds. No one has yet
proved that Lady Macbeth was right
when she asserted that Banquo could
not come out of his grave.
The subject of ghosts is of interest
because of its bearing on the subject
of the immortality of the soul. If
ghosts exist, then obviously the soul
does not die at the same time that the
body dies. Although Socrates, by mas-
terly reasoning, convinced himself of
the immortality of the soul, and al-
though all the great religious teachers
have taught the immortality of the
soul, there are many who have not been
convinced; because, as Plato quotes
Cebes as saying, "in what relates to
the soul, men are apt to be incredu-
lous; they fear that when she leaves
the body her place may be nowhere,
and that on the very day of death she
may be destroyed and perish—imme-
diately on her release from the body,
issuing forth like smoke or air and
vanishing away into nothingness."
Socrates was of the opinion that the
soul that was pure at death would not
return as a ghost. Such a soul was
totally severed from the body, at death,
and gathered herself into herself, in
a state that seems analogous to the
Buddhist's Nirvana, of which Arnold
wrote:
The aching- crazo to live ends, and life
glides—
Lifeless—to nameless quiet, nameless
joy,
Blessed NIRVANA—sinless, stirless
rest—
That change which never changes!
Socrates believed, however, that few
souls are pure at death. For most of
us, "each pleasure and pain is a sort
of nail which nails and rivets the soul
to the body." Most souls love the body
and dread the invisible existence to
which pure souls go. These are the
souls that may be seen "prowling about
tombs and sepulchers," made visible to
our eyes by the ailoy and impurity
that cling to the soul as a result of the
love of life and of the body.
• * *
"But life, being weary of these worldly
bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself."
—Julius Caesar.
"Why is suicide held not to be
right?" was one of the questions put
to Socrates during that last long talk
he had with bis friends while he
waited for his jailer to bring him the
cup of poison.
According to Plato's account, Soc-
rates answered: "I suppose you won-
der why . . . when a man is better
dead he is not permitted to be his own
benefactor, but must wait for the hand
of another. ... I admit the appear-
ance of inconsistency, but there may
not be any real inconsistency, after all,
In this. There is a doctrine uttered In
secret that man is a prisoner who has
no right to open the door of his prison
and run away; this is a great mystery
which I do not quite understand."
Our western laws and churches hold
suicide to be wrong, and there is a
general feeling that when a man com-
mits suicide, he breaks the rules by
which the game of life is played. We
know that in a race, for example, a
man is expected to finish the course,
even though all the other runners have
crossed the line an hour before him.
To the bystanders there seems no sense
in this. To them It seems that after
enough men have crossed the line to
score all the points that can be scored,
the other runners should be allowed to
step over the side lines and quit the
race. They cannot see any reason for
making a man run after all chances of
scoring seem over; but the trainer sees
reason in the proceedings. Life is fre-
quently likened to a race,
Some people hold that the two cases
are not analogous because the player
enters a race voluntarily and we hu-
man beings are born into life without
our consent. Others hold that we do
enter life voluntarily. The latter be-
lieve, with Socrates and the Buddhists,
in the transmigration of the soul. They
insist that the soul that does i\ot wish
for life is not reincarnated.
This is, of course, a subject about
which nobody knows, though many may
speculate, trying to twist texts this
way and that to suit their own be-
liefs.
CHILDLESS HOMES
MADE HAPPY
Presence of Little Ones a Great Blessing
Four Interesting Letters
Cortland, N. Y.—" I took Lydia E.
Pinkham's Vegetable Compound be-
cause I was weak and wanted to be-
come strong and have a child. My
husband read about it in the'Cortland
Standard' and thought it might help
me. It certainly did for I now have
a lovely boy fifteen months old who
weighs forty pounds. I recommend
Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Com-
pound to my friends and you can cer-
tainly use my testimonial in your lit-
tle books and in the newspapers, as
it might help to make some other
childless home happy by the presence
of little ones as it has done mine."—
Mrs. Claude P. Canfield, 10 Salis-
bury St., Cortland, N. Y.
A Message to Mothers
Hamilton, Ohio.—"I have known
about Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable
Compound since girlhood, having
taken it when I was younger and suf-
fering from a weakness and back-
ache. Lately I have taken it again
to strengthen me before the birth of
my child, as I was troubled with pains
in my back and a lifeless, weak feel-
ing. I think if mothers would only
take your wonderful medicine they
would not dread childbirth as they do.
I recommend the Vegetable Com-
pound to every woman."—Mrs. Jos.
Falcoin, Jr., 562 S. 11th Street,
Hamilton, Ohio.
St Louis, Mo.—"I want to tell yo®
what Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable
Compound did for me seven years-
ago. I was run down and had a weak-
ness such as women often have. I
took Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable
Compound and after being married
sixteen years became the mother of
a sweet little girl. I now have four
lovely children—three fine boys and
the little girl six years old. I had
longed for children all the while and
wept many a day and envied every
woman with a child. I was 36 years
old when my first baby was born. I
recommend Lydia E.Pinkham's Veg-
etable Compound to any woman wh©
is ailing with female weakness."—i
Mrs. J. Naumann, 1517 Benton Stp
St. Louis, Mo.
Was Weak and Run Down
St. Louis, Mo. —" My mother took
Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Com-
pound when I was a girl, and when I
was troubled with cramps I took it,
and later when I married I again took
it to make me strong as the doctor
said I was weak and run down and
could not have children. 1 took it and
got along fine and now I have three
girls. So you know why I keep the
Compound in the house. I am a well
woman and do my work and sewing
too."—Mrs. Julius Hartman, 2501
W. Dodier St., St. Louis, Mo.
Detours Bring Customers.
The motoring public is frequently
annoyed by signs marked "Detour"
which compel them to leave a good
road for a bad one fur some distance.
They are e\en more annoyed when the
new route is not properly marked out
and as a result they sometimes get
temporarily lost. A small boy upstate,
quick to grasp the situation, fashioned
a few detour signs of his own which he
erected and which diverted traffic by
his father's house.
Then he built in his front yard a
small stand at which he sold ginger
ale and lemonade to the thirsty and
weary travelers and did a good busi-
ness until the authorities removed the
signs and the street once again be-
came a rarely traveled thoroughfare.
■—New York Sun and Globe.
Why Not?
If certain medicinal spring waters
benefit human beings why should they
not be good for horses who have sim-
ilar bodily structures? So thought a
well-known English horse trainer and
his ailing horses at Doncaster are
now being supplied with water from
the famous Harrogate springs, in
spite of laughter of his friends. Did
not Epsom salts originate in a spring
near the famous race course at Ep-
som? And is there any significance
in that fact?
The Flaw.
'T suppose you are very happy?"
"Yes," sobbed the bride, "but I
could be happier. If my husband
would only want to do the things I
want to do, and never want to do the
things he wants to do I think life
would be perfect."
Edible Drinking Cup Appears.
With the increase in popularity of
water ices among patrons of refresh-
ment pushcarts, ball park caterers andi
other venders the edible drinking cup
is appearing. It is of graham cracker
ingredients and some are lined with
chocolate.
Early in the season water ices were
served in paper or paraffin cups. As
these were not consumable they cre-
ated a problem of litter. The new kincf
of cup, like the cone for ice cream,
provides a cake for the water ice. It
is also finding a field as a container
and accompaniment for soft drinks.—
New York Sun and Globe.
Different.
The comedy cinema actor stopped a
man he knew. "Look here," he began,
"I understand you said last night that
I have no sense of humor. A remark
of that kind, made publicly, in the
presence of o^her people, is very dam-
aging to a man in my position, and—"*
"Hold on," interrupted the other. "1
never said you had no sense of humor.
What I said was that you had no sense
of honor."
"Ah!" beamed the actor, "I thought
there must be some mistake. I felt
certain you would never run down a
pal behind his back."
Swiss Adopt Signal System.
The installation of an electrically
operated signal system on the Swiss
government railways is said to be the
first for that class of service In Eu-
rope.
Lives of some statesmen remind us
that it is sometimes better to be ob-
scure.
Why take
the risk?
MANY have found by their own
experience that coffee's effect is
harmful. Health authorities warn
against risking the growth and devel-
opment of children with the drug ele-
ment in coffee.
Why take chances with your health,
and thus risk comfort, happiness —
success?
There's both safety and satisfaction in
Postum as your mealtime drink. YouH
thoroughly enjoy its delightful flavor
and aroma. Postum contains nothing
that can harm you. As many cups as
you like at any meal—with no penal-,
ties to pay in wakeful nights and day-
time dullness.
Your grocer sells Postum in two forms: Instant
Postum (in tins) prepared Instantly In the cup
by the addition of boiling water. Postum Cereal
(in packages) for those who prefer the flavor
brought out by boiling fully 20 minutes. The coat
of either form is about one-half cent a cup.
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Dunlap, Levi A. & Dunlap, Teel W. The Meridian Tribune (Meridian, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, October 12, 1923, newspaper, October 12, 1923; Meridian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth404370/m1/2/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Meridian Public Library.