and in writing, and sent on his way with the sage advice, promptly taken, to leave town. He traveled to neighboring Calmar where he was arrested for the theft of Mrs. Goheen's watch and gold pen. He became the guest of this town in their barred hotel.

BUSINESS CHANGES

1916

A local meeting to organize an equal suffrage league was held at the town hall. The following were selected as officers: Mrs. H. J. Mayer, president; Mrs. J. W. Lynch, vice president; Mrs. R. W. Garter, treas.; and Mrs. W. M. Allen, secretary. All ladies of the community, who are interested in equal suffrage, are invited to join this organization.

The ratification of an amendment to the U. S. Constitution, legalizing women's suffrage, was defeated in Iowa, Winneshiek Co. & Military Twp. The local vote was 6l yes, 135 no. The next time around--proposed by congress in 1919 and ratified by the states in 1920—suffrage was granted.

THE WATERWORKS

Editor Schmitz's long crusade for a town water system finally bore fruit this year. While the 19th (women's suffrage) amendment did not become part of the constitution until 1920, section 1131 of the Iowa code allowed females to vote on municipal bond issues. They were assigned a second ballot box and their votes tallied separately. So, when the waterworks bond issue was placed on the ballot, many Ossian ladies exercised their franchise for the first time, approving the $17,000 indebtedness by a vote of 97 to 28. Mrs. M. J. Klein was the first of her sex ever to cast a ballot in Ossian. Although editor Schmitz had expressed himself negatively on the suffrage amendment, he approved of the ladies' judgement on the waterworks bonds with this comment: "The women handled the ballot in an intelligent manner—they certainly voted right!" Ossian's men agreed with their feminine helpmates: 145 yes; 66 no.

The council decided to purchase the E. V. Gilbert well, near the Milwaukee depot, for the water source of the proposed city water system. This property included a pumphouse on a 25' X 50' lot. It cost $2800. This well furnished sufficient water for the town over many years. However, the bore had a crook from faulty drilling that caused much displeasure among the workmen whenever the pump had to be pulled for repair. I believe this defect was once the subject of legal action between Mr. Gilbert and the well driller.

The contract for constructing Ossian's water system was awarded to the Des Moines Bridge and Iron Company on their low bid of $14,916.90. Specifications called for the work to be completed by Dec. 1, 1916.

The new water tower arrived in the fall. Its tank had a capacity of 60,000 gallons and stood 132 feet above the ground.