Then came China (M. J. Carter's house), where rice and tea were served in an oriental atmosphere.

The tourists returned to Washington, D. C. (the opera house) where good old fashioned American ice cream, cake and coffee were enjoyed by the sojourners in a lavishly decorated patriotic setting. A fine program was presented including a "Tom Thunit" wedding and "Prof. Baxter's wonderful invention."

There were over 700 partipants on this tour. The net receipts of $200 were divided equally between the Catholic and Protestant Parishes.

1903

Two new rural mail routes were added to the Ossian postoffice. George Webster was the carrier on route no. 2 and Louie Effelke (sic) transported mail on no. 3.

"Monday night," records the Bee, "O. G. Gleisner took the notion of yelling on the streets. Many citizens were alarmed, fearing it was a cry of fire. O. G. said he did it to imitate Henry Palzer, and the next morning it cost him...$3.50 in mayor's court."

This item, upon publication, caused Mr. Gleisner to accuse publisher Heck of not giving the true facts. Mr. Heck replied, "The facts are these: the morning after the disturbance, marshal Beardmore secured...a warrant for Mr. Gleisner's arrest; but when the marshal went to get his man, someone tipped off the accused, and he appeared voluntarily before Mayor Figge and was assessed the stated fine.

By doing this, he beat Beardmore out of his arrest fee and Lou Ean and J. Becker out of remuneration as witnesses. The next time Gleisner takes the notion of imitating anybody, we will arrange to have him brought before us. We will see he gets what he deserves, viz. justice in the shape of $100 and costs." Editor Heck was a justice of the peace for Military township.

THE OSSIAN COURTS

A. G. Heck was a bit unconventional in administering justice. On Nov. 5, 1897, his court held a    hearing on    a civil suit, C. W.    Blanchaine vs    A. C. Heck.    A    bill for goods sold to the defendant was in dispute.    Justice Heck    recorded:

"The plaintiff appeared and was sworn. The court called for the defendant —but he did not appear. The court ordered that plaintiff recover of the defendant the sum of $20.50 with 6% interest."

Apparently this decision settled the dispute to the satisfaction of both parties.

During one of    Mr. Heck's    terms as mayor , in    June of I892,    A. G. Heck was    called before him on    the charge    of violating ordinance 12, upon the complaint    of    Nels  Nelson. Mayor Heck sentenced defendant Heck to a fine of $10 and costs of $4.85. There may have been mitigating circumstances in this instance. Court records show that Frank Lansing paid the fine and costs. Certainly no one can accuse his court of partiality—this fine was identical to others imposed for this offense.

The most controversal of Ossian court hearings were during the 1886 to 1891 period when the Clark prohibition law was in effect in Iowa. They are recorded elsewhere in this book. We have been unable to locate the court records on the hearings of the six Ossian businessmen whose cases were transferred from district court to Ossian J. P. court by county attorney Carter and subsequently dismissed.

An early J. P. court case (1879) records barber J. H. Bradney's action against A. E. Brooks to recover the sum of $2.05 owed for haircuts.

In 1882, John W. Collins sued the town of Ossian for $8.25 plus interest claimed for labor furnished the town. No disposition of this case was recorded. Let's hope it was settled—six percent interest adds up in 99 years.

The annual statement of the independent school district shows payment to teachers of $1780; other expenses, $1253; leaving a balance of $465 in the contingency fund and $1859 in the teacher's fund.

The financial report of town treasurer, P. Bullard, finds receipts and expenses in balance at $3172.49 for the last fiscal year.