Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-02-02


ing the school district treasurer. maxi
ing ~ tho dutv of the county treas,,rcr
to collect and tlisburse I'LL school
moneys.
In the House Mr.. Rccs introduced
a memorial instructing the Senators
ana Representatives i'm Congress from
Iowa TO procure the passage Of bill
TO forever settle and qniet the title to
the Dcs Moines river lands. This is
OF course not a new thing for the
Legislature to do. for this or some
thing similar has been passed several
General Assemblies, but it is well
enough to kecpEthe question before
our members, SO that they will con-
tinnc their efforts iii regard to III. "A
Dill was introduced providing that
the tine of 500 for illegal sale Of
liquors, shall be paid to- the COM
plalnant instead of into the school
fund.
Mr.. Logan, the chief clork of the
House, has been sick several DAYS,
and Is still confined to. his room
Yesterday Mr.. Jim Stevenson was
chosen to occupy Mr.. Logan's place
during his illness. ay III Car.
aa DEs MONIES, Feb. lst. 1876.
There was but a small attendance
to-day in either House, and on that
account scarcely any business Of inn
portance was transacted. A large
amount OF preparatory work. how
ever, was done in order to put things
in readiness for tomorrow. when
most of the absent ones will be pros
cnt. is.5 = -
In the House n bill was introduced
apprropriating $4,000 for the Blind
Asylum. ~ 4 4uI.-. ~
The bill providing for the appro-
priation of $1,000 10 furnish dresses.
etc, for our Iowa Militia. was practi-
cally nippcd in the bud, the House
refusing to order it engrosscd.
The House also considered at some
length bill providing that the Mavor
OF the city shall appoint the City Sol
1citor, City Engineer and Marshal,
and making the latter Chief of Po-
lice. After. long discussion it was
referred to the Judiciary Committee.
The Senate disposed of a large
number OF bills of no general i'm
portance. Those of but little import
ance were either passed or indefi
nitely postponed, while bills of GEN
cral interest were placed on file or
made special order awaiting a larger
attendance. go e.
Senator I.arrabee introduced q bill
providing for the election ola County
AttnpnaV wi CHI -. rs
trlst Attorney in criminal cases. and
receive a salary of $50 for every
thousand inhabitants i'm the county.
Senator Cooley introduced a bill
III relation TO short hand reporters.
which will be beheld with alarm nv
the, subjects of the bill. Ii provides
that they shall receive 10 dollars n
day on which they shall actually be
employed, g hours, aud receive 10
cents for every 1000 words actually
transcribed. 1t also provides that
this expense shall be taxed as part of
the costs in civil cases. It is known
that IN many instances these men re-
celyc larger salary than the Jud &c.
senator Cooley said that i'm his coun-
~. Dubuque, they received nearly
Sl5,WO year, and this in District
containing five counties. He thought
that this should be remedied, now
that there seemed to be a strong dis
position to decrease the costs on liti-
CATION in all the counties. Il
The bill allowing counties of over
l4,OOO inhabitants to levy tax of six
mills was taken up. As the law now
stands counties of this popula-
uon and over can only levy q tax
Oh Z mills for general purposes,
While counties of less can levy a six
mil tax. There was some opposition
TO the bill and il was placed ON file.
Ihe forgerics committed bv Mrs.
Ellen ). Topper, the great bee Pro-
fessor, OF Iowa, is the subject of much
conversation in the city. 1t has been
known TO few, for some time, that
she had tendency to make. too free
use OF names, but il has been kept
quiet. Some two years since, the
Baptist Church, of which she has been
a prominent member, held FREQUENT
meetings in regard to it, and il well
nigh occasioned a split in the church.
1t was finally hushed up and she re-
manned deyout member. A tclc-
gram was received to-day by party
in the city stating that she had been
found in State Centre, was arrested
and was being taken to Monticello
for trial. This is tho place where she
made one of her biggest hauls. A
gentleman from VintOn. the unfor-
tunate possessor of some of her forged
paper, is in the city now. The note
he holds is for something over $4,000.
though she did not realize ON ali OF
it. She had drawn 81, GOO upon il and
had deposited other notes equally
fraudulent and worthless as collater-
al security. III
The community, as general thing.
finds it hard To believe that insanity
is the cause of all this, for there is
too much method in her mad
ness. They regard her as having a
species of kleptomania ir a very ag-
gravatcd form. It'll very singular that
this mania for forgery, which her
friends would have us believe is a re-
suit OF insanity, should not have been
found out before and the insane Wo.
man incarcerated. There Ia. however.
much sympathy felt for her and her
family. 1t is sad that a woman other
energy and ability should thus per-
mt herself to become as low as tho
lowest thief, but it is the case. She
has a husband, who lives on a home-
stead farm in Northern Iowa, and
several daughters, all of whom are
remarkably brilliant. Car.