The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-10-24

NdIISdS iUWlI , : Woman Executive
 This little town is tucked away upor he boundary line of Kansas anc Oklahoma, writes the Hunnewell (ks contributor of the Evening Post. 1T spite of its 30 odd years of being T has not grown beyond the days whef the enthusiastic ranch owner stakee off his property into town Iots ant bade the public enter The tiny homes of the 300 inhabitants are scat tered about two dusty and meander- ing streets. TheStwo general stores and the local pool room vie With the one-chair barber shop as the gather ing point for the male population.
 Today, just as always, the men aIe sitting on the rude boardwalk's edge chewing, splitting, and talking. Bu' the talk is somewhat different than it was a year ago, for there IS a feuc 'n the air, and it is necessary to think twice before speaking out one
 odgh:s And Mrs. Ella Wilson, ths Mayor, is the cause of all the ten sion.
 A little less than half the toWn Sympat hizes with the woman Mayor The others are with the four Council len, against whom custer proceeo- irgs have just been brought by the Attorney General of Kansas. Olo friends now pass each other on the street with heads averted, or, if they Ia me-, in whose veins the blood 0; re old cattle town still courses, they meet each others gaze unfllnchlnSiy With a SteadineSs that never can be taken for. friendly greeting.
 The local correspondent who sent ct the first news of the incidents to ihe press is practically recluse. He is perhaps the one man In town Wno Ias leoeived anything more than e-ade school education, and he finger c1 at Hunnewell because he was born here and has no friends in any other race
 jce nadeoa mistak 10 one of the ~er sitting before the barber shop se other evening said to visitor. Ne uster like him, cause he taught " kids ter play on the pianner' 1u-." ard this last most emphactically, i,e hadn't oughter writ all that CT suff about ther town. And now, :,o cS<cd with vindictive gleam in r-s eyes. "he don't come around ter the barber shop at night. -Jes' sits lis mail an hurries right home. An yer bet he's sorry now, too, cause Ioe's a man what likes is arg g'ment
 A MAYOR WHO DOES SEWING.
 And Mrs Wilson-what of her? She sat in the front room Of the three loom house the other day and seWeo :.s she rocked and talked. Near her, the one with a primness that was born Of the dignity of her calling, the Ter with her hands folded meekly in her lap and a meek smile of happi- ness at being in the presence of greatness. sat two women-Mrs Rosie Osborn. the Mayors appOintee as marshal and Mrs. E. B. Triton, the appointee as City Clerk. On the ficor, staring with worshipful eyes at their wonderful mother, sat two of the Wilson children. 6 and years old, respectively. There was a marDie- topped center table, also, and an or gan. On the top of the former was a rather curious assortment of books, a Mother Goose with a highly litho- graphed back, an old and worn copy, of Marie Corelh. a huge copy of the statutes of Kansas, an old-fash1oned family album with a gilded clasp, the Bible and a copy of Roberts Rules of Order"
 'sI was jest a-sayin' that we had them fellers on the run," was Mrs. Wilson's greeting to the visitor. John- nv, get tn young felIer chair, bring the one with the dolley on the back" and Johnny obediently went to the adjoining bedroom and pulled the vis- itcrrs chair to the center of the room, Mrs. Wilson is a woman of 45; her eyes are kindly and intelligent, and Ter face bears witness to the years of hardship that she spent as the wife of an Oklahoma rancher. MT. Wilson-his name is seldom mentioned a bout the town, for one does not think of a husband when Mrs. Wilson's name is spoken-is dying slowly in the State Institute for the Insane.
 ..I had to send Will up there three Year ago." the woman Mayor admitt- ed. for I couldn't care for him and th' children, too. I have ter make the rvin' now, and somtimes it goes pret- ty hard You see. I do other things.
 The c.others. things" Mrs. Wilson re- fused to explain, ,, except to say that she liked to work and that the chill dren were to have a good education WHY SHE RAN FOR MAYOR
 And speaking of the children, and she patted the hand of Johnny as she spoke, ''I wouldn't have consented to be a candidate for Mayor if it had nst of been for them. I've raised one son and put him out in the world, sszld he's making a success of It, too; and so have good cause to know Of the temptations that beset the paths of boys. When they came to me an. I at first refused. Then, I thought How are you going to raise your chill dren in a clean town unless you help fo make it clean? That thought de- cided me, an I says, Yes
 Mrs Osborn who is more than six feet. tall and weighs close to 300 pounds 4replained the beginning of the woman Mayor agitation: She spoke 1n a deep and booming voice that well fitted the role of the town marshall.
 Tt was 10 year ago that a few of us who lived here wanted to clean up the place. There was lot of boot leggfng going on. and frequently whiskey would be sold right out in the open without any one objecting. We all voted then for the man who claimed to be a dry candidate. He was elected" and her voice took on a plaintive tone for a moment. "The right of his election he gave a ban quet of crackers and cheese, just to prove his good intentions. Not even a glass of water was permitted in the room. The next day he opened a saloon for himself. Then things went from bad to worse here, until this last year a few of us women be- came despefate!a Wed run a woman, We told each other and we made Mrs. | NE1son our selection. But-shucks. What can she do with such a bunch 1 of fellows as those councilmen to | buck against?' Mrs Ocborn also spent her life in | the bleai1est and toughest parts of the | Meet he is fond of boaStino of he