Putnam patriot., 1912-10-11
Annual Town Meeting

Hhd SloSSd aN T ps H. dohh S' ASoai- - " was moderator. There was a light vote for town officers, only 409 ballots being cast, of which one was void.
 When the meeting opened in the early morning hours there :were more present than usual at that hour. w. <. Johnson moved that the business meeting be held at 7.80 ?. m. The mo- ton was amended by ]. G.,Johnson making the hour ? P. m, The motion as amended was carried by vote of i6 to9.
 At two o'clock the room was full of voters as two of the clauses in the warning were of especial interest and developed two factions
 Selectman l.. NJ Keith, chairman of the committee that had charge of fix. ing over the building for town and city offices, read the committees report. It showed that the amount expended was S7S9. It was voted to accept the report,
 Voted that $500 be appropriated for schools. In speaking on this matter, Charles l.. Torrey, secretary of the school board, stated that the expense of maintaining the schools had exceeded the appropriation last year. He point ed out the expense that had been en. tailed by the changes made, such as a much greater fuel bill and ianitor ser. vice al the different schools. lie said that some S6000 is received from the state on account of out-oi,town pupils in the high school. Sl00o will be saved in salaries this year.
 Voted to appropriate Sl25 for Memo rial Day.
 Voted to appropriate $500 for a free ben in the Day kimball hospital and Sl00 for the Woman's Board.
 When the appropriation for the pub. lie library was reached w. $. Johnson was recognized by the chair, and ihe read figures of the appropriations and expenditures of the library covering a period of 24 years, and moved that 500 be appropriated for the purchase of books for the ensuing year. Charles l.. Torrey amended this motion by making the sum 5000. A. I Morse offered an amendment to the amend. ment as follows:
 That the 5000 be appropriated with the understanding that the library be moved, and that no money be appro- priated for rent, and that all of the thousand dollars be spent for the libra " situated in this building.
 An aye and nay vote was taken, but the vote was doubted, and 1t was voted to divide the hall, which was done The telers counted and according 10 three of them the amendment was voi- ed down by one vote. As il was ditil- cult to count the votes the hall being so crowded, IL was agreed that there should be a recount. After several suggestions as to how this should be done it was decided that first one side and then the other should pass by n point and be counted. The result of this vote was 127 for and lls against the amendment.
 When. the call for vote lon the mo- ton as amended was put, anoIher aye and nay vote proved unsatisfactory. The losing side endeavored to get a vote by ballot, and called forth re- marks by the leaders of the opposite side, and the word "sqnealersp was used once or twice. The hall was again divided and the tellers reported that they found the vote unanimous in favor of the amendment II being so apparent that the side voting aye were in the majority. Those who spoke against the amendment were Chester E.. Child, John c. Johnson, F.. H.. Johnson, J. E. Tatem, and others; for, w. E. Johnson, A. |. Morse, Dr. Omer LaRue and others.
 After the question had been settled F.. II. Johnson stated that as the libra " was to be moved to point nearer the north end of the city he thought in justice to the French speaking popula. ton that some books in the French language should be put in the library and moved that the library committee be instructed to spend s2O0 for such books. This motion was unanimously carried.
 Voted to appropriate S45 for the old cemetery.
 A motion to place on the table the 1 question concerning the building of vaults for the custody of records, books, and maps, was lost and 1t was voted that the vaults be installed, and that 5000 be appropriated therefor, and that the moderator appoint commit tee of three 10 act with the selectmen in having the vaults installed. The moderator appointed on this commit tee, Charles II. Brown, Edward Mul- Ian, and w. 5. Johnson. It was voted that the building com mittee of the new high school be in structed to give an itemized account of expenditures in building the high school and the price of land.
 The matter of making An appropria- ton to meet deficiency in completing the building was laid on the table. It was stated in regard to this matter that the roof leaked and was unsatisfactory It was nearly 5.30 when the meeting came to an end.
 A 12 mill tax was laid to be collected on or before April l, 1915. No vote was taken on the license nuastfon