The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-10-08
CHANCES'ER name
Municipal Affairs Upset by
Woman Mayors Marriage.
Is She Officially Mrs. HOrwitz
or Mrs. j. j. O'Brien?
5,OOO-ACRE FARM SIDE ISSUE
Wears Trousers and Says
Women Can Do Anything.
Suffrage Last Subject She
Wants To Talk About.

mayor of this peaceful little communl-
ty married. the faithful constituents
are terribly confused The matri-
monial ventures of mayor do not,
as rule. create much disturbance in
municipal affairs But in the case of
Moorhaven it's different.
Moorhavens mayor was different
| from all other mayors. She-thats
what caused all the trouble-being
woman changed her name when she
married She was elected mayor
while Mrs George Horwitz. Then, her
honor the mayor, married Capt. j. j.
| o. Brien, U. S. r., former newspaper
man and ex-secretary to the mayor OF
Moorhaven..
The mayors husband is now on his
way 20 France But by marrying the
| mayor of Moorhaven, O'Brien set the
| population to thinking. Here is the
| question that is worrying the residents
| of Moorhaven: Mrs. O Brien was
elected mayor of Moorhaven as Mrs
| Marion D. Horwitz, the name that APP
pears on her election certificate and
| the one she has signed to all official
/ documents since becoming mayor
| Now-must she sign Mrs. ]. J. o. Brien
| to these documents or the name that
| appears on her election certificate?
Likes Executive job.
| O'Brien said: THE job of being may
| or is Il new one to me and l like it. l
| have to hand out justice for all petty
| offenses, for l sit as town magistrate
| in the town. and that, with managing
the councilmen, is full job in itself.
In addition to her duties as mayor
Mrs. O'Brien finds time to run small
farm of 5000 acres, where she raises
| practically every known vegetable, ana
! as a side line hogs. She has worked
= Arrlir1 nj
| II at night on her farm steadily thru
| the summer season, and is convinced
| there isn't "a thing a woman cannot do
| When she works in the field Mrs.
| O'Brien, like all other farmerettes,
/ discards the skirt and takes to trous-
| ers. She does not look like a woman
/ who has been shaving in the field all
| day and mana ging a small town at
| the same time. She is blond, pretty
and young. II am more than thirty,
/ however" she said.
Suffrage Not Her Hobby.
Being a mayor one would think she
would be willing to talk about the
woman in politics. THAT is the last
! thing l want to talk about" was her
| Surprising answer when the question
of women suffrage was brought up
Don't ask me what l believe for L
| do not know a thing about woman
suffrage. All my life 1 have been
| busy doing the things 1 wanted to do
and haven't had time to think much
about political Acknowledgement.
Not that suffrage is not coming"
she added hurriedly, but in my mind
the best argument for it is the evil
| dence women are now giving in all
| sorts of war work. The work that
women have done in the war relief
agencies and the work they do in the
juvenile and municipal courts is proof
| enough for me that any woman is as
| good and as capable as any man."
Has Four Large Tractors.
Getting off the question of otes for
women, Mrs. O'Brien gave a few hints
to the modern farmer. The old time
farmer" she said, didn't know when
to plant or where He simply dropped
i the seed into the same ground season
after season. Nowadays anyone can
| learn to farm by doing as the depart
| ment of agriculture tells you to. I
| have four large tractors and l work
all day as long as my men do. And
then, of course. | York at night, too.
| If the government would make pos
| sible the development of other waste
| lands in this country-as these drain
age canals have made them available
in Florida-the food problem would
shring in proportion"
Mrs. O'Brien was recently made Il
staff with the rank of major. She is
also on the state committee on ma
tional defense, and is preparing to or
ganiZe home defense organization