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Previous Page 84 Next A. O. Elridge—butter maker, creamery capacity of 1000 lbs. daily. Sylvester McClintock—Palace barbershop. Prof. W. W. Carter--phrenologist. Mr. Carter included a brief history of himself in this promotional edition. He and his Quaker parents and brother, Warren, arrived in Winneshiek county in 1856. They settled on a small farm in the Washington Praire area. He clerked in D. D. Rosa's store at Ossian, and read law with attorney G. G. Faust. He was admitted to the bar in 1877, thus becoming the third lawyer in town along with Mr. Faust and W. L. Warren. He, along with partner, L. A. Meyer, founded the Ossian Bank in 1880 in a room over the Blanchaine drug store. He purchased the Bee in 1885 from Henry Woodruff. He served in the following offices: county attorney for two years; mayor—ten years; treasurer of the school district—12 years; master of the local Masonic Lodge—12 years. In addition, he is a Shriner, Knight Templar and member of the Modern Woodmen of America. There were $50,000 worth of new buildings constructed in Ossian during I896. Many of these replaced structures destroyed by the series of fires. Four teachers were hired to teach in the new school: Erof. John Dobbyn, Edna Lee, Lillie Brown and Nellie Test. 1897 Although the economy has begun to recover from the depression of the past few years, prices are still very low in Ossian. Blanchaine's drug store offers bananas at 100 and oranges at 200 a dozen. The Anderson & Gunderson and G. F. Gunderson stores advise that they will no longer extend credit. They advertise the following bargains:
Figge's store offered a carload of Michigan apples @ $1.90 a bbl. Overcoats from $1.50 for brown and blue satinet, to $5 for black patent beaver with satin sleeves. There were 157 votes cast in the municipal election. A. G. Heck regained the office of mayor; Bert Gilbert became recorder and Fred Figge was elected to the post of treasurer. F. W. Dessel and G. H. Holbrook received seats on the council. Former town treasurer, C. H. Blanchaine, subitted his report for fiscal 1896. It showed receipts and expenses in balance at $1419.43. Assessor Schmitz's survey found an assessed valuation within the municipality of $98,880. The council met as an equalization board. No changes were made in individual assessments, but the levy was raised to ten mills, with the provision that if the mulct law petition carries and a liquor tax is allowed, the rate will return to five mills. The only prior exception to the 5 mill rate was in 1879 when the levy was raised to 7 mills to pay for the town pump. The editor ridiculed a reported sighting of an airship with this quip: "A jug was found, supposedly dropped from the airship; others believe the airship came out of the jug." A loud explosion was recorded in the Ossian vicinity this year. There was speculation it was caused by an earthquake, meteor or exploding aircraft. Mr. Harvey, a local resident, reports seeing a large fireball at the time of the blast. The following teachers signed contracts for the next school year: J. Hume Dobbyn, principal; Sarah Owens, grammar department; Grace Garter, intermediate; and Tillie Becker, primary. All pupils, who wish to attend high school the coming year, are requested to present themselves for examination at the school building. This examination | |||||||||||||||
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