Floyd E. Houston and Miss Nettie Barnes, both of Woodston, were married by Reverend J. F. Dennis of that place on December 23rd. Howard W. McMichael of Stockton and Miss Beulah A. Barnes of Plainville were married on December 26th by Probate Judge Case. Mr. and Mrs. McMichael have the congratulations of their many friends. Joseph Tobie Hamel of Palco and Miss Emma Louise Plante of Damar were granted a license on December 2nd. The couple will be married on January 8th. Floyd H. Lightfoot and Miss Flora Bell Marietta were united in marriage at Kirwin by Reverend Fred. R. Bush. The newly Mrs. Lightfoot is the daughter of Mrs. M. C. Marietta and is a very fine young lady. They have gone to housekeeping in the former Kelly property on east Main and they have the sincere wishes of their many friends.

W. L. Davenport, who has been enjoying a fine visit with his Rooks County friends over for the past four or five weeks, died suddenly at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Burlin on Sunday. The shocking news of Mr. Davenport’s death was received in Stockton shortly after he passed away and it saddened the hearts of his countless friends. Mr. and Mrs. Davenport had came from their home in Denver about the middle of November for the visit. Mr. Davenport was one of the influential citizens of Rooks County during his residence. He was a sound, conservative man, well liked by everyone. He came to Kansas in 1878 and had homesteaded three and a half miles east and one-half mile north of Plainville. He married Cora A. Brooks at Plainville on March 9th, 1884. All the little girls and big

Mr. F. A. McIntyre, traveling agent of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, was in Stockton last Tuesday interviewing some of our members of the Chamber of Commerce relative to the new passenger schedule out of Stockton. Mr. McIntyre is a very congenial gentleman and assured us it was the desire of the Missouri Pacific to give us the best possible service and in this connection they would enjoy the best possible patronage the people of Stockton could give to the railway company. It will be remembered that the chamber was very active in bringing about the change from 3:10 to 5:20 p.m., the present time of the passenger’s departure.

All talk as to who our next county attorney will be is now set at rest. F. E. Young received his commission Sunday from Judge C. I. Sparks, appointing him to fill out the unexpired term of J. Earl Farrish. Mr. Young has served the county for four years, his term expiring last January. It has been conceded by many of our citizens that Mr. Young would be the next county attorney and his many friends will be pleased to hear of his appointment. He will be sworn in by Probate Judge Case this week and will take charge of the office Saturday morning.

The Hays Municipal building took fire last week, supposedly from spontaneous combustion in the furnace room, and the east side of the building is a complete loss. The east side housed the G.A.R., the ladies rest room and the police courtroom, the farm bureau office and the city auditorium upstairs. The loss is estimated at $25,000.00. The city clerk’s office and the offices of the city treasurer and city manager were badly damaged by smoke and water, but the city records in the vault were intact. The upstairs of the west side contained rooms for the Chamber of Commerce and city attorney and were damaged by smoke. All the pictures, souvenirs, guns and relics of the G. A. R. were destroyed—a keen loss to the organization.

Since the Missouri Pacific put into effect a radical change in the passenger time card several weeks ago, the Stockton Chamber of Commerce has been fighting for a change to the betterment of the town. The layover here of the passenger for three hours was not long enough to facilitate mail correspondence and the inconvenience of leaving on the train in the middle of the afternoon, with a layover at Downs of nearly three hours. Encouragement came Tuesday in the form of a telegram from the headquarters at St. Louis to W. F. Hughes, president of the chamber of commerce. The telegram read: “Appreciate your letter relative to passenger schedule. Arrangements will be made to adjust service in line with your request.”

The Union National Bank of Beloit failed to open its doors for business last Monday, closing due to the fact that borrowers were unable to make good their indebtedness to the bank. A notice was posted on the door by the board of directors and put in the hands of a special examiner. A heavy run was made Saturday and the bank was virtually without funds at the close of business that day. Representatives of the three other Beloit banks canvassed the situation with the board of directors with a view of taking over or reorganizing the bank but found that it was impracticable. The Union National was a $1,000,000.00 institution and the first national bank to close in Kansas since 1914. Probably 9,000 former

John Flannigan, who was apprehended in this county and sent to jail on a larceny charge about two years ago, has experienced several escapades since committing his crime in Rooks County. This item from the Downs News and Times tells of his adventurous escapades: Sheriff Harry Edwards left for Kansas City Monday evening to bring back to this county John Flannigan, who had been apprehended by the police of that city. Flannigan was first arrested about two years ago by the sheriff of Rooks County and was charged with larceny. At that time Rooks County was building its new courthouse and jail, and Flannigan was taken to the county jail at Osborne for safekeeping. He did not remain in confinement but a short time until he affected a release. He was shortly afterwards apprehended and again made his escape from the jail. He was next heard from in Kansas City where the authorities had picked him up, but before the Osborne County officers could make arrangements to go after him, he made his third jail delivery. That was several months ago and now he is in the grip of the law again, and it is quite likely that the young man will be given special attention in the future by the officers and his entertainment be of such nature that he will remain their “guest” for some time to come.

Arthur Vanderlip of the Bow Creek country had a streak of bad luck last Monday. A large straw stack in the feed lot tumbled over burying three nice heifers. When the animals were dug out, Arthur found his best heifer dead, the one that “copped” the prize at the Rooks County Free Fair.

Mrs. F. P. Hill, who has been physically declining for the past year reaped her reward last week when her earthly spirit took its flight to the Great Beyond. Orpha L. Timmons was born on June 2nd, 1841 in Ross County, Ohio. She passed from this life at her home on October 14, 1923 at the age of 82 years, four months and 12 days. She was married to Frank P. Hill at Macon, Illinois on January 18th, 1866 and to this union seven children were born. Mr. and Mrs. Hill came to Rooks County in 1879 and homesteaded near Zurich before moving to Stockton in 1886. Mrs. Hill was an active member in the Woman’s Relief Corps, and much of its splendid record was due to her untiring interest on its behalf and in behalf of the old soldiers. The smile that Roy Sny