Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 3.djvu/692

Rh whose work on bee-culture is a recognized authority everywhere; her eldest sister is a very eloquent preacher at Colorado Springs; Miss Kate is studying medicine, having taken herself through a full course at the Agricultural College by her own work; and Miss Madge, who is only sixteen, is a famous poultry raiser, and an officer of the State Poultry Association, who has made money enough in this business to defray her entire expenses through a full collegiate course. Mrs. Tupper's family is a sufficient answer to the question of woman's work, if there were no other. Let any mother in Iowa show three boys who can beat this.

In this year Mrs. Louisa B. Stevens was elected president of the First National Bank at Marion, Linn county. The important position women are taking in the business world is illustrated by the presence of two delegates at the meeting of the American Street Railway Association held in St. Louis in the autumn of 1885—Mrs. L. V. Gredenburg, proprietor and treasurer of the New Albany Street Railway of New Albany, Ind., and Mrs. M. A. Turner, secretary and treasurer of the Des Moines Railway, Des Moines, Ia. One of the gentlemen expressed the belief that fully $25,000,000 of street-railway stock in this country is owned by women.

As to the distribution of the cardinal virtues between men and women it is generally claimed that the former possess courage, the latter fortitude. Although the pages of history are gilded with innumerable instances of the remarkable courage of women of all ages and conditions, and oftimes dimmed with the records of cowardice in men of all classes, yet what has been said for generations will probably be repeated, even in the face of so remarkable a fact as the following:

On March 1, 1882, the Iowa House of Representatives, on motion of Hon. A. J. Holmes, suspended the rules and passed a bill introduced by that gentleman providing for the presentation of a gold medal and the thanks of the General Assembly of the State of Iowa to Miss Kate Shelly, to which was added a money appropriation of two hundred dollars, which passed both Houses and became a law.

In support of the bill, Mr. Holmes spoke as follows:

Mr. Speaker: No apology is required for the introduction of this bill, and I shall make no explanation in regard to it, save a brief résumé of the facts upon which the bill is based. Miss Kate Shelly, with her widowed mother and little sisters and brother, lives in a humble home on the hill-side, in a rugged country skirting the Des Moines River. Her father had died years ago in the service of the great railway company whose line for some distance is overlooked by her home, while her mother, by economy, severe toil, and the assistance of Kate, was able to support her little family.

On the night of July 6, 1881, about 8 o'clock, there commenced one of the most memorable storms that ever visited Central Iowa; nothing like it had ever been witnessed by the oldest inhabitants. The Des Moines river rose over six feet in one hour—little rills that were dry almost the year round, suddenly developed into miniature rivers—massive railway bridges and lines of track were swept away as if they had been cobwebs. It was while looking out of her window toward the high railroad bridge over Honey Creek, that Kate Shelley saw the advancing head-light of a locomotive descend into an abyss and become extinguished, carrying with it the light of two lives. It was then she realized in all its force that a terrible catastrophe had occurred, and another more terrible, if not averted, would soon follow to the east-bound express train, heavily laden with passengers from the Pacific. She announced to her mother, sisters and brother, that she must go to the scene of the accident, and render assistance if possible, and also warn the oncoming passenger train.

It was in vain they tried to dissuade her. Although she was obliged to almost improvise a lantern in many of its parts, it was but a few minutes before she was ready to set out. Realizing then that her mission was one of peril, and that she might not