CHAPTER XIII.
REFORMS AND MOBS.
There was one bright woman among the many in our Seneca Falls literary circle to whom I would give more than a passing notice--Mrs.Amelia Bloomer, who represented three novel phases of woman's life.

She was assistant postmistress; an editor of a reform paper advocating temperance and woman's rights; and an advocate of the new costume which bore her name! In 1849 her husband was appointed postmaster, and she became his deputy, was duly sworn in, and, during the administration of Taylor and Fillmore, served in that capacity.

When she assumed her duties the improvement in the appearance and conduct of the office was generally acknowledged.

A neat little room adjoining the public office became a kind of ladies' exchange, where those coming from different parts of the town could meet to talk over the news of the day and read the papers and magazines that came to Mrs.Bloomer as editor of the _Lily_.

Those who enjoyed the brief reign of a woman in the post office can readily testify to the void felt by the ladies of the village when Mrs.
Bloomer's term expired and a man once more reigned in her stead.
However, she still edited the _Lily_, and her office remained a fashionable center for several years.