USA > Ohio > The biographical annals of Ohio, 1906-1907-1908. A handbook of the government and institutions of the state of Ohio. > Part 36
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
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FIRST DISTRICT
Composed of Hamilton County.
ARTHUR ESPY, Cincinnati.
BORN in Cincinnati, 1869. Lived there all his life. Graduated at Yale College, 1890, and at the Cincinnati Law School, 1892. Elected State Senator, 1905, which is his first public office. Member of several important committees, one of which was the Drake Investigating Committee appointed to investigate affairs in the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Has wife and two sons.
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FIRST DISTRICT
Composed of Hamilton County.
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EDWARD A. HAFNER, Cincinnati.
B ORN a Buckeye, April 9, 1872. Raised a Buckeye and Jayhawker. Expects to die a Buckeye. Practices law. Elected to the Senate 1905. Has no further political aspirations. Chairman. Senate Finance Committee. Member State Emergency Board.
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FIRST DISTRICT
Composed of Hamilton County.
JOHN W. HARPER, Cincinnati.
T HE senior Senator from Hamilton County was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, February 11, 1830, educated in private schools and came to Cincinnati in 1852. For thirty-four years he was a wholesale clothier; since 1886 he has been engaged chiefly in fire insurance. He was on the Council and School Board of Avondale, the largest village in Ohio, since incorporated in Cincinnati. He was aid-de-camp on Gov. Hoadley's staff with rank of Colonel and rendered faithful service in the memorable Cincinnati riot, receiving special praise from the Governor. He was appointed by Gov. Foraker a trustee of the Central Insane Asylum at Columbus, and re-appointed by Gov. Campbell; was on the Board of Supervisors, Cincinnati, two years, appointed without his knowledge by Mayor Mosby, a Republican; was one of the Decennial Board of Equaliza- tion, 1890; represented the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce several times in the National Board of Trade, Washington, D. C .; and was a projector of the Dramatic Festival of 1883-84. Senator Harper's grandfather was a private in the Maryland Line and was with Washington at Valley Forge. He was president of Ohio Society Sons of American Revolution. He is a Democrat, and as Chairman of Insurance and member of several important committees has rendered efficient service. He is genial of address and his reputation for probity and honor is unquestioned. He is liberal in his religious belief, being a Unitarian. His wife, whom he married in 1860, was Miss Jennie Ellis, of Lafayette, Indiana; they have three children and eight grandchildren.
He has taken a prominent part in the affairs of Hamilton County and was one of the earliest and warmest advocates of the Cincinnati & Southern Rail- road and supported it from the first inception.
Mr. Harper introduced and secured the passage of the bill providing a home for deformed and crippled children, and also their treatment and school- ing. As a philanthropist and humanitarian Mr. Harper has always been active in promoting the welfare of his fellowmen.
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FIRST DISTRICT Composed of Hamilton County.
THOMAS HUNT, Cincinnati.
THOMAS HUNT is a native of Belmont County, Ohio. His father was Samuel P. Hunt, who studied medicine with Dr. Hoover in Barnesville, and who after he had finished his studies removed with his family to Cambridge, Guernsey County, when his son Thomas was two years of age. Here the family remained until the boy was nine years old, when Dr. Hunt removed again to Morrow, Warren County.
Thomas Hunt attended the academy of Robert Way, near that place, and was later sent to St. Xavier's College at Cincinnati. Soon after returning home he learned the telegraphic art and was given charge of the office at Morrow along with that of the agency of the Little Miami Railroad at that place, which he held for twelve years, resigning then to take charge of a flour mill which he bought at Sterling, Illinois. Five years were spent there, making and ship- ping flour to the Chicago market, when he sold the business and was offered the agency of the L. C. & L. R. R. at Lexington, Ky. After two years was transferred to Danville, Ky., and after four years there resigned on account of ill health and after a few months' rest accepted a position in the office of his brother who was superintendent of a division of the East Tenn., Va. & Ga. R. R., with headquarters at Atlanta, Ga. After two years' service there the brothers went to Winfield, Kansas, where the younger brother, Samuel, was given charge of the construction of a branch of the Mo. Pacific R. R. After the same was finished he was made superintendent, with his brother Thomas as assistant in his office. After three years Thomas followed his brother to Ohio and was elected secretary and treasurer of the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Va. R. R. Co., which he held until the sale of that road to the Norfolk & Western R. R., and then returned to work for his health and to study the science of political economy.
He was elected to the Ohio Senate in 1905 on the Democratic ticket. He had been a Republican in the days of Abraham Lincoln, but could not stand for that dreadful system of taxation called the tariff, which later became one of the tenets of the Republican party.
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SECOND-FOURTH DISTRICT.
Composed of the counties of Butler, Warren, Clermont and Brown.
ISAAC E. HUFFMAN, Oxford.
ISAAC E. HUFFMAN, Democrat, of Butler County, Ohio, Senator from 2d-4th District, who also served in the 75th and 76th General Assemblies. He served on the following committees in the Senate: Privileges and Elec- tions, Claims, Colleges and Universities, Military Affairs, Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home, Mines and Mining, and Chairman Public Works. Amended the election laws so as to take power of Secretary of State away in filling vacancies in boards of supervisors of elections, and in case of contesting com- mittees the State Central Committee settles the disputes and determines the lawful committee to be recognized. Made strong fight for primary election law; succeeded in passing his bill twice in the Senate, but it met its fate in the House.
Mr. Huffman graduated from Ohio Normal University, Lebanon, Ohio, 1890; taught school until 1898, when he entered the Cincinnati School of Law, which profession he now practices. He is an enthusiastic lodge man, being a' Mason, K. of P., Odd Fellow and Elk.
Mr. Huffman has made himself thoroughly familiar with legislative prac- tice and parliamentary rules, which materially adds to his usefulness as a legislator.
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THIRD DISTRICT
Composed of the counties of Montgomery and Preble.
WILLIAM H. MECK, Dayton.
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PROF. MECK HIGHLY HONORED BY SCHOOL COMMISSIONER BONEBRAKE. 1 Efficient High School Instructor Now a Member of the State Board of School Examiners.
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M R. WILLIAM H. MECK, of the Steele High School, was appointed today by State School Commissioner Bonebrake, a member of the State Board of School Examiners, to succeed Superintendent Sharkey of Eaton, for a term of five years.
The intelligence will be received by his many friends here and elsewhere with genuine gratification, and they will undoubtedly give him their heartiest felicitations on this deserved compliment to his worth.
Mr. Meck's career is worthy of note. In his boyhood, as in his manhood, he realized that labor was the only talisman of success. When a mere lad he taught in the rural schools of Crawford County for four years. Immediately after he was elected to the principalship of the Wapakoneta High School which position he held for three years. He closed his school relations there not without many evidences of regret and affectionate regard on the part of pupils and friends, to attend the Ohio Normal University, graduating in 1888. Subsequently, for two years he held the principalship of the Kent High School, relinquishing it to enter the Ohio Wesleyan University. While pursuing his studies there he was employed as a tutor in mathematics. He graduated in 1894 in the classical course with high honors, they being given on the basis of scholarship. When he left the threshold of his alma mater, Dr. Bashford, the president, said: "Upon the whole I do not think that we have sent out for some years, a man better suited for the principalship of a high school, or the superintendency of schools than is Mr. Meck."
When called to the Dayton High School he was principal- of the Sidney High School, the Board of Education there accepting his resignation with much reluctance, and only in consequence of his receiving an advanced sal- ary to what they were able to pay. For the past three years he has been one of the most popular and efficient instructors in the Steele High School. Colonel W. J. White, late superintendent of instruction, pays him this tribute: "His work with us has been uniformly successful and eminently satisfactory, and he has shown those qualities of mind and heart which endear him to his pupils and render his work a pleasure as well as a profit to those under his instruction and to those in authority over him. His reputation as a disciplinarian is unexcelled, and in all lines of school work he shows great strength."
Miami University, famed for its eminent alumni and high scholarship, con- ferred on him last June the degree of Master of Arts, in view of his pro- fessional attainments and services. He was further honored at Put-in-Bay in July by being unanimously elected president of the high school section of the State Teachers' Association.
As a teacher Mr. Meck has been eminently successful. He pursues the work of teaching with his whole heart. He possesses in a rare degree the gift of knowing how to impart knowledge to youthful minds. In the class room he lays aside all perfunctory austerities and puts every pupil in his presence at confiding ease. His manners are attractive, blending the urbanity of the gentleman with the cordiality of a friend.
Mr. Meck is the first High School teacher appointed to the State Board of School Examiners-a fitting recognition of the High Schools of the state .- Dayton (Ohio) Daily Press, August 31, 1898.
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PROF. MECK.
Reappointed on the State Board of Examiners.
First to succeed himself since the enactment of Five-Year Law.
Selection regarded as a high tribute to his conscientious efforts as well as the personal worth of Mr. Meck as an instructor.
The reappointment of Prof. William H. Meck, of the Steele High School, Dayton, to succeed himself for another term of five years on the State Board of Examiners, comes as a high tribute to the conscientious and efficient efforts as well as to the personal worth of Mr. Meck in his official capacity.
Mr. Meck is a typical Buckeye-born, reared and educated in Ohio. He embodies besides the highest intellectual and moral traits and qualities, that honest aggressiveness long since identified with her sons; his prominent con- nection with her representative schools of the state has kept him in close touch with its system of education, enabling him to conserve the best inter- ests of pupils, teachers, officers and patrons.
His advancement in his professional career is but natural and legitimate when his broad preparation by education, training and experience is consid- ered. Naturally of scholarly instincts, he early took advantage of the best facilities, and in 1888 was graduated from the Ohio Normal University; later entering the Ohio Wesleyan University, he graduated from that splendid old institution in 1894, with high honors and the degree of Bachelor of Arts .. Con- tinuing his scholastic pursuits, Mr. Meck has won recognition from the Miami University, which in 1898 conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts. In addition he holds High School life certificates from Ohio and Michigan. He has frequently been called upon to address teachers' associations and to lec- ture before institutes. In 1898 he was chosen president of the High School section of the Ohio State Teachers' Association.
Mr. Meck combines in a marked degree the attainments of a scholar and the rare qualities of a true teacher; his eight years' work in the Steele High School is of itself an enviable record, and a fitting testimonial of his superior qualifications as an instructor. He is also fortunate in an intimate knowledge of men and affairs, and his genial social qualities are evidenced by his wide acquaintance with the leading men in the educational and business world. Mr. Meck is prominent in fraternal circles, being a 32d degree Mason.
His reappointment for another term of five years is the first instance of the kind since the five-year law went into effect fifteen years ago. He is the only High School man ever accorded the honor of a place on the State Board of Examiners, which is a gracious compliment to his broad culture, a test of the rare good judgment on the part of State School Commissioner Bonebrake, and a matter of sincere congratulation to the patrons of the schools of Ohio .- Dayton Journal, August 31, 1903.
Admitted to the bar December, 1904. Elected to the State Senate Novem- ber, 1905 (3d District, Montgomery and Preble Counties). Married Thanksgiv- ing day, 1905.
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FIFTH-SIXTH DISTRICT
Composed of the counties of Greene, Clinton, Fayette, Highland and Ross.
F. C. ARBENZ, Chillicothe.
F RED C. ARBENZ is of German parentage, was born in Wheeling, W. Va.,
May 3, 1856, After receiving what education was attainable in the com- mon schools of Wheeling he went to work in his father's factory and store, where he acquired a thorough business education. Concluding to study law he attended the law school at Ann Arbor, Mich., from which he graduated, and was admitted to the bar in 1879. He practiced law for several years, but having become interested in manufacturing enterprises he gradually withdrew from the practice and for some years has given his entire attention to his busi- ness interests now located mainly in Chillicothe, Ohio, where he has made his home since 1889.
He has been a member of the Chillicothe Board of Trade ever since coming to that city, and has in turn served as Director, Vice President and President of that organization.
As a Republican, who had worked in the ranks for years, he was in 1897 elected to represent Ross County in the House of the 73d General Assembly, and in 1905 he was elected to represent the 5th-6th Districts in the State Senate.
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SEVENTH DISTRICT.
Composed of the counties of Scioto, Adams, Pike and Jackson.
GORDON F. LAUMAN, Lucasville.
G ORDON F. LAUMAN, Republican, from the Seventh District, was born in Fleming County, Kentucky, November 17, 1840; moved to Aberdeen, Brown County, Ohio, in about 1845; lived in Chillicothe in 1846, in Wav- erly in 1847. In 1850 worked for James Emmitt for three years at milling and distilling. Worked in the store of Emmitt, Myers & Co., and continued in their employ until the war broke out. Enlisted on the 17th of April, 1861, in Company G, 1st O. V. I., from Portsmouth, Ohio; was wounded on the 17th of June at Vienna, Virginia; was discharged at E Street Hospital, Wash- ington, D. C., at the expiration of three months. Mr. Lauman was in the merchandise business since 1872, and at the same time interested in farming. He was married twice, being married first to Miss Mary L. Watkins, October 6, 1864, who died October 22, 1892. Was married to Mary E. Dever, Novem- ber 28, 1895. He has held several township offices.
Mr. Lauman was elected to the 76th and re-elected to the 77th General Assemblies. He is conservative in his views, and seldom gives his approval to any measure that he is not absolutely sure is for the best interests of all concerned.
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EIGHTH DISTRICT
Composed of the counties of Lawrence, Gallia, Meigs and Vinton.
MILTON E. RATHBURN, Rutland.
M ILTON E. RATHBURN, member of the Senate from Meigs county, was born at Rutland, Ohio, December 1st, 1861. After finishing his educa- tion he engaged in mercantile business at Rutland under the firm name of J. N. Rathburn & Sons. The business rapidly grew until at the present time he is one of the proprietors of two of the largest department stores of southern Ohio, located at Rutland and Middleport.
From boyhood he took a lively interest in politics, and although solicited many times by his friends to become a candidate for office he refused until 1905, when he was elected to represent the Eighth Senatorial District in the General Assembly. He is a staunch Republican, and has served as chairman of the Meigs County Republican Executive Committee. In the spring of 1904 Governor Herrick appointed him trustee of the Athens State Hospital.
He was married October 30th, 1902, to Miss Bertha E. Bean. Mr. Rath- burn's extensive business experience makes him a practical legislator, which combined with his social qualities make him one of the prominent mem- bers of the Senate.
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NINTH-FOURTEENTH DISTRICTS
Composed of the counties of Athens, Hocking, Fairfield, Morgan, Washing- ton, parts of Monroe and Noble.
ISAIAH R. ROSE, Marietta.
I SAIAH R. ROSE was born in Belmont County in 1844. He came to Wash- ington County in 1851. He enlisted in the army, and served almost four years in the war of the Rebellion as a private soldier. For seven months he was a prisoner in Andersonville prison. In 1884 he was elected sheriff of Washington County, and re-elected in 1886. He was one of the Presidential Electors from the Fifteenth Congressional District, and voted in the Electoral College for Benj. Harrison. He was appointed as one of the Board of Managers of the Ohio Penitentiary by Governor Asa S. Bushnell and served as such four years. In 1905 he was elected Senator, along with his colleague, Joseph S. Sites, from the Ninth-Fourteenth District. Mr. Rose took an active part and did effective work in shaping the legislation of the 77th General Assembly. He was a member of the following Committees: Commercial Corporations, Military Affairs, Mines and Mining, Prison and Prison Reforms, Public Works, Roads and Highways. He introduced the much discussed County Local Option Bill and earnestly advocated its passage.
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NINTH-FOURTEENTH DISTRICTS Composed of the counties of Athens, Hocking, Fairfield, Morgan, Washington, parts of Monroe and Noble.
JOSEPH SWARTZ SITES, Lancaster.
J
OSEPH SWARTZ SITES, a resident of the city of Lancaster, Fairfield
County, is of German descent, and is a native of said county. He was reared on a farm, attending the common schools in his youth. He received his preparatory course of schooling in the Pleasant Township Seminary and the Fairfield Union Academy, afterwards entering the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity at Delaware, from which institution he graduated in 1872. During his early career he was a successful teacher in the common schools, serving two years as superintendent of the public schools of Dresden, Ohio.
Mr. Sites studied law under the tutorage of Daugherty and Hunter of Lan- caster, Ohio, was admitted to the bar in 1874, and has been in the active and successful practice of his profession ever since.
Mr. Sites served eight consecutive years as member of the City Council of his native city, a part of the time being president of that body. He also was elected two successive terms as member of the City Board of Education and acted as a city school examiner. He has been for a number of years actively engaged in the management of the Lancaster Assembly and Camp Meeting Association, and a number of other business enterprises.
In 1905 Mr. Sites was nominated and elected to the office of State Senator, representing the 9-14th Senatorial District in the 77th General Assembly of Ohio. In the matter of legislation Mr. Sites was conservative. His ability as a lawyer being recognized by his colleagues, his counsel was heeded in the framing and enactment of many important bills. He was a hard worker, giving most of his time to the duties of his office. He made himself familiar with the merits of every bill before his vote was cast for'or against it.
Politically, Mr. Sites is and always has been a staunch Republican, serving in different capacities in the organizations of, and has always stood high in the councils of his party.
In 1874 he was married to Miss Anna Pence, and they are the parents of five children, all of whom are living.
24-B. A.
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TENTH DISTRICT
Composed of the counties of Franklin and Pickaway.
ULYSSES S. BRANDT, Canal Winchester.
U LYSSES S. BRANDT was born August 3, 1869, upon a farm in Fairfield County, Ohio. He attended the rural schools and completed the courses of study in the public schools of Lithopolis and the academy at Pleas- antville, Ohio; taught in the district schools for four years; graduated in classical course from Ohio State University in 1895; was for four years super- intendent of the Canal Winchester public schools; taught in East High School of Columbus for five years; studied law in Ohio State University and the University of Michigan; admitted to the bar in 1901, and is now engaged in the practice of law at Columbus. He was married July 29, 1902, to Miss Josephine Chaney, of Canal Winchester, who, with their infant son, died April 13, 1904.
Mr. Brandt had never held public office until his election in 1905, to the Ohio Senate, from the Tenth District consisting of Franklin and Pickaway Counties.
In politics a Republican. In the Senate an earnest, hard working legis- lator. His home is at Canal Winchester, Ohio. Law offices, 1671/2 South High street, Columbus.
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TENTH DISTRICT
Composed of the counties of Franklin and Pickaway.
BENJAMIN F. GAYMAN, Canal Winchester.
B ENJAMIN F. GAYMAN was born at Canal Winchester, Ohio, March 6th,
1858, and has resided there all his life. His paternal ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Pennsylvania, while those on his mother's side were pioneers of Maryland. The Gayman family, consisting of mother, seven sons and one daughter, came to Ohio in 1843, and settled at Canal Winchester.
Upon completing his High School work in 1875, Mr. Gayman entered the office of the Canal Winchester Times as an apprentice, serving three years, and continuing his studies under private instruction. On reaching his ma- jority he purchased a half interest in The Times, which he still owns jointly with his brother.
He has served as a member of the Council of Canal Winchester. and was four times elected mayor, without opposition. In 1891, 1895 and 1897 he was elected to represent Franklin County in the General Assembly. In 1905 he was elected to represent the Tenth Senatorial District, being the only Dem- ocrat elected from Franklin County to the 77th General Assembly.
In 1881 Mr. Gayman was married to Miss Sallie C. Miller, daughter of a Canal Winchester business man. Three children were born to them, but each time the home was saddened, all of the children dying in infancy.
He is a charter member of the Masonic and Knights of Pythias lodges of Canal Winchester, and has represented both orders in the Grand Lodges.
In the make up of the Senate Committees Mr. Gayman was made chair- man of the Taxation Committee, a very important and most difficult place to fill, and one which requires much time and study. Mr. Gayman's experience as a newspaper man has made him a close observer and student of public affairs.
In politics a Democrat. In the Senate a legislator who seeks to do that which is best.
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ELEVENTH DISTRICT
Composed of the counties of Clark, Champaign and Madison.
5.
ORAN F. HYPES, Springfield.
C RAN F. HYPES, Senator Eleventh District, was born in Xenia, Ohio, De- cember 18, 1862. Graduated at Xenia High School, 1879; began busi- ness life at Xenia; removed to Springfield in 1883; continuously en- gaged as a hat merchant; actively identified with Springfield's business in- terests; is charter member of Commercial Club. Always an active Repub- lican; elected to the 75th General Assembly as Representative from Clark County. Chosen member of Select Committee, Extraordinary Session, fram- ing the Municipal Code. Elected State Senator 76th General Assembly. Served as chairman Committee on Privileges and Elections in revision of election laws of the State; also a member of Finance, Insurance, Roads and Highways, Banks and Banking and other committees. Re-elected to the Senate of the 77th General Assembly, receiving the unanimous vote of the Republican Sen- ators for president pro tem. of that body.
Mr. Hypes is a Mason, Past Master of Anthony Lodge, No. 455, F. and A. M. Past Eminent Commander of Palestine Commandery, No. 33, Knights Templar. Married Jessie B. Johnson in 1889. They have two children, Dorothy and Douglas.
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TWELFTH DISTRICT
Composed of the counties of Miami, Darke and Shelby.
J. EDWARD RUSSELL, Sidney.
S ENATOR RUSSELL, Republican, was born near Sidney, Shelby County, August 9th, 1867. Graduated from Sidney High School. Taught school one year, and later entered the law office of the late Congressman G. A. Marshall; was admitted to the bar October, 1893. Served two terms as city solicitor; is a member of the Board of Education.
He is prominently connected with public affairs; is Secretary of the Shelby County Agricultural Society. Is a member of the Sidney Commercial Club. In fraternal circles he occupies a high place, being a Knight Templar, a Past Chancellor of Supreme Lodge, No. 50, K. of P., as well as holding member- ship in the Elks and Red Men.
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