The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-05-19 00:00:00

STEWPONEY BECHER CLUB.

The annual mee.kg of this soAety was held at
the Foley Arms Hotel, Stewponey, on Tuesday last-,
and the weather being gloriously fine scveral
thousands visited the grounds where almost every
round of amusement was provided for their recrea
Previo,ts to the meeting the members,
lit:atied by the Brierley Hill Rifle Corps Band
marched to Kinvf r church where a sermon was
pre iched by the Rev. Arthur Phill'more, curate of
Euville, who took for his text the XII chapter of
Er, dus. 26thilverse, "And it smafl come to pas
when your children say unto you what mean yea
by this service." The members who attended
ate walds ir.arcbed back to the Stewponey, and the
annual bu•iness was transacted on the Green.

Mr, W. P,rry read the minutes of the last annual
rneting which were ca:ried.
Mr. John Taylor, (secretary to the society,) read
the Allowing report:—
Forty-first report of the Stewponey Becher Club,
1882

During the past year seventeen Male Members
and one Female Member have entered the Club.
One Male Member has been erased for non-payment.
Four deaths have occurred.

The ;lumber .of Benefit Members in the Club ;s
now 306 witnely-268 Males and 38 Fetnales,
which with 34 Honorary Members; makes a general
tita.l of 340.

Among the Benefit Members eighteen have re-
ceived Sick Pay. The Payments for Sickness
amounted to £49 4s. Od., and the money received
from the Membeis on this account has been
.2153 18s. Bd. The Balance in hand on the Sick
Fund amounts to £1694 Gs. 9d.
The Balance in hand on account of tie Burial
Fund is £836 is.
Seventeen Members have received from the
Annuity Fund £137 Os. Od. ; the Balance in hand
on that Fund amounk to 3552 17s. Old.
Ile expenses of tIM Auxiliary Fund have been
£6435. 7d., leaving a Balance due to the Clerk of
£6B 12.5. 91d.
The Balance in hand on the Bcnefit Fund Ac—
count is .28708 14s. '7ld.
The interest last year amounted to .2282 4s. 2d.,
and the total Balance on the Interest Account from
the commencement of the Club is now
£2 25 9s. lid.
An examination of the Assets and Liabilities of
the Club has been made, and the Trustees have
much pleasure in referring to the Actuary's Report,
and recommended that the sum of £609 or there-
abouts should be divided amongst those Members
who have contrit-nted to the Skil Fund, but during
the last five years have received no Sick Allowance.
(Signed), LYTTE LT ON,
R. P.;TURN ER, Trustets.
"WILLIAM IL KING

Miry 7th, 1883.
[Report (Copy) Referred to].
The London Ass irance Corporation,
No 7, Royal Exchange, London, E.C.,
Life Department,
20th April 1883.
To the Committee of Management of the S:ew-
poney Becher Club.
Gentlemen: Ihave examined Mr. Taylor's valua.
tien of the liabilities and assets of the Club on the
31st December last,and have made some correc-
tions therein. The valuation has. been made in the
same manner as on former occasions, and the re-
sult shows an apparent surplus of £2096. But as
no provision for rases of chronic sickness is made
by t• e table upon which the calculations have been
made, I think that a further allowance of £632
should be made foe this liability, thereby reduclng
the surplus to £1454, of which a sum not exceeding
ooe half, or £732 may by rule 37 be divided. lam
informed that the stuxiliary Fund is not sufficient
to defray the expenses of the Club. I think there-
fore that it would be propsr to appropriate out of
the surplus £lOO to the Auxiliary Fund, and to
divide £632 among those of the Members who have.
not received any Sick Pay during the last five
years, and I think that such a division may safely
be made.
I am, Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
(Signed) A. H. BAILEY,
Actuary.
The supplementary report showed there ware
now 343 members, and the funds had reached
£8,749 23. 6d.
, Mr. W. H. Foley moved the adoption of the re-
port, and that, subject to a final au lit of the
accounts, the trustees be authorised to pay the
bonuses to the amount of £595 3s. Mr. Foley
, congratulated the members on the very satisfactory
state of the club.
Mr. C. P. Noel seconded the motion, atd it was
carried. -
On the motion of Mr. G. Ilipwood £25 was
, ordered to be paid to the srcretary (Ur. Taylor) for
his work in the valuation of the society, £5 each to
the actuary and auditor, an I £lOO be carried to
the auxiliary fund account. The officers for the
, year were afterwards appointed.
The chairman afterwards distributed prizes to
the members of the Stewponey Allotment Society.
The dinner took place in a mar quee, and Lord
Lyttelton presided, supported by Messrs. H. W.
Foley, C. P. Noel, P. Foley, W. H, King, J. Jordan
Revds. A. Phillimore, W. S. Ileale, and J. J. Slade.
The Chairman proposed the health of "The
Queen and members of the Royal Family," and Mr.
W. 11. Foley the toast of "The Bishops and Clergy
of the Dioceses of Lichfield and Worcester.'
coupled with the name of the Rev. A, Philimore,
the preacher of the day.
Mr. Philimore, in replying, said some hard things
were said now-B,days about the clergy and the
Church, but he thought the Church of England and
the connection between Church and State were too
firmly founded to suffrr from what was said. He
dare say some of them might have had their atten-
tion drawn to some remarks which Mr. Bright had
made recently, but he thought there was more bark
than bite in what he said, and as he got on in years
his b Irk would be less loud, unless he Lad such an
ace ss of intelligence that he was seen walking
Wooly with a primrose in his coat. Mr. Philtimore
followed up these remarks with some lines from
Gammer Girton, which he seemed to think applied
to Mr. Bright.
Mr. C. P. Noel proposed "Success to the Becher
Club." He fearlessly said there was no other club
in England which could boast of having so large a
balance at its bankers as this club, and the state-
ment put before them that day showed it was in a
most satisfao'ory condition Mr. Noel referred
with regret to the absence of the Rev. R. P. Turner
who hal for so long taken the liveliest interest in
the club, lont was now confined to his bed room
by isifirmity, and he then gave the toast coupled
with the name of Lord Lyttelton, the president,
and Mr Foley.
Lord Lyttelton, in re,idy, al,O made a reference
to M. Turner, and sni tte believei his constant
attention to the all .iss of the club was one of the
causes that it was regarded with such confidence in
the distrist. They found from the Registrar.
Gene al's report that benefit societies were making
steady progress throughout the kingdom, and the
number of members belonging to solv-nt societies
was steadily increasing. The history of their own
club had been one of steady progress, and .it was
very satisfactory to find they had now reached the
figures they had, The fact that they had only
erased one member for non-payment, and that they
had increased their total number of members was,
he hoped, some proof that trade and business in the
district was lookirg up. In the bad timea they
had erased as many as twenty members in a year
for non—payment. Ile was glad to see that the
actuary advised the division of £6OO in bonus
among the members who had not received sick pay.
Some members he heard expected more, but it was
well to be on the safe side in Such matters, and be
thought they Is °tilt' agree that £6OO was a very
satisfsctory sum to divide. Referring to the Allot-
ment Society, Lord Lyttellon said he regretted to
state that the trustees had found it impossible to
make themselves any longer responsible for the
rents They did not take this step without grave
con, ideration, and they had carried it on as long as
they could with anything like safety themselves.
They expected they should be heavy losers when
the society was wound up, and they bad determined
to relieve themselves from further responsibility.
The winding up of the society did not mean that
the allotments would be given up. Mr. Foley, Mr.
Noel, and himself, and he believed he might speak
for some at least of the other landowners, would
be willing to let the allotments as before to those
tenants who paid their rents, hut the sociwy itself
would be wound up. He did not think it necessary
to apelogi-o for doing this, and the circuarscence
were different as to cottagers obtaining gardens to
what they word years ago when the society wrist
start d. At that time few cottagers had gardens,
but now a different condition of things obtained.
Mr. 11, W. Foley also responded to the teast, and
referring to the Allotment Society, said the present
arrears of rent were £352. They had to add to
that £2O for bad debts this year, and they had
betore written off £126 as a bad debt. That came
to about £500., and supposing the whole of the
tenauts, of whom there were several hundred, pb.id
all their rent,sit only came to £460. The trustees
had been long suffering, but this was a state of
things which could not be endured. •
Votes of thanks to Mr. J. Taylor and the chair-
man closed the proceedings.

Tonga (s'lnvalnsh!e in facial Neunlgia,"—lL,Vert
Prcss), is now 'educed in prlco to 2s 9,1. Of all i:heamiits

]i A. DE LIGIITFU L FLAVOUR. Cr ACROFfrt ARECA-N UT
Toon! PA-1 I, —By using this delicious Aromatic Deroi-
. fri.:e, the eLeuiel o the teeth becomes cshite, sound, and
5: olished like ivory. It is exceedingly fragrant, and
up:daily useful for removing incrustations of tartaraon
neglected teeth. Sold by all Chemists. Pots, is and
3d each. (Get Cracroft's.)