The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-02-24
THE OHIO CHANGERS.

FIRST ANNUAL EETIN OF THE STATE
GRANGE AT xENIA-sN GRANG-
Frs IN THE STATE AND NEARLY ALL REP
RESENTED.
On Tuesday the state grange of Ohio as
sembled at Xenia for the first annual ses-
sion. The Cincinnati Gazette gives an in
teresting report of the proceedings: ssThe
state grange is composed of one hundred
from each subordinate grange in Ohio, so
that the attendance each year indicates pref
ty nearly the growth of the order. Last
year the meeting, which was the first, was
held at Lebanon. Thirtv-seven oranges, al
that were then in existence in Ohio. were
represented. This year the delegates num-
Der about six hundred Indicating that the
order has increased at the rate of nearly ff-
teen hundred per cent. during the wear.
The master of each subordinate grange and
his wife Gf she is a matron) are ex-oficio
members of the state oranges, all
members OF the order are admitted
as visitors to the meetings, but
only Masters in the fourth degree are en-
titled to vote. The proceedings are entirely
secret, and the report, before publication, is
slfted through the executive committee.
object of these yearly conventions is
to perfect the organization of the order, and
take into consideration matters of common
interest. The grange assembled at 10
O'Clock in city hall, the largest audience
room in town, and although many of the
delegates had not yet arrived, the hall was
filled, with probably a hundred members of
the order. There was quite a sprinklinr of
the opposite sex in the ~crowd-wives. sis
tiers, and daughters of the delegates. and
themselves also members, in the various de-
grees of maid" " sheperdess, ;" 80 cleaner"
and "matron."
Worthy Master Ellis in the chair. called
the meeting to order. No business of inn
portance was transacted in the morning ses-
sion. An attempt was made to call the roll.
but owing to the absence OF many dele
gates, who were expected, it was abandoned
apo the grange ADJOURNED until afternoon.
NO FAvoRs FROM RAILROADS.
The most interesting feature of the pro-
ceedings was a proposition to ask railroad
companies for half fare. One or two were
found to raise their voices in its favor, but
the project was voted down amid a storm of
applause. There is disposition to meet rail-
roads half way. 1t was voted to sustain that
part OF the constitution relating to proxies,
The annual reporto of Worthy Secretary Stew
art was then read, in which he reviewed the
history of the order since the organization
of the first grange in Ohio. 1t was decided
TO devote Tomorrow evening to a rehearsal
of the secrets of the fourth and fifth degrees.
A resolution was introduced to make the
paper known as the American Patron, pub
lished at Findlay, Ohio, the official organ of
the order in Ohio, but it was tabled by a
unanimous vote. Objection was not made
to the character of the sheet in question, but
1t seemed to be the prevailing opin-
ion that the grangers are not, at
present at least, suffering for an organ of
their own. 1t was voted to appoint a COM
mittee of three to draft plans FOR a system of
mutual insurance; also a committee on the
means of procuring reliable crop statistics
from all parts of the country. The COM
mitee on the Boston grange-a crowd of
politicians and Spectators who sneaked in
to the order in a re-
port which was the same as that of the ma
tional grange in st. Louis, last week, that
the order revoke the charter granted
through the negligence of a deputy, and
thus Top off the eXcrescence. The
constitution provides that no one shall
become a member who is not interested in
agricultural pursuits" and the latest con-
struction from headquarters is the effect that
these words mean a practical farmer. The
evening session was devoted to the initia-
ton of about five hundred members into
the fifth degree, only thirty in the state
having thus far received that degree. The
convention is one of the finest that ever as
sembled in the state. 1t is made up of the
most intelligent farmers OF nearly all the
counties, and characterized by harmony and
good feeling.