Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-10-30
WOODMEN SPARE NONE.
Get at the Root or Your Trouble and
Let it be "kiIkinnie" Instead OF Me-
kinnie, IL It should be.

Get at the Root OF Your Trouble and
Let it be "kiIkinnie" Instead Of Me-
kinnie, IL it should be.
The Moline Dispatch of last evening.
commenting at length on the McKinnie-
Root imbroglio in the Modern Woodmen
of America and McKinnie's sensational
accusations concerning Root after having
himself been deposed as head physician,
Gays:
The order began with one big flaw in
its laws. Besides regular subordin ste
camps over nine or ten states in the
northwest, a man could gain membership
in the order as a member of an imaginary
camp, No. 20. known as Independent
Camp" with headquarters at Fulton, and
all dues payable at the head offices
Finally one member of this camp died. as
well as a man can die who has never
lived. The imaginary mans dues had
been paid by somebody for eight or ten
months. He John Bernum) had died in
Texas. ana been buried in a certain Gem
etery in Ohio. The s., 900 insurance
money was paid to somebody. The
proofs of death have since been investi-
gated by McKinnie and others, and 1t is
found that all the signatures from both
Texas and Ohio are fraudulent. No such
men as the signers have ever lived In
any of the places named in either
state, and the oldest inhabitants had
never heard of John Bernum. either
of his life, death or burial, and affi1avits
have been obtained that there is no such
cemetery as the one he was alleged to
have been buried in, at or near the Ohio
town where his burial WAS certified to
have taken place. Clearly, Bernum was
wholly fictitious, and the payment Of his
SO, 900 death claim fraud on the order
DR.. Mckinnie simply sought to find out
who had thus defrauded the order, who
had been paid this SO 600. Strange to say
he met with opposition, and obstacles
were thrown in his way on every hand.
Even TO this day the men who paid out
the money have not moved toward ferret>
ing out the fraud. Head Consul Root
seems satisfied with the statement, that
he was swindled, aud paid out s. 900 to
a widow who came to him with properly
executed vouchers, approved by the man
himself who now seeks TO blacken the
reputation of the principal officer" II
the principal officer had turned in and
helped the head physician TO ferret out
the fraud and to recover. if possIbl e, the
SO, 600, the fight would have fallen
through.
1t would take columns to show how
the order now happens TO have an exec
utive council composed of men who were
not elected at the Des Moines convention
last November. because of some members
Withdrawing disguised. and others re-
signing and going their way with or
without explanation. Thus q council.
which has begun to be known in the or
der as the Root council, has been Sc
cured. This conncil. while not caring q
fig about the lost 80, 900. is very solicit
tous about certain large amount of
money which it alleges McKinnie has
overcharged for his services By the
way, too, the books were once examined
by q man named Morrison, and the doc
tors accounts were declared correct. The
same expert" was ordered little later
to do the same work again, and the Sec
ond time he discovered the alleged dis
crepsncy.
With its head officers neglectiug to in
vestigste an acknowledged fraud against
the order, and removing from Office the
man who has conducted the investigation
on his own account, the order would seem
compelled for Its own safety and good
name, TO take some decisive action.
About the only course left is to call q
special meeting of the head camp. We
understand that this action. though ex-
pensive. has been decided on by COM
mittee of safety recently organized. The
camps will be asked to vote on the guess
ton, and if one>third of them vote yea
the head camp will be convened under the
laws of the order.
There is certainly something very rot
ten some where in the councils OF the head
camp and the one thousand members of
the order in the cities of Rock Island.
Moline and Davenport and the adjacent
country will anxiously watch all proceed
ings that may reveal the guilt and place
1t where 1t belongs. Many dollar OF
hard earned money has gone into this
society. prompted solely by the noble pur-
pose OF creating fund for the benefit OF
widows and orphans in the event Of the
death of the members, and II one cent OF
this money has been misappropriated or
fraudulently expended some one must
suffer. and suffer dearly for 1t.
A Chicago paper of today devotes two
columns to the alleged fraud and McKin-
ME version. A meeting is to be held to.
morrow night at Cedar Camps hall. in
Davenport, at which J c. Root and
others will speak.