The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-06-07
THEY Lose BUT LITTLE.
So Say the Officers Of the
Mutual Benefit So-
CietieS.
NOT MANY WERE In JOHNsTOWN.
They Intend to Help Take Care Of
the Survivors and Bury the
Dead.

UedQ,
The mutual benefit secret societies ara
spread all over the country, and are 90
concentrated at some points as to include
almost every one of the population. This
does not seem to have been the case In the
flooded regions of Pennsylvania. The
order having the greatest number Of
members there was the Order of Foresters,
and Foresters here think that the order
cannot have lost much money there.
All the benevolent orders seem to have
come through the calamity pretty nearly
unscathed, to judge from the interviews
with their head officers which were OBJ
tanned yesterday
Past supreme Protector, and at present
Grand Protector, Oscar Wiener, of the
knights and Ladies of Honor, said:--
We had only one or two lodges in the
Conemaugh Valley. The loss Of life by
the recent flood will not seriously affect
our treasury. Should every member of
our order in that section have perished,
the loss.
Supreme Vice Protector L. Luckard is
a resident of Pennsylvania. have issued
this circular to the officers and members
OF the subordinate lodges of our order in
the state, and money is coming in rapidly.
IT, VIII go toward the relief Of the sur
vivors."
ASKING AID FOR NoN-MEMBERs.
The circular is as follows:-
DEAR Brothers AND SrsrERs:-A distress call
from the suffering in Johnstown, Pa, has come
to our ears Immediate help is needed to gather
and bury the dead, and to relieve the destitution
of the living. The response to this call should
certainly be worthy of the good name of the
viii you not help them? l know you will the
gives twice who gives quickly. All contributions
made may be forwarded 70 me, and will be duly
acknowledged.
Judge Otto, of Newark, Supreme Com
mander of the Fraternal Legion, said
yesterday morning.
"We have camps scattered throughout
Pennsylvania and no doubt the Cone
maugh disaster will affect our treasury,
as it will all other insurance organiza-
tions. We have as yet received no infor-
nation of how much it will affect u.s.
We are prepared to meet our losses, how
ever, though we may be obliged to issue
several additional assessments y
Supreme Treasurer John M. Gwinnell,
OF the American Legion of Honor, said
1--WE have no councils in the flooded
vicinity and, consequently, the only way
in which the disaster can possibly affect
us is through the incidental appearance
VI I1dNCAlOAo III Dllttb ccCllOA WIO were
members OF the Legion Of Honor. We
carry a reserve fund of 100000. and
would not be Obliged to call for extra as
sessments unless our death roll should be
extraordinarily large, which is not at all
likely
KNIGHTS OF HONOR.
Past Grand Dictator J. Purcell Baker,
of the Knights of Honor, said:--
"Johnstown Lodge No. l37 was one Of
our oldest lodges. have communicated
with parties in that section, but have re-
cefyed no definite information as TO the
extent to which our treasury will be
affected. We have several large lodges In
the flooded section, but we are prepared
to pay off every certified claim within
thirty days after presentation. The gen
eral fund of our order is some $27 600,
which has no connection whatever with
our Widows and Orphans Fund. Over
81 800 were saved from the Ohio Flood
Fund. The newly elected Supreme Die
tator, Judge A. r. Savage, Mayor OF
Auburn, Me-, has taken hold of the
matter and will see that all the assistance
necessary is rendered to survivors who
belong to our order.
Enquiries made at the Pennsylvania
depot as to what extent the Employees
Relief Fund WIS affected by the Johns
town disaster resulted in no definite in
formation Mr. Samuel Hathaway, of
the superintendent's Office, said that he
knew no more about it than the laborers
employed on the docks. As a railroad
man he could make no estimate of the
number of men employed in that section.
THE FoREsTERs.
The Order of Foresters was well estab-
lished in the submerged districts. There
were Court l. X. L. at JohnstoWn, Court
Lone Star at South Fork, Court Cambria
at Johnstown, and Court Morre1 at Nor
rellville. The records at hand do not
show what the membership of these
courts was.
None of the chief officers of the order in
this country lives in the State; but Mr..
James L. O'Mealia of Court Jersey City,
who is well posted on matters affecting
the order, says that there is no likelihood
of the endowment fund of the order being
crippled, or even embarrassed, by the loss
of life.
1.-THE highest insurance permitted in
the ORDER he said, sis s., ,000 and it is
not likely that any considerable proper
tion of the members of the order in the
drowned district were members of the
endowment fund. In my court, for in
stance, out of 500 members, only two be-
long to the endowment fund There are
SO 900 members in the order, and only
2,377 risks taken according to the last
quarterly report; so that 1t is not likely
that the losses of the order in the sub
merged district are large"