Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1891-10-03
The Shoe Fits Perfectly.

no " 10 NublIiDtttuy DCuhnODu anu
Hot Springs are making a desperate
effort TO shift the responsibility of the
partial failure of the Pythian encamp-
ment, to other shoulders than those OF
the members Of their respective K. p.
divisions. II don't go, however, and the
excuses quoted below from the Times,
Pioneer and Herald are Ill timed aud
insufficient The Times springs the fol-
lowing chestnut:
"Deadwood is not to blame fof dis.
agreements arising between members Uf
the society under whose auspices the
encamphent was held The Times is
informed through reliable source that
the trouble arose from the fact that a
$500 purse was hung up for base ball
game, and $40 as a prize for a drilling
contest between the knights. The ma
jointly Of the latter declined to participate
as X. Of P.'s in q base ball tournament
and hence staid at home"
Then comes the Pioneer and generous
ly offers to share the blame. 1t says:
"The first annual encampment was a
success socially with those who attend
ed, If it was not numerically. That con-
siderable feeling has been engendered
is regretted, but when all the facts are
made known the Deadwood knights are
no more responsible or censurable than
are those from other lodges. In the
first place the encampment should have
been held at Stlrgls and month earlier
The Deadwood bows, Individually, are
gentlemen, and would have attended
had they been situated to leave their
business, as they could have done last
month. There is no occasion for any
wholesale abuse of any lodge or any
town. 1t was simply one Of those un
fortunate affairs that could not be help.
ed"
The Minnekahta. Herald for Hot
Springs, pleads poverty and ignorance,
commenting as follows:
"The Custer City people feel sorely
grleved at our not having sent a large
delegation TO their encampment headed
by brass band and a base ball club.
III they would consider the fact that our
little city has been burdened all summer
by an expensive base ball club, equip
ping new band, and getting up the en-
tire Black Hills exhibit for the corn
palace, they would readily see that We
could not afford to hold, at an expense
of several hundred dollars per month,
the ball club and band, for month and
half waiting for this encampment. If
the encampment had been held thirty
days earlier, our citisens would have
been glad TO have made extensive ar.
rangements to attend at Custer and take
band and ball club, but being held so
late, when the season Of pleasure is
practically over, it has been impossible
To get our people to take the interest In
the affair they otherwise would have
done. Then the dissatisfaction among
the several divisions over the location
of the encampment, did more towards
disconragiDg our people in their efforts
to arrange for the entertainment Of the
Knights Of Pythias boys than anything
else. No definite word could be ob.
tained as TO what divisions would at.
tend, and we, of course, knew not what
arrangeme 20 make. We are sorry
for the evident bad feelings, but the
whole trouble lies with the uniformed
rank people in not working more har-
moniously together for the success Of
the encampment. Had the DIVISIONS,
after locating the encampment, worked
more in concert and notified our com
mittee as TO what to expect they would
have had q royal reception at the hands
OF our citizens"
The encampment is history now, and
perhaps the least said about it in this
line, the better it will be for all concern
ed, but Custer proposes to see the blame
attached where it belongs, and the Gus
ter Knights justified in the sight of the
world. The Times, as quoted, attributes
the trouble to the fact that more money
was offered for base ball contests, than
for the competitive drill, stating that
$500 was hung up for the former and
only S75 for the latter. The facts are
Custer offered $50 for ball games and
Sl25 for the competitive drill. But that
is not all of it. The Times knows just
as well as the rest Of us, that when the
Knights met I'm convention at Deadwood
to arrange the preliminaries for the en-
campment, 1t was decided that the affair
was not to be X, p. speculation, and
that the prizes offered by the different
contestants were not to be considered in
the chosing of the location. After Gus
ter had been chosen, the local lodge
offered Sl25 for the drill The base ball
tournament was a side issue, arranged
by the Custer Base Ball Association,
with view to adding another feature
to the entertainment Of our visitors.
This was all explained and understood
long ago, and there was not the remotest
cause for dissention in this particular.
The Pioneer says the encampment
should have been held at Sturgis. Why?
No reason at oil. 1t was the wish of the
majority that they come to Custer. and
then she, considering the wishes of the
minority as well, granted half the honor
to the place having the next largest
humber of votes.
The Herald says in substance that Hot
Springs could not afford to send dele
CATION, that no interest was manifested
there because the people were not in.
formed, and did not know who or what