Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-31
IT HAS GONE UP.
The Progressive Benefit Order Seems 10 Havs
Been Dissolved.

Been Dissolved.
Don't print my name In connection will
the story. It is enough for me to realize tia
I an an inexcusable fool II would b to,
much if the fact we're published for the infor
nation Of mankind in general"
That was the utterance Of man who had
been prominently connected with an organi
cation known to the public and now to tht
police as 'The Progressive Benefit Order"
Nearly thousand Neutrality-suspicious. go mourn
ing all the day long and continue their dolo
rous exercises away into the night because
their desire for the accumulation OF wealth led
Progressive Benefit Order. OF this mum.
Der surprisingly large percentage
is composed Of business men whose reputation
for shrcwdness has never heretofore been called
into question. These are not saying a
word. As q matter OF fact none Of
the victims are conversationally inclined,
but STAR reporter succeeded in
finding two or three who, under pressure and
in response to much moral suasion. confessed
that their respective legs had, so to speak,
been pulled with considerable energy and a
reasonable degree OF financial success.
WHEN IT WAS INCORPORATED.
The Progressive Benefit Order" was incor-
porated May IL, 1850. The precise date on
which il ceased to exist ia no.avaablc Just now,
but that is comparatively a small matter. The
important fact is that the order is dead; dead us
any organization ever can be. 1t is likewise q
trifc odorous. Everybody who was interested
enough in the affair to become a member was
satisfied with the plnn; 1t seemed, in all
respects, to be feasible. Tho proposition
involved. in the first place. u 81 assessment. re-
pealed as frequently as the supreme officials
deemed necessary. 1t was figured out that
within a year each would pay in about
s52 and in return for this the order
printed in brillnn; bues and decorated all over
with dollar marks ard promises to pay. were
issued to each OF tho initiated
and everybody looked forward to receiving
the face value of the documents just
about week ago; in nice season to purchase
Christmas presents. During the year. how
ever, the supreme authorities decided that the
value OF the certificates should be reduced to
SIS. The law permitted this reduction, and
although the apparent profit was cut down it
was s;lil large enough. Subsequent events
have failed to develop any reason for
the reduction. In fact tie supreme authorities
con.d have secured temporary popularity with
out riskinS anything had they raised the value
to sl25. or as much higher as they chose.
FEW GOT ANYTHING OUT OF 1T.
But few people got anything out of the blind
pool and these were fortunate because they
were unfortunate. Had they not been sick
they would never have secured a cent
but being disabled they drew on the
supreme treasurer for the so per week
which was promised those members whose
health Tell too far below par. The sick people
are the only ones who are not sick now; some
Of them came dangerously near to getting all
their money back.
There were six lodges in this city, entitled,
respectively: Department. Hiawatha, Spinner,
Potomac, Post Office and Capital. Tho aver
age loss per member IS about S55