Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-09-11


object the uprooting Of the ancient super.
stition that the day and the number - are
fraught with evil. Curously, in the name
Of the host and founder of the club, vii.
liam Fowler, are thirteen letters; there are
thirteen letters in the name 'knickcr-
booker" the mum hers 454 make thirteen,
and they also comprise the number IT let
tiers in city of New York" The dinner
consisted OF thirteen courses and each man
drank ont of thirteen bottles of wine. OF
the original members eleven arc alive, and
two did not die until six years afterwari.
II i worthy 81 note, however. that at this
first feast it was necessary ta lock the edoors
in order tosustain the courage of the party.
They were called cranks. iconoclaSts and
Don QuiXotcs fighting imaginary wind
mills and other uncnmplimentary names,
but the clnb grew from thirteen members
in January, lSs2, until il reached mem
bcrship of thirteen times thirteen in isS5,
twenty six times thirteen In lSssi, and 100
times thirteen, the limit decided upon, in
1889. II now numbers upon its roll some
of the most distinguished men in the coun.
try, including President Harrison, eN.
President Grover Cleveland, the late eN.
President Chester a. Arthur, governors Of
states, United States senators, chief jus
tees, statesmen, clergymcn, editors and
hundreds Of other men Of high and low
degree The initiation Zee Is ll3 cents, the
nominal dues thirteen cents month, and
the dinners, always held ON the 18th Of
the month bring together ~ merry lot
Of philosophers and story trllrrs as ever
made right angles with their legs under
the mahogany and kept people around
them in state Of interesting agitation.
In truth, IL may he rightly designated
an antiCalamity Creakrr ss,cirty the object
Of which is TO make man ashamed to ac.
knowledge that hc cannot rise superior TO
the ordinary sapcrstitiuns Of the age. And
yet there is an exception tocyery rule. The
story is told even Of Captain Fowler, the
founder Of the Thirteen club, that ON the
occasion Of one Of the diuners. seeing lad
der which some practical joker lad sus
pended over the entrance To the banquet
room, he quietly excused himself from the
leadership of the procession pf guests about
TO pass under IT, AMI a. fast as he could
3 take his ponderOus 80 pounds Of ayuirdu-
pois moved around and entered by another
door The ladder was too much for him
The first mention ~ the number thir-
teen in the Bible occurs in Genesis xiv, &.
"Twelve years they served Chcdorlaomer,
and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. s"
From that tme down 10 this it is claimed
that the number has dominated all the his
torical cras in which wars have occurred.
There were thirteen tribes OF Israel Thir.
teen tribes went with Moses into the viii.
deTness. Thirteen disciples sat at the last
supper of Christ There were thirteen col
ones and original states in our republic,
thirteen articles Of confederation, and
thirteen years elapsed between independ.
ence and the adoption Of the constitution.
Our national banner held thirteen stripes
and thirteen stars. The motto "E pluri.
bus Unum" contains thirteen letters, and
upon the great seal of the United States
thirteen letters are found i'll the legend
"Annuit Coeptis, meaning He prosper'
our beginning
Not long ago a writer In the New York
Tribune, after describing the loss by col
lision of Pilot boat III, concluded in thes,
words; The career OF the men who owned
the boat has been an unlucky one. They
owned the original Pilot boat No. II. which
designation contains just thirteen letters
They had followed the profession just thir
teen years when their first boat was lost
Then they built another No. II and named
her The Phantom. This baat was lost IL
the great blizzard Thirteen letters d
March II, 1855. Then they built the A. +
Bateman. or. as she il registered, Pilot
boat No, IL In just thirteen months from
the time her predecessor was lost She wa!
run dowr and sunk by the steamer Ssrvii
fthirteen ietters) There were on board al
the time twelve persons and n cat, or thir
teen in all, and the loss was about $l3. coo.