Omaha daily bee., 1895-11-24
ECHOES OF THE ANTE ROOM.

| Recently a decision was handed down by
the insurance department of the state o
Illinois by which it is hoped that in a short
time the Independent Order of Foresters and
the Independent Order of Foresters of Hi
nois will finally lay aside their differences
and come together into one body. This de-
clsion grants license to the former body
which recently met in Chicago.
The separation which resulted in the or
ganization of two bodies occurred in 1879
and came about through disagreement re-
garding the basis on which assessments
should be levied. The present pisn Of the In
dependent Order Of Foresters was adopted
and thereupon number of the members OF
the high court seeded Md formed the other
order. the Independent 'rder of Foresters OF
Illinois. Since that time all efforts looking
toward a reunion have been futile.
In 1893 1t was for time hoped that the
differences would be settled and that an
agreement would be reached for reunion OF
the two bodies At the last moment the
articles Of amalgamatiOn were not found to
be acceptable to the Independent Order Of
Foresters of Illinois and the bodies remained
separate. Through all the years since the
separation there has been fight between the
two bodies, and up to last month the lnde-
pendent Order of Foresters of Illinois sue
obtaining an insurance license. The effect
of the granting Of the license has already
been felt In the west AS an instance Court
Alamenia Of South Omaha, with member
ship Of forty-fve, has gone over In a body to
the Order of Independent Foresters, and 1t
Is understood that others are preparing to
follow In its footsteps.
Writing under date of November 4 to Frank
L. Gregory agent Of Union Pacific council
No. 1868, Royal Arcanum, John e. Pound.
supreme regent Of the order. says: 81 have
just signed an order for $4,000 payable to
the beneficiary Of the late Brother Asher
May "a last have signed orders to the
amount of SO. 900. payable to the benefciaries
of deceased brothers in your state, which
shows that the Royal Arcanum has been Of
some intrinsic benefit to them. Such ac-
ticns speak louder than any words of praise
can as to the advantages of the order"
While 1t isn't always pleasant to be re-
minded at all times of certain death, a degree
of terror is removed by the reflection that
life insurance Is held in some reliable con-
cern. In this respect the words of Supreme
Regent Pound mean much to more than 170,-
ance is not the only aim of the Royal Ar
canum. Most of the members realize that
they Will be long time dead, So they
have feature OF the game they can beat
without dying. merry time here rs one
of the objects Of the order. and more social
lot Of fellows than those enlisted in the
ranks in Omaha and Council Bluffs would
be hard to find Union Pacific council, over
which Regent Gregory presides with such
dignity, is a model in this respect. and no
one who has ever shared In the hospitality Of
the members on the frequent occasions OF its
public receptions needs further assurance OF
the fact. In addition to being a royal good
fellow Gregory is a hustler, and his work
for the Royal Arcanum in Omaha and Ne
braska has been such as to entitle him to the
thanks Of all possessors Of the secret
Last evening occurred one Of the rather
rare occasions on which the thirtieth de-
gree OF the Masonic body Is conferred upon
the members Of the order and they are ad-
mitted into the preceptory Of the Knights
Kadosh. The ceremony was performed by
the officers of st. Andrews preceptory Of this
city, the only preceptory in the state. The
degree was conferred upon six candidates.
A ceremony OF the kind is looked upon as
q sort OF reunion, and consequently knights
Kadosh from over the state as rule attend
the occasions. Last nights meeting was no
exception. There were about seventy-five
members present and some Of them repre-
ssnted the more distant towns In the state.