The evening times., 1896-05-02
CLUB BANNER IN SHREDS
VandaIs MutiIate the Emblem of
the Union Republicans.
DAMAGE SUIT IN PROSPECT
Officers of the Organization Placed
the Banner in an Awning Makers
Care, and He Fails to Explain the
Mystery-Lawyer Riley Directed TO
Serve Al Notice.

The Union Republican Club banner, which
| for several months fioated in the breeze
across Penns ylvania avenue, is this morn
| lug sing tattcrcd and torn in the assembly
room OF the club, OH + street northwest.
How one OF line principal marks of dis
! figurcmcut was made is a mystery to all
members of the club who have viewed their
torn standard. On both sides OF the net
| which supports the heavy drilling letters,
a strip has been torn its full length. The
! tom strip extends distance CT eighteen
or twenty feet and Il width of fully Il loot
and :; halr, taking with il nearly the whole
of the letters, forming the title, Union
Republican
What caused this mutilation is a question
all members oI The original organization
! ask as they look upon il. The banner Jay
! i'll state all day yesterday, and great
many members OF the club passed around
il, and made an examination of the torn
edges. AT one end of the banner could
| be seen where some sharp instrument. had
made a cut i'll the drilling. The edges
| looked ike cloth tom with the thread in
a straight line. To accomplish this with
such a large piece of cloth was necessarily
| the work of more than one person.
CLUB WILL SUE.
satisfactorily explained by the person VINO
| has had the banner i'll custody for the last
! two months.
That person is "A well-known business
man and awning maker. Last February,
| when the wind storm was sweeping every
| thing i'll its tracks, Secretary Emery had the
| banner taken down from its position over
| the Avenue. He called upon one awning
maker. and he said he would not do the job
fnr 500 Finally Pa
and nc consented to do it for about = cents
per hour.
The bargain was made. and two work
men of the dealer climbed upon the ROOF tops
and took down the large ensign. The wind
had SHREDDED it a little in some places. but
tie words Union Republican were intact.
Secretary Emery stood by while tie work
men rolled up the strcaincr and saw it tied
and put i'll the wagon to be taken 10 the
store of the awning maker.
To a Times reporter Secretary Emery
stated yesterday that when the banner
was delivered into the charge of the men the
words Union Republican were not torn.
and that part of the banner WIS all right.
The net work in some places had been torn
by the wind and the edges l"oScned. but
the large strip across the top was in good
condition.
INTERNAL DISsENSIoNS ENsUED.
The dealer rendered his bill and it was
paid. The banner, however, was eft in
his posse ssion TO be repaired, and com
mittce of the club was to call upon him
and state what repairs We're TO Ice made.
and ascertain the cost. Meanwhile, the
internal dissensioDS in the club came about,
and resulted in the withdrawal of some OF
the members. For u time the banner was
lost sight Of
The original organization moved into new
to raise the standard across F street.
Permission for that purpose was secured
from the CORNERSTONE and Secretary
Emery and Mr. Bache went to the store
of the awning maker, and asked for the
banner 1t was determined not TO have
him make the repairs, as the club dis
covered they had riggcr in the club who
could do the work. This was Mr.. Rache.
The banner was brought up out of the
cellar, and the first thing Messrs. Emery
and Bache noticed was that it was not
tied up. Later, when il was unrolled,
it was seen that the strip was missing.
They We're. To put 1t mildly, dumbfound-
ed. Both gentlemen again went to the
awning MAKER and requested an explana-
ton. which that gentleman did not salts
factorily give. He said he knew nothing
of the rent. and that he did not think any
one had seen the banner but did remem-
Der that some time ago some persons called
and asked to purchase a secondhand ban
ner. and he told them that the only one
he had was the Union Republican Club BAN
ner. which was not for sale.
WILL WORK UP A CLEw.
With this as a clcw the club is at the pres
ent time busly engaged in trying to find
the vandal who despoiled their emblem.
Lawyer Riley. member of the club, has
been notified TO write the awning man that
he will be held responsible for the damage,
but the latter said yesterday that he had
not yet received any such letter. The
Times reporter asked him to tell what he
could regarding the damage to the banner
but he refused TO say anything whatever.
He would not tell who the persons were
who called to purchase a banner. and did
not deny that they had been shown the
Union Republican Club streamer.
Members OF the club say no one but enc
mics would have committed the deed, and
the enemies in question must have had some
knowledge of the business of the club, or
they would not have known where the
banner was stored. There is strong talk
OF securing the services of a detective in the
matter and finding the guilty parties and
in