The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1899-05-02

An interesting suit was tried before Jus
tice Clevenger at the Court House on Fri
day. 1t grew out of the refusal of
lodge Of Odd Fellows to pay sick bene
fits to one of its members. John Hamil
ton was the plaintiff, the defendant being
Phoenix Lodge of Burlington. Jacob c,
Hendrickson and Samuel w. Shinn rep.
resented Hamilton, the interests of the
the lodge being looked after by Henry I
Melosh, a young lawyer from Jersey City,
and who is also the Deputy Grand Master
of the order of Odd Fellows in this state.
Hamilton Joined the lodge in August,
1897. He was formerly a member of a
lodge in Bordentown, but withdrew from
that and went to Burlington. He is still
a member of the Burlington lodge. On
December 81, 1897, he was reported sick.
The committee which had charge of the
case did not give the cause of illness, but
reported Hamilton mot entitled to bene-
fits, and said the sick man would abide
by the report. At the same time a dona-
ton was voted him, but this the commit
tee reported later Hamilton would not re-
ceive. Mrs. Hamilton testified she, and
not her husband, refused to receive the
donation. On the refusal of the lodge to
pay him benefits he appealed to the Grand
Lodge.
At the conclusion of the testimony for
the plaintiff the defence moved for a non
suit on the ground that Hamilton had not
exhausted all the means in his power for
settlement of the case within the lodge.
The constitution of the order requires
that no litigation shall be entered into un-
til all the lodge authorities have passed
upon the case. Persons joining the order
are required to obligate themselves to this
end. Hamilton appealed to the Grand
Lodge and that body dismissed the case.
Hamilton, in accordance with the rules,
should then have carried his appeal to the
Supreme Lodge, but he did not. MI. Me
Josh argued that Hamilton had no stand
ing in a legal sense, as he had not COM
piled with the constitution, and present
ed legal decisions to sustain his argument.
Justice Clevenger refused the motion on
the ground that nobody had informed
Hamilton that he was obliged to carry his
case to the Supreme Lodge. Mr., Melosh
argued that Hamilton, as a member of the
order, familiar with its rules and regula-
lions, had no right to be in a position re-
quiring instruction, but was bound to be
acquainted with all the points necessary
for his benefit. They also claimed that
Hamilton had some physical disorder at
the time he Joined the Burlington lodge,
that he misrepresented these facts to the
investigating committee, but which, it is
alleged, did not develop until he had
been in the lodge for about four months.
On the other hand it was shown that
Hamilton had come from the Bordentown
lodge and was passed upon by a commit
tee which declared him to be worthy of
membership. He is at the present time a
member of the Encampment at Borden
town. This is a higher branch of the or
der, and that society has paid him bene-
fits all the time the Burlington lodge has
declined to. Justice Clevenger reserved
his opinion. The amount sued for is near
ly 5000.
Hamilton was a brakeman on the rail
road and met with an accident whereby
he lost a thumb. After it was amputated
he grew very nervous. and the accident
affected him to such an extent it is feared
he will lose his mind.
Justice Clevenger handed down his de-
cision yesterday, giving judgment in favor
of the plaintiff in the sum of 1914 with
costs of suit.