Omaha daily bee., 1899-05-20
DRUMMERS TAKE HASTINGS
Travelling Men of Nebraska Capture
the Prosperous County Seat of
Adams County.

HASTINGS, Neb., May 19.-(Special Tele-
gram. 1.-The travelling men concentrated
their full forces today and captured the city
of Hastings The grand council of Nebraska
United Commercial Travellers, opened a two
days session in Hastings this morning, with
an attendance of nearly 200. At II o'clock
all the members of the organization met at
the council hall and adjourned TIL $780, when
they met and marched in a body to the
Burlington depot, where forty or fifty mem
bers joined them, and the procession pro-
ceeded to the city, where they paraded the
streets headed by the United Commercial
Travellers (Zobo) band of nearly forty pieces,
which continually played "Therell Be a
Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight" H. H.
Cherry of Hastings acted as drum major and
John r. Cory was color bearer.
The procession came to halt in front
of the council hall, where a large circle was
formed. The band Immediately began play
ing that old familiar midway air, while some
of the knights of the grip did the couche
couche dance in the main street, while others
did the cakewalk, which kept the vast crowd
of spectators in a constant uproar.
At o'clock Mayor Fisher delivered the
address of welcome in the council hall to
nearly 200 members of the order. He said
in part:
81 am proud to welcome today to the hos
pitality of the third city of the state the
commercial men, who have holored Hastings
with their presence at this meeting Some
of you who in the past may have sold our
worthy merchants ice cream freezers and
fans in mdwinter or overcoats and hard coal
in summer, may have had delicate hesta-
tion as to your reception. If so, be at ease.
Danish the thought. All is forgiven. We
were easy and you gathered us in. There
is but one thing that would give me more
pleasure than to welcome you here as visi-
tors today and that would be to welcome
you now or hereafter as citizens of this city.
And, finally, not as necessity, but rather
as an evidence of good faith in you, lest
in an unguarded moment you stray without
the city walls and the trusty warden locks
you out, l present to you the key to the
citys gates"
D. K Clink grand counselor of the state
of Illinois, responded in behalf of the order
and in accepting the keys said he was more
than pleased to receive the key to the front
gate as well as the back door. This caught
the crowd and he was loudly cheered. He
further said that when the keys were re-
turned they would be as clean and untar-
nished as when presented.
C. B. Flagg, supreme secretary, of CO.
lumbus, o., was called upon for an address
and responded in a pleasing manner. The
meeting then adjourned.
At $3.50 the grand council went into ses-
sion. Reports of the various officers were
approved. The secretary's report showed
that the organization was in a sound cond1-
tion. Officers for the ensuing year were then
elected as follows:
Grand Counselor, C, f. Greene of Nor
folk; grand senior counselor, Theodore F.
Klug of Norfolk; grand past counselor, J.
A. Trephagan of Hastings; grand secretary,
c. f. Miles of Hastings; grand treasurer, w.
C. Brooks of Beatrice; grand conductor,
Charles n. Atchison of Beatrice; grand page,
Bert Walton Of Grand Island; grand sentinel,
G. S. Troyer of Lincoln; executive commit
tee: T. f. Bartlett of Lincoln, Jack HoI-
land of Hastings.
Committees on mileage, charters, auditing
resolutions, etc, were appointed with in
structions to report tomorrow. 1t was unans
imously decided to hold the next annual
meeting at Norfolk during the first Friday
and Saturday of May.
In the evening the lodge, attended the thea
ter in a large body after which 1t re-
paired to its council hall, where dancing
and a reception were enjoyed. Promptly at
~ o'clock tonight a white nightshirt parade
was participated in by the travelling men and
Eai, 81 DO. IL 10 nft