The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1899-07-13
THE QUEEREST CLUB.
A ONCE a YEAR MARRIAGE
Trims RANKS.
II the One Selected Refuses to Wed He
Must ResIgn-The Mayor OF the City
Is President He Won the First
Prize. q

Waukegan, ILL.,, Correspondence Phil
adelphia Times: There is in this city,
which is a thriving port situated on
the west side of Lake Michigan, thirty
Eve miles north of Chicago, one of the
most singular clubs that have come
to the notice of the reading public for
some time. 1t is the Waukegan Bach
elors' Club, recently brought into prom
inence by the singular experience of its
first president, DR.. w. W. Pearce, now
mayor of the city. Some years
DR.. Pearce offered q prize of $50 TO the
member of the club who should nrst
become the father of twins. The prize
was won by DR.. Pearce himself and this
queer instance of a man winning his
own prize, together with the mover
nature of the competition, has called
general attention to an organization
that is one of the most unique in exist
ence.
The Waukegan Bachelors Club was
incorporated under the laws of Illinois
Aug. 10. 1891. The ~incorporators OF
the club were: DR.. w. W. Pearce. ]. A.
Carman, A. Lloyd Logan and j. S.
Shute. 1t is an organization Of men
banded together for social fellowship
and enjoyment. Contrary to the in
ference derived from the name, all
members Of the club are not bachelors.
Originally they were, however, for
b~achelorhood is a first requisite for
membership. The right to marry is
given to the members by special cleo
ton, one being chosen every year
whether it may be his own desire to
enter the realms of matrimonial bliss
or not. There were seventeen har
ter members and none but those elect
ed to do so has ever broken h sol
emn and fraternal vow of single
blessedness. The club is composed of
the best professional and business
young men of the city, the limitation
of membership to twenty-five being
the only disagreeable feature in the
minds of the young men who longing
ly desire to become bachelors. To
have provided by the constitution that
members should never marry would
have been to attempt the impossible.
So, in order that the salt in the club
life might not lose it's SAVIOR, with each
succeeding year it was decreed that
one member should be elected to make
some woman happy or miserable as
the outcome might be. Cupidian vows
do not destroy the love each one has
for his alma mater, and at the club
he is as much of a bachelor as his un-
married brethren.
The annual meeting of the club is
its red-letter day. Great anxiety over
the election is manifested in the city
as well as in the club, for on that day
the fate of some bachelor must be set
tied. During the supreme meeting the
balloting is always a solemn affair.
Occasionally sharp politics are brought
into play and votes are punched for a
particular man, but oftener the vote
is scattering, and after the ballots are
counted some unsuspecting man dis
covers himself suddenly thrust into a
sphere of matrimonial necessity. With
him it is a case of tie-up or lose the
claim to bachelorhood-a ~paradoxical
situation. The end of an election is
always the time for an elaborate cele-
bration. The victim-for many Of them
take the mandate in the spirit of one
victimized-is banQueted and made the
hero of the hour. Thus far all who
have been elected to a life of
single-blessedness have succeeded be-
fore their year ran out in convincing
local or distant bellies that they are
among the handsomest and best of
men. Members who have been elect
ed to matrimony are j. P. Hull, w. E.
Warden, T. H. burst, DR.. G. H. Sly
field. C. E. Shultis, DR.. Percival Pearce,
DR.. w. w. Pearce, W. l. Lyon and E.
P. Bidinger. Several years ago DR..
W. W. Pearce was the choice of the
club. Soon after election day he made
a trip to Boston and brought home the
intellectual bride who recently pre-
sented him with twins. The occur
renee was doubly interesting, inasmuch
as the mayor won his own medal, which
he says he will always be proud to