Waterbury Democrat., 1900-12-17
MEMDERS OF CHOSEN FRIENDS
Held an Interesting Meeting
 Saturday Evening.

F. W. Judd Appointed to Consult the
 State Representative and Also the
 Supreme Officers-Rainbow Council
 Has Been in Existence Eighteen
 1ears-There Has Been q Falling
 Off in the Membership Throughout
 the Country the Past Few Years.
 Good Cheer and Rainbow councils Order Of Chosen Friends. held d meet Ing Saturday evening to discuss the alleged collapse of the national organ lzatIon, but not having any definite in 1ornatlon on the subject nothing was done in the premises except 10 appoint r. w. Judd as a committee to consult With D. Ii. O bricn of New Haven. state representative. and also call upon the officers in New York and New Jer- Sey and report back tomorrow night at the regular meeting Of Rainbow council. The. meeting held Saturday night was very largely attended, and naturally all the members were very much stirred up over the report. for many of them have been connected With the order for the past eighteen years and have paid in considera ble money on their policies. Good Cheer council was organized about eighteen years ago and has membership of eightY-tive. Rainbow council was in stituted eight years since and has about seventy members. The total re- mittunceS to the national treasurer from the two councils amount at pres ent to something in the neighborhood of $140. The amounts of the policies range from SlUO 10 $:5,0OO each person. and the worst feature of the thing is that many trusted to this society all together and carried no other nSur- ancc, and are too old now to get into any of the other insurance societies. so that the only door open 10 them in this respect is that of the old line in surance companies. and while all talk about them being high. still it is about the only insurance money that one can build upon with any assurance that you are not going to wake up some day and find the savings of the best part of q lifetime gone for notn- ing.
 The Order of Chosen Friends was founded twenty-two years ago and had wonderful success for about fifteen years. After this it began to realize that it was offering too much induce ment to members for what they were paying and since that they paid claims l tlllS way: When q policy matureu the order paid back all the member had | paid in and half the face of the policy. | For example. If a member was in ! sured for $500 the person the policy | was made out iii favor of would get | $250 and the total amount of the as 1 sesSnlents that had been paid on it. and so on. Some of the members have not yet lost faith in the stability of 1 the organiZa ton and contend that in | the end all will be well. Probably it will. but. unfortunately, the indications point the other way. At present the
 total membership of the institution is l only about 1G.G00 as against almost
 twice that ill the past. Many of the
 members are ladies who feel that
 while enjoying q social hour at the sessions of the council they were also making provision to help out their fam | flies ill case anything should happen
 to them. The members are all good
 citizens and consequently the organ
 izatiou was popular in Waterbury ana
 all over the state. There was but one
 death in Rainbow council and Good l Cheer lost but few members.
 There are TOGO members in th5
 state, and it is estimated that the diff
 ference between what they have pait
 into the national treasury and wha1
 is about SS4.0G0. so that in case il 1 should fall through Connecticut would | lose quite neat sum.