The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-08-21
"A BUNCH OF ONIONS"
Unique Title Ct a Club Formed
by Amateur Journalists.
MEMBERSHIP LIMITED TO TEN.

tvhen an @OniOnfte" Meets an con
ionite" He IN to Take n Elite or
Draw u Tear, Says the Clubs Com
Neutrality-suspicious. of Ever Variety
to BE Cultivated In Gardens Of the
Members.
Undoubtedly the strongest" and
strangest club ever organized is the
one formed in Chicago recently under
the unique title of "a Bunch OF en-
ions,'' and it is not composed OF truck
gardeners either, says II Chicago
Chronicle.
It was born under very happy cir
cumstances at a well known down.
town restaurant during the annual ma
tional% convention Of the Amateur Press
association. There are just ten men,
bers in the organization and each n
holds an Office.
There are seven states represented
in the club and the members are all
enthusiastic writer's for amateur pub
LEGATIONS. The object of this unique
organization, as has been announced,
is to bring tears to the eyes OF anna
teur writer's
The membership is limited to ten.
and the only way to resign from the
club is to die or get married. There
is but one meeting each year, n II
that session vacancies are filed. Zach
year one of the members must marry
in order to create a vacancy IN the
club.
The onion is the favorite flower OF
the organization. The motto Is, In
onion there is strength" The officers
are as follows:
Chief odor, Louis st. Elmo, Chic;
| sliced onion. Edwin Hadley Smith,
| New York: collector Of tears. Miss
| Maisie Mclaughlin, Illinois; gatherer
Of scents, Miss A. Eunice Frees, ILL
nois; official editor, Miss ]. Irene Ma
loney, Illinois; executive board, soul
lion, Albert Gillespie, Indiana; fertili-
yer, George A. Alderman, North Caro-
lima: sprouts, Foster Gilroy, Pennsyl-
vania: proxy committee or guardians
Of the scents, Miss e. Merle Hegert,
Illinois: Miss Alemdia Thomas, Mis-
souri,.
The election takes place annually,
and all proxies are thrown out by the
proxy committee. The members of the
club may nominate, second their own
nominations and vote for themselves.
The official organ of the club Is to
be called the Onion Skin. The publica-
ton will be in the form of an onion
and printed on onion paper. What is
more, the meetings Of the club are to
be called "reonions." The club has one
"nninnary"- member. n that Is
Charles r. Burger Of Colorado. He, 1t
is sad, has brought more tears to the
eyes Of amateur writer's during the
past year than n other one person,
One ~'onionary' member is elected each
year, and ~"onionary" mention is made
of any member where such mention is
due.
One of the strange laws Of this
stranger club is that when a member
of the "bunch" visits a town where
in resides another member the visitor
must invite the resident member to
dinner at his or her expense. The an.
nual dinners, which are very elaborate
dlltllS, JUS NC uCiu Ol tAC Atot vi
Of the annual convention Of the Ma
!. tional Amateur Press association, and
members of the bunch only are allowed
to attend. If only n member attends
the convention he must eat his dinner
with the vacant chairs of his comrade:
surrounding the table.
The badge of the club is an onion
and it must be worn conspicuous.
during u convention Of amateur jour
nalists. The constitution Of the clu1
is the shortest on record and is as fol
lows:
"When an onionite meets an onionit'
he is to take a bite or draw a tear"
: When the chief odor makes a de
cision it is perfectly in order for an.
member to take appeal. The executive
office is called the onion patch. Mem
bership in the organization is eagerl.
sought, and there is already a cam
% paign on for the first vacancy.
o Carl Hegert of Chicago thinks tn
politics in the bunch is ''odoriferous.
and he has started an antionion cru
SADIE. He is also running for the plac
e of onionary member in 1904.
The members that the clul
is in its salad days. All members ar
asked to become v~egetarians and liv
;, as much as possible on the succulen
~ onion. One Of the aims of the societ,
4. will be to make fried onions popular
}; and onions in every variety will be GU
tivated in the gardens Of the members
Instead of confetti the members Wi
T., use onion seed in time of carniva
After eating a hearty dinner recentl
in which onions figured extensivel
n one member dreamed the followin
bill of fare:
d. "Onions; young onions; old onions
if onion sets; fried onions; boiled onions