The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-05-06
Some Elk "reminiscences
Told BY Charter Member
"A T the. recent celebration of the
: ~ twentieth anniversary Of Min

sd r y .2sss 1a
"A 7, the recent celebration Of the
~ twentieth anniversary Of Min
- neapois lodge of Elks, @. M. 1
sBatcheller read a paper in which he re-
viewed the circumstances of the insti- |
aup to it. He might have gone on and
Eeviewed the history of the lodge up
30 date, for he has, scarcely missed
meeting in all the twenty years, but
She was only assigned to recall the his
tory of the first five years Of the lodge:
r This he did with such careful detail
and painstaking, coupled with a vein
of quiet humor, that at the concluslon
of his paper he was not only eheered
50 the echo, but enthusiastically voted
"a life member of the lodge; with the res
mission Of all dues, a distinction that ts2
seldom paid to any member of the
Order. ,~~
j James Wheeler, Good Fellow.
+ According to Mr.. Batcheller,, James
wheeler, as he was known, on the va
riety stage, was the father OF the Min
neapolis lodge. His real name was
Schulze. 5he had lived in these days
he would have been called a vaudevil-
liam. but then he was known as va
riety actor He had gone on the stage
as q boy club swinger and gradually
:"
manger of the Theater Comique,. then
managed and owned by Captain. w. ".
Brown. In addition, he was a sort of. a
utility actor. He would black up and
60 on the end in the minstrel first part,
and then take role in the farce that
would wind up the show. He could do
a speciality in a pinch, paint scenery,
of the theater announcing the attrac-
tions. 80 .,.,,..
The Theater Comique really subsisted
upon the patronage Of the lumber jacks
who were wont to come down the river
in the spring and spend their money as
if they wanted to get rid of it quickly.
At the same time it was the. only ap-
and it attracted the men about town,
who had fondness for. silver clog
dancers, soubrettes and slapstick come
dams. Tn it's ohio general lystweFe sey-
eral entertainers of reals talent, and
many a high priced vaudeville star, an
actor or actress of standing who now
draw big salaries 'played dates'' at
Longed for Companionship.
Wheeler was amiability itself in his
disposition and he loved his fellow man
He was a member of Baltimore lodge
of Elks, and he was always talking
about the order, and bemoaning the
fact that Minneapolis did not, have such
a lodge. Finally. he determined to or
ganize lodge, and to promote his ides
Organized social session one Sunday
afternoon at the Comique.
His guests had the theater to them
selves for there were mo- SundayEp
formances in those days, and they gave
one of those impromptu entertainments:
for which the Elks are famous anc
fraternal organizations. Each man hat
to do something under the penalty .:
a fine to entertain the company, sing
dance, recite or tell story " ;.
There were present from the theatre
cal companies spending the day in Min
neapolis twelve Elks. Mr.. Batcheller
whose theatrical utilization eca1ne "frof,
the circumstances that he was the Cere
bus doing duty on the balcony 2denr 3
the Academy of Music, can only re
member Wheeler. Walter Dennis, Lev
sCatlett, Frank Lawton and Gus Hall,
singer who resided ir: Minneapolis.
z The spirit of good fellowship tha
prevailed caught the fancy of the Mi
neapolis men present, so when Wheele
from the grand lodge he did not lac
for signatures: Several meetings wei
held at 1875 Nicollet avenue, which VIZ
an Odd Fellows hail. The grand lods
"granted the prayer of the petition an
DR.. Simon Quinlan, district deputy :
Illinois, came to organize the new lode
whose number was a., in the order I
it's institution. With him came
number of Chicago Elks: Erne
Vliet, Lee H. Wilson, G. D. Hess, !
w. Durant, w. E. Horton, F. L.%Bue;
Albert n. Fox. G. D.; Hess, Of st: To,ii
and Oscar Vanderbilt Of Indianapoi
7 Eighteen Elks also%came from OmaT
to assist and take part in the fe
,stivities.
!. On Easter Sunday morning the lods!
charter members were initiated.
A. Ames,; Dr.. James, R. freeman, W.
Wheeler. e. P. Hilton, L. A. Metric
lac Stafford, O. M. Batcheller, A.
IIanlphere, F. H. Arson, j. R. Shible
F. W. Ames, J. W. Doran, DR.. J. I
skaro. John N. Cannon, N. F.. Warne
A. N. Jordan, w. W. Dunn, Thorn;
". f. Brown, viii Lawler, Micha
Breslauer, Harvey Robinson, H.
sholes, W. H. Cooper, G. R. Kimba
Munro. 6. E. Pratt, w. R. Guile, W
STERLING, Smith B. Hall William We
fen, Max Kohn. j. P. German, f..
Temple, A. Schock, Neil Downey, Il
Folsom, W. H. McCauge, W. W. Brow
H: L. Ward J. D. Harmon, P. W. He
zog and James f. Flanagan. :. :
= While the lodge as organized cou
not be rated as high in business al
social standing. as now, old timers W
recognize in the list of names men
CORRECT DREs