The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-05-17

Royal Welcome for Grand Court to Be Held Here in 1915.
 Members of the Foresters of Ameri- 1 ca of this city are well pleased with | the result of the recent meeting of the Grand Court of the order held in New Haven during the past week, in which 1 they captured the office of Grand Re cording secretary for W. T. Meyer of Court Marina, and two delegates to i the meeting of the Supreme Court l which will be held at Atlantic City in
 August. The delegates will be Dem his B. O'NeilI of Court Nathaniel 1 Wheeler and James Redden of Court Park City
 This success is attributed by the ! members of the order to the high character of the delegation which ~ep-
 resented the eight courts of Bridge port and which contained a number Of men prominent not only in the af- fairs of the order but of the city as well. In addition to the places mentione1 above the Bridgeport dele gatfon was honored by the selection of John H. Grant on the committee on
 mileage and per diem, and of Dele gate O'Brien on the committee on dis tr1bution
 The session Of the Grand Court and the entire assemblage of delegates was ! above the usual average, and many important matters of interest to the order were disposed of. The sessions l of the convention were held in Music Hall in New Haven and the delegates were welcomed by Mayor Rice of that i city in an excellent speech in which l he spoke of the high character of the l organization and the excellent work which it is doing for it's members and
 for the state.
 There were 32o delegates representing 150 courts, and 21, 900 members, making l it probably one of the largest frater- | nal orders in the state. The opening l day of the meeting was devoted large 1 ly to the presentation of reports, but they were interspersed by addresses l by men prominent in the order. in-
 cluding Supreme Secretary Donnelly of
 Jensey City and the editor of the For esters' Journal.
 Following tho business session of the first day. Wednesday, there was a. banquet at which Past Supreme Chief Ranger John Cosgrove of Hartford pre- sided as tOaStmaster, and there were addresses by Mayor Rice. some of the Grand court and Supreme court of ficers, and an attendance of about goo persons, including most of he~elty officials of New Haven. The banquet was followed by a. reception and ball Mayor Rice leading the grand march. At the second days session, Thurs day the proceedings were made en- joyable by an address by Congressman Augustine Lonergan Of Hartford, ana some of the Bridgeport delegates say it was one of the. finest fraternal ad- dresses they ever heard. Congressman Lonergan has been long 8 member of the order and is a past chief ranger of his court in Hartford He was showered with congratulations at the close Of his address. At the conclusion Of his address Congressman Lonergan presented a splendid gold watch to the retiring chief ranger of his court, tell ing in a. forcibIe manner or the ex- celIent work which that official had done for it's success. The Chief rang CT accepted with thanks, and then pre- scented a. handsome silk banner for
 The members of the Bridgeport dele gation worked, under the generaSh1p of M J. Clabby and were successful in securing all that they started out, securing the office of Grand Recording Secretary, two supreme court delegates and alternates two important commit tee places, and the election Of M' J. CIabby ef Court Marina as Grand Aud- itor The delegation exerted 9, power f,1I influence in the convention and at all times worked for the best inter- ests of the order as a whole ana were a bly, supported by delegates froin other cities
 EoTREterS inc strongest fraternal organizations in the country and locally has mem bership of about 2,200 members dlvld- ed between eight courts, the consoH- dation of number of the courts With Court Nathaniel Wheeler last summer reducing the number or courts put adding somewhat to the total mem
 The membership has included some of the most prominent men of the city at Various times, including such men as John Mooney, Daniel smith, Fred c. Mullins, T. J. Murphy, Joseph c. ,Ivers and many others, and the organizat tion has accomplished an I'm mense amount of good for the city as well as it's members, and expended vast sums in the payment of benef1ts to it's members as also large sums in
 aiding dependents of those members who might be in distress. Its social activities have been numerous also and conducted upon the highest plane and with credit to the members and the city. In state and national For estic matters Bridgeport has had It's share of honors and has held the Grand Chief Rangership a number of times and has sent some able dele gates to represent the state in the Supreme Court sessions.
 One of the i'm portant actions taken by the convention was the assignment of Bridgeport as. the place of meeting for the next session of the Grand Court which will be held in May, 1915, The Bridgeport courts plan to show the delegates that Bridgeport is a good city to hold a. convention in, and are already making plans for the entertainment of the delegates and other prominent visitors who will at tend, the total umbering about 500. Of course definite plans will not be ready for a considerable time, but the matter will be under consideration and royal welcome will be extended by Bridgeport