The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-11-06
MIR. LEYDEN SUCCEEDS CAPTAIN AIRES

Capt. Harry Ayres of AnniSton.
 whose recent marriage was of great
 interest to his many friends in Bir
 mingham, as well as Anniston, has been deposed as president of the
 Bachelors5 club of Anniston because
 he has chosen to become a benedict,
 thus forfeiting his right of the presi-
 successor is Mir. Charles S. Leyden,
 the clever and popular. secretary of
 this famous organization.
 MT. Leyden will be carefully watched as to any matrimonial in- tentions he may have. and at the first sign of equalization to Cupid's
 darts, he will follow in the wake of former President Ayres, and off with
 his head" will be the slogan. The Anniston Star. of which Cap-
 tain Ayres is the publisher, contains
 the following interesting account of
 the deposition of Captain Ayres from
 the Bachelors club.
 Sitting silently and alone, with his chair draped in black. while the
 strains of Chopin's funeral march
 echoed softly through the hall. Capt.
 Harry M. Ayres, publisher of the An
 niston Star. was deposed as president
 of the Bachelors club at solemn
 conclave held at the Anniston Inn | last night. and expelled from the society.
 The president had been tried at Ia secret meeting held last week and found guilty of violating that part of the oath of the society which per tains to marriage. Evidence was
 produced at that meeting which tend
 ed strongly to show that he had been untrue to the traditions and doc 1 trlnes of the Bachelos' club, and had sworn allegiance to the Order of Ben edicts. Acting upon this informa
 tion, formal charges were preferred.
 the president ordered to prepare banquet for the entire membership and appear there for the purpose of making his defense.
 "The members assembled promptly
 at o'clocK and entered the private dining room at the inn. The room
 was dimly lighted with candles and the sombre atmosphere was yaccentu ated by mournful dirge which was continued throughout the evening. the instrumental music being inter
 rupted only at intervals by the club
 members singing 'Hark From the
 Tomb a Mournful Sound
 "The president was placed at the head of the table some distance faWay from the other members. His lchair was draped in black, indicating that so far as the Bachelors club was concerned he was a dead one. The conclave was presided over by the secretary. Charles S. Leyden. who 1 put before the members present the evidence of the presidents guilt and delivered a scathing denunciation of his conduct Treasurer Charles R. Barker followed the secretary and spoke very feelingly of the trust and confidence which had been placed 1 in the former president. but stated | in strong picturesque language that | he thought his actions merited a ter rible punishment.
 Every member of the lclub made
 denunciatory speeches and demand ed his expulsion, and every member voted to expel him. No thanks were
 offered to the ex-president for the | splendid banquet he had provided
 since the giving of the banquet was part of the punishment provided for him.
 Charles S. Leyden was elected
 president to succeed Captain Ayers
 and Hubert Dent was elected as sec bers present were: Arthur Wellborn.
 Charles Thigpen. Charles s. Leyden,
 Hubert Dent. Rhodes Goodrich, Gus
 Hilton, John Orr, Ed Darden, Oscar Kilby. Hugh Blackwell. Fred Bell, F. T Banks, E. D. Banks. Duke Logan. J. B. Holman, H. l.. Russell. c. k.
 Barker"