The log cabin Democrat., 1922-02-21
ROTARY 10 REACH I7TH MILE STONE ORIGINATED AT CHICAGO Paul Harris, Attorney, Father of Busi- ness Mems Fraternity Now
 Ranked First.

| around the world" is the way the
 members of the Rotary Club of this
 city designated the gathering which will be under club auspices Thursday night to celebrate the seventeenth an niversary of the organization of the first Rotary club.
 This statement was made because the S0,000 Rotarians in the world who can attend are gathered with more than LOGO clubs in 25 different countries doing exactly the same thing celebrating Rotary's anniver- sary and telling something of the aims and history of the organization to d gathering of the same sort as that which accepted the local clubs invita- tion.
 This international movement, which has assumed the proportions in mem bership and number of clubs that has given, developed in the last F years from meeting of four men February 23, 1905, in the office of Paul P. liar ris, lawyer, in Chicago.
 Harris, who is still a member of the Chicago Rotary Club, is looked upon as the Father of Rotary. He had the original idea of forming a club that would promulgate the spirit of service and would be different from any existing organization. Assoei- ated with him at that first meeting were Sylvester Schiele, H. E. Shorey and Gus \. Loehr. The test of the idea came with another meeting which drew to Rotary such men as Harry Ruggles, Rufe Chapin, Charlie New ton, Will Jenson, Doe" Neff, Bernard Arntzen and Albert White-men who now as then represent dynamic force of organization and ability which has been of inestimable value to Rotary throughout the world.
 The idea they evolved and fostered to the point where it actually became a world force was an organization which would consist of one man from each business or profession who would meet in rotation at various places at frequent intervals and discuss vari- ous questions that might come up from time to time, become better ac- quainted with each other, the prob lems of the business of each as it af- fected the life of the community and for good fellowship It was agreed that to promote fellowship one im- portant step would be to call each man by his first name or nickname to make it compulsory that this should be done.
 The name Rotary Club was adopted shortly after the first meet ing because the members met in TO- tation in the offices of each other.
 The Chicago Club continued to in- crease in membership. In 1908, three years after the first meeting, the sec ond Rotary Club was organized in San Francisco. Other clubs followed on the Pacific coast and then the movement spread to the east and then to the south until 16 clubs had been organized by the end of 1910.
 It was in 1910 that the first con- vention was held in Chicago and the National Association" formed. At this convention Chesley R. Perry was elected secretary and he continues to hold this office at the present time Rotary emerged from a national or ganization to an international organi- zation two years later at the Duluth convention. A short time previous to
 this convention club had been organ ized at Winnipeg, Canada, and during the convention cablegram was re ceiyed from the Rotary Club of Lon don, England asking for a charter
 Rotary had thus quickly evolved from one club in 1905 to an international organization in 1912.
 Since 1912 the organization has grown even more rapidly than during the first seven years. Today there are more than 1000 Rotary Clubs in the world. Although the greater num- ] ber are in the United States, where the movement originated, there are now
 Rotary Clubs in Canada, Newfound- land, Great Britain and Ireland, Cuba,