Grand Lodge Meet

A.O.U.W. Holds Its Annual Meeting In Ann Arbor

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PREPARATIONS ARE MADE

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FOR THEIR PROPER ENTERTAINMENT WHILE HERE.

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Good Work Done in Local Lodges-Five of the Charter Members Yet With Them

-$56,000 Death Losses Paid in Ann Arbor

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The 2Ist annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of the A. O. U. W., of Michigan, will be held in this city on Tuesday, Feb. 31. This is the first meeting of the grand lodge in this city and it was secured only after a hard fight in the Grand Rapids convention between this city, Flint, Port Huron, and Ypsilanti. There will be 185 delegates present and they will be accompanied by many others, which will probably swell the numbers to 300. There will be a number who wish to take the grand lodge degree and others will take advantage of the one and a third round trip fare to see the city and university.

The Grand Lodge officers and committees will be in the city on Monday, Feb. 20. The meetings of the Grand Lodge will be held in A. O. U. W. hall on South Main St. which is being fitted up especially for their accommodation. A partition is being torn down to make the session room larger and a closet is being put in and plumbed. The hall was newly decorated two years ago and the new part of the hall will be decorated to correspond.

The sessions of the grand lodge will, of course, be secret, and no member of the order can get in unless he is a past master or has served three terms in succession as recorder, financier, or receiver.

Master Workman Gottlob Luick is the general chairman in charge of the reception and entertainment of the grand lodge. John Baumgardner, is secretary and chairman of the committee on entertainment, George Haller of the university committee, Chas. A. Ward of the committee on printing and Reuben Armbruster of the committee on reception. Some of the other prominent members of the committees are Gottlob Schneider, John Kuebler, William Rohde, G. Stark, Emanuel Spring, Christian Martin, John Meyer, Chas. H. Manley, John Krause, Albert Sorg, George Kusterer, William Jacobus, Eugene K. Frueauff, and Tom O'Connor. It is designed to make arrangements if possible to have the delegates visit the university on Washington's birthday.

The delegates will be quartered at the various hotel of the city, the grand lodge allowing its members $3.00 a day for expenses. Everything possible should be done to make their stay with us pleasant, for Ann Arbor more than most cities profits by the advertisement ín the proper entertainment of conventions. 

 There are two lodges of the A. O. U. W. in this city containing about 300 members. Ann Arbor lodge, No. 27, was organized Dec. 15, 1877, with 10 charter members, of whom only five are left. The five remaining charter members are Gottlob Luick, Anton Teufel, Dr. John Kapp, John Heinzmann and Henry Allmendinger. Since the organization of the lodge it has paid out to widows and orphans in this city $56,000, and much of this money formed the chief inheritance of those who received it. The ritual of the lodge is in German and its proceedings are conducted in that language. This necessitated the organization of an English lodge here and Athens Lodge, No. 49, was organized. Both lodges meet in the same hall.

Those members of the lodge who desire it have joined the sick benefit organization, which gives $50 on the death of the wife of a member, etc. This is distinct from the lodge proper, and only those belong who pay the extra $3 a year dues. About a third of the members belong and it has done much good.

Last year Ann Arbor Lodge received the banner for its large increase of membership. At the meeting of the grand lodge last year a change was made in the assessment rates, which put the graded assessment into force, which it is believed will greatly strengthen the order. It is not known that any contested question will be before the lodge this year.