Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 August 1906 — OHIO MAN GETS THERE [ARTICLE]

OHIO MAN GETS THERE

Brown is Chosen by the Grand Army of the Republic as Its Commander>in>Chief. HO ONE ELSE IS IN THE EACE Archbishop Ireland Elected Chap-lain-in-Chief Much Feeling Against a Wirz Monument. Minneapolis, Aug. IT.—Commander-in-chief, R. B. Brown, Zanesville, O.; senior vice commander, William H. Armstrong, Indianapolis; junior vice commander, E. B. Fenton, Detroit; chaplain-in-chief, Archbishop John Ireland, St. Paul; surgeon general, W. H. Johnson, Lincoln, Neb. The foregoing are the officers elected at the annual meeting of the Grand Army of the Republic. All other officers are staff appointments, and will be announced later by the new commander-in-chief. The strongest opponents of Brown for the honor of being commander-in-chlef were C. G. Burton, of Missouri, and Captain P. H. Coney, of Kansas. Both of these withdrew when it was seen that the election of Brown was a certainty. Saratoga Favored for Next Year. After the elections the place of bolding the next encampment was taken up, and the New York delegation presented Saratoga. An adjournment was taken before a vote was reached, and other cities that desire the encampment will have an opportunity to present their claims today. The sentiment is strong, however, in favor of Saratoga. It is expected that the debate on the Wirz proposition will also come up today. The present probability is that some animated discussion will follow the Introduction of any resolution on the matter. New Chief Enlisted As a Boy. The new commander-in-chief of the Grand Army, R. B. Brown, was born in 1845 and has always lived in Ohio. He enlisted in the Fifteenth Ohio infantry at the age of 16 years, and served in the Fourteenth army corps in the Army of the Cumberland until he was mustered out In 1864. He then re-enlisted as a veteran soldier, and served as such until the end of the war. He was a private throughout the first three years of his service, and then became a non-commissioned officer. He has always been active and prominent in the work of the Grand Army. Brown is now editor of the Zanesville Courier.

HOME, CANTEEN AND WIRZ Two Most Important Questions That Are To Be Considered. The business sessions of the Grand Army o]>ened with 1,500 delegates present. The most important questions are the abolition of the canteen from the old soldiers’ homes and the proposed erection of a monument to Henry Wirz by the women of the south. On the question of the canteen the delegates are apparently about evenly divided, according to the officers. On the question of a monument to Wirz there is on all sides almost a bitter feeling of opposition. The report of Commander-in-Chtef Tanner covered all features of the work during the last year. No mention was made of the canteen question, but recommendation was made that the Grand Army enter a dignified and emphatic protest against the erection of the Wirz monument. Commander Tanner declared the G. A. R. has attained “a position of commanding, influence, which has been beneficial not only to our own comrades, but to the nation which we served in its hour of peril." The commander bitterly nr raigned those who,posing as the “most eminent men of the nation,” had proved false to their trust in various ways, but declared that among all such the name of no civil war veteran could be found. The total membership Is declared In the report of Adjutant General Tweedale to be 235.8’25, an increase of 3,368 during the last six mouths. The losses by death for the year ended Dec. 31. 1905, were 9,205, or 3.90 per cent. In the preceding year the loss by death reached exactly the same percentage. The receipts from the per capita tax nre declared insufficient. The. suggestion is made that the tax be increased from 3% cents to 5 cents per annum. It is estimate I by the police that the number of prostrations during the time of the parade was mote than 100. The great majority of these were women walking In the procession. Mrs. Carrie Sparkling, of St. Louis, was elected national president of the Women’s Relief Corps. Her principal rival was Mrs. Kate Jones, of New York. Mrs. Sparkling has previously held a number of high tiffices in the organization.