People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 December 1896 — LAST MAN MUST DINE ALONE [ARTICLE]

LAST MAN MUST DINE ALONE

Unique Organization, With Headquarters In lilgonlexy..lnd. There exists in Ligonier, Ind., a very unique organization of men, the like of wbioh is not known in the United States. Twenty years ago ten young men, the sons of prominent business men, formed themselves into a society the name of which is the A. S. A. They were joined together by the usual solemnity of an oath, and the organization was created to exist until there was but one member left. Tbe last survivor,, on tbe night of tbe annnal banquet, which commemorates eaoh year of tbe society’s existence, is to have plates laid for ten, eat his snpper alone,' and thus end tbe organization. All members are now married, and since the organization, 20 years ago, there has been bnt one of the mystic oircle taken away by death. It bas been the custom on tbe 11th day of January of eaoh year to have a banquet, and this has been kept up during tbe entire term of existence. Jan. 11, 1897, will be kept as tbe twenty-first anniversary. Tbe banquets are elaborate, and tbe society numbers among its members residents in Chicago, Toledo and other cities. The loyalty and fidelity exhibited among its members are equal to those of any fraternal or benefloia! organization. It is the wish of each of tlm members that he will not be left to be the participant in the final banquet. A loving sup, wbioh is handsomely designed and bas tbe name of each member and tbe date of tbe organization of the society engraved npon it, will be kept by the surviving member at the final banquet. In northern Indiana the organization has gained a reputation for its hospitality and the manner of entertaining its friends. It has but recently been made public that the organization is to continue nntil there is bnt one member living.—Chicago Times-Herald. McClure’s Magazine for December will contain an a-ount of' Nansen’s hard adventures in getting 195 miles nearer the North Pole than any other man. It will be written by Cyrus C. Adams of the New York Sun, one of the best geographical authorities in the country; and it will be illustrated withpotraitsof Nansen and his associates, views of his ship within and without, and other pictures.