18 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O. 



official statement that at the third annual meet- 

 ing the revenue of the Central body was reported 

 at nearly $7,000, a sum equal to $20,000 at the 

 present day. The growth in public esteem is 

 also evidenced by the fact that at the annual 

 meeting of 1883,Mr.A.Gifford being then master, 

 the sessions were held in the chamber of the old 

 Parliament Buildings on Front Street, the 

 Master occupying the speaker's chair. During 

 the same session the delegates were entertained 

 at the old Government House at the corner of 

 King and Simcoe streets, Hon. John Beverley 

 Robinson being then Lieut. -Governor. The 

 hospitality of the City of Toronto was also 

 extended, the members being carried in sleighs, 

 provided by order of the Mayor, to various points 

 of interest in the city. After a prolonged period 

 of prosperity decline set in, and at the annual 

 meeting of 1898 the receipts for the year were 

 reported as less than $180. 



Various causes have been assigned for the 

 decline which occurred. Some of these causes 

 were given by the late Robt. Wilkie, then Secre- 

 tary, in a paper entitled "Our Mistakes," read 

 at the annual meeting of 1898. 'The first 

 mistake," Mr. Wilkie said, "was made when the 

 Grange was booming." The large revenues 

 received in the early years were, he said, 

 recklessly spent in many unnecessary ways. 



