42 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE. | 
ANNUAL GATHERING OF YE ELDER. BRETHERN 
Fair skies again smiled on the Elder 
Brethren, Manchester’s unique organiza- 
tion, on the occasion of its 3ist annual 
reunion, Wednesday. ‘Though there 
was a cool east wind blowing, the day 
was pleasant and the 112 “‘ elderlies’’ 
who attended the reunion, had a most 
delightful time. 
That these gatherings have become an 
established event in Manchester is evi- 
denced by the increasing interest each 
year. Unique ineits conception it con- 
tinues to grow in popularity and is looked 
forward to each year as an occasion well 
worth attending. [hat one has reached 
the 50th milestone in life’s journey is the 
first and all important requisite to mem- 
bership. And having reached 50, one 
must be either a resident of Manchester, 
must have been born here, or else he 
must have married a Manchester girl, in 
order to enjoy the distinction of being a 
**member’’ of the organization. 
One very noticable thing about the 
elderlies’”’ is the increased interest as 
one grows older. The older the man 
the greater the interest. Another feature 
of it is the anticipation of the man who 
aprrceches the 80th milestone. When 
he reaches th's age he is exempt from 
being ‘‘taxed’’ forthe dinner. There 
were an even dozen that came under this 
heading Wednesday. 
Delucena L. Bingham, the Nestor of 
the town, Manchester’s venerable libra- 
rian and oldest librarian in the state, was 
the oldest man present. Mr. Bingham 
will be 95 on his next birthday, in No- 
vember. He was as lively and active as 
anyone present. William Johnson, 92, 
was the next oldest, and Jacob Cheever, 
90, was the only other nonogenarian. 
Mr. Cheever has missed only one of 
these gatherings, and that was one year 
when his health would not permit him to 
attend. Others over 80 were: G. F 
Allen, 82; Daniel Allen, 81; Amos F. 
Bennett, 84; Dr. Henry Strong, 83; 
Jeffrev T. Stanley, 83; Alexander Pat- 
tillo, 80; N.C. Marshall, 81; Joseph 
Knowlton, 83; A. J. Johnson, 88. 
Early morning found the ‘“ boys’’ pre- 
paring to gather for this the 3lst annual 
reunion, and by ten o'clock they were 
congregating at the square. Long before 
noon the barge had conveyed scores of 
them to Tuck’s Point, where hand-shak- 
ing and greetings were interchanged. 
When the chowder was ready at one 
o'clock there were over 100 present and 
this number was. swelled later to 112. 
Last y ar the number was 121. 
‘The chowder is always the most im- 
portant and most lively topic of dis- 
cuss.on on these occasions, and this was 
noire tl.e less true this year. The clam 
and fi-h chowders were thoroughly en- 
joyed by the crowd and were pronounced 
first-class in every particular, Frank H, 
ce 
ners in the course of the 
Cc rombie me John F. Babcock pre- 
pared the chowder this year and did jus- 
tice to the tastes of their ancestors of 
half a century ago who used to ,assemble 
at this same spot for their chowder din- 
summer. 
Chowders disposed of, the tables were 
cleared and President Allen called the 
gathering to order. Speechmaking was 
next in order. Previous to this, how- 
ever, the business was disposed of. Mr. 
Allen, in calling the gathering to order 
offered his congratulations that the elder- 
lies was again permitted to assemble and 
exchange hand-shaking and greetings and 
review the different exigencies that had 
occurred among them. He expressed 
the hopethat the younger ones would 
take up the work started and. keep ‘the 
organization in existance after the older 
ones had departed. He was optimistic 
enough to think that the younger ones 
would step in and that the organization 
would always be continued. 
‘The secretary, W. J. Johnson, re- 
ported that ten deaths had occurred dur- 
ing the year: John Lendall, Wm. H. 
Allen, David Butler, John Baker, F. A. 
P: Killam, Paul Stanley of, Manchester: 
‘Dow of Lynn. 
‘that the total receipts of the last year 
were $65.20, the expenditures $62.40, 
leaving a balance for the year of $2.80, 
elected. 
John T. Goldsmith’ and Orange R. 
Taylor, of Beverly; Captain Charles E. 
Grover of Gloucester, and Edward S. 
Mr. Johnson reported 
and atotal on deposit of $177.77. 
The officers of the last year were re- 
This makes the 3lst year that 
Mr. Allen has been elected president of 
the organization. 
A vote of thanks was extended to the 
young men who had served as_ waiters. 
Deacon J. A. Torrey was the first — 
called upon for remarks. He said it had 
been claimed that you can’t make people 
virtuous by legislation, nor temperate by 
statutes, but there was one place where 
this would not bear out. He put his 
thoughts into verse with “* Utopia’ as 
the subject. The prison was the place 
where the above assertion would not 
prove true. 
D. L. Bingham spoke in a _ reminis- 
cent vein, and told several _ stories. 
Manchester was hard to beat, he said. 
He could remember when there were 
no ‘sidewalke) in “the town, when the 
Those who Attended Gathering of Bide! ‘Brethean a 
George Forster Allen 
Daniel Allen 
Capt John Allen 
George F Allen 
J F Annable 
George E Andrews 
John R Allen 
Dr H E Ames 
D L Bingham 
H VY Bingham 
Frank W Bell 
Charles H Bennett 
Amos F Bennett 
Francis Bennett 
Dr John A Brown 
D F Bennett 
Dr G W Blaisdell 
Charles A Boardman 
Dr John M Brown 
Jacob Cheever 
Enoch Crombie 
Obed Carter 
Augustus B Cheever 
Joseph Clarke 
Gen. J F Curtis 
Capt W H Collins 
W F Chisholm 
Rev DeWitt S Clark 
C A Collins 
Wm M Cheever 
John H Cheever 
Capt J W Carter | 
Col B F Cook 
M P Duggan 
John Duggan 
George P Dole 
C M Dodge 
Charles Danforth 
Charles C Dodge 
L A Dunn 
Rev T L Frost 
Alfred Foster 
Rev. James P Franks 
C W Fitz 
David C Goodrich 
Rufus T Goodrich 
Nathan Goldsmith 
Rev W A A Gardner 
Patrick Guinivan 
James Guinivan 
J G Haskell 
Emery Hodgkins 
R F Hoffman 
E P Hooper 
_ Chas E Hibbard 
Charles Hooper 
William Hoare 
William Johnson 
George W Jewett 
AS Jewett . 
Dr E M Jewett 
A J Johnson 
William j Johnson 
George A Jones 
AM Killam 
Joseph Knowlton 
John Knight 
Charles O Lee 
Charles E Lee | 
George Lendall 
SiN Lendall 
Rev D F Lamson 
E A Lane 
J Alex Lodge 
D C Mann 
D W Morse 
J H Morse 
N C Marshall 
Charles A Mason 
A M Merriam 
J W Marshall 
I M Marshall 
William J Peart 
F B Peart 
Alexander Pattillo 
Charles W Pert 
Edwin Pride 
Charles A Read 
I P Richardson 
O T Roberts _ 
Hon R § Rantoul 
David I Robinson 
Charles H Stone 
Otis M Stanley 
J T Stanley 
Fred Stanley 
Thomas B Stone 
F M Stanwood 
Dr Henry Strong 
Prof N B Sargent 
Dr M G V Safford 
J A Torrey 
F P Tenney 
Dr W H Tryler 
Charles Thurston 
A Z Washburn 
Capt J K Winn 
F H Watson 
Hon David P Waters 
William Young 
Rey E B Young 
