made, however, that I was at liberty to appoint any firemen to go in conjunction with the Committee of engineers. While the communication did not just meet my views, I said to my associate, "We will await the report of this Committee." A few days after I visited Cleveland and had a conversation with Grand Chief Arthur, in which I again broached this matter, and was again informed by him that it was no intention on the part of the Convention to ignore the firemen and that our interests were considered equally with theirs. He furthermore informed me regarding the authority delegated to the Committee, and led me to believe that all you could do was simply to assemble, receive the report of Bro. Cavener, and then recommend what further action should be taken by the Grand Officers when we should convene as Grand Officers and decide the issue. A few days after this I was present in the city of St. Paul, and had a pleasant interview with Bro. Hayes, who is, I believe, a member of your Committee. I expressed to Bro. Hayes my opinion, and I desire to say I found him exceedingly courteous, and he coincided with my views, saying it was all due to an oversight and that he would communicate with Grand Chief Arthur on the subject. I stated to Bro. Hayes that if Grand Chief Arthur requested of me the appointment of a Committee, I would gladly do so; nothing more was heard of the matter. I was receiving communications daily from all sections of the country, asking why the firemen were not represented on this Committee; such communications I answered in as honorable a manner as I knew how, placing no censure upon any one and saying nothing that would in any manner, lead intelligent men to think we had any desire to antagonize.