The Hastings Banner — Thursday, March 23, 2023 — Page 7Knights of Pythias won national acclaim
Esther Walton
Banner July 19, 1990
An old picture of men in funny looking hats
and uniforms or one of the finest markers in
Riverside Cemetery are what most present-day
folks associate with the Hastings Division No.
19, Uniformed Rank, Knights of Pythias.
Who were these men?
It was 100 years ago that their drill squad
three times won the world’s championship in
competitive drill – at Cincinnati, Milwaukee
and Washington D.C.
M.L. Cook was part of the group and in
1940, he wrote about their experiences.
“In the 1880s the Order of Knights of Pythias
was very strong and growing rapidly, not mere-
ly in Hastings, but throughout the United States.
“The order started with the three degrees
found at the present time in any K. of P. lodge.
The uniformed rank was added some time
previous to the period we are considering,
probably to put the K. of P. order on a footing
with the Masons, who had the Knights Tem-
plar. Whatever the idea, it became popular
with Pythians and the Uniformed Rank grew
by leaps and bounds.
“To stimulate interest in this new degree,
competitive drills between trained drill teams
from the divisions were instituted. A relative-
ly small number of the hundreds of divisions
had drill companies in the 1880s to enter in
these contests.
“Each division of the Uniformed Rank was
expected to have several drills during each of
the years, with the entire membership in uni-
form and in line. If a company was chosen, the
membership competed for the world’s cham-
pionship, however, the officers picked the
members of the drill company from the entire
membership of the division, selecting those
whom these leaders thought were the most
interested and most proficient in drilling.
“When the Hastings Division was orga-
nized, Edgar Y. Hogle was made the com-
mander. It was soon discovered that a large
majority of the members were much interested
in and greatly enjoyed the drilling. They began
to discuss the matter among themselves and
decided that Hastings ought to send a compa-
ny to try for the world’s championship in the
Uniformed Rank.”
It happened at that time that a Hastings
native, A.D. Kniskern, then a recent graduate
from West Point and later a Brigadier General
in the United States Army, was associated
with M.L. Cook in publishing of the Banner.
The division members who desired to form a
drill company here urged Mr. Kniskern to
join the Uniformed Rank, pick the best of its
available men, and train a drill squad. He
consented to do so.
Mr. Kniskern was a thorough disciplinarian,
a very capable drill master.
According to M.L. Cook, “Kniskern had a
wonderful deep bass voice, which could be
heard uptown when the company was drilling
on the fairgrounds (corner of Market and State
streets). Not only had he these qualities, but he
won and held the affectionate regard of all the
men in the line.”
He had all the members for a few times drill
in the old Union Hall (upstairs, third floor
southwest corner of State and Jefferson
streets). From the responses of the members to
his tactics, he picked the 24 men, with a few
extras ready if needed, also an extra officer,
and these made up the drill squad.
“You can take it from me,” related M.L.
Cook, “that military drilling was no picnic for
the members of the Hastings Company. To
make the men stand erect, to have them move
as they should individually and in groups,
keep limber and agile physically, he put us all
through the army setting-up exercises, then
through the sword movements, also marching,
wheeling about facing and keeping in line
while going through all movements. Whenev-
er we could, we drilled on the fairgrounds.
Some time was spent on the flats where the
gas plant, Lumber and Coal Company and
county garage buildings now stand (an area
bounded on the south by Green Street, east
between Boltwood and Hanover, north by
State Street and west by Michigan Avenue.
Roughly, where Ace Hardware and parking lot
is currently located.)
“Occasionally, we drilled on State Street.
Once in so often, no matter how hot the weath-
er, we were required to appear in full uniform- black wool coats and trousers, white gloves,
white helmets with red (plumes), swords in
scabbards, or unsheathed and handled in mili-
tary fashion.
“Little Eddie Cole, son of Mr. and Mrs.
John C. Cole, was the division’s mascot. This
fine, little chap for whom a full uniform was
provided, was at every drill when possible. Of
course, he was not in line with the men. He
kept out of their way but went through all the
movements with the rest of us.
“Our first competitive drill was in Cincin-
nati late in June 1888. A large number of com-
panies contended. It was a terrifically hot
week. I remember all the competing divisions
had to march in full uniform through several
miles of Cincinnati’s business streets, over
rough cobblestone paving on a day when the
mercury must have tried to push the top off the
thermometer.
“Our most feared opponent on the day we
drilled in competition was the Terre Haute,
Indiana, Division. U.S. Army officers were the
judges. Each company had to go through the
same movements.
“One incident in our drill I will never for-
get. P.T. Colgrove was one of our men in line.
In response to an order for Captain Kniskern
to ‘return swords,’ Mr. Colgrove accidentally
jarred his helmet so it fell to the ground. After
the command to ‘return swords’ had been
given and executed, each Sir Knight was
expected to stand at attention, perfectly erect,
hands at side, looking straight ahead.
“The natural impulse, even though we had
been taught otherwise, would be for the owner
of that fallen helmet to stoop over, pick it up
and restore it to its place. But that would have
been a serious error, which would have count-
ed much against our company, for each Sir
Knight was expected to stand rigidly in line, at
attention, looking straight ahead.
“Mr. Colgrove never moved when his hel-
met fell. The entire company stood in line like
statues while Capt. Kniskern came and placed
the helmet in its proper position. No one
moved until our captain was again in his prop-
er place and gave the command. Instead of
counting against our company, this incident
helped us, for it was proof of good discipline.
“When the Hastings Division marched from
the parade grounds, with its little mascot doing
his level best to keep in step with the officers,
there was a great applause from the spectators.
The margin of victory was not large, but it was
enough to win over Terre Haute, our closestcompetitor. We were a proud bunch, but we all
recognized that our success was largely due to
our having been drilled by a West Pointer,
whom we all admired.”
At Milwaukee in 1890, Hastings Division,
with the same officers, Captain A.D. Kniskern,
First Lieutenant William H. Powers, and Sec-
ond Lieutenant Dan W. Reynolds, won first
place again.
“Two things I particularly recall about that
event,” said Cook, “I remember Sylvester
Greusel (the famous Hastings snake hunter)
was terribly seasick crossing Lake Michigan
and was sure he would never live to reach
Milwaukee. I remember several of the fellows
were not particularly grieved over his illness,
for they had been the victims of his jokes on
the Cincinnati trip and were quite willing to
see him suffer when they knew he would get
over it, as he did.
“We stayed at the Plankington Hotel. When
we went to meals each Sir Knight wore his
uniform cap, exactly alike in appearance,
instead of his helmet. We all handed our caps
to a boy just before entering the dining room.
When we came out, he handed each Sir Knight
his own cap, never making a mistake with any
one of the 30 head pieces.
“Each Knight knew his own cap by some
distinguishing mark on it. But the boy didn’t.
When one Knight handed him a cap, this fellow
would take a good look at him. When we came
from the dining room and we did not leave in
the same order as we entered, that fellow never
made an error in returning the caps.”
“I did not go to Washington in 1892, when
our Division won the championship againstmany competitors for the third time in succes-
sion,” continued Cook. “Our captain was then
an instructor at the Orchard Lake Military
Academy near Pontiac. His leadership had put
Hastings and the Hastings Division on the map.
He had resigned from the Army because of a
critical illness in his family prevented his return
to his Army post after he had come to Hastings
on a leave of absence to be with his family.
Accordingly, he resigned. But he was trained
for Army service and desired to return to it.
“The record he made as commander of the
Hastings Division and the friends he won
thereby helped him materially in getting back
into the regular service, which he loved so
much and where he made an enviable record,
retiring with the rank of Brigadier General. At
West Point, he was a classmate of and a grad-
uate with General John Pershing, a command-
er of the American troops in World War I.
“One of the members of the Hastings Divi-
sion related to me this circumstance:
“At Washington our captain had the Sir
Knights out for a practice drill at 5:30 each
morning and put them through their paces for
an hour. Our competitors, who were from larg-
er cities, would not think of getting up at such
an unearthly hour to practice, but it looked as
if this plan was to fail.
“On the morning when the divisions were to
drill in competition at the early morning prac-
tice drill, it seemed as if the Hastings Compa-
ny was just a lot of chumps. They made the
most awkward mistakes and were messed up
terribly. It did look as if they had over prac-
ticed.
“However, when they went onto the parade
ground later for their competitive drill, they
went through all the movements faultlessly.
Captain Kniskern and the Hastings men who
accompanied the division to Washington as
visitors were agreed that the company had
never done as magnificent drilling as they did
that day at Washington, when they carried
away the championship for the third time in
succession.”Pierce Cedar Creek Events for March 23-
March 1-31 – March Storywalk Book:
“What’s in Your Pocket? Collecting Nature’s
Treasures” by Heather L. Montgomery, illus-
trated by Maribel Lechuga. The Storywalk is
free and self-guided. “Every discovery starts
with just one thing.” Find out what was that
one “thing” for nine scientists who also were
once curious kids with pockets full of “trea-
sures” from the great outdoors.
March 1-31 – Signs of Change: Michigan
Women in Science. Celebrate Women’s His-
tory Month and Scientists Day (March 14) by
learning about past and present Michigan
scientists along the Lupine (green) Trail.
Those interested can celebrate the two holi-
days for free on a self-guided hike along the
Lupine Trail.
Friday, March 24 – Dinner and a Movie:
Finding Wild in Your Backyard, 6-7 p.m.
dinner, 7-9 p.m. program. Begin your eve-
ning with dinner prepared by the Institute’s
Chef Dan. Then, take a journey of discov-
ery and connection to the natural world
with two short films: “A Ghost in the Mak-
ing: The Rusty Patched Bumblebee” and
“Wild in the Garden State.” After the films,
“Wild in the Garden State” filmmaker Sarah
Galloway will answer questions about her
experiences shooting the film over 10 years
and learning to “rewild” her backyard. Con-clude your evening visiting with local con-
servation organizations and learning how to
make your backyard a safe and healthy
environment for native flora and fauna,
including you! The registration deadline for
dinner has passed, but those interested in
the movies can still register. Members of
the Institute can register for the movies for
$5. Non-members must pay $10. The pro-
gram is open to anyone 15-years-old or
older, but those under 18 must be accompa-
nied by an adult.
Those interested can register for these
events and find more information at cedar-
creekinstitute.org/events.html.March 1-31– Read-A-Latte winter reading club, follow along on Beanstack or in person.
March 1-31 – March is Reading Month: Look Up! And Explore Our Universe, read and
win prizes in March.
Thursday, March 23 – Movie Memories & Milestones watches the 1965 film, “My Blood
Runs Cold,” 5 p.m.
Friday, March 24 – Preschool Story Time, 10:30 a.m.
Monday, March 27 – Crafting Passions, 10 a.m.
Tuesday, March 28 – Mahjong, 2:30 p.m.; chess, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 29 – Itsy Bitsy Book Club, 10:30 a.m.; open computer lab, 2-4 p.m.
More information about these and other events is available by calling the library,
269-945-4263.Insect inquiries
How many beetles are there in the world?
Tu, 12, UtahDear Tu,
If beetles seem to be everywhere, that’s
because they are. Some beetles stand out
because they’re colorful. Think about jewel
beetles and ladybugs. Others play useful
and weird roles in the ecosystem–like the
poop-rolling dung beetle. Their ancestors
probably even ate dinosaur poop.
Nobody knows exactly how many beetles
there are, but scientists have some ideas. I
talked about it with my friend Joel Gardner.
He’s the collection manager for the insect
museum at Washington State University.
When scientists find a new species, they
describe what it looks like. They give it a
name. They publish that information so
other people know about it. That’s called
describing a species. Scientists describe
new insect species all the time.
Gardner told me scientists have described
about 400,000 species of beetles so far.
There are many more beetles we don’t
know about yet. Altogether, there are prob-ably between 1 million and 2 million beetle
species.
Right now, beetles make up 40 percent of
all described insects. They’re 25 percent of
all known life on Earth.
But another group of insects may have
more species than beetles–parasitic wasps.
These wasps lay eggs in or on other insects.
When the eggs hatch, the baby wasps eat
the host.
“For every insect, there’s probably a
wasp that parasitizes it. So, you can imagine
there are millions out there,” Gardner said.
“Parasitic wasps are generally very small.
Different species look almost identical. So,
you need to use advanced methods to tell
them apart.”
If scientists described all those parasitic
wasps, beetles might be closer to 5 percent
of all insects.
Another way to look at your question is
how many individual beetles are on Earth
right now. Gardner did the math to figure
that out.
He told me scientists think there are
around 10 quintillion individual insects.That’s 10 followed by 18 zeroes. Like this:
10,000,000,000,000,000,000. If 5 percent
of all those insects are beetles, there are
probably around 500 quadrillion individual
beetles.
Pretend you’re the beetle boss. You make
those 500 quadrillion beetles line up. If
they’re all half an inch long–about average
size for beetles–that line of beetles would
wrap around the Earth more than 150 mil-
lion times. That’s a lot of beetles.
There are about 500,000 beetles in the
collection at WSU. Gardner stores them in
917 wooden drawers. Some were collected
by scientists. Others were donated by peo-
ple who collect insects for fun.
Beetles belong to the order Coleoptera.
You can often identify a beetle just by look-
ing at its wings.
Like most insects, adult beetles have four
wings. Scientists call their hind wings
membranous. That means they’re thin,
flexible and transparent. They flap these
soft wings to fly. The front wings are hard
coverings called elytra. They protect the
hind wings. The red-and-black part of a
ladybug is its elytra.
The only way to know for sure how many
beetles are out there is to find and describe
them. One of the best parts of entomology–
the study of insects–is that it’s open to every-
one. Getting to know the beetles that live
near you is a great way to get started. Maybe
one day you’ll find a new species of beetle!Dr. UniverseDo you have a question? Ask Dr. Uni-
verse. Send an email to Washington State
University’s resident scientist and writer at
[email protected] or visit her website,
askdruniverse.com.196954_
RESOLUTION 2023-
SCHEDULE OF REGULAR MEETINGS
PRAIRIEVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARDS
APRIL 2023 to MARCH 2024Prairieville Township Board: Regular scheduled meetings are held on the 3rd Wednesday at
6:30 P.M. unless otherwise posted:
April 19 October 18
May 17 November 8 (2nd Wednesday)
June 21 December 20
July 19 January 17
August 16 February 21
September 20 March 20Planning and Zoning Commission: Regular scheduled meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday
of the month at 7:00 P.M. unless otherwise posted.
April 13 October 12
May 11 November 9
June 8 December 14
July 13 January 11
August 10 February 8
September 14 March 7Park Commission: Regular scheduled meetings are held on the 4th Monday of each month at 6:
P.M. unless otherwise posted:
April 24 October 23
May 22 November 27
June 26 December 18 (3rd Monday)
July 24 January 22
August 28 February 26
September 25 March 25Zoning Board of Appeals: Meetings are held on the 1st Wednesday of the month at 7:00 P.M.
when necessary :
April 5 October 4
May 3 November 1
June 7 December 6
July 5 January 3
August 2 February 7
September 6 March 6Library Board: Meets the second Tuesday of each month at 1:30 P.M.Motion made by Goebel, seconded by Stoneburner, to adopt the foregoing resolution.
Upon roll call vote, the following voted aye: DeVries, Doster, Pence, Stoneburner and Goebel.The following voted nay: none.Absent:The Supervisor declared the motion carried and the resolution duly adopted on
March 15, 2023.
CERTIFICATEI, Rod Goebel, Clerk of Prairieville Township, do hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly
adopted by a quorum of the Prairieville Township Board at a Regular Meeting held March 15, 2023, and is
on file in the records of this office.__________________________________
Rod Goebel
Prairieville Township ClerkThe world champion Hastings drill team of the Knights of Pythias, as they appeared in 1890.HASTINGS PUBLIC
LIBRARY SCHEDULE