Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-05-16
THE PICNIC OF THE !. 0. o. F.
A Gay 1rme at James. Park Yesterday.

Yesterday the Odd-fellOWs Of Mem
phis had their picnic. There was no
procession in the morning, as was ex-
pected, but everything at the Park was
nevertheless i'll fine working order, and at
an.early hour in the afternoon every car
that raj out to the Park was filled with
people bent on participation in the fes-
tivities. The O~dd-Fellows' is II of the
many great societies in Memphis, and
are sufficiently numerous to make any,
thing they take in hand a great success.
HISTORY Or THE ODD FELLOWS.
The history of the Odd Fellows has
not a bit of romance about it. 1t is
neither oldnOr aristOcratic. Toward the
end of the eighteenth century a num-
Der of mechanics conceived the idea
of forming secret benevolent So
~cieties. They started out after long
debating the matter Over their pines
and their pots Of beer, with the
title of the Ancient and Honorable
Loyal Odd Fellows" In those DAYS an
Englishman could not think of starting
any association without having it quaIf-
fled as 'loyal.n 1t is not to be wondered
at, then, that the first organization OF
Odd Fellows was characterized as "Ioy-
all The associations be~neficence at first
was confined to subscriptions of a penny
a week to form a fund for the re-
lief of the poor and to bury dead MEM
bers. The organization which opened
branches, or clubs were established ev-
erywhere, and when it extended to Liv-
erpOOl, a general union was formed.
In 1913, a convention was held at
which a great number seeded from the
"Union,r on account Of the convivial
character of the meeting, and establish
ed a reform order which came very near
running into the other extreme of tenn
perance. They called themselves the
Independent Order of Odd-Fellows."
Since then several dissensions and Sc
cessions have taken place, but the Man
chester platform and principles remain
yet as the great center of unity fOrmost
of the British lodges, which number a
membership of five hundred thousand
men.
AMERICAN ODD-FELLOWS.
Thomas Wildly, an English black
smith, with Others, formed the first
American lodge in Baltimore, on the
twenty-sixth of April, 1919. 1t was
called Washington Lodge No. 1, which
soon after procured a charter from the
Manchester concern and thus became
the parent lodge of America. 1t is now
spread everywhere.
In 1860, there were in the United
States, three, thousand five hundred and
forty eight lodges, Boosting a member
ship of one hundred and seventy-three
thousand. Their numbers have great
ly increased since that time.
THE ORGANIZATION
is not unlike that of the Masonic order.
FIVE males of twenty-One years of age
may form a lodge. They make their
own laws and manage their own finan-
ces, each member paying in from five
to ten dollars per year into the treasury.
This is to aid the sick by the payment
of a stated weekly sum and to bury de-
ceased mOmbers and their wives. The
degrees of the order are first, the white
degree; second, the covenant degree;
third, the royal blue degree; fourth, the
remembrance degree; fifth, the scarlet
degree; all of which may be attained by
a member, after initiation, by the pay
ment of certain fees. There is also the
Rebekah or woman's degree, to which
none are eligible but those who have
attained the scarlet degree. The chief
of a lodge is called a Noble Grand. AT
ter six months he is a Past Grand. The
Grand Lodge of State is made up of
Past Grands. The Grand Lodge derives
a revenue from fees for charters, dispen-
sations and a per centage on the reven-
ues of subordinate lodges. The Grand
Lodge of the United States is formed of
representatives elected biennially by the
State Grand Lodges. There is within
these lodges a separate institution called
the Grand;Encampment made up of Pa
triarchs. The officers are The Most
Worthy Grand Patriarch, Most Excel
lent Grand High Priest, Right Worthy
Grand Senior Warden, Grand Scribe,
Grand Treasurer, and Grand Represen-
tative.