The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-11-28
KNIGHTS OF HON OR.

1t affords me great pleasure to be with
you on this occasion, the second ami
versary of your lodge. Another year of
your history has passed. a kind Prov
idence has preserved your lives with one
exception, and protected you from sick
ness. Your lodge, l hear, is in very pros
porous condition. You have, therefore,
reason to rejoice and be exceeding
glad" tonight.
The past year has been one of interest,
and trust it has been one OF profit to
you all and trust the coming year will
be better even than the past.
The order of Knights of Honor is
young. Ii was first established in June,
1873, a little over six years ago, in Louis
vile, Kentucky. The first idea Of ii was
conceived by those dependent on their
own labor-who put "A portion of their
own earnings away together for mutual
fund in case of sickness or misfor-
tune. Their experiment suggested
broader application. The idea grew in
their minds until 1t resulted in the or
ganiZation of the Knights of Honor.
This lodge contained seventeen men,
bers, mostly boys, and was called Golden
lodge, No. l. Without experience or
influence or money, il was no easy task
they had undertaken, TO establish new
order on comparatively new principle.
The older societies looked upon it as
freak of boyish fancy, and predicted its
early failure. 1t had everything to con-
tend with, and but very little 10 help it.
But the young men engaged in it felt
confiden: they had a valuable idea which
was bound to win its way, and that the
new order met Il common want and
would certainly find place for itself III
public favor. Believing thus firmly Ill
their cause, they pcrsevered, determined
To win success in spite OF Opposition
and encouragement. Trusting in the
soundness of the idea they had adopted,
they addressed themselves with all the
ardor OF their natures to the task of max
ing this one of the most prosperous and
beneficial institutions in the land. The
issue fully justified their faith and prov
ed that their confidence in the value of
the new order and been none too strong.
Good and true men soon Joined with
them, and other lodges were formed.
The order soon passed beyond the state
and Indiana joined with Kentucky. The
enthusiasm spread like wildfFc TO other
states, and soon was known from one
end of the land TO the other. Now, in IA
little over six years the order is flourish
ing in thifty.fopr states and several ter
ritOries. That single lodge al seventeen
men and boys has become 4 vast multi
tude, numbered by thousands and found
in every part of the Union.
There are now in the United States
thirty-one grand lodges aRd seventeen
hundred and eighty-nine subordinate
lodges. The total membership now is
not less than sixty thousand, max
ing grand army of brothers. helping to
bear each Others burdens and tighten
each others sorrows,
The order Is now increasing at the
rate OF fifty-three new lodges each
month, or nearly two lodges per day
Estimating these new lodges at fifteen
members each, which is much less than
the average in this state, We have an i'll
crease of seven hundred and ninsty-five
new members every month, not count
ing the additions to established lodges.
California has recently Joined our ranks,
and already fifteen or twenty lodges
exist in the golden state" Colorado,
also. our next door neigbbor, has recently
Joined our ranks, and reports as many
more.
THE SUPREME LODGE
has paid to the families of deceased
members nearly two millions of dollars,
thus tightening the sorrows of thousands
of saddcned hearts, TO do all this it
has. levied slXty.two assessments, an
average of only ten assessments per
year.
The order has passed through the Sc
verest ordeal which ever tested any in
surance company, of society OF this
kind-the yellow fever epidemic. This
scourge mas ragged near the place of its
origin, and in the very heaEt qt our
membership, yet the society has come
though unframed and has been able to
pay to its beneficarics every dollar due
them, without delay and without diff
Guilty. Every loss has been promptly
and fully met from the begin
ming To the present time. Our
order has proved that il can weather the
storm as well as sail in calm The
doubts of the weak-hearted and the evil
wishes and the predictions of life lnsur-
ance agents have come To naught, while
the faith and foresight ofthe founders of
our order have been completely justihed.
The order of the Knights of Honor Is
now fully established, and has become
one of the fixed institutions of the land
and IA part of the history of our country
and it is history of which no true
Knight need be ashamed.
The order was first introduced into
Kansas February 90, 1877, by the or
ganization OF Winfield lodge No 47a
This lodge contained twenty-three chart
er members. We now have forty-seven
lodges, with membership of over twelve
hundred, and new lodges and new men,
bers are being added frequently.
OUR GRAND LODGE
was instituted September %, 1877, by
past supreme dictator \. +. Keys, of
Mansfield, Ohio At that time We only
had twelve lodges and one hundred and
nintV members in the state. To-day the
order is las prosperous and fourishing as
its most ardent friends could desire.
Since the introduction of the order
there have been ten deaths from the
membership in our state. The losses
thus incurred were promptly paid by
the supreme lodge, the whole sum paid
amounting to twenty thousand dollars.
Our order therefore is no longer an ex-
pertinent, but an established fact, both
in the nation and IN our state, We re.
quire all applicants TO pass a thorough
and satisfactory medical examination,
by a competent medical examiner, and
we admit none to membership but moral
temperate, and Industrious men, and
herein is our security, and herein is one
of the benefits of our association and
one of the reasons fpf the IapIg glowth
and increasing popularity of the order.
For its success has been without paraf>
lei in the history of secret societies.
These are sound and sufficient reasons
for the remarkable growth'0P our order.
It's offer of sound insurance ut its actual
| cost, and its simple and sensible plan of
paying when one loss occurs, commend
| II To tue calm Judgment of men seeking
insurance. This will always ne . cen
! trail Attraction, .nti ia success in this
| line Ia meet the predictions of It's friends,
and the expectations of those who trust
| it, will be the foundation and the
measure of its continued prosperity and
| growth. Men seek and secnrs many
things IN an organization like this, but
the central thing theY seek is provision
for their families wien they are gone.
| They must believe IN the institution to
which they intrust the interests OF
| their loved ones after they themselves
| have passed away. As an order proves
| itself Trustworthy of this, it viii diay to
! itself the ;srqentsSnppolf' of the best men
| in its own ranks and in the community
But beyond this, there are other things
which are elements of attraction and OF
power-there is the social bond which
| binds our membership together. We
work ON business principles, hpt j; is aot
| all business; we are hrogheTs, and FROM
Que end OF the land TO tie other there i:
common tie rs a common interest
When we pay our assessments, il doe:
not 90 inta aFsreat ftlne % ha maulpu
lated, no ONE knows how, and no ont
knows for what; but when We are called
on for an assessment, we kHaW tia
some or our brothers have died and tina
their household is in mourning, and per
haps in want. We know that our money
| goes directly to their stricken homes
and aach hcp.e Is nss OF the household
of Dur gseat brofheFheodi It's. not 1
a'charityi what they receive Is only thei
lust due, in virtue of what the de
ceased has paid; and what we pa,
is not gIff, but a lust debt. scconiinI
TO the teTms OF our eoutFdet Yet
think tfat a thrill Of sympathy pslsse
through the order as we read our motto,
death of assessment informing US OF stht