Wichita eagle., 1889-04-28
A DAY IN HUTCHINSON.

builders.
A DAY IN HUTCHINSON.
The Twentieth Anniversary of Odd Eel
lowship.
To the Editor of the Eagle.
The special left Wichita at s a. m.
with as jolly company as ever left a
city on any occasion. The /. O. O. F.'s
are the "boys and girls for sociability.
About 300 Odd Fellows and guests from
Wichita arrived in Hutchinson at 1886
a. N. and were met by the Hutchinson
order, and the ladies were provided with
carriages. The different orders were ar
ranged in line, the Wichita order being
given the post of honor, and the Wichita
ladies joined in the procession, as well as
the ladies Of other orders. The train OF
carriages numbered thirty. After the
general parade the crowd gathered in
the opera house, and until noon listened
to short addresses by Mayor Constant
and Rev. Joe Waldrop. Music by the
Wichita band.
Mayor Constant spoke on "Freedom of
the City" His speech was short
but to the point. The "Ad-
dress of Welcome by Rev. Waldrop
was both entertaining and instructive.
The speaker showed that Odd Fellow
ship consisted in nothing but for be-
nevolent purpores: gave brief sketch
of the organizing of The order the lead
ership of Thomas Wylie, who, with four
other men, organized an order in the
year 1919 in Baltimore. The number of
members now in the United States are
600, 600, making an amount to be scat
tered among the poor of about $4,000
900. He fairly brought down the house
when he made the remark: "Now, what
an amount of good we could do if each
citizen would give even penny a day
for the relief of the poor and sufferingl'
AT 1870 o'clock |. o. o Fs, represent
ed from nine different lodges, and guests,
mum boring in all about 1000 persons,
proceeded to the Higley building
and there partook Of a most delicious
meal prepared by the ladies of
the NJ E. church. The dinner was
free, carriages were free, and everything
was free. The Hutchinson people
showed great respeaCt for the guests,
AMI not a remark was heard but that
every one was satisfied and felt glad they
had gone. In spite of the 'mortgaged
real estate" flying SO promiscuou5ly
through the air the first man from Wich-
tia to be arrested was that Of Dir. Nc
Kay, which occurred about one o'clock,
by Officer Hall, the officiating" officer,
who escorted him to his most spacious
parlors and there had to ''settle up" At
80 he was allowed to go and join his
brother Odd Fellows who met again at
the opera house.
The afternoon was spent in listening
to an Grafton by A. P. Riddle, grand
master, on Odd Fellowship. AT first
sight of him the audience seemed to be
impatient and tried to bring him out by
cheer" He said when addressing the
friends that to come before such an
audience it made him ''tremble
with fear" and seemed to "wreck his
whole frame" and he was "really
scared" Mr. Riddle described more
fully the organizing of the order and his
many witty sayings kept the audience
in an uproar. He claims that the order
was instituted to relieve suffering hui
mainly and brought out by illustration
that it iss''more blessed to give than re-
ceive," and by living up to the order
Giving is boundless joy, and death
welcome reward"
The speaker thought there was too
much display, too much done for notori-
ETY.; but the I. o. 0. F.'s do not believe
in doing good for praise but for the good
that is done itself. In speaking of
secrets he SAID, there are secrets within
and without, above and beneath US, and
all around us, and what are you going to
do about it? Applause.
After describing the use Of the tele-
scope and giving some little advice he
remarked that .'if you can't be an ''Odd
Fellow" you can make an effort at least
TO be a man" Applause.J
He then took up the subject of the
bible, that being their guide IN all their
undertakings. The order Is selected
from the best business men In good
standing and they have since the organ
ization of the order spent over $50, 000,
600 in work of benevolence work.
''Odd Fellowship is destined to be the
greatest order in the world. Links are
stretching with the years; live the truth,
clean hands and pure hearts and the
order is secure"
The next in order on the program was
song by the choir, consisting of two
ladies and two gentlemen. Title of the
song, Friendship, Love aid Song
They sang beautifully and were brought
out again by an encore. The meeting
then closed, the benediction being pre-
nounced by Rev. Waldrop:
Much praise is due the Wichita band
for the interest they took in the exercises
and they rendered some of their most
excellent pieces of music.
And many thanks to the Hutchinson
people for their kindness In making
every one comfortable and happy. The
city furnished free cars after the speech
es were over. and great many visited
the salt works, and many brought
samples home with them
AZ $50 p. m. the party took the train
for Wichita and reached the city at 5 p.
M, highly elated over the day proceed
ings. The SEVENTEEN anniversary OF ths
/. o. o. rs. is one long 10 be rernem-
bered. c. E q.