The record-union., 1891-04-19
ODD FELLOWS DAY.
1t will be Celebrated on Saturday,
April 25th.
Something About the Origin of the Or
ders and Its Principles-How 1t
Has Progressed.

d.
city and State will largely participate in
this general jubilee. The mountains will
send forth their greetings to the sea, to be
re-echoed in the far-of isles of the Pa
cifc.
Odd Fellowship is not yet century old
in Great Britain, where it was originally
instituted. The term Originally" is used
with due Difference to the claims of its
antiquarian members who have traced it
Tor a similar order of fellowship back even
to the days of Adam. 1t is supposed by
many to have fourished under different
forms in the
DAYS OF PAGAN ANTIQUITY.
Among the Roman soldiers, in the
time of Nero, such an organization is
said to have existed. There appears to
be no doubt that a secret association,
bound by ties of mutual protection and
maintained during the reign of the
Caesars, and that a name similar in effect
TO that taken by the first London organ
izations, and born to the present day, dis
ungulshed the members Of the Roman
league. But that its motives or principles
We're similar has not yet been fully
demonstrated.
The tradition that the prosecuted Chris
Gans were also the keepers of this mystic
faith along with their diyinely appointed
charge While they dragged out their
miserable existence among the cata-
combs Of Rome, also wants authority
beyond that which the devices and in
scriptions carved upon their tombs can
be said to present. By very large ma
jority of Odd Fellows, however, all the
speculation upon the ancient origin OF their
beloved order are held in disdain 1t is
contended, with great good sense, that
an origin more remote than will serve to
show its respectability and permanency
it is not good for the society to claim,
slnceit only serves to aggravate the popu-
lar distrust of
THINGS MYSTERIOUS AND OBSCURE,
Retarding its progress, and besides, ad-
m1nlSterlnG to an unWholesome pride
among its members. Further back than
the foundation Of the order in London,
about the year 1872, it is therefore not
deemed necessary to refer to its paternity;
nor is there anything in its organization
at this period Of which scrupulous mem
berS have cause to be vain. It's highest
object appears to have been the cultiva-
ton OF rum-drinking qualities among its
adherents. This object was pretty we'll
expressed in the words of an old song,
used on some of the convivial occasions.
A verse of this reads:
'Let us be generous social and kind
And let each take his glass and be mellow;
Then Wen JOIN heart and hand, leave dissen-
sion behind,
And Wen each prove hearty Odd Fellow"
THE TITLE OF "oDD FELLOW"
The origin Of the name Odd Fellow, not
withstanding all the antiquarian research
on the subject, appears still to rest in OBJ
scurity. In the Odd FIeLJoWS' Moqoziae.
published by order of the Grand Master
Of the Board of Directors of Manchester
IT1Nsf III TX l., 1
lowing quaint description of what an
odd Fellow is like: He is like fox for
cunning, a dove for tameness, lamb for
innocence, lion for boldness, bee for
industry, and sheep for usefulness"
This comparison does no more injustice
to the subject than could be expected of
an attempt to assimilate the divine quail
ties Of human nature with the disposition
of brutes, and not much more than Noah
Webster has done, when he is content to
define Odd Fellowship as 1.-The name Of a
secret society for social enjoyment and
mutual assistance" No doubt the true
Odd Fellow of the present day will re-
pudiate this definition as altogether too
partial and limited to represent the full
purpose of his society.
In 11oS number of lodges existed in
Liverpool and London, but all were of
the character alluded to. It was not until
1909 that the first Manchester lodge was
instituted, and the foundation of that
unity laid which now embraces
THE MOST PERFECT SYSTEM,
And includes the entire strength of Odd
Fellowship in Great Britain. All this,
however, was not brought about without
a revolution. Before the association could
consent to give up its idol Of iolly good
fellowship there was dissension and strife.
ending finally in the secession of a ma
jority of members in 1913, who organized
what has since been known as the Inde-
dependent Order of odd Fellows. This
association soon outnumbered the Union
Order, as the old organization was called.
In the beginning of the present CEN
tury Odd Fellowship made its appearance
in the United States. 1t was at first self
instituted in two or three of the chief
Eastern cities-that is to say, was estab-
llshed without dispensation charter
from the English Lodge. In 1919 the
famous Washington Lodge Of Baltimore
was founded, the
CORNERSTONE OF THE ENTIRE FABRIC
Throughout America. On the Goth of
April, of that year, John Wildey and four
others met in an upper room of a small
tavern and proceeded to organize by self
institution the lodge from which the
American organization has sprung. 1t
was not until the next year that the soci-
ETY. received its charter from Manchester,
On the second year after its institution.
Wildey reports two lodges regularly
organized IN existence, with revenue OF
SAP 80.
In 1923, all the lodges founded bv self
institution and under dispensation, were
united. In 1925 the Grand Lodge of the
United States was organized on the rep
resentatlVe system, similar to the plan
Of our Federal Government. In 1928 the
annual report shows the whole number
of lodges to have been 10, and the num-
ber of members 56S Ten years after
wards 40 lodges were enrolled and more
than 5000 people had been initiated in
its mysteries. In 1889 there were IA
Grand Lodges in the United States, and
200 Subordinate Lodges. Number of
members, $4,000; yearly revenue, S75, 900;
expended for relief, $4,000. At the ses-
sion of the Supreme Grand Lodge of the
United States in 1860, thirtyfour States
and Territories were represented. The
number of lodges was 1878, with 6I2
encampmentS, containing nearly 400 900
affiliated and non-affiliated members.
The receipts were nearly -, 2,000, 900 per
annum, of which amount had been ex-
pended $500, 900 in administering relief to
5000 of its members. 1t was estimated
that from its organization up to that time
QS6l), Sl9,000,000 had been paid by Odd
Fellows in the United States toward the
fultillment of the beneficent objects of
their order, OF which amount $4,000 900
have been dispensed in open charity
among its members
AS an instance of the remarkable
growth of the order, the report of the Su-
preme Secretary for 1883 shows that there
were then one Sovereign Grand Lodge,
two independent Grand Lodges German
Empire and Australasia 81 Grand Lodges,
S,794 subordinate lodges, 4S Grand En-
campments and 209l subordinate en-
campments. The number of lodge mem
bers was 603, ,537, and of encampment
members, 106,972. The aggregate relief