The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-15
ODD FELLOWS JUBILEE.
Thousands Will Participate in th?
Seventy Fifth Anniversary.

be Represented.
! New York, April l4.-No event in the
history of Odd Fellowship has been
! prepared for on the scale of the cele-
bration which comes OF in Balti-
more on the 10Th of this month. 1t is the
/ seventy-ffth anniversary of the order.
And although jubilee has been arranged,
| care has been taken to eliminate all fea-
lures in connection with it that SAVIOR of
the perfunctory merely, so that in some
respects the commemorative services will
be impressive, apart from their inherent
| character.
The branches which will be officially
| represented include. to give the
legal titles, the Encampment branch
OF the Independent Order of Odd
| Fellows, the Rebecca lodges. the Cheva-
liers of the Patriarchs Militant, in ad-
ditiOn to an unofficial sprinkling of the
! membership of the grand lodges of Au4
tralasia. Germany, Switzerland and Den
mark.
The American membership, as dis
| tinguished from the foreign, is some 500
900, and these figures will give some idea
OF the magnitude of the coming celebra-
ton. Every officer of tine Sovereign Grand
A@OOs7C t4tAS UGH NOIh1uR lOI Weeks DdSb
IN the perfection of the commemorative
! exercises, which promises TO be
the most imposing series of
ritualistic obserYances ever held
in America, from the fraternal or
ganizauon point of view Grand
secretary Theodore A. Ross, stationed in
Baltimore. has arranged the details and
the members have by this time become
| familiar with the order of exercises,
The central fqatnpp Of the n epa sion will
be the services to be held at the Wildey
monument, in the old Maryland city.
These will form, almost needless to say.
such ceremonies as the Odd Fellows pre-
pare Tor such occasions with the added
| dignity Of the presence of the high oftic-
ials. Grand Sire c. t. Campbell, of Lon
| don, ontario, last winter spoke
of the Importance of the gath
ering as distinguished from the next
meeting of the Sovereign Grand Lodge,
which takes place at Chattanooga, Tenn.
! on September II next. and as a conse-
| qUence every grand lodge has arranged
to take part. The Maryland Grand
| Lodge, which alone will have all its 10000
member in the celebration, either as
participants in the procession or as spec
tators, has set an example which all the
| rest OF the country is following. New
| York promises to be heavily represented
| in mum bers, which is natural, in view of
| the 5000 members the state has. From
| Pennsylvania viii come other thousands
This state is erecting an immense
structure as an Odd Fellows home
and the Quaker City alone will
have thousands of members at Bal
timore. 1t is, of course, impos-
sible to give the exact number of partici-
pants, but the indications are that 100000
persons will assemble.
AS stated, the occasion will not be
marked merely by the conventional
parades and speeches, although those
features with the marching hosts and the
bright regalia, will form an imposing
spectacular feature. The mayor or the
city officials will extend the Official vel
come, and the ceremonial portions of the
exercises viii be superintendent by Grand
Secretary Ross. Other eminent Odd Eel
lows, either acting or represented, will be
Deputy Grand Sire j. w. Stebbins, of
Rochester, n. Y, Grand Treasurer 1.
A. Sheppard, of Philadelphia AS
sistant Grand Secretary G. Coburn,
of Baltimore, who will have much of the
work of registration and Official record
ing on his hands, Grand Chaplain j. w.
Venable, of Hopkinsville, Ky, Grand
Marshal Walter q. Dye and Grand
Guardian }. S. Tyson. of Savannah, Ca.
The Pennsylvanians, representing the
! state with the strongest Odd Fellowship
/ following, will form the most conspicuous
| phalanX in the demonstration, but to
| California has been accorded the honor
of furnishing the orator of the day. He
is James G.. Mcguire, OF California, the
/ most prominent champion of fraternity in
the United States, probably. He repre-
sents San Francisco con
stituency in which the spirit
of fraternal organization is very
strong, thanks to his efforts, and the
state he represents is credited with over
$1,000 Odd Fellows. Congressman Ma
guire will review the growth of Odd
Fellowship in connection with the social
! evolution of the country and its meaning
as factor IN the problem of national de-
veiopment. What gives his address an
| unusual significance. is his prominence as
an advocate of equality of opportunity in
the competition for a living and his con
sequent advocacy of the abolition of
private ownership of land. However the
CongrcSsman'S address will be in no sense
political one, as he eschews partisan
matters in all things relating to the fra
! teraal organization of which he is so
strong champion.
An interesting feature of the celebra-
ton will be the presentation of the Dro-
Eress of Odd Fellowship bv the officials
of the order and the discussion of the
possibility of closer union with the hun
dreds OF thousands of members in Eng
land not at present affiliated with the
American branch. This win be a pro
foundly important step to the order.
should il ever lie contaminated. for vast
as It's strength is now, the addition of tbs
100000 members of the Manchester
Unity ODD Fellows, of England
/ would lie a stupendous Increase
at one bound Not that the
Am erican order has longed for the ANAL
gamation except abstractly, but in view
of The strides which the fraternity has
made here and of the Importance of inter
national unity, the English Odd Fellows
have been trying TO effect this consolida-
lion. However, no Official action will be
taken at the Baltimore gathering. Such
step would concern the Chattanooga
ConClave next September
There will be taken measures to effect
an even closer union of the lodges on the
continent of Europe with those here
Among the interesting features of the
Baltimore celebration will be the recent
of cable greetings from Switzerland
Denmark, Germany and Australia.
the grand lodges in those countries
having arranged to be in session during
the continuance of their American broth.
ei S jubilee and to send dispatches of fe-
licitation. These will be dulv spread
on the archives of the American branch,
Arrangements have been made to issue
a commemorative volume of the anniver-