The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-05-02

3ODJeCJS Is COl Tue StduAdIO VI lAOA7
atty among men. All Of its teach
.ings and principles are in that direc-
ton. And now if anyone, because Of
this celebration today, has the idea
that Oddfellowship means dress pa
rade or holiday affair be now and
forever undeceived. It means work;
it means sacrifice. It means self de-
NAL, to lift higher and higher the
standard Of morality in the world.
All good Oddfellows are willing to
work that the world may be made
BETTER, willing to labor for the amel-
Grafton of the race until the three
links shall encircle the whole world,
and the power and influence of
Friendship, Love and Truth shall be
felt in every heart. u
After Mr.. Lumm's speech the Glee
Club sang, "City Of Our God. =
VA JOSEPH LOWE
was called for a speech, and res
ponded in the following manner: 1T
is a great honor and pleasure for me
to stand before an audience of Odd
Fellows in Worthington, but as to
speech making, I must say that !
haven't made speech since I was II
years old. I would like to repeat
that speech for you this afternoon
but don't think / have time. I have
lived in Worthington for eighteen
years and during all this time have
been without home lodge-in fact I
have been nearly isolated from the
pleasures and protection that comes
from we'll organized lodge that can
not be furnished by a few morgan
lied members. It has been thirty
one years since I rode the goat"
and it was during times when it tried
mans nerve to be an Odd Fellow,
good and true. 1t showed itself,
however, where ever it existed. It
has grown from year to year with
growth equalled only by the Russian
thistle-shake it and you find it has
thousands of seeds. -" II
2. have seen Father Wildey many
times and when a babe frequently
sat upon the old mans knees. What
an honor for any man to claim! The
old man used to visit the lodge ! Wass Was'
inflated il, quiet freq quently
Z i Is1l i
that when sick overtakes ne chat
loving hand will take care Of me.
And when die will be laid to rest
by my brothers. To-day is my birth
day. am fifty-seven years old! I
have always thanked God that was
born on the 26th day of April ever
since that old patriarch dangled me
on his knee"
JOHN IRELAND,
OF Round Lake, was the last speaker
last, but not least. He said: "Bro.
Lowe stated in his remarks that he was
initiated into the brotherhood of
Odd Fellows at the time the north
and south were struggling for the
mastery. Now let US 60 back into
past somewhat farther. One hund-
red and fifty years ago there were
troublous times in England. Two
factions were struggling for the mas
terry of the kingdom. But in the
midst of all might be seen a little band
of men who met in secret in an inn in
Southwark, London, for the purpose
of mutually assisting each other.
None outside of the little circle knew
the object Of these secret meetings,
and as the great political questions
of the day seemed to hold no place
in the minds of the little band they
received the name .''Odd Fellows"
From this beginning the present
state of affairs has been reached. In
1919 an Odd Fellow named Thomas
Wildey, living in Baltimore, after a
considerable search, succeeded in
finding four other members of the
order and these five men instituted
the first Odd Fellows lodge in the
u. S. They had been members of
the order in England, and as it was
just after the close of the war of 1912
when everything English was looked
upon very unfavorably, We can ina
CINE that the success of the new or
ganization would be somewhat dis
couraging. But the principles of
Friendship, Love and Truth are uni
versal, and independent Of politics,
creed and governments, and there is
nothing I can say which would ex-