Omaha daily bee., 1895-06-10
TO THE DEAD OF THE ORDER
Woodmen Of the World OF Nebraska Observe
Their Memorial Day.
FIFTEEN HUNDRED IN THE PROCESSION
Not Deferred by Rain They March to
Hanscom Park Where Monument Is
Unveiled aud the Ritual of
the order Read.


In spite of the warm rain, notwithstand-
ing their dripping banners and soaked raj
ment and the muddy pavements ankle deep
with the rushing water which the clouds
poured down. fully 5000 Woodmen of the
World marched through the storm beaten
streets yesterday and celebrated the Me
mortal day of their order at Hanscom park.
The day was the sixth anniversary of the
founding of the order and the Omaha camps
had made every arrangement to make the
occasion the most notable in the local his
tory OF woodcraft. And although the ele-
ments seemed leagued against them, nothing
was lacking for the success of the
sion except the immense crowd of specta
tors that pleasant weather would have
brought out to witness the ceremonies. The
Woodmen themselves did not finch. They
held their ground against the pelting rain
and carried out every detail of their pro-
gram as faithfully as though the skies had
smiled their brightest.
1t may be doubted whether an affair of
the sort was ever carried out more success
fully in the face of so many obstacles. 1t
was only few days ago that the local
Woodmen conceived the idea of making the
celebration so elaborate. Committees were
hulredly appointed and the preliminaries
were perfected with remarkable celerity. The
other Nebraska camps were communicated
with and il was only at the last moment
that any estimate could be made of the num-
Der of visiting Woodmen that they would be
called on to entertain. 1t was then expected
that 500 visitors would be in line. and in
spite of the soaking rain fully that number
marched under their banners in the parade
yesterday afternoon
NEBRASKA CAMPS REPRESENTED.
| 1t was not until a little after noon that
| the last special train with its load Of Wood
| men pulled in, and 1t was 1870 before the
| camps were in readiness for the start. None
| of the Iowa camps attended, with the eXcep-
| tion of those from Council Bluffs, as SINH
! lar celebration at Sgourney had a first call
| upon their attention But the Nebraska
| camps turned out in full force. Falls City
| sent 200 Woodmen. Lincoln was represented
| by half that number. Stella and Verdon sent
| 100 each. and Nebraska City, Blair, Cal
| houn Auburn Salem. South Omaha and a
dozen other Nebraska towns swelled the total
| to fully 1.500.
The visitors were Hospitality received at
| Myrtle hall by the local reception commit
| tee and entertained until the hour for the
| parade to start The parade fell into line
on Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth
streets, fronting on Douglas. John T. Kuhns
was marshal Of the day, and he was as
| sisted by c. p. Leary, u. Sweeney and =. ].
Nepodahl of Omaha, Captain Kelly of South
| Omaha and r. A. Grinstead of Salem. The
Salem band of twenty pieces accompanied
| Burr Oak camp Of that city, and the Sew
enth Ward band of Omaha, together with
the two South Omaha bands, one from Coun-
ell Bluffs and a mixed band from Council
| Bluffs and Omaha, furnished band for each
| division. The parade occupied forty minutes
| in passing a given point and constituted one
| Of the finest bodies of men that has been
| seen in line in Omaha
The clouds had been impending all the
| while the divisions were forming, and they
had not covered half the distance to the
park when the big drops began to fall. Then
the shower became copious and many of the
marchers dropped out and sought shelter
But the ranks were quickly closed up, and
| fully half the Woodmen remained in line
| until their destination was reached.
MEMORIAL MONUMENT UNVEILED.
| In the shaded valley that runs through the
| center of Hanscom park the Memorial day
| monument stood guard over mound OF
| sodded earth, crowned with huge punches
OF roses and lilies. The monument was a
single slab of granite, which bore the in
scription, 'In Memory of Our Deceased
Sovereigns," and on the base the simple
| legend "A Woodman."
The Woodmen filed into their positions
surrounding the yelled monument and while
a sea of umbrellas protected them in part
from the dripping rain the beautiful ritual ot
the order was read by Council Com.
mander George C. Thompson, Adviser
o. p. Black and Banker George S. Meek OF
Alpha camp No. /, and the music was fur.
nished by the Seventh Ward band and the
Alpha male quartet. At the close of the
ceremonies Sovereign Thompson drew the
covering from the monument and the band
played Nearer My God to Thee" while
the ranks were broken and the audience ad-
journed to the pavilion. where the address Of
the day was delivered by Sovereign A. w
Jeffers of this city.
Mr.. Jefferis said that the devotion with
which the Woodmen had marched through
such a storm a more eloquent portraya
| of their devotion to their order than ht
could utter. Scarcely man had fallen ou
of line, and 1t striking instance o.
the fidelity of Woodmen to each other. Con
| tinuing the speaker spoke briefly in regard
to the principles and purposes of the order
Its object was not the acquisition of wealth
to distribute among its stockholders, bu
, to bring happiness and good cheer to thu
home of its members 1t had a still highe
object for it entered the cottage door t
| bring succor and consolation to the bereaveC
and no member of the order could ever Ii
in pauper's grave or leave his family un
| relieved.
,, A song by the quartet completed the pro
; gram, and just the clouds began to breal
| away the Woodmen broke ranks, and tn
9 visitors we're escorted to the depots, wher
I they took their trains for the return trip
4 | Among the guests of the occasion were fiv
f OF the sovereign officers, J. C. Root, soy
I ereign commander: ]. T. Yates, sovereign
! clerk +. +. Roose, sovereign banker; w. G
Rogers, sovereign physician, and John Nc
n Clntock, sovereign escort
. For a pure stimulant only buy Silver Ag
e Whiskey.
5 STRAIGHT" DEMO Gratis.