The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-07-15

ai hdpplIy located In dinerent sec tlons of the state and all doing well, There are upon the rosters of those eleven communicates more than 5000 true and valiant knights.
 Eminent Sir, think l voice the sem tlment or every sir knight in this grand Jurisdiction, when l say that every sir Knight feels proud of the history and record Of Washington conimandery No, l, and from the bottom of his heart wishes her every success in the second century upon which she is now enter ing,
 Finally sir knights, may we illus trate in our daily lives that noble prln- | ciple of our order, its crowning glory, charity, which Is another name for | love, which itself is another name for Christ, Christ of the cross and se- butcher. May we be true soldiers of the cross, ready to follow where he leads.
 THE CONCLUDING EXERCISES. The choir rendered selection from the Saga of King Olaf" by Longfel-
 low with additional verses by Sir George H. Hebard and music by Dud- ley Buck The historical address was delivered by Sir Knight Joseph l.. Bar bour of Hartford and was listened to ] throughout with interest and pleasure. JOS. l.. BARBOUR'S ADDRESS. I In the beginning of his long ad-
 dress Sir Knight Joseph L. Barbour said:
 We unite to-day in the first cen | tennial celebration held by any com l n1ln6pJy pf nj ier1,t ,lo {,, 1,a United States of America, ill the ob- 1 servance of the centennial anniversary | of the oldest body of Knight Tenn | plars existing in the United States, of | the first encampment ever chartered in l this country, of the first and only en-
 campnlent in the United States that | ever received a charter from the l grand encampment of England It is
 the centennial of Washington Com
 mandery No. l. of Knight Templars 1 Knights of the Red Cross, Knights of
 Malta, of the Order of St. John of | Jerusalem
 "In the encyclopedias, my friends, may be found a description of a plant | known to botanists as the Agave
 Americana, otherwise called the cen
 tury plant. It is described as having short cylindrical stem, terminating 1 in a circular cluster of hard, sharp | pointed bluish green leaves, each of | which lives for many years, so but few l have withered when the plant has ar
 rived at its maturity. It is a popular | belief, true in the colder climates not
 favorable to rapid development, that
 the plant flowers only at the expira-
 ton of hundred years Then it sends
 forth a stalk many feet in height,
 which puts out numerous branches,
 forming a cylindrical pyramid of per-
 feet symmetry, crowned with clusters
 of beautiful flowers.
 l To view it's blossoming there come
 admiring throngs, who, attracted at first by it's richly abundant, but newly
 developed infiorescence, fail not before they turn away to look with admira- ton upon the strong stem and sturdy leaves, whose slowly gathered strength
 and sturdiness sustains the graceful stalk, and have made possible the flo- ral crown. So let us here and now, l upon this most eventful day-at the
 blossoming of this century plant--con-
 template not merely the beauty of the towering blossoms, bur LOOK also for
 awhile upon the lowly stem, which in
 it's early days struggled patiently up through the enveloping earth, and mark 1 ifkeWiSe the growth of the sturdy
 leaves which during the long century
 have survived the blight and drought
 and frost of untoward seasons have
 for hundred years gathered the mois- | t1ir6 of the ha 41.
 sunshine, and have at last brought
 the perfect flower.''
 1 He then sketched the history of the I commandery and grand commandery
 for the past 100 years and in conclu-
 sion said:
 There are thoughts that, as I has, l ten to a close, crowd to my lips and plead for utterance I would fain l speak of the growth during the cen
 tury, not alone of Washington com l mandery, but of all Knight Tempar-
 ism In Connecticut the three Knight l Templars who met at Colchester in 1796 have been multiplied a thousand fold, and where there was one weak
 encampment there are eleven flourish ing communicates, while between the
 Atlantic shores and the Golden Gate there are forty grand communicates,
 a thousand communicates, 10000 Sir 1 Knights. 1 would speak of the growth of our city, from its 4,000 inhabitants, when our commandery was born, to
 its 60,000 of to-day; of the development
 of its great financial insurance and in- dustrial interests; of its advancement,
 not alone in population and wealth and area, but in attractiveness and beauty, so that even the world wide traveller, gazing from the car window
 as he hastens by, sees in the lovely
 park the impressive memorial arch,
 and the noble capitol, pearl-like in it's emerald setting, as fair and stately a picture as his eyes have looked upon
 in all his journeyings.
 T would speak of our historic com monwealth, of our five cities, grown
 to be eighteen, our ninety eight towns
 become one hundred and fifty-seven, | our twenty-two boroughs, none cen
 tury old; of the inventions of our me-
 chanics, the discoveries of our scien- lists, the valor of our soldiers, the | record of our statesmen. l would fain dwell upon the wonderful development
 of ourN country, of its increase in pop ulation from 4,000,O ,O00, of whom alas!
 100000 were slaves-in 1796, to our 65000, ,000-all free-to-day; of the | dauntless courage and energy of the hardy pioneers, who, felling forests,
 leaping great rivers, climbing mighty