The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-12-11

Order Of Odd Fellows in
Hawaiian Islands.
Interesting Meeting of Excelsior
Lodge Remeniscent Talks
by Members.

, of Excelsior Lodge, /. o. o. F., met il
the lodge room last night to common
crate the 5Oth anniversary of the foun-
Idation of the order in Honolulu. There
were a number of visiting brethren
from the States present, and good
sprinkling of the oldest members of the
order in Honolulu.
D. D. G. S. L. L. La Pierre occupied
the chair of Noble Grand in place of
L. W. Hough, who holds that Office in
the lodge. The services opened with
prayer and singing of the opening ode.
Then followed remarks by various
members of their experience in the
early days of Odd Fellowship.
! Robert Levers, who was Treasurer
of Excelsior Lodge, told how in the
beginning kerosene was an unknown
quantity on the Islands, and the only
illumination they could get was from
candles. Then kerosene and lamps
came to Honolulu, and the lodge adopt
| ed its use. Then gas was introduced,
and Excelsior Lodge was prompt in
keeping up with the march of progress,
and adopted it, but this proving I'M
satisfactory it was abandoned and ker-
osene substituted
Remarks were also made by Brothers
Locker, Rose, Dat, Rowe, Turner and
l.. w. Hough, N. G.
w. G. Parke, in response to general
request, read extracts from Pacific Com
mercial Advertiser of 1885. They were
from an address delivered by his faith
er, the late Marshal Parke, P. D. D.
G.. S., on the occasion of the 26th an
niversary of Excelsior Lodge. 1t en-
braces the early history of the lodge
and is much too long to publish in
full Mr.. Parke said:
cat the time Excelsior Lodge was in
stituted, Honolulu presented very diff
ferent appearance from what it does
today. The town was then composed,
mostly, of grass houses and a few
adobe buildings. Even the stores, where
the merchants transacted large bust
ness, with but few exceptions were of
the same material There were a few
| coral stone buildings, and also some
wooden ones. Nearly all the fences
were adobe. But the exact figures will
give you a better idea of the town at
that time. There were 1,345 dwelling
houses, of which 40 were stone, SO part
stone and part adobe, 40 wood, 345
adobe and 875 grass. There were 40
stores, of which Is were stone, 10 wood
and Is adobe. These, with but few eX-
| ceptions, were plain, unpretending
buildings. What a contrast to the city
as it now stands, with it's fine blocks
of stores, and it's handsome residences
scattered thickly from Kapalama to the
Makiki plains, and for long distance
up the Nuuanu Valley. But few land
marks are left of the old unpretending
town.
'The foreign population of the old
town was &C., including 81 ladies and
ia children. OF the ladies, 40 were
| American, 10 English, and l Danish.
| Our first lodge room was in an adobe
house with grass roof, in the premises
on Hotel street, known as Adams yard.
1t had a veranda around it, where the
| Outside Guardian had to keep constant
watch on all sides while the lodge was
| in session. AS the building was but
one story, it would not have been safe
to have allowed him to come inside.
You can readily imagine that on rough
and stormy nights the surroundings of
the Outside Guardian were not as COM
| Portable and cheerful as they are at
present.
In 1S47 we removed to another
adobe house, near the corner of Hotel
and Alakea streets, not far from the
spot where the old Royal Hawaiian
Theater afterwards stood.
I'm 1S48 news reached Honolulu of
| the discovery of gold in California,
which caused quite an excitement here,
as it did elsewhere. Preparations were
at once made for departure, and a
general stampede followed. Every
! available little craft was at once fitted
| for the voyage, and left here crowded
with passengers, nearly all of whom
were foreigners. There was such
general exodus that Honolulu was
nearly depleted of its foreign popula-
ton. OF course, most of our members
were borne along with the crowd and
we had but very few left. Our meet
Iings were soon confined to a mere
! CorporaPs guard. For many months
there was no quorum, and we could
! transact no business; but we still con-
tinued to meet together on Tuesday
| evenings, to talk over our prospects,
and to ascertain if any brother needed
! our aid or sympathy. AS our funds
were low, with no prospect of an i'm
mediate increase, we found it necessary
/ to reduce our expenses and give up
our rooms. At that time Brother H.
| n. Crabbe was United States naval
Istorekeeper. and occupied the two-story
stone building near the corner of Fort
and Merchant streets, and in which
Messrs. Ed. Hoffschlaeger & Co. for a
long time did an extensive business.
In our difficulty Brother Crabbe came
to our aid, and at his kind invitation
we removed all our paraphernalia to
| his premises. This was in the latter
part of 1S48, and we remained there
nearly a year, during all which time
we continued our informal Tuesday
evening meetings. The old building,
| like most of the brethren who then met
within its walls, have passed away 1t
was removed about two years ago, to
make rooms for the present Campbell
! block"
! The Excelsior Lodge is a wealthy
Organization now, and owns a fine
| building and other real estate in Ho-