The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-11-12

ODD FELLOWS WORK
SlXty-fouTth Annual Session
of the Grand Lodge to
Meet Next Week.
REPORTS OF THE YEARS DOINGs
There Has Been a Slight Decrease
in Membership, Otherwise
the Order is Flourish
ing.
Especial to srhe Jersey city News."l

The order has felt the depression of the
hard times. and the reports of the officers,
which were sent out last night, show a
slight decrease in membership, but the I.
benevolent work of the order in the Stat,
has been fully maintained. and the py
poets of renewed activity and grow -cs-
very bright. III are
In the encampment branch
H. Blake is grand of which
business to be transact patriarch, the
mainly OF the election ed will consist
'oming year. and + of officers for the
'e any very amin, .lere is not likely to
he positions t. ated contests for any OF
re conserv9 be filled. The patriarchs
a;,bT,nt tive people, and the lessons
rs M. Il experience taught them are
;ue =. carried out. There may be some
or used in the contest for representa-
: 20 the Sovereign Grand Lodge. The
N of ]. Barton Smith, of Newark, eA-
res with the coming session. re mas
been one of the representatives 10 tne
Sovereign Grand Lodge for several years,
and there appears to be q feeiing on me
part of members of the Grand Encamp-
ment that some one else should pc per
mitted to share the honors. Evan Pal
rymple, of Easton, Pa, a member OF Cnh-
ton -Encampment of this State, ana VINO
served a term as grand patriarch IN -
SO. is prominently Spoken of in connection
with the position, and his friends confl-
IDENTIFY expect that he will land the. prize.
He is a young man OF pleasing ADDRESS
and is popular throughout the state
The report of the retiring grand patr1-
arch contains the following paragraph
1.-The results of the year have not been
what I could wish; nevertheless, am giao
to saw there is every reason for us TO take
courage, and I am sure we are gaming
The report, while showing a small gam
last year, will show q large one TINS
wear. We are to be congratulated thae
the tide has turned, and with the lncom-
ing officers, who will bring strength, WIS
dom, character and honor TO the palrl-
archal branch, we shall gain still more.
/ felt sure when l assumed the duties OF
G.. p. I would institute at least one new
encampment, and some progrsss mas e eTa
made in that direction, but while the maj
work of instituting one has not been con-
summated, / am confident my successors
will have the pleasure of instituting two,
if not three"
The report of Lewis Parker, grand
scribe, gives the following statistical ex-
hibit, showing the condition of the order
Jan. l, 1896, the time TO which the annual
reports of the subordinate branches are
made. There are sixty encampments in
the State.
Number of members last report......... 1895
Admitted by z
Reinstated ....-..... 0
Total...... ..... .... -............ 1913
From which deduct
Error in last 3
Expeiled---....- .-..-.--. - ...'' ~
Withdrawn by CARD. .....-...-..... II
Dropped for non-payment of dues.....".. 2s
Members December 81, sss....-.--".--. s2s6
Net ncrease-..-. ........ ....
Number patriarchs relieved........-. s6
Number weeks benefits paid..-...-.. - q S'seaa
paid for relief Of widowed families. "a ~ y
Paid for burial of the dead...-........ z'iia5SS eo
Paid for special
mo, SO $50 s.
The amount Of the annual r rec up Is Oh i~s
The sixty,fourth session of the Grand
Lodge will convene on "Wednesday morn
ing. with Grand Master Peter Y. 2las5
presiding. He reports having insiiau.Sn
two subordinate lodges and FIVE lodges III II
the Rebeka branch during the year. IN
beginning his report he SAYS .ha
Coming into Office at a time WneH tne
country was suffering from a general de-
preston, 1 at once realized that 70 en
a record that would compare at az ID
vorably with the excellent work OF LIZ
predecessors of the past few years Wouto u
require on my part an honest deVotion ~
work, and that of the hardest .klnd.
yative and faithful, and I appreciate ths
fact that I have been grandiy SupportSe
by my staff and deputies, and also ny tus
membership of the order throughout liis
jurisdiction.
i have had as staff members a most
honest, consistent and loyal set OF Oda
EelONS,~ II lidSS pCSh x.1;tc
~sistance to me in my various visits
throughout the State.
The years work has been very pieasanl;
but I rave not been able to do all that !
would have liked to or should nave cone;
I fully ar ,preciate the forbearance o.
brothers nd sisters during the ,e,; ysai i,nS y
gences W hen / might have seemed forgel,
full or n eglectful. The office OF Srand
master IN this jurisdietlon d Is na re 70 iii iii
He referred touchingly, as dld GrdIu
Patriarch Blake, to the death OF Crane
Treasurer Joseph l; lam RpotS wnie ami nh
had been q noticeable flgure al 1Iaiu
Lodge sessions for more than thirty years
Grand Sc sretarv Parke's report SHOWS
the following to have been the condition OF
the order at the beginning of the year
We ha We now 29 lodges, two new ones
having been instituted during the year,
vizIYs4rdville, No. 24s. at Yardville; Mer.
Ger cornty. and Mullica, NO z49, at Lower
Bank, Burlington county 10
Our condition January l, 1872, was az
foilo VS. 49,.
Nun fber of members at last report...-...- 24sa:
"a ani' n 5sssa by care. =. .. i
Fe5m which deduct
Error in last
Withdrawn by ard..-..-----
Expelled -. ....-..... -.-.......-.
Deceased y: go
S Bropped for for no eapssin Of dues. lis
Number of active members Jan. l, 1871 24s g,
Decrease..... ........ .-.-......-....- w
RELIEF. 90.
Number of brothers relieXed-..:r.- @a3op
Number of widowed families relieved. ~
Number of weeks for which dement's oe,,
Amount paid for relief Of brothers ssSs2S7 =
Amount paid for relei o. 1,ss Z
Amount paid for education OF orphans 1? z
....- - rar HI burial of the DEAD rJl,Dct "
Sl.loui,' 800 81 6,027 3
Amount of annual eceipts.----.>.. zsu'oFo Z
The judiciary committee met at m
grand secretary's office OH Wednesday .
hear appeals. They had only two case;
before them. and one of those was Iaa,
over from last year, so tina the itigatloi
in the order has been very Ugh this year
The session promises to be- a very mar
monjous one. The election for officers ma
be somewhat lively. there being 9 arg
number of candidates for grand Waratn
which is the gateway to the Granu I'as
ferss chair. 1t is, of course, tu possible .
state definitely who may be n the ieau
as different sections of the state nav
prominent Candidate. The strength %
Mercer County will NO doubt go to Jane:
G. Robbins of Hamilton Square, Ther'
NAV be also a lively contest for CRANE
treasurer. James S. NeWkirk. who. ma:
been chairman of the finance acomn1itte'
for several years, wis appointed Crane