Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-04-28

bo{OENl WOTuS IrOH men Ol
l. distinction in the state of ILL
nois and the nation, as well as in the
order Of the Modern WOodmen of
American. concluded the ceremonies
attending the laying of the corner
stone Of the head office building in
Rock Island late yesterday afternoon.
Hon. W. j. Bryan, whose speech fol-
lowed the exercises contained in last
nights ARGUS, was introduced by
J President of the Day William Jackson
in an appropriate reference to the
part Mr.. Bryan had taken in the
Omaha head camp meeting. which
originally ordered the removal of the
headquarters to Rock Island. Mr..
Bryan was given a great ovation
when he advanced and spoke as =
:, lows:
Mr.. Chairman, Neighbors. Ladies
and Conference.-The resolution in
troduced Mt Omaha and passed
through that body so easily IS not
evidence of any persuasive power
upon the part of the person who in
troduced the resolution. but only
shows how easy it is to win a victory
when you have got cause to fight
for. (Applause). The Woodmen
selected this city because they
thought it was good place to have
the headquarters of the order located
in. and Rock Island deserves what
ever credit there is in having won the
location. ] am glad that | am per-
mitted to participate today in the
laying Of the cornerstone of this per-
manent home of the Modern Wood
men of America. | feared little
that at this time it might he difficult
to interest the people in such peace
able undertaking as the laying of a
cornerstone of building. War has
excited the people. Our hearts are
with our friends. and our thoughts
} hallow those who are assembling to
! fight in defense of the flag But
when il was suggested that / might
disturb here the thoughts of war
which are engrossing the attention of
the people. | remembered that the
Woodmen of Rock Island had had So
much war that, little thing
like foreign war applause and
laughter) would not disturb them.
(Great applause).
I'll became a member Of this order
soon after ! went to Nebraska, and
attended the celebrated meeting held
at Des Moines, Iowa, in August. 1890.
which determined to so large an ex.
tent the future of the order. And
there had the pleasure of making
the acquaintance of many of these
ncighbors who have since that time
been conspicuous in the direction of
the affairs of the order. remember
that mt that time. we only had about
10000 neighbors in the United States.
But since that time the order has
grown until now the president of the
United States could have found within
the order more than twice as many
men as he called out the other day to
defend the nations honor. You can
get some idea at. the growth and
greatness of the ofsisr if you will re.
member that the @olunteer force of
this nation now assembling at the
command of the president added to
the regular army of this nation. that
is, the two forces together. do not
constitute two-thirds as many men as
are members Of the Modern Woodmen
of America
Why Has 1t Grown?
why has the order grown?
When you find a thing that grows,
you may make up your mind that
there is some merit in the thing. The
people do not accept orders, they dc
not join organizations unless they are
convinced that these organizations
are both patriotic in their purpose
and have beneficial effect upon the
persons who join them. am a be.
lever in the philosophy that you can.
not interest n man in thing unless
YOU convince him that he is, in some