The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-11-16
ODD FELLOWS
IN SESSION.
Sivty=fifth Annual Com.
munication Being Held
in This City TO.
day.

city. Delegates from all the lodges In tn
State are in attendance. Grand Maste
lC. W. Amerman In his annual Iepor
says:
| Through the goodness and mercy OF az
all-wise Providence we have been sparct
to meet on this occasion. the sixty-flftf
Annual Communication of the Crane
Lodge of Delaware, to deliberate upon the
work that shall come before us. And w
trust our deliberations and acts may be ir
the true spirit of fraternity, acceptable to
the brethren and approved by him who has
spared us to meet in this capacity Let us
give thankslat this time to the Ruler of the
Universe for his kindness in perpetuatlna
our liyesand the spirit be has planted with.
In us OF Friendship, Love and Truth.
In all the Lodges have visited there Is
manifest the true spirit of Odd Fellow
ship, aud am pleased to learn that In
nearly oil there has been so.no increase In
membership As to whether we have held
our own In membership throughout tie
Jurisdiction tho records will show. 1t Is
my earnest desire that we may be moving
onward.
I We have Just emerged from conflict, a
war for the sake of humanity. In which a
number of our brethren have nobly taken
part, thereby showing that true principle
Of Odd Fellowship, that like tho good Sa-
maritan, is always ready to lend a helping
hand In time OF distress aud need. Nav
we ever hold In sacred rememb branoe those
whose lives were sacrificed for the good Of
others, and warmly welcome back to
'heirhomos and Lodges those who have
survived The perils OF war.
My prayer is that wo may be permitted
to enjoy many yearly communications of
this Gran Body. and that when done
with these fratcinal greetings we may en-
Joy that Brotherhood Above. our lives hav-
Ing beon In keeping with the a. probation
OF tho Sovereign Grand Master on high
Report Grand Secretary Hallan-The
mutations of time again bring us together
in annual session, to enjoy III the bond Of
friendship, that love that unites our hearts
In the work to which we have been as.
signed.
Ont de OF the Order. the events Of the
year, and they may have an indirect bear
ing upon our progress, have been fraught
with great and many changes, wonder-
'u''n their scope. grand in their results.
Inside OF the Order we have pu1 sued the
even tenor OF our way, without attracting
undue attention, quietly and lovingly as
sunging grief, meotiag affllction with sym.
rathy. banishing distress with brotherly
hand, elovatirg character by tho force Of
prccept and education.
The grand work that can be done In this
direction is proportional to the number
engaged in its performance Regrstfully
we note that our field has been con ntracted
ty decrease In membership during the
year. By reason of non payment OF dues,
many have allowed themselves to be drop
pod from the rolls. Some nf these might
have been retained, or could be regained,
by slight effort mado In the proper direc.
tion.
MEMBERSHIP .-Numb ber reported last year
2697. Initiated 49, Admitted by card, 4, Re.
lnstated. 3. Total P79?. Withdrawn by
card I. Suspended 49, Died So. Errors g.
100; Present mem bership 96y2, Loss In
membership o5. Number Of Lodges 81
Relef-Number Of Brothers relieved 1853.
number Of weeks sickness 2e3l, number
Of brothers buried 81. number Of brothers
wives buried is, amount paid for siok re-
lief f9.ol3.00, amount paid for burial
males s., ,675.O amount paid for burial
$4,000 amount paid for rellof OF
widowed families $13i.l5. amount paid for
outside charitable purposes sils 50,
amount paid for donations s30a.34. Total
paid for relief sl4.35l.37. total paid for
other purposes sl3,2455l, total amount OF
expenses s27,506 sS, total amount Of re-
ceipts sss, sO97s
Funds Invested and otherwise. se.-Perso-
nal property, actual value, Sl8, 4s3 81; Real
estate. s6i,243 80; Stocks, sSs,6ll Sc; Bonds
'e, 0lS AZ; Notes 1854 81; Mortgages, co..
I65 90; Temporary loan, tl6S oe; Amount
lue for benefits paid members other LODI
yes, sl05 00; Cash In bank, s7,GO3 IL; Cash
IN officers hands, 1850 o.; Total. sl4e,5l3.
'2; Liabilities, $ll. $40 a6; Net assets, SlSo,.
)o2 SO.
GRAND REPRESENTATIVE REPORT.
Your Representative to tho Seventy
'ourth Annual Sesesion u the Sovereign
Grand Lodge, l. o, o. T., held In Copley
Hall, Boston, Mass, commencing Sept
18th, and ending Sept. cath, lsoS (there
vas no session on Wednesday. 2!st.. the
lay being devoted to the parade Of tho or
'er) submit the following as their report:
The session was attended by an unusu-
lily tnrge humber Of Representatives and
many visitors, and harmony prevailed
The grand body was given
cordial welcome to the Common wealth by
dignitaries civic and frater.
,al; the Odd Fellows Of Boston and vc,n. |
ty were particularly friendly and court
ous; the city was smagnificen,ly decorated, |
md the parade OF the Order on Wednes-
lay 2lst, was not only the largest your
ever saw, but positively
,ssected tho largest ever had in Boston,
hero being from 25.O,o to &c, 900 brethren
IL lire. Nothing was spared to make us |
as can be seen Ivy the "acknow-
edgment Of Courtesics Received" ap-
caring in the Grand Secretary report OF |
he sessions.
Whilc the membership Of the Order has
lot increased in the period covered by this
eport to the extent that was desired, yet
here is much to encourage US. for the
ountry where the great bulk Of our mem.
ership is tt be found has not entirely re-
overed from the financial and business
epression Of the last few years, which &C.
ounts, to a large extent. for our increase
OF being larger than II Is. The mem ber.
hip Of tho Subordinate Lodges shows a
cry subst antial increase, as docs also that
the degree Of Rebekah, while the En'
branch, Notwithstanding the
,medial legislation of the last two session
your body, shows small decrease.
The condition Of our Order In Europe
nd other lands not on the continent Of