The times., 1898-12-05

| The beautiful ceremonies attending the
memorial services of the Order of Elks
In commemoration of their departed
brothers We're held yesterday afternoon
under the auspices of Washington Lodge,
| No. Is, at the Columbia Theater. Similar
| exercises were held throughout the United
! States wherever there is a lodge of the
| order. II Is the custom to do this on
the first Sunday in the month of Decem-
Der in each year. The services yesterday
were simple but impressive, and were
attended by large audience, despite the
very disagreeable weather which pre-
vailed during the day.
The only thing to be regretted was the
absence of the exalted ruler of the lodge,
Col. NJ. Emmett Urell, whom illness pre-
vented from being present and particle
pating in the exercises. His place was
filed, however with grace and dignity
by Esteemed Leading Knight Albert Sill
lers, who conducted the ceremonies,
which We're opened with the signing of
the ode of the order by the members.
The object of the gathering was then
explained by Mr. Sillers. who announced
tribute to the beloved dead of the order
The eye may lose its brightness and be
dimmed forever and the lips which once
tongued language of fraternal greetings
be silent, but such gatherings he said,
only tend the more firmly to unite those
who are left behind He then spoke of
the animal whose name the order had
adopted. 1t is noted for its gentIeness
and temerity, strong of limb and fleet of
foot, quick and keen of perception. So,
he said, should be the members of the
order. quick to hear the cry of distress.
timorous to do wrong and fleet TO fly to
the relief of the unfortunate
At the close of Mr. Sillerss remarks
came the most inspiring and impressive
feature of the ceremony. Upon the right
of the stage had been erected large 4
cross, the standard and arms of which
were studded with incandescent lights
each representing one of the departed
members of the order When requested
to do so, Lieut.. Col. Richard O'Brien, the
secretary of the order called the roll of
the dead and, as each name was an
nounced one. of the lights was extin-
guished. The service of the lodge was
then continued by each of the officers
paying a tribute of respect to the memory
of the departed.
The memorial exercises were begun with
prayer by the Rev. ]. Alexander Specht
Of the Church of the Ascension, which
was followed by a vocal solo, THE Holy
City" by T. II. Maxwell. Representative
Marion De Vries, of California who was
to have delivered an address, did not
reach the city in time to be present, so
Senator w. +. Mason was introduced as
the orator of the evening.
The senator prefaced his. remarks with
splendid tribute to the order of which
he said he was proud to be a member. No
organization. said he, could have loftier
objects than are announced in the mot
toes of the Elks-charity. justice, brother
ly love and fidelity. Any society having
such principles is worthy to be recon-
mended to all He drew a superb word
picture of the cross and all that 1t slgni-
fied in connection with the ceremonies.
He spoke of the sadness of death, and
concluded with calling attention TO the
fact that while to some II may mean good
night, TO others it really means good
morning in the bright and glorious here
after
brief address upon the notices of the
order was delivered by the Rev Asa S.
Fiske. pastor of CLINTON Memorial Pres
byterian Church. During the evening the
following musical numbers were rendered:
Nearer to Thee" by Misses A D. c.
Murray, X. L. Grady, Messrs. II. NJ. Hos
kins and w. j. Oates, and Lang's Flower
Song. by the Madrid Quartet The clos
ing number was sung by the members of
the order. assisted by the audience. after
which the benediction was pronounced by
the Rev. DIR. Specht.
The music for the occasion was fur
nished by the Academy of Music Orches-
ira. under the direction of Prof. Chris
Arth, Jr.
The memorial committee included
Messrs John c. Maxwell. chairman: John
=. Casey, Jacob Held, George A Mason.
NJ G. Mccormick, Col. NJ. E. Ureu and
Joseph C. Watson.