The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-08-04

Is Done by the Order - other
Speakers That Were Heard.
Upwards Of three thousand persons
attended the second annual reunion of
the Odd Fellows of Wayne county at
Lake Ariel yesterday and listened n
n number of addresses, among them
one from Colonel w. A. Stone. the Re-
pul lican candidate for governor of this
state.
Col Stone left this city for the lake
at $40 a. m, accompanied by Fred w
Fleitz, w. Gaylord Thomas, past grand
master of the odd Fellows of Penn
sylvania; George NJ. Watson, Factory
Inspector e. w. Bishop and James Nc
Cleary, of Pittsburg. Arriving at the
lake the party was met by a commit
tee consisting of ]. II. Thompson, of
Ilawley, chairman of the committee in
charge of the celebration. and a num-
Ter of prominent residents of Wayne
county. among them Senator Harden
burg, of HOnesdale, and DR.. Ely, of
Ariel.
For nearly an hour an informal re-
Ception was held on the platform and
hundreds came forward to grasp the
hand of Pennsylvania next governor
About IL o'clock a parade was formed
on the road leading from the station
to the Hotel Columbia and passed in
review before the governor and his
party.
The procession was in charge of John
Kuback, of Honesdale, the grand mar
shal, and was lea by the Honesdale
band. The lodge at Aldenvile follow
ed and after it headed by the Hawley
band were representatives of all of
the eleven lodges of the county. Wayne
county has over one thousand Odd Eel.
lows, the largest number of any coun-
ty in the state In PROPORTION to it's
population.
The marchers proceeded 20 the viii
lage of Arie! at the head of the lake
and upon returning went to the pavil-
ion in the picnic grounds where they
dispersed. The speech making imme-
diately followed.
THE SPEECH MAKING.
J. II. Thompson was chairman and
after selection by the Honesdale band
he introduced w. Gaylord Thomas, as
a past grand master of the state and
order. Mr.. Thomas said he was glad
to be present but had not expected to
be called uron to make a speech. He
approved of the reunion idea for it
brings the members of the or
der together and increases the
fraternal feeling. 1t also gives
the Odd Fellows of Wayne
realizing sense of their strength. The
W i'm &c 10,
spirit of the Odd Fellows. the grandest
and most beneficicnt organization in
the world. He hoped the reunions
would continue.
Such a movement was talked of in
Lackawanna but as yet there has been
no realization of it. Mr.. Thomas then
eloquently referred to the great as
sistance women are to the order and
in realizing this the doors of Odd Eel
lowship have been thrown open to
them as widely as possible by the or
ganization OF Rebekah lodges.
In no state in the union, said Mr..
Thomas, is Odd Fellowship so wide
spread as in Pennsylvania. There are
over 100000 members and more than 81
per minute is paid out in the way Of
benefits. 1t is impossible to calculate
the great amount of good the order has
done in relieving distress and in MAX
ing better citizens.
In no place." concluded the speaker,
"can you make better citizens than in
the Odd Fellows lodge. We teach the
fathcrhood of God and the brotherhood
of man with all that these imply"
The band played Hail to the Chief"
and Chairman Thompson then intro
duced Colonel Stone. He was warmly
applauded as he arose. He spoke as
follows:
COL. STONES REMARKS.
Mr.. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen
and Brother Odd Fellows-I am glad to
be here, glad to visit Wayne county, glad
to look into your faces, glad to shake
your hands and glad to have an oppor-
tunity to speak about something besides
politics. / am here today not as "a candi-
date for governor but as a fellow Odd
Fellow. 1t is my first visit here but 1t
will not be my fault If / do not come Of
ten In future. Wayne county has the
greatest number of Odd Fellows of any
county in the state in proportion TO its
population. You keep the peace pretty
well here in Wayne county and you do
not send many to the penitentiary. That's
pretty good record to have and its also
pretty good tribute TO the Odd Fellows.
No man but is better for being an Odi
Fellow. No man has ever been worse for
being one. He may injure the order but
the order cannot injure him. | am a
Presbyterian and believe that it is easier
for a man to do evil than good. A man
can learn to swear easier than he can
learn the ten commandments. At least
II was for me when as a boy | was try
ing to plough with team of stubborn
oxen among the roots and stumps of a
new farm my father was trying to culti-
vate. We all feel this proneness TO evil
and the need of something to restrain
the evil passions that we inherited from
Father Adam.
Odd Fellowship imposes this restraint
and makes the man better citizen. No
man, no matter what his disposition ever
went through life without being sorely
tried and tempted, No man ever will.
The man who tells you that he can resist
any and every temptation is the man you
do not want to bank on. 1t requires A
church, an odd Fellows lodge or a good
sore temptations. They are the supports
on which he leans in his hour of trial.
HANDMAID TO RELIGION.
Who can estimate the great good that
this noble order has done. ! do not look
upon it as a religion, but | do look
upon it as a handmaid to religion There
is nothing that holds a man in the right
track so we'll as self pride. When a man
goes into his lodge room he likes to ap-
preciate the fact that he Is honored and
respSted and this has tendency to
make him deserve to be honored and re-
spected. Another thing that Odd Fellows
do Is to make more orators than the
schools do. 1t is "A great school, a great