The record-union., 1899-07-18
PYTAIAN KNIGHTS REUNION.
RECEPTION TO GRAND CHAN
CELLOR ARNDT.
Music, Recitations and Addresses
on the Principles of
the Order.

circles was an official visit last evening
to Sacramento Knights at their Castle
by Grand Chancellor H. r. Arndt Of
San Diego and Grand Keeper of Rec
Ords and Seal H. Schaffner of san
Francisco. j. ]. c. Fitzgerald Chair
man of the committee, presided and in
troduced the speakers. Several music
al selections were rendered and Miss
FaSsett favored the audience with a
recitation
Grand Chancellor Arndt commenced
his address by referring to the warmth
of his reception. After bestowing a
few graceful compliments upon the
ladies present, and emphasizing the
gratitude they should feel toward those
who give their highest aspirations for
the betterment of mankind, the speaker
said
The Knights of Pythias take pride
in the fact that they are modern
order. They glory that they are but
the children of yesterday and that all
their aspirations deal with that form
of life in which the present generation
are important factors. They claim to
be the great American order that
teaches one flag, one country, one
tongue. The origin of the order dates
back to 1864 and was based upon the
pressing needs of that time which ore
known to all intelligent Americans.
Those We're sad, anxious, earnest
days, when homes were desolate,
hearthstones cold and the streets
thronged with crippled soldiers.
THE women, too, made heroic sac
riflces, and it was an age of suffering.
The consciousness of woe rested upon
rich and poor, upon every class and
condition. Then it was that the order
of Knights of Pythias was born to as
suage human suffering and promote the
idea of the common brotherhood Of
man. The soldiers and others demand
ed something which existing paternal
societies did not contain and so this
organization was launched forth.
From it's earliest days some Of the
fairest blossoms of Pythianism doomed
in the South and did much to promote
good feeling between the sections. It
first expressed itself in a practical way
in the payment of sick benefits to dis
tressed brothers and their dependent
families. This, however, is only a Sec
ondary feature. Pythianism goes to
the fountain head-the heart of man.
II teaches how noble it is to look after
the higher interests of men, and if a
lodge does its duty every member must
be better husband, a better father,
and a better citizen than he otherwise
would be. Pythianism doesn't stop with
paying benefits; it will exhaust its last
penny before it will allow a knight
to suffer needlessly on bed of sick
ness.
1T says to the weary wife: Come to
us; we love your husband, and want
to help you It's tender voice reminds
the wife that she has friends The
order realizes the necessity of placing
citizenship upon a higher level and
strives to elevate the standard of man
hood.
Not only that, Pythianism evinces
a special loyalty to the American flag
the Stars and Stripes are hung above
every Chancellor Commanders station.
Its Uniform Rank stands ready to go
to the front in defence of the flag. Four
of the Brigadier Generals appointed in
the Spanish-American war were
Knights of Pythias, and twenty-eight
Colonies belong to the same order.
Five thousand of the soldiers were
members. The first American struck
by bullet at Manila was a knight of
Pythias, and so was the officer who first
raised the Stars and Stripes upon The
battlements"
The Grand Chancellor's address was
an eloquent one, and the speaker was
greeted with hearty applause when he
concluded
Grand Keeper of Records and Seal
H. Schaffner was then introduced and
said:
Upon the altar of every lodge stands
an open book which many of the
Knights have taken as their guide of
life. In the first chapter thereof it is
recorded that the Creator saw it was
not good for man to be alone. Man
has reached the same conclusion. He
must have companionship to keep him
from becoming selfish. And so paternal
organizations have grown and -four
ished.
The age of this order comprises the
span of but a single generation. But
mark its results-the obstacles over
come-and it is to-day the third or
ganization of it's kind in the United
States. It's work has been done quiet
ly. unostentatiously, without parade or
display. Strangers sometimes get the