Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-04-26
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1899.
THE THREE LINKS.

" AA4ANAA ' u
Odd Fellowship has the right of way in
Montana today, the grand old order cele-
brating it's S0th anniversary in the city
of Anaconda. A full account Of the eX-
ercises is given in today's Inter Noun
tain. together with the mastery Grafton
of that eminent Odd Fellow, the Hon. |
Massena Billiard of Helena. The events
of today are of special interest to the
members of all fraternal organizations.
in that they commemorate the growth
and prosperity of an institution that has
weathered the storms of eighty long years
Of American history, and grown strong
II powerful in cultivating those great
est of human virtues-Friendship, Love
and Truth.
Throughout these United States today
millions of regaliaed citizens will do
honor to the principles of Odd Fellow
ship, and contribute, a most powerful
moral force 10 the welfare of the coun-
try. Every member of a fraternal or
ganization can rejoice with the gallant
cavaliers of the inks in the triumph of
that sacred work which stands for the
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood
of man. All that is good and virtuous
and true in human life-all that makes
life worth ~living-all that leavens the am
billions of earth with the hopes of heaven
is embraced within the three magic
links of Odd Fellowship-Friendship.
love and Truth.
No sermon IN poetry or prose has ever
measured the heights and depths of
Friendship. 1t is a function of the mind
of such infinite grasp that the tribute of
genius to its worth fails to reach the
target of its encomiums. Friendship can
be felt. appreciated and understood, but
not described. 1t can be illustrated by
examples that demonstrate it's value to
mankind, but its subtle promptings are
beyond the analysis of man. Recognized
as a virtue that Is necessary to the we'll
being of the human race, fraternal So
cieties seek to cultivate it and diffuse its
blessings among their membership. The
history of human progress is but a
record of their success. Wonderful has
been the work of the lodge room, and the
mystic power Of fraternal association,
in building up this gigantic element of
unity in the national character of our
people. Friendship is a link in the chain
of civilization as important as the air
we breathe, and great is the people who
can pay loyal tribute to this virtue
throughout our glorious republic today.
If Friendship be SO important a func.
ton in the affairs of human. life, what
can be said of Love? Since the days
when the morning stars sang together
Love has welded the sceptre of empire
and ruled the heart of man. If Friend,
ship cannot be described, Love is still
more ubtle. It's birth is of unknown
origin, for, as Parthenia says, it ma!
spring into life from the glance of tn
eye. Yet it is a power as resistless as
torrent. And, like the torrent, it carrie
all before it in it's mighty on-rush t.
the sea. Men nave lived for Love an,
died for it. They nave waged wal an,
concluded peace in Difference to thi
mighty motor of the heart.
1t has healed hearts and broken them
fired ambitions and destroyed hopes; i
has lifted men to heaven and invite
them to he'll. The greatest and best o
virtues, ii has ~misapplied the mobiles
energies of the soul. In it lie the height
and depths of life. All that is great an,
good is linked to Love, while misery an
despair may lie helpless at it's feet. Ye
it is the one element in life which is mos
fondly cherished by the heart. Withou
1t, life would be a nightmare people
with fantastic fears, and heaven woul
be forever yelled from human hope
With it, the rays of the sun gro,
warmer, the zephyrs feel like the gentl
rustic of angelic wings, and life takes O
the accoutrements of courage, happines