Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-05-19
The Opening Meeting.

InitaitOry Degree Worked by Wantasti-
quet Lodge, Followed by Addresses
by Grand Sire PinkerIOn and other
Prominent Members.
On Monday evening the members of
Wantastiquet lodge and their guests gath
cred at the local hall for the purpose of
comforting the initatory degree. 1t was
regular meeting, and the regular business
of the lodge was transacted prior to con-
ferring the degree. The concise address
of welcome was given by the Noble Grand,
S. NJ. Yeaw. 1t was simply a dignified,
cordial welcome to the visitors. 1t con-
tanned not single supertluous word, but
it was enough and just right.
The audience room was crowded, rows
OF seats being five deep on each side of the
hall. This left comparatively little room
for comforting the degree. Every officer,
without exception, was letter perfect in his
work, and it was the tribute of the visitors
that they had never seen the degree more
skillfully or intelligently rendered than it
was on this occasion.
After the comforting of degree Noble
Grand Yeaw asked Past Grand Master L.
j. Retting to preside during the remainder
of the evening. Mr.. Retting called hap
PLY upon the various speakers. Grand
Sire Alfred S. Pinkerton and some of the
other dignitaries did not arrive until
after the degree work was over and num-
Der had spoken. Through some misappre-
hension Grand Sire Pinkerton and G. B.
Caswell, the grand patriarch of Massachu-
sets, had bought tickets for Burlington,
and this made them late in reaching Brat
tleboro. Those who were called upon prior
to their arrival were: j. II. Blakeley of
nd AZ
Bartlett of Island Pond, the deputy grand
master; E. H. Jackson of Windsor, grand
warden; F. A. Sherburne of Montpelier,
grand marshal; and these three past grand
masters, n. B. Bowman of st. Johnsbury
John Retting of Brattleboro, and H. NJ
Currier of Springfield, Mass, formerly of
Brattleboro. The grand officers paid trib-
utes to the work which had been rendered,
while Brothers Retting and Currier were
reminiscent and gave some anecdotes in
the way the work was performed quarter
of century ago.
1t was at this time that Grand Sire AL
fred S. PinkerLon of Worcester and other
visitors made their appearance. The pre-
siding officer spoke of the honor which
was paid by having visit from the grand
sire, and alluded to it as the first visit the
jurisdiction had ever had from Brother
Pinkerton. This statement Mr.. Pinker-
ton corrected and then made pleasant in
formal address. He is an able and at
times eloquent speaker. His training in
the Massachusetts legislature, both
branches, and as the presiding officer of
the Massachusetts senate, has fitted him
so that he shines on public occasions. He
stated that the New England membership
in the order was one-seventh of that of the
m ~ s,,No
ing account of visiting the Virginia lodge
in backwoods district, where every mem
Der was Baptist, and brothers were re-
ferred to not by their official titles, but by
an abbreviation of their given names,
Brother Sam, Brother Jim, etc. 1t was
pleasing little address and he was heartily
applauded as he took his seat.
The other speakers who followed him
were G. b. Caswell, grand patriarch of
Massachusetts; Franklin p. Trautmann,
the grand master of New York; S. l.. Row.
land and Charles H. Morgan, both past
grand masters of New York, and the fol-
lowing Vermont men: Henry Hall of
Burlington, past grand master; Col. H. E.
Parker of Bradford, grand secretary; Hen
ry Clark and II. G. Farrar of Rutland and
j. w. Goodell of Burlington, all three past
grand masters; and Col. NJ. A. Mcclure
OF Rutland, commander of the Vermont
department of Patriarchs Militant. All
of the addresses were pleasant and on the
usual lines of the good accomplished by
the order.
The members of the canton from Shell
burne Falls were entertained Monday
night at the Deerfield stock farm at West
Bratteboro. Perry Brothers, owners of
the farm, are brothers of DR.. Jos. Perry,
captain of the Shelburne Falls canton.
Wantastiquet lodge of Brattleboro still
has the largest membership of any lodge
in the state, $50. Three lodges have over
200 members and Is have over 100 each.
Twenty-eight lodges made gain, 81 lose,
and four just hold their membership.
Evening Star lodge, No. 81, made the
largest gain for the year, IL. The loss in
receipts of subordlnates is $3S3764.
Grand Sire Alfred S. Pinkerton and
the visiting grand and past grand Off
GERS from the New York jurisdic-
ton left Brattleboro on the early train
Wednesday morning for New Haven,
Conn, where the annual convention OF
the Connecticut Odd Fellows is being held.
Grand Sire Pinkerton made speeches on
five different occasions during his 24-hours'
stay in BEattleboro.