Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-06-17
H ||al| INNS
THE REV. $. T. wEsTHAFER
Conducted the Service ana Preached
the Memorial Sermon-His Text--A
Summary ef the Address-Tke
Lodges Participating-The Deceas-
ed Members.

/ AOu8es FaFtAcApotlm4-The Oeceas-s
| ed Members.
Last evening, in the Fourth Street
NJ E. church, occurred the annual me-
mortal service OF the knights Of Py-
/ thias, and the large auditorium was
completely filled by the knights and
their friends. The service was conduct
ed by the Rev. S. T. Westhafer. and
! was participated in by the following
lodges: Baltimore lodge, No. s; Black
Prince lodge, No. 10; Ohio Valley
lodge, No. 81, and Wheeling lodge, No:
| ia. The memorial sermon was preach
ed by Rev. Mr. Westhafer.
Early in the evening the Knights
| assembled at their hall, and, headed by
Summers band. proceeded at once to
the church. At the conclusion of the
| opening services, Mr. William Day sang
a solo as an offertory, after which the
memorial address was delivered by Mr.
! Westhafer. He began his Introductory
remarks with the statement Oliver
Wendell Holmes made-that the first
we must do to become great Is to care
fully select our ancestors. This has been
done by the Knights of Pythias, and is
| attested by the lives of Damon and
| Pythias. AS an organization | congrat-
ulate you on your ancestry, on your
history, on the many good deeds you
| have done, and finally l congratulate
you on your prospects, and may you
always bear in mind your motto:
| Friendship, charity and benevolence. ;
But | do not consider it necessary to
| discuss your organization, and we will
come down to the discussion of man
himself. This carries us back to the
words of the Old Testament, Psalm g.
What is man that thou art mind
! full Of him? And the son of man that
! thou visiteth him? For thou hast
made him little lower than the
angels, and hast crowned him with
/ glory and honor
| The word man is used in general
sense here and means all humanity,
truly little word, but it contains
world of meaning. With the creation
of man began history, science and phi
losophy, and out his creation comes
the three great theories. First-that
men are the descendants of Adam and
Eve, and as they sinned all men are of
! a necessity sinful and it Is the work
/ of religion to try to rid man of this
| sin. Second-It is argued that there
were other races created contemporary
ebusly with man, and portions of Scrip
| ture are quoted to uphold this theory.
IThird-tMan is but an extension of the
| animal kingdom, or in other words is
a descendent of the ape. This is often
sive to both our moral and scientific
sense and cannot be proven. But all
/ these arguments and two points re-
main supreme-that man came on the
earth at Divine order, and when all
facts are known, man Is not out of
harmony with nature. This suggests
other questions of vital Importance to
us-man's nature, his possibilities and
| his place in the universe.
Of necessity there are governed to
some extent by education and environ
ments, and nature makes it hard to be-
lieve in God when we view the lofty
|
are impressed with the magnitude of
Gods work and are overwhelmed with
| the littleness of man. What would it
matter to this creation were we to leave
the world? All would continue as be-
| fore. We are forced to repeat the
words of the psalm-"What is man
that thou are mindful of him."
| What Is Mans Place:
In our study of the creation we find
that there are four ranges of being.
The first of these is the kingdom of
dead matter. being composed of mole
cules with no specie or individuality.
The second is the vegetable kingdom.
I I1cIe we nave SptCit WlluOul luulN
ity.
| The next is the animal kingdom.
Here we find both specie and individual
| ity. with the former predominating.
The last is man. Here we find both
specie and individuality with the latter
predominating.
! Man enters the world as animals do.
but there is a something more in man
not found in animals. What we call
conscience and reason. which place man
/ infinitely higher than the animals
| Therefore man stands at the summit
] of natures beings, but in the Bible we
| find another range called angels. How
J does man stand with relation to these?
They have bodies, but they are not like
| the bodies of men. They are a spiritual
body, and derive their life from God
Man derives but half of his life from
God, the other half coming from the