Gilpin observer., 1902-12-11
Our order is builded on . foundation

The ancient towers OF O;o baDylon.
In addition to the notices of our fra
ternity, charity, justice, brctherly love
and fidelity, our emblems complete the
basis of our superstructure upon which
rests the tower of our grandeur, which
sheds its golden radiance te every God
loving American citizen to-day.
The antler, emblematic OF the
animal which we represent and from
which we derive our name, described as
strong Of limb, feet Of foot. keen of per-
ception and quick Of action. combined
with its timidity at wrong doing, avoid
ing all combat save when attacked or
protecting those depending upon him.
The Holy Bible, the book OF law to
which every member of our fraternity
has sworn his belief in and obedience to
when taking the obligations, the book
which is tho foundation Of all fraternal
organizations and which the great men
OF our nation believe in. George Wash
ington when marching his half clad and
half starved soldiers barefooted over the
snow covered fields at the battle Of Val
ley Forge, knelt down and offered up q
prayer in soft supplication to the AL
mighty. The stars and stripes, the Red
White and Blue, the flag OF America, the
grandest banner that ever felt the breeze
of heaven, tho flag that has been the in
spiration of living patriots and the bur-
ial dress for dead heroes. 1t has carried
relief to the oppressed and freedom to
the bound slave everywhere; it has
laughed to tears of scorn all ideas of
hereditary aristocracy, and put the stamp
of true nobility on laboring man instead;
il has peopled continent with the high
est type of citizenship the world has ever
known, and is now floating over our new
possessions teaching them the art and
blessings of liberty.
Charity we are taught to practice to-
wards all man kind in general but our
brothers in particular; this does not
mean in dealing out a portion of our
earthly accum mutations only to the poor
and needy, but to avoid saying anything
that may ipjure the feelings of Others
who surround you and with whom you
associate. Charity is the grandest tree
in the garden of our virtues, though l
speak With the tongue of men and angels
and have not charity, become as the
sounding brass and tingling cymbal."
Fidelity is but another name for
friendship, and friendship has been
defined as love without passion,
and affection without alloy. Victor
Hugo says That love is but the saluta-
ton of the angels to the stars, and If
there were no one to love the sun would
cease to shine, and become extinct"
Those who adopt the name Of elk"
and live true to their obligations are ever
alert to hear the cry of distress, swift to
respond to the cali of need, and strong
and resolute IN their protectorate over
the defenseless, the unfortunate or the
erring, whilst with all these qualities are
combined every acquisition that make
The refined aud cultured gentlemen OF
the highest trust and true type.
We have SO lived up to all that is in.
volved IN the sterling cardinal principles
of our ORDER that we have sustained
with honor untarnished the keenest ln-
vestigations of scrutinizing world. Its
principles strengthen the ties OF friend
ship. they plead for moral and upright
lives. We aid the afflicted, assist the
fallen; We care for the widows and or
phans of our deceased brothers. The
kindly hand, the warm heart, the open
purse OF the Elk has reached across the
continents and oceans TO succor the dis
tresses, to place the fallen on secure
pedestal and to mitigate in secret the
wants of those whose proud spirit has
met with disappointment i'll this world.
We kneel by the bedside of the sick to
lessen the cares and burdens of the af
hicted, we moisten the parched lip, cool
the fevered form, extend words of love
and sympathy and when the end comes,
we wipe the death damp from the palIid
brow and with tenderness and tears lay
to rest in the windowless palace Of death
the brother who met deaths summons
far from home and friends, dropping for
get,me nots and burning tears upon the
casket that hides his form from our view
forever.
We have so learned and taught as no
other fraternal association ever has the
lesson, that our absent brothers
whether soiourning in the dis
tant lands, PROSTATE on beds
ot sickness, or called home
by the Grand Exaulted Ruler OF the
Universe, are still our Breihern, never
Torgotton, never absent from our
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