The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-19
MECCA OF MASTERS
HON. JOHN a. HYNDs so REFERRED
TO SAVANNAH
IN ADDRESS TO ODD FELLOWS
PRINCIPLES OF ORDER DISCUSSED
BY GRAND MASTER.

Odd Fellowship Means Pre-emi-
nentIy to HeIp-GrOwth of the Or
der in GeOrgia-Must Not Rest on
LaureIs, But Shoulder to Shoulder,
Garry the White Banner to All
Parts of the WOrId-An Eloquent
and FOrcefuI Address-FOrest City
Canton Made Its First Public APP
pearance - Programme for Grand
Master To-day.
Odd Fellows Hall was crowded to
overlooking with the Savannah mem
bers of the order, who assembled last
night to greet Grand Master John A.
| Hynds of Atlanta. The meeting was
called to order shortly before 8 o'clock
by Mr.. C. H. Dorset, representative
to the Sovereign Grand Lodge, and in
a brief address he presented Mr.. Hynds,
who responded to the ovation with
which he was greeted with an eloquent
address, in which he briefly sketched
the history of Odd Fellowship and the
principles for which the order stands.
| The address was filled with polished
metaphors, and many times the audi
ence responded with merited applause.
| The beneficient principles underlying
the order were referred to in the high
est eulogy and the future glowingly
portrayed. Among other things, the
speaker said:
Savannah is the Mecca of all grand
masters for while visits to other cities
are always filled with more or less
| annoying troubles and trials, in this
| city a visit is one of unalloyed
pleasure. Here the first lodge in the
state was organized, and here the first
Grand Lodge assembled. A visit to the
subordinate lodges of Savannah is we'll
worth all the trials of the rest of the
annual trip.
No Small Affair.
"This institution of Odd Fellowship
is no small affair, no little gathering.
1t is an institution near and dear to
| million hearts. Let us look at it for
a time tonight and see whence it
comes, what it is, and whittier it goeth.
And what, then, is Odd Fellowship?
Long before the first lodge was or
| ganized the beneficent principles which
underlie the order were at work. Be-
fore the earth was swung out into
space, before the stars had learned to
| sing together in their wonderful mu-
sic, before the foundations of the uni
| verse were placed in position, friend
ship, love and truth, the mighty prin-
ciples which actuate our order, were
working out their laws with resist
less force. They were without begin
ming, they are without end.
Secret societies are not of recent orl-
gin. They have existed since time i'm
memorial. They are older than his
tory itself, they are more ancient than
man. They fill a longing which exist
ed in the soul of man before the be-
ginnings of time. the fundamental
longing for the brotherhood of man. In
the history of the world they nave
played their part. They have taught
men to be brave and true. they have
caused the mightiest monarchs TO
blanch and tremble on their thrones
They are the mile-stones of clVlllza-
ton. They represent principles which
have existed forever.
Beginning of Odd Fellowship.
"Odd Fellowship had it's inception in
| England about the middle OF the elgh-
teenth century. The first lodge of which
| we have record is the Royal ArlStar-
| chus Lodge No. 9. Later others are
| heard of here and there, and from this
small beginning the mighty order of to-
| day has developed, developed as the
oak forest springs from the small acorn,
as the mighty river swings out into
broad, majestic, sweeping, flow from
the small rivulet.
''In 1906 the first appearance of the
| order is found in America, but the
| few scattered lodges soon became eX-
| tinct The first real lodge was the
| old Washington Lodge, No. 3, and l
| am glad that the first lodge took It's
name from the great leader OF the col
! onies. In 1926 an independent charter
| hn
continent began it's glorious career
"In 1882 the first lodge in Georgia
was established in this city, the grand
| old Oglethorpe Lodge, No. l. 1t was
in the same year that the separation
from the English branch occurred, part
ly because of the dlfterences IN our
I forms of government, partly because
the English branch put too much stress
on the convivial feature.
| "In 1851 when the country was rent
| in twain by the warning factions, when
| turmoil and internecine strife were des-
olating an entire country, the brothers
| in the order forgot their obligations
| and separated. The brother from the
| North was arrayed against the brother
| from the South, the ties of fraternity
| were forgotten in the heat of the strug-
gle. But hold it the grandest tribute
to Odd Fellowship that in 1865 the
| fragments met in peace and forgive
| was the first national gathering after
the close of the conflict, a gathering
| held when the smoke of the battles
had not yet cleared entirely away, when
the roar of the cannonade was not yet
| hushed. And who shall estimate its
benefit in cementing the two parts of
the severed country!
The Founding of the RebeLahs.
"From that time forward the order
spread rapidly. Starting along the
eastern shore of this continent it swept
| steadily eastward, the white banner
keeping always within sound of the
pioneers AK. With a mighty rush it
sprang forward to the Pacific coast
and then, spanning the oceans estab-
lished it's ensigns in all parts of the
world.
''In 1851, recognizing that the prin-
ciples for which the society had been
formed were moving more slowly for
ward because an important element
had been neglected, a new branch, the
Order of Rebekah, was formed. Until
that time 1t had been an Eden without
an Eve, paradise without an angel.
81 have often wondered why woman
was not made until last, and 1 believe
that it was because the Almighty
Father, seeing man in his loneliness,
pitied him and then created His
matchless masterpiece. He took a raw
of sunshine, a fragment of music a
world of beauty, and, binding them
about the soul of Love, gave woman to
man. BY her very nature she makes
! a better odd Fellow than does man