The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-08-01
MAGNIFICENT ASSEMBLY 'S17'
ROOMS DEDICATED
Continued from page 81

No higher office exists on earth than tc
minister to the necessities of our race
and this is emphatically the mission OF
OddfelIowship.
! To visit the sick, relieve the dis
tressed, bury the dead. and educate the
I orphan, is the command of our laws
| and the imperative duty of all worthy
| Odd Fellows. This is the practical,
| enduring and useful feature of our or
! der, that it is an ever active agent, in
| relieving the distress that is in the
world and in cherishing and diffusing
| the great sentiment of human brother
| hood On this ground it's claim can be
| defended, and it will stand and we can
prove that it possesses a peculiar eff
cheney in accomplishing these results.
Oddfellowship, recognizes the exist
ence of many deplorable evils: want
| disease and death. 1t perceives that
even now with all our civilization and
philanthropy, there is a hard cold spir-
it of selfishness in the world, and much
isolation between man and man. As
things are, If one falls into distress.
and becomes unable to support him.
self, he must either apply to his friends
go to the poor house, beg in the street
or depend upon a precarious public
charity. These institutions of public
charity, although scarce and perhaps
not needful in Hawaii, are numerous
and efficient in nearly all prosperous
countries. Enshrined in stately edifices
that shelter beneath their ample roofs
the halt and blind, the deaf and dumb, |
the insane, the sick and poor. thy GER
tainly present us with the grandest |
manifestations the world has ever be- !
held. But, my friends, if public char
tiles and benevolence is thus active, the |
field that calls for it's exercise is very
wide,-thick sown with suffering and
tears,-and where there are so many /
depending upon its benefactions, each /
can receive but stinted and precari-
Gus pittance, meted out with that cold
Indifference SO proverbial of public
charity.
With OddfelIowship it is different.
While it acknowledges the selfshness
and. the isolation that exists in the
world, and the precarious and limited
measure of public charity, it offers a
substitute to some extent.
In Joining the institution we are re-
quired to pay a small but certain sum
of money to form a fund from which
in case of sickness we are entitled to
draw a weekly draft for immediate re-
lief. and in case of death to relieve ones
family of the burden of too great ex-
pense. Tt also obligates us to watch
over each other in sickness and dis
tress. to care for our mutual interests
and to aid our widows and orphans
You viii observe that this is not chari-
ty in the common alms-giving sense of
the term. The needy Brother draws
from fixed resource. the fund of a mu-
tual agreement; he receives his own
with large bur just usury and which
is much better than all this, the sick
Brother enjoys the comforting words
and watchful care of Brothers tried
and true, which in many cases, has a
more beneficial effect upon the sufferer
than all the medicine he can be induced
to swallow, under the wise direction
of the medical profession.
And now, in closing, what shall saw
to the members of Excelsior Lodee.
The erection of a suitable home for odd
Fellowship has been the theme, among
the progressive members of our Oroer
in Hawaii, for years, and at last we
are about to realize our wishes. Com
Portable and spacious halls for our
weekly meetings and social gatherings:
what more can we desire.
the extraordinary financial success of
Excelsior Lodge we all recognize to he
largely due to the foresight and finan-
cial ability of Brother J. o. Carter. Past
Grand, who, until very recently. mas
constantly retained the chairmanship
of the Board of Trustees of Excelsior
Lodge. for the space of thirty odd years;
a man of conservative ideas, sterling
qualities, and answering devotion to
the welfare of our Order. A man to
whom, I trust, we are all grateful for
the faithful discharge of an honored
trust.
Wishing Excelsior Lodge, and the Or
der in this jurisdiction, all the success
the future conduct of the members may
deserve, viii close by wishing you all
Happiness and prosperity.
The singing of the Doxology and
prayer by the Grand Chaplain brought
the exercises to a close.
This afternoon the building will be
open to inspection, the Government
Band being present, and this evening
an invitation dance will be given in the
building. Only members of the lodges
and their families can be present owing
to limited space
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