Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-07-20
|ELKS IN DENVER
CROWDS ARRIVE FOR GRAND
LODGE AND REUNION.
CITY IS GAYLY DECORATED

Wonderful Electrical Display - City
Given Up to Hospitality and Gen.
erai Joiiifiea ieation-immense Crowds
Arriving.
Denver.-The Benevolent and Pro
tcctive Order Of Eiks has taken pos.
session Of Denver aud It's members
will soon be grazing all over Colorado
and adjacent regions. Sunday was de
voted 10 rcceiyin. the visitors as fast
assthey arrived. hut their coming was
f!ow.r All trains ,were,,lars and II was
eTening before a bi. delegation came
In. Trains arrived fast during the
night. however. and Monday found the
hotels crowded and Overlooking.
All day long Sunday. Sorkmen ,oilcd
at the DECORATIONS replacing those In.
tured by the Saturday. STORM or putting
up entirely. new ones, Some Of the big
best stores are not yet decorated. be-
cause they have been waiting in hopes
that tho rains Gould cease. The elcc.
tricsi decorations arc. In place and
eun,iay evening the city burst Into u
blaze OF cleaning lights.
With the lights and futtcring bap'
ncrs. the Tay and laughing crowds. the
Queen City Of the Plains has become
:he city OF mirih. the Purple City. the
City OF Good Fellowship.
The outside bands began to come In
Sunday and tho sounds Of music were
heard on every hand. The hotels and
newspaper Offices were s.rcnndcd III
~ N... sN...s A. .nI
Idaho Springs. who make good music
aad certainly look their makeup.
Nearly I'll OF the grand lodge Officers
and many Of tho delegates had arrived
By night and tho various committees
were nj work In preparation for the
meeting. The arrangement OF head
quarters nj the Brown is very convcn.
iont. II 10 all concentrated In Few
room, Al the hcnd Of the south side
stairs, second noor. The committees
On ritual, laws. grievances. national
home. registration .of delegates nrc NIL
close together.
Small delegations kept coming in
throughout tho day. and the line nt
headquarters registering was un'
broken. A count has not been made
since Friday night. but II must be- that
5000 names Of Eiks were placed ON
tho cards up TO Sunday evening. The
frst large delegation to arrive was
Philadelphia. about 20. strong. They
Vsrc met by the escort squad and the
Cook drum corps. The men were wear
Ing drAb busters md caps and every
body carried copper bells In imitation
Of the famous old Liberty Bell. They
snndc the streets musical ms they
| passed along. The men marched to
headquarters md the women rode In
automobiles.
The reception, crcort and other com
mittccs of the home guard did most
sdicicnt work. A man with purple no
sooner stepped from a train until he
vas surrounded. given the glad hand.
| his grips taken from him. and with a
sniic and a good word. he was passed
on to someone whose duty II was TO
| remain with him until ho was safely
in his quarters.
The committee had n bunch OF mos
senGer boys. small nrmy. TO assist IN
carrying grips. Thirteen special trains.
full to the guards Of delegates, arrived
bet wecn G .. m. and midnight. Every
regular train had among it's passengers
scores of Elks. And there were two or
three sSctiops Of every regular train:
Tho Kansans came on the run. yell.
ing. wearing sunaowcrs. the cmblom OF
their state. The Wyoming delesncs.
wearing large straw hats. looked like
q bunch Of farmers. and II was Hello.
Bill," all down the line with them.
The New Yorkcrs yelled themselves
hoarsc over their great and glorious
state. Ths Jerseyitcs paid no aiton.
ton TO remarks about mosquitoes.
They simply yelled. Hello. Bill" The
Nsbraskans varied their Hello. BIZ
with "HuYTah for Bryan" with Hello.
BILL" tho big favorite.
Connecticut delegates wore smilcs
and wooden nutmegs-nnd yelled.
big bunch OF New Englanders swept
everything before them. There was a
nice crop from 1llinois-and good
sized crowd from Nevada. telling
about new gold hnds and what they
were going 10 do in Denver. Some oil
the big bunch Of Texans looked as
Wild and woody as members OF the
Cowboy band.
The reception committee had made
a good guess on the weather and the
only outdoor feature OF the day was
carried out according to promise. This
was the carriage ride for the grand
ofYicers and members OF the grand
lodge. It took thity.five carriages and
a big Columbian automobile. The line
was headed by the carriage containing
the Grand Esquire. p. G. Christensen.
In each carriage rode n member OF the
local lodge to act as announcer and
point out the sights. The ride had
hardly started when the clouds disap-
peared and the city looked fresh and
bright following the rain. The mem.