The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-26
HONORS CRAWFORD
ODD FELLOWS ENTERTAIN NEW
 GRAND MASTER.
Lodges of Montgomery Join in Recep- tion to Minister Who Instaii- cd at Birmingham
 Meeting.

Nearly three hundred members Of the Odd Fellows. and of the Daugn- ters of Rebecca, of Montgomery, at tended the reception accorded to Rev. Walter M Crawford. recently installed Grand Master of the l. O. O. F. or Alabama, at the General Assembly Of that order at Birmingham in May. MT Crawford returned yesterday from trip to the West.
 The reception was given by the three local lodges, Colonel Lomax Lodge, No. 156, J. M Epgler. Noble Grand; Capi- tai City Lodge, No. 120. NJ. E. Pep perman, Noble Grand, and Montgomery Lodge No. 200, F. J. Crampton, Noble Grand, in Odd Fellows Hall, in Court Square
 The hall was tastefully decorated with potted palms and crimson and white carnations A handsome por- trait of MT. Crawford, recently pre- sented by the officers of Colonel Lo- max Lodge, to that branch, hung in front of the rostrum. complete musical and oratorical program had been arranged for the evening, s. B. Sightler, acting as master of cere- monies.
 L. D. Holloway made the address of welcoming the return of Grand Master Crawford, in the name of the Odd Eel lows of Montgomery. The Odd Fellows of Montgomery felt especially pleased with the selection of the new chief oficer of the State, he declared, not only because they believed Mir Craw- ford to be the leading member of the order in Alabama but because he was citizen of Montgomery. and mem ber of the speakers lodge.
 T believe" said the Grand Master ha of my life was when I listened to the words spoken so honestly by Brother Holloway. I felt that he would make good preacher, and I believe that when he has finished the good work that he is doing in Odd Fellowship and Woodcraft, we would do well to ordain him a regular minister"
 The speaker referred to his love for Odd Fellows hall and the faces he saw about him, comparing 1t to the love of home. He said that it was in that hall he was received when he first came to Montgomery. It was there all so that the Rebeccas saw fit to take him Into their number. The associations with that hall. he declared, would al- ways be a blessed memory to him.
 The first intimation he had received of the meeting last night, he said, was received when he reached Blount Springs yesterday morning, on his re- turn trip of 725 miles from Decatur, Illinois. At Blount Springs, In the extreme northern part of the State, he said, he had purchased a copy of The Advertiser, and in It's columns had seen a notice of the reception that had been planned. The news rested and refreshed him.
 q look forward to a grand year in Odd Fellowship" he said, "as the movement of our order has taken a strong hold throughout the country. I hope and believe that before this year is out, there will be a lodge in every town and every hamlet in the United States. There is a greater en- thusiasm in Alabama today than there has been in any year previous to this, and all we need to do Is to let the golden links that now bind, hold us together This will be the greatest and most successful year in all our history"
 The Grand Master concluded his re- marks with a loving tribute to the memory of Dr. George W. Patterson. whose death he deplored as a loss to Montgomery the State and to the na- ton.
 A. S. Mills then sang a solo "Only a Face in the Firelight" which was well received by those present.
 Past Grand Master H. L. Mckee adv ded a word of welcome to the other speeches of the evening. Speaking for the other lodges of the State he said: We have made no mistake in the selec- ,tion of one of your number as head or the order in Alabama; no mistake In the selection of the man, for the les sons our order teaches are incarnate in him."
 Other speeches were made by Mrs. L. A. Doren, Treasurer of the State As sembly of the Rebeccas: H. c. Roque- more, Mrs Emma Glover and Mrs. J. k' Wing
 At the close of the exercises, ban quet was served.