Gilpin observer., 1906-12-06
B. P. 0. ELKs
MEMORIAL
Members Of ahe Noble Order Pay Fitting
Tribute TO Their Departed Brothers.
OPERA HOUSE CROWDED 10 THE DOORS

Elks, held their annual memorial ser
vices in the opera house Sunday evening
in honor of their departed brothers
The services were most beautiful ano
impressive and the large opera house
was filed to the doors by Elks, theil
families and friends. o. A. Scheffier
exalted ruler OF the local lodge, was
master Of ceremonies and directed the
ritualistic work, which is considered the
most beautiful in use by any of the fra
ternal orders. The stage was tastefully
arranged and decorated for the occasion
and from this the program was delivered
Within the past year death has re.
moved the Central City herd Of Elks
three worthy brothers, James Carbs, c.
e. Nichols and William Job. The vir
tues Of these were extolled in glowing
eulogium respectively by w. G. Mat
thews, L. j. Williams and John &. Will
liams. The general eulogy was deliv-
cred by DR.. A. Silverstein, of Denver,
aud was pronounced the finest oration
delivered at an Elks' memorial in this
city in several years. He said:
Bro. EXALTED RULER, BROTHERS, LADIES
AND GENTLEMEN
On this memorial day, throughout this
broad land, in every city where there
may be a lodge of Elks, there are gath
cred together the brothers OF our order
with their families and friends to pay
fitting tribute to those OF our brother
hood who have departed this life and
Joined the silent majority in the great
beyond.
Respect for the memory of the dead is
a characteristic limited to no race, no
nation and to no creed; rather is it an
universal attribute, the natural manifes.
tation of the great, pulsating heart Of
humanity, beating in sympathy with af-
Fiction and loss.
The tender tear mother drops upon
her infants grave; the yelling sobs which
rise and grip strong mans heart as he
gazes on brother in his last sleep; the
trembling wall OF anguish which bursts
from young mans lips as the unfeeling
earth throws it's cold mantel over loved
fathers face; all these are ours today.
The heart throbs Of every Elk in this
broad land are in unison with the pul.
sating grief of bereaved sisters and
brothers, sons and daughters. fathers
brothers are our sorrows; their bereave-
ment is our bereavement.
To us, Of the Brotherhood OF Elks,
this memorial ceremonial has a peculiar
significance; not that we mourn our dead
with greater intensity Of feeling; not that
we have a greater sense Of personal loss;
not that we apotheosize our departed; !;
but in this, that for us this occasion
typifes our beautiful, crystallized ele-
mental truth, found lying deep in the
bitter dregs Of the cup of life itself; a
truth, engendered of the bitterness and
strife necessarily incident to the struggle
for existence; a ray OF sunshine born OF
the pessimism Of universal suffering and
sorrow; a truth, fundamental to the
buoyant optimism OF Elkdom, which
wipes away the tear OF mourning, and
harmonizing all creeds and all philsos.
ophies, chants this accompaniment to
the music OF the spheres:
"The faults OF our Brothers we write upon tho
sands
"Their virtues are engraved upon the everlasting
tablets of love and memory"
1t is through this crystal Of truth,
shining resplendent in every Temple of
Elkdom, that we are looking today out
into the vastness OF the unknown, into
the uncovered tombs Of the dead; and
by this crystal the sombre, gloomy rays
Of the grave are turned to glorious rain.
bow hues OF hope and faith, charity for
human pailty. praise for human virtue, a
tear for the dead, consolation for the
living.
To most OF US the presence OF death
brings home u sense Of personal loss ap-
parently incurable; this renewal OF the
memory OF those departed seemingly re.
opens the wound only apparently healed
by the hand OF Time, and only too ready
to turn its lacerated edges to the scalpel
OF human inquiry and human curiosity.
1t is, however, with no such purpose in
mind that we hold these memorial SER
vices. This day is our holy Of holies, our
sanctum sanctorum, our sacred lodge OF
sorrow, dedicated to tho memory OF those
valiant soldiers OF Elkdom who fought
liie's battle nobly and we'll, and who,
when their appointed time came, wrnp.
ped themselves majestically in the man.
tie Of death and laid them down In peace.