The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-23
INDEPENDENT ORDER
 OF ODD FELLOWS History of Growth of Great
 Secret Order HAS l,234,278 MEMBERS This Is In the United States Alone, and the Organization Is Also Pres. porous Abrcas-sketch of
 It's Work.
HAS l,234,270 MEMBERS
BY FREDERIC j. HAsKIN.

In Egypts famous Book of the Dead, written 1000 years before Joseph was sold into captivity in that country, and before the era of Judaism had yet dawned, there appears this passage: He hath given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty. clothes to the naked; he hath given boat to the shp-wrecked; he hath made due offerings to the gods, and paid due rights to the departed" To that growing and helpful organization known as the Independent Order of Odd Fellows this expression may be said to stand in the light of a prophecy which its individual members are fulfilling. For it is work of a like nature that they are doing Those who become Odd Eel lows enter into especial covenant to pro- teet the widows and orphans, bury the dead, held each other in time of want, offer counsel when difficulties arise, i'm prove and elevate the character of man, enllghten the mind widen the sphere of the affections, and teach the virtues of industry and frugality.
 It Is much to undertake, but success has gloriously crowned their efforts so far, proving the merit of the ambition, and the courage of the men and women who are bringing such hopes to realiza- ton. Last year nearly 70O0 widowed families received help 13OO00 brothers in distress were given material aid, hun dreds of orphans were gathered in the homes and schools that the order pro- vides for them, and In all a sum of money aggregating something like s50O0,- GOO was expended in the laudabe effort to ameliorate adverse conditions of life. The field of labor is wide as the globe itself, yet with the triple links of "Friendship, Love and Truth" peoples of widely differing tongues and creeds have been bound together in a unity of work and singleness of purpose.
 Ask when and where the Odd Fellows had their beginning, and legend and his tory will begin their inevitable conflict. Back to the very beginning of things legend will go One lodge In England has an emblem depicting Adam laying the foundation stone of the order, with the supposltion that his wife and sons were candidates for admission. The Jews in captivity in Babylon are said to have practiced the rites of the order. A Roman empror, early in the Christian era, Is said to have addressed some of Christian subjects as odd Fellows so recognizing the existence of such a term It Is declared that Titus gave the Jews the first Odd Fellows charter written on tablets of gold. In 94 A. D. the doctrines they taught and the rites they practlced are believed to have been taken into England. Legend, then contradicting herself, says that the Goths. the Huns, the Scandinavians, the Suevi, and even the Moors know the work of Odd Fellow ship, and that by them 1t was carried into France and Spain, and then into England, whence it came into America.
 History sweeps all this aside and goes back only to the first half of the eigh- teenth century where records can prove her assertions. Daniel Defoe mentions the existence of Odd Fellows in his time. The "Gentleman's Magazine" of the year 17i5 chronicles some social gatherings of jolly Odd Fellows and forthy-three years later there is record that the poet, James Montgomery, was employed to write song for them. It is known that the first recorded organization was that of some laboring men and mechanics of the neighborhood of Manchester. Eng land, who met for social enjoyment, and later made the spirit of helpfulness to- ward one another a leading feature of their existence They helped secure posi- tons for members out of work, and gave money to indigent ones. The oldest name that has reached us is that of the Loyal Arlstarchus lodge. No. 9, which met in the Borough of Southwark.
 1t Is claimed by the hstoriogra phers of =