East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1907-02-19

With the lodge hall filled with. local
members of the order and Wis ting
knights, the seventh annual convention
of the knights of Pythias lodges Of
this county was held here last night.
Like the preceding gatherings the
meeting was an enthusiastic one, and
the interest shown again demonstrate
ed the fact that Pendleton is a Pythian
stronghold of renown. Aside from
the Umatilla county members of the
order some half dozen "patriarchs"
OF note were present from over the
state and during the evening eloquent
and witty addresses were delivered by
several of the number. These were
given during the open, meeting and
were the feature of the convention.
The session was called to order at
s o'clock by James H. Gwinn, deputy
grand chancellor for Pendleton, who
presided during the program and in
troduced the various speakers with
apt remarks.
In welcoming the visiting brethren
]. r. Raley, past chancellor OF Da-
mon lodge No. 4, in a neat address,
recalled how. in ancient time Gre
clan colony that had settled among
the barbarians of Italy, kept itself Sc
cure amid its degrading environments
by means of annual counsels at which
the patriarchs of the colony inspired
the younger men with tales of Grecian
history. He compared the annual dis
trict conventions of the Knights or
Pythias to the custom of that colony.
Hon. r. G. Morrow OF Portland,
member of the finance committee, re-
sponded to the address or welcome.
In a clever manner he endeavored to
point out the particular ''patriarchs'
among the visitors and dwelt in detail
upon the qualifications Of Judge w.
| L. Bradshaw and w. NJ Cake.
Following Mr.. Morrow Walter NJ.
Pierce was introduced for the ami
versary address and for half hour
| the speaker held the close attention Of
| his audience with an able and stirring
address. In opening he recalled the
| time when he passed through the
chairs of Damon lodge and when the
1 fortunes of the lodge were at low tide.
| In a brief way he told of the things
which led up to the origin of the or
der during the last year of the civil
war and paid a high tribute to Justus
H. Rathbone, who wrote the original
ritual. Also, he recalled the Grecian
story upon which the ceremonies of
the order are based and declared that
the story of the friendship of Damon
and Pythians was not legend but his
tory.
Following Mr.. Pierce addresses
were given by Messrs. Bradshaw and
Cake. and proved very entertaining.
Both are past grand chancellors and
present supreme representatives of
Oregon, and they are among the most
Jealous and influential members in
the state.
L. r. Stinson, grand keeper of rec
ords and seal was also called upon,
but owing to the lateness of the hour
spoke very briefly.
At the conclusion of the program l
15-minute recess was declared, and
during the intermission a continuous
lunch was served in the banquet room.
A regular session of Damon lodge
No. 1 was then held and work in the
first and third ranks given. A class
of Is men took the page rank and
one candidate was given the work in
the rank of page by a team from the
local lodge. A contest had been
planned for the work in that rank. but
other teams failing to appear Damon
No. claimed the victory by default
During the general program early
in the evening a musical number was
given by an octet from the CONNER
Cial association glee club, and an en-
core was rendered.