Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-06-22

club movement, wifi show what a real family of Mormons looks like. while California will depict the new San Francisco.
 More than $20,000 will be given out in parade prizes, and the competition will be of very varied character. A thin and cadaverous Elk is almost an anomaly, but there are said to be one or two around, and the man who can establish his claim to being the lean est and hungriest member of the order of Big Horns will be given purse upon which to grow fat There will be competition fierce and heated for the prize of the fattest Elk, as his name is legion and he is said to live in every state and territory in the Union. A prize will go to the small est and the tallest Elk.
 There will be $500 in three prizes to the lodges having the largest num- Der of members in line, while prizea will be awarded for the best appear ance, the lodge having the greatest mileage in the journey to the con- vention city, to the lodge that brings the largest number of women, for the best float in line, and for lodges that appear in unique uniforms.
 Home lodges-that is, branches of the order coming from section com prised in radius of 75 miles from Philadelphia-wil be given an oppor- tunity to compete for $1.000 for bring ing large delegations and bringing the largest number of women friends. In addition to these gifts in money of- fered by the committee. special prizes for varied forms of competition will bs offered by friends of the order.
 The order of the Elks was organs ized at New York in 1868 by mem- bers of the dramatic profession and was fof purely social purpose. In 1878 charter was obtained for the Elks Mutual Benefit association. for the relief of the sick and needy and the burial of the dead" Of late years the organization has grown rapidly and now includes many other pro fessional and business men. The choosing of the Elk as the name and emblem of the order was inspired by the description of that American ami nal as fleet of foot and timorous of wrongdoing. avoiding all combats ex- cept in fighting for the female and in defense of the young" This descrip- tion so pleased all of the actors that forthwith the order was formed and baptized the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks. and the initials are now made to read Best People on Earth.
 In 1883 a new ritual was adopted, bringing about a virtual reorganixa- tion of the order. Although some changes have been made. owing to the great growth of the order. the ritual is very much as it was under the reor- ganized code.
 At first there was disposition to conflne the membership to actors and musicians, but the sentiment for this restriction was not strong enough to prevail. and candidates from outside circles soon began to apply for ad- mission. In 1874 there were but two lodges, in 1882 the number increased to 14. while there are now more than 1 900 lodges and about a quarter of e million members.
 Unlike nearly all of the secret so- cieties. the Eiks have no intermediary body between the home lodge and the grand body, but fin many of the com state organizations have been formed. and this will be one of the new attractions in a convention that Is to be marked with many feat ures.