Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1908-12-07
Occasion to offer Incense of Homage
to Memory Of Departed.
MISSION OF ORDER TO PURIFY
Elkdom Throws Out Life Preserver to
Shipwreoked Brothers.
SERVICES AT oRPHEUM THEATER
Exalted Ruler John A. Rine PresIdes
and Carl 70. Herring Reads
EuIosy--Lsrge Attendance
in There.


In commemoration OF the seventy-threa
departed brothers. nine of whom died dur
ing the year. memorial services were held
Sunday by Omaha lodge No 80, Benevolent
and Protective order OF Elks. The services
were held in the orpheum theater, begin
ming at 1880 a. m. and continuing until /
o'clock
| Every seat on the lower floor was occu-
pied by a member Of the order OF a men,
| Der of an Elk's family. while the balcony
and gallery seats were taken by the general
public.
Judge Sterling b. Toney Of Denver deliv-
cred the memorial address. Judge Toney
was formerly on the bench In Kentucky
and is the judge made famous by issuing
the injunctions In the celebrated Goeble-
Taylor case. He Is a fine specimen of ma
tive Kentuckian and his silvery eloquence
marks him as a natural southern orator Of
the old school.
great lines from Bryaut's "Thanatopsis,"
the spirit of which underlay his entire ad-
| dress:
So live that when thy summons comes TO
| join the innumerable caravan that moves
to that mysterious realm where each shall
| death, thou go not like the quarry slave at
night scourged to his dungeon. but, sus-
|
| approach thy grave like on that wraps the
| drapery of his couch about him and lies
down to pleasant dreams.
Not a Day of Sorrow.
Charaoterizing the holding OF the me-
mortal services time-honored custoDs
of the Elks to dedicate one day In the yea.
as sacred anniversary upon which We
may offer the incense of our homage to
the memory of our departed brothers," the
NaRlrA a.. -.
sorrow. but the opposite, for the departed
brothers "are beckoning us to come to
them on the golden shores Of that mysteri-
Gus realm, beyond the stars, from whose
bourne no traveller returns"
Giving something of the history of the
order of the Elks. which sprang into ex-
istence something over twenty-five years
ago. "fun grown and panoplied at it's birth.
like Minerva from the brain OF Jove." the
speaker declared the order to have been in
spired at its birth by tho purity Of lofty
principles and to have grown until today
1t extends the aegis OF its fraternal Jurls-
diction wherever the stars and stripes wave.
go where you may" said the speaker.
whether amid the frozen SHOWS OF the
north. over the purple blllows OF the east.
beneath the gorgeous sunlight of the west
or along the blooming wales OF the sunny
south, you will find a brother Elk to greet
you and TO cheer your heart with the as
surance that, although you are In the land
Of the stranger, you are in the home OF a
friend"
Mission of the Order.
Judge Toney then gave a brief insight
into the mission OF the Elks' organization
and the lessons which It teaches. saying:
THE mission of the Benevolent and Pro-
tective Order OF Elks Is to purify, TO
ters of all Of its members. to drive the
winter of adversely from their hearts and
their homes, and to make them always
appy with the sunshine and flowers OF
fraternal love. It's mission is to guide the
stumbling footsteps OF erring brothers back
into the ways of pleasantness and into
the paths of peace. When the sky Of life
hangs low with clouds OF disappointment
its mission is 10 fringe those clouds with
silver lining and to brighten the very
night of despair by bringing out the stars
OF hope.
Its mission is to throw life preservers,
and to extend rescuing hands. to those oe
our shipwrecked brothers flounderng On
lies storm-swept sea.
Its mission is to twlne garlands of OBJ
livion over the tomb of buried animosities
and forgiven and forgotten wrongs, and
to turn all the hoarse murmurings Of hu-
man discord into the sweet melodies OF
, fraternal JOY
Its mission is to eliminate from the
garden OF the heart the bitter seeds OF
strife and the rank weeds OF sorrow and
; 30 embroder all of its verdant borders
with sweet violets and blooming forget
me-nots
Its mission IS to broaden the empire
OF justice, truth, charity and benevolence,
and to awaken in the sad heart OF hui
manity the joyous song of the meadow
lark and to fill the uplifted soul Of every
brother Elk with the inspiration OF Q
cloudless morning in May.
Its mission is to preserve inviolata,
within the family circle OF every Elk an
altar pure and as stainless as any that
was ever guarded by angels the altar OF
Home, Sweet Home
Duty and Destiny.
ut teaches us the immortal principles
of duty and OF destiny.
/ 1T teaches us that the snowy heights OF
honor are far above the gold fields OF
commercialism.
/ 1T teaches us that the mission Of man
, is to stand erect in the image of his
Maker, and to look up, to live and TO love
and not to look down, to dig and to hate.
, "It teaches us that character, honor and
truth are a heritage more precious in value
than all the stocks and bonds and bank
deposits that were ever horded in the iron
safety vaults of all the millionaires OF the
world.
1T teaches us that life is a mystic river
silently and serenely flowing on to the
. boundiess ocean of eternity; that its deep
currents are fed by the fountain streams
OF the true beautiful and good, ana that
We are drifting on its placid bosom 10 the
quiet harbor OF eternal rest
1T teaches us that life properly lived
is not a tragedy OF storms and tears. but
a poem Of love and melody. as vibrant as
1 the harp OF Homer, and as fragrant as
the flowers that bloom on the borders OF
'siloa's brook that flows fast by the or
|