The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-07-03

mainly of thespians and calling them
selves the jolly Corks. they are now
an order with nearly 100000 members
In the United States and many fhous-
ands In Canada In the two countries
they have some 1900 lodges. They
are q liberal order. the grand lodge
in the United States and its component
parts having distributed over $sb0,00o
In benefits during the past year Be-
sides this there 10 more than $200.O00
in reserve In the treasury Of the grand
lodge.
The Eiks have always responded to
the call of distress In times of great
national or international calamity.
When the San Francisco earthquake
was first reported, the grand lodge
sent check for $4,000 toward the
relief of the San Francisco Elks. Later
every lodge In the country supplement
ed this donation. But the San Fran
cisco EIks were game. They would
not accept q cent Of the money that
came, and In due course II was all re-
turned to the donors. 1t Is said that
not a single San Francisco Elk accept
ed aid from any source during those
trying times. When the earthquake at
Messina was reported the Elks were
among the earliest contributors to the
relief Of the stricken yet no publicity
was given 70 their. handsome donation.
1t is not their way. In giving they
take the beautiful course OF not letting
does.
The founding OF this peculiarly
American order was due largely to the
efforts of an Englishman. Charles A
s. Vivian, who became the first exalt-
ed ruler of the grand lodge. He was
theatrical performer. and when the
question of name better suited to
- at npAo raj m a
up he wanted to call them Buffaloes.
There was a stiff fight between the
advocates of Buffalo and those who
favored Elk When the latter was
chosen there were sixteen votes cast.
nine for Elk and seven for Buffalo.
But even that closely fought contest
I did not settle the matter. 1t wasPnly
after many works Of natural hfssory
had been examined ana the relative
merits of the Elk and the Buffalo as
symbols of the things for which the
order stood had been established. that
the difference was finally and forever
resolved in favor of the Elk. That
animal fights only in defense OF itself,
its mate. or it's young. and when 1t does
fight 1t is one Of the most feared of
all the denizens Of the animal king
dom.
From the day that the elk was select
ed to represent the brotherhood, there
has been a steady growth of the order.
The value of the property they own
runs into the millions. and the num-
Der of members is annually increasing
They number among their members
many of the leading citizens OF the
United States william Jennings
Bryan is an Elk. So ex-Vice Presi-
dent Fairbanks. Senators Bailey. La
Toilette. Tilirnan, Guggenheim. and
Cumming. John Sharp williams. Gov
ernor John A. Johnson, AMI many other
prominent political leaders are mem
bers OF the order.
For doing stunts there is no other
order In America that can .surpass the
Elks.s They are true, fun-loyers, all
though they possess their serious
moments as,aweiis Every big city, In
the, country wants to capture the an
nual herding., Little cities need have
no such desire, since there are so many
visitors they would swamp the hotel
Accommodations of a small place. 1t Is
nothing out Of the ordinary Tor them
to have a parade fifteen miles long,
and no matter II OLD Sol is coming
down at white heat, the Elks will have
their annual procession. And such
show as they put upi The circus man
ayers might well be on hand to get
pointers on the variety and spice that
may be added to a parade. A thousand
lodges may Dc represented uO WV
of them have the same sort of uniform.
Their badges take on a variety that
Ia the admiration and despair OF every
collector in the land. One lodge may
have a little wooden coffin for a badge,
and no parade Is complete unless Bos-
ron is there with its little bean-pot en-
blem. And the expense to which they
gol At a recent annual convention the
Ell Paso lodge spent $4,000 In order
hok pntChf have RanuinA bull
fighters and Mexican senoritas in line.
and a Denver lodge appeared as a
band of cowboys. They surprised the
populace by shooting up the Mayors
reviewing stand in approved wild west
style. The story of their stunts"
might be continued Indefinitely, for
there have been 10000 surprises of
to foregather.
The huma nitarianism of the Elks
was never questioned but once. 1t was
when the charge was made that the
demand for elk's teeth was leading to
the extinction of the species. I'm
mediately an investigation was set on
foot and every Elk laid his elk-tooth
badge aside. There will never be an
other elk killed for his teeth through
any demand by lodge members. The
Elks are not like the noble women
whose hearts go out in pity for the
little birds and in scorn for the bad
boys who rob their nests. in spite of
the fact that at that very moment they
NAV be wearing breasts on their hats
that once warmed nestlings which
| starved in motherless nests.
| The Elks are the most famous of all
orders in the matter of hospitality and
open-house. In recent annual parade
ia Manila lodge bore a banner announc-
| ing that 1t was at home although H.
900 miles away. That Is characteristic.
A New Yorker Is as much at home in
a San Francisco club as he is in his
| own lodge. There is always a secre-
| tary on hand to welcome the visiting
| Elk and assure him that the place is
| his.
The IL o'clock toast Is one of the
most beautiful things about Elkdom.
In 1858, at one Of the meetings of the
New York lodge. just as adjournment
was in order, George Mcdonald, who
had presided at the birth of the or
ganization. suggested toast to the
absent ones" 1t was drunk with a
will. ana from that day to this, at the
hour of eleven at night, all Elks spend
| a few moments thinking of their
brethren, whoever and wherever they
may be.
Another beautiful thing about the
Elk ritual is the lodge of sorrow g
ON the first Sunday of each December
every lodge in the order holds a meet
| ing in commemoration of those whose
| lives have been merged into the great
| beyond. No matter how many years
may have passed since death ended the
| career of a fellow member of a lodge
his name Is called off and some APP