The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-07-13
EIKS' GRAND LODGE
FORMALLY OPENED
AntIered Herds Of the Nation
Now Own the City of Los
Angeles.
STREETS FILLED WITH
MUSIC, NOISE, DECORATIONS
Hottest Kind of Contest Coming
Over the Election of Grand
Exalted Ruler.

Los ANGELES, July l2.-Fifty
thousand Elks are filling the city with
music and noise Thousands of the ant
Tered guests are in the streets Mt all
hours of the day and night
The last delegations to arrive were
those from Washington, st. Paul, MN
neapolis. New Haven, Detroit, Kansas
City and Allegheny City. After a day S
outing at Pasadena the first official fea'
lures of the reunion of the grand lodge
bepan tonight in the auditorium, when
speeches of welcome were delivered by
Governor Gillette, Mayor Alexander of
Los Angeles and Motley Flint of the
Los Angeles Elks committee. Tomor-
row the grand lodge will elect officers,
and the hottest fight ever seen for the
rulership of the national herd is pre-
dcted Supporters of August Herr
mann of Cincinnati claim 2-to-l vote
while adhercnts of J. I Sammis OF
Lemars Iowa, confidently predict an
easy victory for him, claiming that more
lodges are pledged for him than for any
other candidate in the history of the or
der. Fourteen hundred members of the
grand lodge will cast ballots at the
election.
Parade at Pasadena.
At Pasadena this morning parade
Of highly bedecked automobiles carry
ing Elks and their ladies passed through
the streets, which were ahame with
brilliant flowers and the colors of the
Elks. intermingled with the red, white
and blue. The visitors We're finally
taken 10 Tournament Park, where re-
ccption was held. followed by monster
barbecue.
In the afternoon the Elks returned to
Los Angeles and many visited Ascot
Park. where the Pacific coast amateur
field meet was in progress.
The battle for votes of members OF
the grand lodge for the Office Of grand
exalted ruler has become a merry one.
At the Alexandra hotel are the head
quarters of both of the leading candi-
dates, for this provides the position IN
all Elkdom. and exciting scenes are In
progress. The candidates are j, u.
Sammls and August Hermann. Sammis
claims 10 have the endorsement of more
Elks' lodges than any other candidate
for the Office of grand exalted ruler has
ever had. Hermann, however, evi.
dences great confidence in his cause and
is entertaining lavishly, William II.
one dangerous dark horse in the race.
There is no contest for the other grand
lodge offices,
Detroit in the Lead.
For the honor Of entertaining the
grand lodge and the Elks who will
gather FOR it in 1910 the contest has
narrowed down to two cities-Detroit
and Portland Or. with Detroit per
ceptibly in the lead the Portland boom
ers contenting themselves with getting
thousands in favorable position to
command the convention OF 1911.
the special train bearing the
"Elks - special from Detroit, which
was lost Yesterday, has been located
by Salt Lake railway officials. and will
arrive at o clock tonight. During the
morning the San Francisco and Northern
California delegates arrived The Chi
cago delegation got III at 1880 All of
the delegations from New York and
the various cities of New York state arc
here.
Oakland lodge. the largest on the Pa.
ciic coast, sent a a delegation of 800,
which arrived by special train today.
Unique Drill Corps.
From Spokane came drill corps
which will appear in the parade uni
formed as were the soldiers Of George
Washington IN the War of the Revolu-
ton. A big cannon like those used by
Washington g army will be dragged
through the streets by this band during
the parades. The famous Copper Miners
band of Butte came with the Butte.
Mont, delegation and is feature of
every street gathering. The Portland
delegates are devoting every minute to
an endeavor TO secure the grand lodge
reunion for 1910. admitting, however,
that they expect only to clinch the re.
union in 1911 for their city.
Kentucky's Elks are the big men Of
the reunion, uniformly taller and wider
of girth than the delegates from any
other section.
B. NJ, Allen. past grand exalted ruler,
arrived with the Birmingham, Ala, dele.
cation, which came in their Texas spe.