The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-12-06
JUDGE MALONE'S GRAFTON
 MASTERPIECE OF IMAGERY
Lojge of Sorrow Brings Many Hundreds to Theatre Where Bridgeport Lod,e of Elks Hold Impress ve Ceremonies to Recall Memories of Dead Brethren--. Eulogy Delivered by Rev. E. J. Craft Rector of Christ Church.

Keunelly. Warren HI. Banks, Nathan s. Warner, Thomas F. Colgan. John Stone, Charles Bottomley. H. s. F. Taylor. Gustav Broch. William H. Nor Ter. Willard R. Miller. John c. Cornell. Dumont P. Merwin, John Murtagh, Thomas c. Foley. James Reeves. Pierre Heyer. Samuel Harris. Joseph Maloney, Morgan Madigan. Willard H. Ray mond.
 Judge Malone,s oration. which att tracted the attention of everybody be- cause of it's remarkable imagery and high pitched eloquence. follows:
 We have assembled in accordance with a beautiful custom of our Order to pay a fresh tribute of love and af- lection to the memory of our brothers who have gone before us into the world of eternal life. The occasion Is complete in itself. It needs no help of speech. to make 1t memorable. It seems most fitting when scenes of strife and activity have been succeeded by the Sabbath quiet that we should put aside the ordinary thoughts of the world and spend a little time in medf- tating upon the lives of those broth CTS who have taken the long and silent journey to the hereafter.
 So it is that the office which this day imposes is one we perform with hearts charged with tenderest emo- tions, because 1t is a duty which at once teaches the mortality of human life and celebrates with a serene joy that which death cannot destroy.-the immortality of human friendship,
 In contemplation of the grave a thousand phantasies arise. It is the theme of all themes most prolific in the literature of the world. In the oldest writings known to man it was the source of the profoundest specula- tion- It gave emphasis to all the war chants of the Saxon time: it darkened the life of Petrarch: it prompted the skepticism of the Rubyiat. the imagery of Robert Blair, the Elegy of Thomas Gray; it added horror to the wild i'm aginipgs of Poe: it freighted with pa thos his lamentations for the lost Lenore. his distress for the death oi Anabel Lee. and his journeyings to the tomb of Ulaiume Down by the dank tarn of Aubur.
 In the ghoul-haunted woodland oi wier."
 Such are the reflections with which we assume this sacred obligation. It Is not new bereavement. but one which time has softened which brings us here. We meet tonight not to sor- row over newly opened graves but fol those which Nature has already deco rated with the memorials of her love, Above every grave her sunshine has smiled, her tears have fallen. Over the hunblest mound she has bidder some grasses to nestle, some vine tc cling. and above each sod the butter fly. ancient emblem of immortality has waved it's wings Tonight to Ma lures signs of tenderness we add oul own Without distinction of nation ality. of race, or of religion our Or der extends the fraternal grasp oi brotherhood Nature has been equally tender to every grave. and the princi- ples of our fraternity know no dis tinction.
 What wonderful embalmer is death! We who survive grow daily elder. Since the first brother of this lodge was buried the youngest hal gained some aging mark. the oldest some added gray hairs but those faithful companions who have gone ar, embalmed forever in the imagination. of those who knew them. They will not change. They will never seem tC their acquaintances less young thar when called to their final reward. Il is we alone who shall grow old.
 And again, what a wonderful purifier is death! Those who have died from among us varied in character Like other men they had their strength ana their weaknesses. their virtues ana their imperfections. yet now all stain, ! seem washed away. They have gone to their home,-not the habitatfon ol