Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-03
AT LOS
ANGELES
nY rRrprRlo J. nAsKIN

lksY E4Ssl in Los Angeles, and the
m N Southern California metropo-
"a WsNl lis is doing itself proud while
kkzEd entertaining them. Organ
lied forty-two years ago,
the Elks at once set out to live up TO
their reputation as the BEST Peopie
on Earth" Their lodges have multi
piled with a remarkable rapldity IN
these forty-two years, and instead OF
being only struggling little society IN
New York. made up mainly of thes-
plans and calling themselves the jolly
Corks, they are now an order with
nearly 100000 members in the United
States and many thousands in Canada.
In the two countries they nave some
1900 lodges. They are a liberal oreer,
the grand lodge in the United States
and it's component parts having dis
tributed over $350,000 in benefits dur
ing the past year. Besides this there
is more than 100000 in reserve in the
treasury of the. grand lodge.
The Elks 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
a check for $4,000 toward the relief
of the San Francisco EllSs. Later every
lodge in the country supplemented this
donation. But the San Francisco Elks q
were game. They would not accept a
cent of the money that came, and in
due course it was all returned to the
donors. 1t is said that not single
San Francisco Elk accepted 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
to their handsome donation. 1t is not
their way. In giving they take the
beautiful course of not letting their
one hand know what the other 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 ex-
alted ruler of the grand lodge. He
was a theatrical performer, and when
the question of a name better suited
TO the enlarged scope OF the order came
up he wanted to call them Buffaloes.
There was stiff fight between the ad-
vocates of Buffalo and those who fa-
vored Elk. When the latter was
chosen there were sixteen votes cast,
nine for Elk and seven for Buffalo.
But even that closely fought contest
did not settle the matter. II was only
after many works of natural history
had been examined and 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 an
imal fights only in defense of ITSELF
Its mate, or its young, and when 1t
does fight 1t is one Of the most feared
of all the denizens Of the animal
kingdom.
For doing stunts" there is no other
order in America that can surpass the
Elks. They are true fun-lovers, al
though they possess their serious mo-
ments as we'll Every big city in the
country wants to capture the annual
herding. Little cities need have no
such desire, since there are so many
visitors they would swamp the hotel
accommodations of small place. 1t
is nothing out of the ordinary for them
to have a parade fifteen miles long,
and no matter If Old Sol Is coming
down at white heat, the Elks will
have their annual procession. And
such a show as they put up! Tho
circus managers might well be on hand
TO get pointers on the variety and
spice that may be added to a parade.
A thousand lodges may be represented
and no two of them have the same sort
of uniform.
Their badges take on a variety that
Is the admiration and despair of every
collector in the land. One lodge may
have little wooden coffin for a badge,
and no parade Is complete unless Bos-
ton is there with its little bean-pot
emblem. And the expense to which they
gol At q recent annual convention the
Eel Paso lodge spent $4,000 In order that
they might have genuine bull fighters
and Mexican senoritas in line, and
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 con-
tinued indefinitely, for there have been
10000 surprises of this kind since the
EllIs first began to foregather.
The humanitarianism of the Elks was
never questioned but once. 1t was when
the charge was made that the demand
for elks' teeth was leading to the ex-
tinction of the species. Immediately an
investigation was set on foot and every
Elk laid his elk-tooth badge aside.
There will never be another 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 may 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 a recent annual parade
q Manila lodge bore a banner announc-
Ing that it was at home, although 900
miles away That is characteristic. A
New Yorker is as much at home in q
San Francisco club as he is in his own
lodge. There is always secretary on
hand. to welcome the visiting Elk and
assure him that the place is his.
The II o'clock toast is one of the
most beautiful things about Elkdom. In i
1868, at one of the meetings of the New
York lodge, just as adjournment was in
order, George Mcdonald, who had pre-
sided at the birth OF the organization,
suggested a toast to the absent ones"
that day to this, at the hour of II at
night, all Elks spend a few moments
of their brethren, whoever
and wherever they may be.
Another beautiful thing about the :
Elk ritual is the lodge of sorrow" On
The first Sunday of each December
every lodge in the order holds a meet
ing in commemoration of those whose
ives have been merged into the great
beyond No matter how many years
nay have passed since death ended the
career of a fellow member of lodge,
his name is called off and some appro-
pirate word spoken to keep his memory
green In many orders 1t is only the
names of those who have died within q
year that are read off, but with the
Elks every death from the organization
If the club is recalled at these annual
odges Of sorrow.
1t is probable that there is no other
u. II.