Amador ledger., 1910-02-04
Notes of installation
Ceremonies

OleIa, TGDTudTf L.
On January your correspondent was
invited by friends belonging to the l.
o. o. F. of this place to witness the
installation exercises of the Odd Eel
lows and Rebekahs, the officers to be
installed by man and woman res
pectively, the lady being Mrs johnson
of Sutter Creek, and the gentleman be-
ing V. w. Norton of the same place.
In taking the matter UP at this late date
do so as | wish to have something to
say of what saw, not that it was out of
the ordinary, and comment upon it as |
saw and felt in the matter. did not
take it up the week following for the
reason that was writing the history OF
| the Rancheria massacre, and therefore
would take up too much of the Ledger's
space hope, therefore, in taking it
up at this late date it will suffice to
show my appreciation of the ceremonies
and all connected Herewith.
After myself and wife had walked into
the welllighted and spacious hall and
taken our seats, quite number of
friends came to welcome and greet us.
One of the ladies said to me, Mr.
Bell, am glad you have come tc wit
ness our installation ceremonies; hope
you will say something about lis in the
paper.
smiled blandly and answered, Il
certainly will say nothing bad of YOU
wait. "
Without being arrogant, what i'm
pressed me most was the spiritual force
that pervaded the hall, and probably was
not noticed by others. There was a
spiritual force and grandeur in the pro-
gram from the fact thew were acting up
on higher plane Of intellectual and NOR
tai activity. Virtually they left the
plane of the individual in their conven-
tional cerimonies, and mounted to the
plane in the realms of God. The godly
spirit that pervaded Mrs Johnson, who
inaugurated each officer of the Rebekahs
was seen in her countenance and action.
Each officer upon taking the sacred
pledge mounted for the moment in
thought and action to the higher plane
wherein is the realm of God, The In
dependent Order of Odd Fellows was es-
tanlshed upon basis OF charity; there
in lies the realm Of purity and good -
hence it is one of the attributes OF God.
1t is one of the many ennoblng chari-
ties that extend hand to the gaunt and
hungry in spirit and body. When each
member of that order whether man or
woman, came into that hall they entered
he sanctity OF the SOULS wants-a de-
sire that all humans crave sometimes in
their lives. ''Pesce OH earth and good
will to man. Mankind must gather
and make their own heaven. 1t is easy
TO build hell for yourselves and others
by our actions. You cannot obliterate it
entirely by your desertion, for some
pieces of the wreckage will stand and
confront you forever. and follow you
through every age of eternity. There is no
doubt in my mind that every individual
that come into that hall that evening
felt an inspiring influence pervading
their every thought and action. They
were raised thereby upon the higher
plane where charity and God reign
supreme. Devastation that occasionally
sweeps conyulsiyely over the nation in
different ways brings good out of the
wreckage. The great earthquake and
fire that left its appalling mark upon
San Francisco reunited this nation-nay,
the civilized nations OF the earth-as
one. The gaunt pursestrings that held
the miser in their grasp relaxed their
hold in relief of the suffering The
rich and the poor were reunited in
brotherhood of man. Therein they were