The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-05-13
champions Magazine.)

'fldTlptOn 8 MdEdZlne.J
He wOuld be IA bold nature faker
who would record the meeting in
perfect harmony of an Elk. a Moose,
a White Rat, a Black Cat. an Eagle.
an Owl, an Oriolc. a Red Rooster and
a Blue Goose. Yet this naturalistic
phenomena is possible in any forest
of palms) located in any we'll regu-
lated c~aravavansary in. the United
States.
1t is more likely to occur in Chi
cago than anywhere else. for the rea-
son that the members of this play
m%enaeerie for grown-ups are more
abundant in the central and western
states than in the east, and all of
them are likely to migrate. for their
annual conc!aves, to the famous ticks
at the i%uncture of the Chicago river
With Lake Michigan.
In recording the history of the
fauna represented in the great Amer
lean play m~enagerie. the Elks--the
Benevolent n Protective Order of
Elks. to give them thei rreal name-
deserve first place. originally a the.
~atrical order, the l5lks grew out of
a colony of English semi-profession-
al actors who gathered in 1857 ut
a boarding house on Ell wstreet, New
York.
y new excise law had just been
passed which made it prohioitory for
an individual to purchase LIQUOR in
quantities to be consumed og the
premises. The result was the organ
ization of the Jolly Corks. the name
being taken from that of a similar
organization in England. formed for
the same object. that of evading the
excise law.
Fro mthese humble and not overly
| Cre6lf1hla h~nCinnjDCS orau' tina
mighty order of Elks, hut it is not
even necessary to state that no faint
of this origin attaches to the order
of today, containing AS it does some
of the. best men in America.
Right around the corner from the
Elm street place was Tony Pastors
theater on the Bowery. A number
of professional actors from Pastors
Joined the Jolly Corks. These men
the organization than Cork had con-
ceived. The time was ripe for the
growth of an order founded upon the
principles of henevolence and good
fellowship. The name was changed
to the Elks. and the last vestige OF
the jolly Corks disappeared.
New York Lodge No. ! was institu-
ted on February 16. 1868. and a few
hours later. at Philadelphia. whittier
tiiV "'l0 a SVlIt IoItl. iIIS ANeN
York team conferred the degrees up
on the members of Philadelphia
Lodge No. 2. Skipping the forty-four
Intervening years of steady growth
the fflks no wnurnber 100000 MEM
bers in nearly 1900 lodges. They
have s17,000.0OO invested in homes.
and last year their total donations to
charity reached nearly q half million
dollas.
The order is said to have the most
perfect national organization OF any
secret society, lodges being numbered
consecutively as instituted. and but
n lodge being permitted to a city
with the exception of New York.
which is allowed one for each of the
five %boroughs. No city below 5000
in population is permitted to support
a lodge.
In the possession Of lodge build
ings, New York leads with fourteen
story home of No. /. at 1Os-116 West
Forty-third street. built Il year ago at
a cost of $500. 000. This complete
ly appointed building is the head
quarters for 2.SO0 members of the
original lodge and for visiting Elks
from all over the United States. Phil,
adelphia preceded the metropolis in
owning it's W masnihcent building.
Boston has a 100000 home: Los An
selcs has expended s1oo.0o0; Erie.
Penn. s125.000: FL. Wayne. Ind,
100000; Denver. 100000: Wichita.
Kan. $4,000; Logansport. Ind. s40.-
900: Albany. Ga. is the proud little
city of Elkdom. for. though possess
ing but little more than the 5000
inha bitants necessary to entitle it to
a lodge. it boasts a $4,000 home.
The Elks maintain a national home
for aged and INDECENT members at
| Bedford. Va. II is AT present housed
i ma hotel building purchased for
100000 and dedicated May 81. 1903.
hut at the national convention held
in Detroit in 1910, a new building
was authorized to cost 81. 900. 900.
In the beginnings of Elkdom the
name Elk was not chosen with a view
to any lesson that it might convey. It
represented merely the desire for an
attra ctive name and TO bury as deep