Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-05-02
Outgrowth of Jolly Corks" Organization Formed to
 Evade Excise Law.
MEMBERSHIP OF 100000
Order Has Most Perfect National Or. ganixatiOn of Any Secret Society
 Says Magazine Writer.

semi-pfofessional actors who gather ed in 1867 at boarding house on
 Elm street, New York. A new excise
 law had just been passed which made
 1t prohibitory for an individual to purchase liquor in. quantities to be consumed off the premises. An or ganization could, however, on Satur- day night, layt in supply for Sunday
 consumption. The result was the or
 ganization of the Jolly Corks, the
 name being taken from that of sim
 liar organization ill England formed
 for the same object, that of evading . the excise law. aS1
 From these humble and not overly
 crediable beginnings grew the mighty
 order of Elks, but it is not even nee-
 essary to state that no taint 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
 had glimpse of greater future TOT
 the organization than any Cork had conceived. The time was ripe for the
 growth of an order founded upon the
 principles of benevolence and good fellowship. The great wound of the
 nation was still an open sore and mems hearts were yearning for closer companionship. The name was changed to the Elks and the last yes tige of the Jolly Corks" disappoared' The bars were let down to all who could meet the qualifications, of Elk kdom. ,SS# g%8 @ .ts s New York Lodge No. 1 was lnss'- 1Stuted -on February 16, 1868, and few shours later, at Philadelphia, whither the word had gone forth, the New York team conferred the degrees up- on. the members of Philadelphia Lodge { Nos 3. Skipping the forty-fonr inter- sSening years of steady growth Me sElks now number 400, 900 members III < nearly 1900 lodges. They have $l.'- sO0O. .OOO invested in homes and last {, year their total donations to charity reached nearly half a million dollars
 The order has the most perfect ha-
 ticnal organization of any secret so- ciety, lodges being numbered consec- ntiyely as instituted and but one lodge being permitted to a city wita 1, The exception of New York, which IS allowed one for each of the rive DOT rnghs. No city below 5000 in fopn- lation is permitted to support odge,
 As soon as new lodge is institutes the ambition is born to own its own home and this ambition has resulted X ;n the erection of magnificent Elss
 homes. New York leads with its fouf-
 teen story home of No. 1, at Nos. loS-
 11s West Forty-third street built ; year tago at a cost of $1,o00 0o". This < completely. appointed building is the { headquarters for 2,S00 members oi :. original lodge and for visiting EiKs 2 from all oyer the United States. Phil s aGlelphia preceded the metropolis Tn ]; xYwning it's own home, the magnificent !! hniIding at 1920 Arch street being ded- icated April 8, 1906. To give com ,s plete list of the splendid buildings owned by Elks would stretch beyond The limits of this article. Boston has a $2oo, 900 home; Los Angeles has ex- spended $100,000; Erie, Pennsylvania ;, s125. .0Oo: Fort Wayne, Indiana, $lOo,- 900: Denver, $1O0,Ooo; Wichita, Kan s sas. s50,00O; Logansport, Indiana. $4o'- 1000: Albany. Georgia, is the proud Ill ,stle city Of Elkdom, for, though pos sSessipg but little more than the e'oo' < Sinha bitants necessary to entitle 1t te .a lodge, it boasts $25,Oo0 home
 The call of one Elk to another, by which he is recognized in any fores' : fof palms or otherwise) is "Heile Hillr William Goddard of Minneapo'
 III Ipdee, No. A, is the original "Hei
 lo Bfls of Elkdom' and this cheer' ealutation, which has found It's way around the world, originated Tn Mih ]. nea polis during the Elks national re. .union in that city in 1897. Goddafe aas chairman of the finance commit sss5ee and member of practically every nther committee having in charge tn' 5 sarrangements for the reunion. otnera rniel,t slight their work but biiiy
 ,,'.S, S.ssss .d ,.,.s always to be found q committee headquArters.
 when my visiting Elk sought 'n
 srnetiop 1t wa 2 constant repe'i''o, 2 V s;s ssx,,, ,,sr and ask sgilly Goddard