The broad ax., 1914-05-09
rHE ANNUAL SERMON OF COURT
GEN. RoB'F ELLIOT, 1896 A o.
F.'s SUNDAY, May SID, AT
QUINN CHAPEL. PATH STREET
AND WABASH AVE
was . Splendid Effort, and Worthy Of
all Of its Accomplishments.
By L W. Washington.

server, a wonderful beehive Of activity
Veritably the first impression one re
eeived was a beautiful Human Flower
Garden. For there were over l,6OO red
and white and pink roses, darted now
and then with a piece Of fern here and
there, in the hair, and every where
pinned upon the lapel of the coat of
every member of the Order. Again we
learn and witness that our churches
are too small for so large a gathering
as the society here represented. 1t
can be said of Rev. J. C. Anderson, 1t
was a distinguished honor to be per-
mitted to preach to two of the most
important and largest fraternal bodies
in the city the same day.
The people did not come to this place
of worship by the musical tread OF a
march played by our military bands as
did those of the afternoon. But rather
with the aid of silence made their. way
to the church of God, to be retold the
story of their mission, their progress
and success in the great competition
of Society life, and went home well
paid for coming, each with smhe OF
pleasure upon his face.
Brother Hawley: "God, indeed, has
been good to US to let us assemble IN
this house of worship tonight. We come
here to celebrate Forestry; Forestry
should be celebrated, because the men
and women who constitute this order
believe in the principles Of Robln-hood,
Concord. Benevolenee and Truth and
Unity. the principles which will re-
serve q nation. If the 1000 members
were compacted together commercially
as they are fraternally, what a mighty
influence we would have in civic at
fairs" At the close of this address
the meeting became one of solemn
thought, which brought wildly to the
Conscience of each, thoughts Of our Sc
rious study.
While the choir was chanting that
sacred hymn, "Rejoice Ye Servant OF
the Lord" and the Souls of men and
women were responding to its musical
notes whose vibrations traversed every
corner and erevice in this beautiful
structure, while the lightning flashed
with electrical intensity through the
windows, the raindrops triekled down
the panes with peculiar ecstaey, while
the peal of the organ seemed to ae-
cord with the mighty rumblings OF
Gods thunder beyond.
The relief came when DR.. W. d.
Marshal and W. A. Ham sang a duet
entitled "Belshazzar," that lifted you
from the depths to heights of inspira-
ton, where signs and sorrow were
forced to fee and fly. Mr.. Ham s
base voice was superb; DR.. Marshal 8
tenor surprising; that made the writer
give inward but favorable expressions,
with these ordinations: Prophetic,
Glorious, Touching, Fine, Swell, Pro-
found, Great. What more could 1 say
as listen to that melody, proclaiming
these thoughts, "My heart doth plead
for thee" The audience gave applause
after applause when they concluded
with these remarkable words, "Strike
for freedom, for wife and children"
After the splendid address of Mr.. MeIn-
tyre the sweet singer, Miss Roberts,
thrilled the audience with joy and glad
ness when she sang the song "Hear
my prayer" giving phonetic vibrations
to the melodious expressions of the
voice of a Whip-O-Win when, with
very high pitch, she said, "I'd
rather be a door-keeper in the house of
Ny God than to dwell in the House of
wiekedness. At the treble of the or
gan, like his majesty the King Mr..
Hagen read "Thanotopsis. The next
number Brother Downs, accompanied
by Mrs. Shaffer, with a bass and tenor
voice, trained, cultured, refined, sang
clearly the words to these Lyrics,
Glide Not Thy Face The address
of Bro. E. s. Dorteh, "This is the 23rd
annual sermon of the Society General
Robt R. Elliott No. 1895 A. o. F. We
have with us Brother Roam, its founder,
and other Charter members. We have
connected with Us today Two Lady
Courts with 900 members, and 600 men,
making $500 all told. We have given
for the sick this year, numbering So
persons, 5000; to distress members,
$50; for burial Of six members, 81, 100.
And now this gIeat drama was about
to be closed when "I heard the crash.
ing of thunder" Methinks 1 see in
the distance the Spirit Of the renowned
singer of Arabia, HarOun Haskid, very
befttingly paving the way for the ser
mon to be preached by Rev. J. C. An
derson. His gestures made you feel
that the earth was opening beneath
your feet and the Elements bursting