The Oskaloosa herald., 1915-12-09
The ELKS MEMORIAL
Beautiful Address By Thomas Fair
weather of Des Moiues.

ed. A pOgram or unusual beauty
was given, including numbers by the
orchestra which was composed of
Federic Knight Logan, pianist; Carl
Woodford and William Reed, violins;
/ H. M. Hopes, cello; and Homer
White, clarinet. Miss Edith Marie
Paris sang DELIGHTFULLY."-, "Cavalleria
Rusticana," and H. H. Sheriff gave a
brief eulogy upon the lives of the de.
! parted brother Elks for whom the
memorial services were being held.
Mr.. Woodford played, to the delight
of all present, Meditation" from
'"Thias," and his selection was fol.
lowed by the address of the evening
by Mr.. Thomas Fairweather, of Des
Moines. The address given by Mr..
Fairweather was one of the most i'm.
Ipressive which it has ever been the
pleasure of the assembled company to
hear. In part, he said:
Again the cycle of time has turn.
ed. and again we as Elks find our.
selves assembled together in a sol.
emn ceremonial to the memory of
our departed dead. The clock in
the watch tower strikes he hour of
eleven and we hear the solemn tones
of the lonely strangi- on the highway
of life, as he asks In tones no less
mournful, Waterman, What of the
Night? Waterman, What of the
! Night?'
This day of all days is held most
sacred by all Elks. 1t is the day
when memory turns back in its fit.
Itering fight and recalls days and as.
sociations that are forever gone; il
In tI1 Ik,,, 4k netA lx, hAlo
lOder when we FURNISH the link OF
Remembrance which connects the
living with the dead, the present with
the hereafter; 1t is the day upon
which we examine the Muster Rolls
70 our Order and listen, in vain, for a
response from our departed brothers
as the Roll Call is sounded to those
who are silently sleeping in the
peaceful cities of the dead.
LAS we look about us upon this &C.
casion we find that time has marked
its changes. Since we last met up
on this sacred occasion we have wit
messed the ever changing kaledio
scope of the seasons. We have be
held the glorious advent of Spring
and have welcomed it's profusion OF
fragrant flowers and its orchestra OF
Isweet voiced birds. We have seen
the hand of the Divine God in the
bursting buds of our magnificent
groves, and as we said goodby to
Spring we gave Summer as hearty q
welcome. In few weeks a Summer
had passed and we hailed with de
light Iowa's glorious September. We
have seen the roses of June give way
to the goldenrodl of October. We
have beheld the sowing and the har
: vest and now as the chilly winds Of
! Winters icy blasts will soon be upon
us, we find that time has again
wrought its changes, in the rank and
file of our Order. Within the past
year the Great Ruler of the Universe
has in His Infinite wisdom, seen fiji
to call many of our brothers, who
were with us last Memorial Day, in
to the realms of the Great Brother
hood above, where there are no me
morials, for there are no partings
there, and it is the object of our as
sCmbly here today to commemorate
the memories of these absent broth
ers, whose faults we have written up
on the sands, whose virtues upon the
pillars of marble. And this day as
we come within the presence of our
departed dead, let each Elk ask him
self this serious question,-are we
building monuments of fame which
will last forever, by the nobleness oil
our lives? Are we, as Elks, living
up to the obligations imposed upon
us by this great Order? Are we 10y
al and true as man to man, Elk to
Elk? Are our ears quick to hear the
1 Gle Of hn Of
quick to perceive the condition of the
unfortunate? Do Charity and
Brotherly Love for each other con,
tinue to be our watchwords? Are
we true to God, to GU Order, to our
selves? If we are, we are each rear.
ing monument by the influences
which we shall leave behind; If we
IA not then let US on this Memorial
Day turn over leaf In the history
of our lives and begin all over again
If we are Elks in name only, if we
have so far removed ourselves from
the teachings of this great Order, an
order that should make us better men
and truer husbands; if we are not
known by our acts of good-felowship,
our membership in this lodge has
been a failure and we owe it to those
members whose lives are living ex.
amples of the teachings of Elkdom
to present GU card for dismissal
And | truly hope that when my race
is run, | may say, in the words OF
the poet;
when | pass out and my time is
! spent,
IL hope for no lofty monument.
No splendid procession marching slow
Along the last long road | go;
No pomp and glory | care for then,
When ! depart from the world of
men.
But I'd like to think, when my race
/ is through,
That there will be in the world a few
Who'll say, Well. there is a good
i man gone,
I'm sorry to see him passing on,
For he was the sort that's fair and
4 square,
The kind of a fellow it's hard to
spare
II my life shall earn such words as
! those,
! shall smile in peace as my eyeiids
close;
shall rest in uuiet. and I,e content