The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-11-06
THE HONORABLE
 ELK
By HILBERT HUBBARD

Note: Less the casual reader be
 misled by Fra Elbertus' remarks on the Elks and religion it should Nbe said that while the EIks are notAa 2 sectarian or religious order they ars f2r from being irreligious The
 ritual distinctly affirms belief in the immortality of man. I am not '.jiner'' but if I ever
 .jine the jiners'' I will begin with tho lilks and probably end there. With out any special written code or creed the Elks stand for a certain standard
 Of intellect and ethics. The man with an elk's tooth on his watch
 chain, or the antlers in his button- hole has no quarrel with God He accepts life and finds it good, He may not be so very wise nor so very good, but since he knows he is not wlse' and is ready to admit he is he knows and better than he will ac- i knowledge.
 The true Elk does not condemn, dlsparSe, nor rip regulations up the pack Realizing his own limitations. he is ienient in his judgments toward
 those who have been tempted by fate beyond their power to resist This quaity Of mercy, I have noticed is strongly implanted in the Elk nature. Your Elk never weepS over his trou- bles, but for the stricken souisl of the 1 earth his tears of pity are near the surface.
 The Elk loves children, respects old age, and so far as I have seen
 doesn't incline especially toward in difference to feminine charms Tn | many instances I have imagined the | Elk revealed just appreciation Of l the elevated spheroid. Yet in all your life you never saw one of these l horny-handed sons of Elkdom going off alone and cutting into the grape | his irrigation is all in the line of good- 1 fellowship. And his worst fault lies | right here-in this line of convivality; l he sometimes overdoeS it. But I be- lieve this will hold: No 1ftt1e apology
 Tor a man ever joined the E1ks-he ! would not feel at home among them
 To be an Elk you must have faith in | other men, faith in yourself and faith i in the universe
 To Ellks all look alike, and are all 1 of the same age. Just what that.age
 IS have not yet made out, but it lies | somewhere between 30 and 50. No
 Elk is ever over 50, nc matter how
 long he has lived and none weigh. | over 200 pounds. They all have ths joyous, bubbling heart of youth. and
 no whiskers- Lilacs are out of theiI | llne, and Ga1ways are tabooed. II never saw an Elk who was verJ
 rich, excepting in kindness and gooS | cheer, nor did I ever see one circum,
 navigating on his uppers. They al | have all the money they need. ever
 if not all they want. They maxi | money and spend it, and the mort
 they spend the more they seem t.
 make. Keep the change" is re
 mark the Elk always has in electro II type.
 l have been occasionally pained bl
 nearing Elks relate stories that Ezzr
 slightly gamboge-tainted on thi
 edges-but although these tales o l persifage had a NeufchateI flavor
 yet there was always enough AttI fn
 mortifying microbes.
 The Elk is not troubled about saw | ing his soul-in fact he is not trou bled about anything. Perhaps that
 his one distinguishing feature-b | does not worry, nor shake the red raj 1 of wordy theological warfare. Ht | believes that everything is all right l or nearly so-and that his task is t 1 do his work, and not bother othe folks any more than he has to. Whei
 All Baba said: Blessed is the mai
 who does not bellyache," he had
 16proned antlered Elk in mind.
 An Elk takes his medicine-sonne
 times with a rye face-but he take
 his medicine. Often he overcome
 temptation by succumbing to it; an | if he trips and falls he is up ant 1 joins in the laugh of the oystanders
 You cannot down a man who ca, i laugh at himself. The E1ks stay
 right in the game; I never heard q. l one retiring from business; whel i Death calls for an Elk, the Elk 1 apt first to sell him a bill of goodi l and then they shake the dice to sa
 who shall pay Charon's toll. | The Elk does not seek to pry int 1 tn future, for he realizes perfeetl | well that if he waits he'll know al
 about it. And for a similar reasd
 he does not chase after women. fa
 he knows that if he doesn't woma | will chase after him. And they d
 There seems to be little danger tha
 this Fraternity will evolve into re | ligion. Most religious people talk
 their religion seriously, but the Ell | takes his with seltzer. He know
 that truth is a point of view, ths all is relative, that nothing is fins
 nor absolute nor can it be in a wor1
 where nothing is permanent bJ l change. So the E1k's religion is No,
 and Here; to partake of all goo l things in moderation; to give out loy | and kindness because these thina come back; and to supply a scrap onl to the man who repeatedly asks i'd it, and will accept nothing e1se4
 this is a matter of accommodation. To do good is the first prong in l Elk's creed. And he realizes, bein
 wise, that the best way to benei himself is to benefit others. As for myself I am strictly on th | hoss-cart, so I do not affiliate vel closely with the boys. but if I wei ! flying light and wanted to borro | ten or twenty. mebbe, I'd tackle tx first Elk I met, without apology explanation. And my needs would to him a command for he is nl c1annish and he kowS no higher jd | than to give the other fellow a lift. And all these things I have hei recorded are set down as a matt of truth, forgetting the fact that ont ! at Flint Mich, | suffered the des humiliation of being arrested by tE | Elks and fined two seventy-fve fl advertising Quaker Oats without | license.