Putnam patriot., 1923-12-07

that we lived the life Of E'ks, that VI died as Elks die, that We faced eter nity as Elks face eternity. and that the record of our having lived shall be kept forever fresh and green. and SO, as the evening wanes. mnrmur in the grasses above our graves. 8 song of sweet remembrance shall be an ever intending requiem.
 As We pass along the country side, We ser a fold of wheat waving lazily in the breeze and, in due course of time. kissed by the warm sunshine in the summer months, comes to ita gold en maturity. only to be then cut down by the reaper Such is the life of man the subject of q mothers watchful. tender care, the object of our fathers industry.
 Death Not the End
 We pass through life and reach the estate of manhood, t0 be cut down like the wheat in the days of our maturity by the grim Reaper, Death. it can not be that this Is the end. in the case of wheat. it Is but the beginning of its usefulness when it falls by the reap CTS hand, It has ripened then and forms a staple food that K used by those in high places and by those in low places. Ii finds it's way into the hospital and the sick room; it is sub sistance for the infant and it reaches the soldier in the field, so. by it's death 1t becomes a sustaining factor for all humanity, and so t must be with man. who is made to the likeness Of hts Maker, who Is the creator of all things. that q higher place must be preserved for the future of Man. So we must be- lieve, too that as wheat passes from the field to a greater usefulness. SO, in like manner, do we pass on to field of greater usefulness; that is. We pass into the presence of the great Watch fal Eye, who has provided In his great scheme Of things a nobler sphere of action in q future life far exceeding anything that our human intelligence can conceive
 it is cons0ling % think that our ab- sent Brothers have not died. but that they have gone to a place of greater peace. of greater rest. and of greater frnitfulness than any we know here, bat we cannot help but mourn for them. We cannot forget the family tie that binds us here on earth, and we do not want to forget it. Who can measure the depth of a mother r's grief at the loss af one Of her loved ones? No man can understand it, no human tongue can fully describe it, and who can measure the daughters or the sons sense of ioss when q fa- ther is taken awayF His place cam not he aliaa; there ss.si always b. the evidence af fhe Haeant chair; there VIII aiwags be the gap iu the family c0aucils that only time can efgace. T hfa is inherent iH all ef as and t b deep in the hearts of Brother Elks, but let us not be seifish in our sof- row. for after all, though we miss inc hearty haadciasp, the iovial laughter, the pleasant jests, we must realize that it is salfishness that would keep them chained to ua here. We shall, rather. rejoice that they have been relased from this bondage of earth, that they have gone through the valley of the shadow of death, that they have passed through the rainbow Of the crimson sunset and are gazing on a celestial sunrise, where, some sweet day. we hope to be reunited with them.
 It's Human to Err
 Our Brothers were not without faults; that we realize. because they were human, and we loved them be- cause of their human imperfections. In viewing those who have gone, let us remember, for while, those who are living and, while they are still here, knowing that they are as likely % err as we are ourselves. let us endeayor to throw the mantle of charity over