The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-10-12
GRAND OFFICER
 WILL TALK ON
 PYTHIAN HOME
Joint Meeting Of Knights Of Pythias Lodges To
 Be Held Tuesday

Added impetus to the campaign among the Knights of Pythias lodges of the Birmingham district to raise funds for the erection of Pythian widows and orphans home in Ala- bsma will be given Tuesday night. Oc- sober IA, when Grand Chancellor 5. l.. Johnson of Anniston will pay an offl- eiaI visit to the several Pythian lodges of the district, Jefferson Valley lodge No, II to be host to the other lodges.
 Grand Chancellor Johnson is taking an active part in the campaign, which Is state wide, and will tell of the prog ress that has been made thus far Tn the campaign and will present some pracal ideas to help those in charge of the campaign to raise the necessary funds.
 Ben F. Ray, who is taking leading part in the campaign, states that the proposition to build home in Ala bama has been before the Pythian bodies tor some years, and is now about to be realized, as the order has purchased a tract of land near Montgomery, and the first unit is now under construc. tion. Mir. Ray states that the idea of the Pythian grand lodge committee in charge of the construction IS to get sway from the institutional idea, and make it a home in every sense of the word, a place where any widow or or phan of a deceased Knight of Pythias, or any aged and indigent Pythian can enter as a matter of right, not as al, inmate of a public asylum, but as guest of the great body of Pythians in the state.
 Tn quite a number of states such homes have already been established, and are functioning with wonderful success" said MT. Ray.
 .'Ohio, at Springfield, has established A home for children with 42 acres, with 246 guests and another home for old people with 40 guests. The mainten- ance charges last year was $25O per capita and the cost to each of the lodges only 60 cents per member. Value of the property is placed at $500, 900. This grand domain has in this cause an en- dowrnent fund of $215,000. The Ohio Pythians have 600 lodges and a mem bership of over one hundred thousand.
 "Iilinois has two homes at Decatur, one of these for children, and another for grown-ups, located on 40 acres, com bined number of residents 954. The tax on the members is 75 cents each per year.
 ''California is just starting it's home containing 940 acres with buildings val ued at $117,O0O and situated about eight miles from Santa Rosa, known as the KeArns ranch, made famous by the writings of Jack London.
 .'NeW Hampshire, Pennsylvania two homes), New York, Missouri and Colorado, all of these have established and are maintaining Pythian homes for their widows and orphans.
 ''The states of Oregon and Wash lnRton is a remarkable achievement, de- signed, money collected and building erected by these two grand lodges with In the space of two years. The building of the Oregon Washington Pythian home is an evidence of what can be done by enthusiastic Pythians. In Oc- tober, 1922, the members in Oregon found it necessary to raise $62, 500 in order to meet their share of the ex- pense in building the home. The money was raised in a very few months, by voluntary subscriptions, and the result In these two states is a completed structure, the best of it's kind on the Pacific coast in every sense of the word a home, not an institution. The property value is $200,O00, with IS acres. 16 guests; maintenance cost only one dollar per member for each lodge.
 ''In the southern states, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas have established permanent homes and are, being sustained in a manner becom- ing the Pythians of these grand do- mains.
 Alabama bids fair to rank with all of them. Through the zeal of Col. Allen Crenshaw of Andalusia, James B. Ellis of Selma and W. H. Weakley of Hunts vile, who compose the permanent com mittee of the grand lodge, the first unit of the Alabama Pythian home has been put under construction. The site is one of S5 acres near Montgomery and will be directly under the eye of the differ ent subordinate lodges as the represen- tatives get together annually in the grand lodge sessions, which are held in the orders own buildings in the capi- tai city"