ODDFELLOW CELEBRATION.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 163, 24 September 1881, Page 2

ODDFELLOW CELEBRATION.

] The members of the Loyal Man awatov - Lodge, M.U., of tbeQrder of Oddfellows celeb'Va>-ed 'the I occasion ■ of the^fotmai opeuing of their-Bodge on Thursday night by a grand bauquet-at -the Eoyal Hotel.. There -were aboutififty members -of the. 1 jOcp 1 Lodge present in regalia, beside the District" Officers, representatives from, kind-ed Societies and; the Pi'^Si vThe.. 6h?i r was occupied by 'Brojther y^oods, N.G . ;-Brother^Baml»er, J P.P:G\M.-, being" On bis righty i a.nd>'Bi^ther>;3i?bardßon 1 p.Q., on bis left The Yice-chair wa«l occupied by Brother "Spauldiog, V.Q-., PqiTe&p6ndmg-!Sec»etary Wright, being. < on hia : right- and 1 [District Officer on his left. There were : several* other ; visitors from 'U various iLodges r > amongst . whom we Holiced'Brbther Ben Hoodyithe: ; ■District Grand Examiner.^ . In conts-. quence of the initiation ceremonies 1 Saving* to be performed beWre ,tße dinner, it was. clo)as-upon eleyen o'clock, before members. ■ visitors took theirseats .at'., the ' ban-. qitettabieV Althlbugir Mahawatu Lodge has been in existence for the. pastn'ne months, kaye held ffiee.ting%

ejected officers, and formally transacted iisbuiiness, atilithey were not legally nor actually members ot the' craft, inasmuch ai the Lodge had not had the sauct'on and approval of the A.M.CU The dispensation authorising the. District ( lodgt and officers to formally ppen.it only ari'vea ft orh England by the' last mrU aud Past Provincial C<nud Mnster Bamber, the late. Mayor of WangaauJ, . was deputed by the District Lodge to execute the task, which he did on Thursday evening, reinitiating every brother. After full justice had been done to the good tbiog« provided, the edibles were cleared away, a id th« liquids were called into requisition. : After the loyal toasts of " The Queen, and Royal Family," and "The Governor," the Vict-Chairman gave "The District officers," which jrras briefly re•ponded to by Brother Richardson. Song—" The Sailor Boy," Brotker Bcott. ' . This was followed by " The Board of Dircctonr," by-Brother Scott, G.M. u .\ In rising to respond . to the toast, Brother Bamber laid that iintil a few moments previously ho had not been aware such a duty would devolve upon him. Hf^rcgretted this exceedingly, in-.. «»much as the toait was a most important o»e, and he would have gone prepared with some valuable and interesting statistics, as. to the labor of the Board of Directors. Personally, he could not claim acquaintance with any one member of the Board, although he watp-etty conversant with their labors in Oddfek lowsbip, and when the number of lodges and brethren was taken into consideration they would be found to be something stupendous. During a receDt trip which he had ft rough "Victoria and New. South Wales, he had had an opportunity of studying the Order and the benefits it conferred upon its members. He' had of course visited many Lodges, and had iu each one been received in the kindliest manner ; hut the friendship was not confiuedAo"inside the Lodge, as the brethren courteously showed him over the city and spared no pains to make his visit agreeablt. He had been connected with Oddfellowship for the last twenty years, and to his knowledge the amount of good, and the misery which it relieved was simply incalculable. He kad at that moment in his mind's eye two. families in Wapgjanui who had bteh most materially assisted by the Order, and who retained the most J : vely and grateful- recollection af what had been done for them. With regard to the Lodge whick he had opened that evening, he was most agree'ably surprised at the large number of members who were upon the rolls* and he co.uld say in all sincerity that in his experience he bad ntvtr sees so young a ] lodge make its start under such promising circumstances. He had seen that evening "the neuclus of Lodge which in a short time would be second tr none on the West Coast. ■ He •was very proud to be amongfct them that eveiiiug ?ud be traste'd^that-it would not be the last occasion on which they would would meet together. . • .- . Song— Mr.. JjLanej" Where is that Meiry Party." The Elective ; Secretarf, Broiher Colliuß, proposed .^Kindred Societies," toupled with the names of Messrs Keels3f and Patten. Kecitatiou Mv.Haybittle; "The Execution of Mont rose." ; ■ Mr. Keeling iu. reply tajd that the fact of having tbrespord to the. toast of "Kiudred Societies," pvoved L that they all had tbe sanie end in view, nsrnely, the benefit of msni Kind, and wbUst, no doubt selfwasthe first motive, •ti.U the benen'i of othevs was a very great inceuti ve to the progress such societies bid made; aud it mattered little whether they called themselves Oddfellows, Foresters, or the one hundred and odd names which had found? reprosedtativesjihe tenets were the tame. It appeared to bioi that benefit societies had fakerf'aT vevy great hold upon the people of the Colonies; indeed he almost thought more so. to the population than in the Olit Country. He had noticed in a retu'n from the Registrar of Friendly Societies that the Oddfellows and Foresters alone numbered some eight thousand, arid when it was considered Mow many others there were in existence, it would almtfst seem as if eve>y one ; belonged to some -one among them. In concluding, he took occasion to refer to the Lodge which was then celebrating iS "opening "and whilst congratulating them upon their strength and number, he trusted they would not relax in their efforis for further prosperity and believed that if the Benefit Societies were rightly conducted, every male in Pabneriiton woild shortly be numbered in one or? other pf their ranks. Some people objected to join on the score that they required no benefits, but no one could «ay what a day might bring forth, and it would be the duty of the Societies to shpw that, at any rate, it was the jmoafc satisfactory;; direct and cheapest •way ofpelping others. .v . Jfpr Pattehj on behalf of the Good Tempi* s also responded in a hamorpßS speech. He said that when he first received f^he invitation he was under the lmpresidou there bad'bben a mistake, but Ending such was not -the case, he bad accounted for |t by supposing he had beon for many yews a tota' abstainer, he had been looked upon as a very odd fellow indeed, aud hence the invitation. He spoke in the most eulogistic terms of all benefit bocreties, and expre«sed a wish to live to see all their meinben marching pnder tbe banner of Good Templansm. PcotcV I?eci(ation^Mr. Ben Hood. Mr. HaybHtle proposed V The Mayor and Borough Council " coupled with the name of Mr. Dungan; He said, that it should be .leely admitted that inuch if not all of the prosisrity which had been attendant on the town of Palmerstcn had been the result of the labors of the Mayor and Borough Council. Pahnerston was'l marching m the van of progress, and the time was n&t far distaut when it would be the first iolaud town in the North Island. With Mr. Lintpn as captain, the council as crew, and Mr. Keeliag, the able Town Clerk at the helm, He felt convinced that the borough barque would not only be steered clear of rocks and shoals, but calmly sail in, smooth waters gongj-itr. S. Lane, "The Young Bcamp, Mr Dpnqan said that there was evidently a screw loo?e somewhere and the compliment bestowed upon him was intended or at leasi due to Councillor Alowlem, inasmuch as he (Mr Duncan) was no longer a : councillor, while°Mr 1 red Mowlem, who was present had that honor. ; ■■^' - ;'■■•■ ' ■.•:.::,• :.'.;, • Brother Mowx«M«aid hecoaldraafctly pe deemed such, inasmuch as he had ?««>er been sworn in nor taken h;s iwat. ¥- punga* ia,id that he ha|

no longer a seat at the Council table still as he was expected to respond for that body, he would not refine ; on the contrary he, would do so with the greatest pleasure, He 'had been a member for I close upon three, years and. if he had not been *n ; efficient brie, it *was" his 'misfortune, not his fault, as Jhe had always, striven | o do his duty fearlessly andinv' i A pai: : i?lly. The nature of hi» profession had xauitd him to be pi-eserii: at more Council meetings than most people— his experience extending not only to jSTew Zealand and Australia, but elsewhere— and he could'honestly say ho had never seen a 'Council where ;bo much unanimity pvfevailed. W o matter what ' might be the private differences of members outsid« | the chamber, they were completely :set aside inside, and any matter brought forward for the good of the town no matter by whorfl, was sure to secure Athe hearty co-operation of all. As Mr Haybittle had said.Wis fact had a great ; deal to do with the progress of the town. He hadj in his mind's eye one town in the Con ily where no such feeling prevailed—jwhtre if one member of the local body proposed something of a beneficial nature, it was sure to mtet with Oppositioa^ t 'sbd,ner tban give the originator the ''ereou'-ofj initiating a reform., . . A former speaker i had said thai Palmerston was desiinedi to be the first inland town of the Island, but were it not that he (the speaker); saw the late Mayor of Wanganni at the other end of the table, he would say that even iVat town had better look outjthat it was not ove- taken by the st-ides of progression which Palmcston i was admittedly taken. On behalf of the Borough Council, he thanked them for the honor paid to that body. ■'■ Song— Mr Coe— « Twas a Cold Winter's Night." : Mr Pa,tten;proposed, {S |The Ofiicers and members of the Loyal Manawatu Lodge." ■Brother Woods, N.Gr., responded, and 'related, the various efforts which b?d been made to start theLodgejby Qiaad Master -Scott, Brother G a diner, aud himself. They had rbet vriih discouragement at first, but; they had tried again and agaia, and he Was then happy to say they numbered fifty members on their rolls. Brother Boyes briefly proposed " All Sister jLpdges:'* Brother Gabneb saidthat so much had biren already said, that i he wJod,"»sit were^ bad been taken out of his sails. However, he would rc&p ond by a soig. Song.-i-Brotber Garner—" The Faces I r»w ia my dreums." Brother Mowlem proposed " The Wealth and Happiness of the Widiows and Ovptians." , • . j ioojf.-4-Mr Brazier — ." Napoleon." i Mr. Farmer proposed " Visiting officers j and Brothers." Corresponding Secretary Wright responded, and gave some very interesting data as to the origin; ljse and progress of Odd Fellowship, Amongst other statements made was one in relation to the town of Southport, which in 1793 boasted of a population of one, yet at the last Conference there were delegates from Oddfellows Lodges all over tbe world to the number of 448. Although the Foresfers could claim superiority in numbers, the Oddfellows took the lead in finaucial position and had a sum of £4,000,000 totho credit.] Becitalion — Mr. Dungan, " Bill Jinks." . Mr. John Lane proposed "TheOddfellows Wives and Familieg," which was respPrided to by Brother Scott. Song-fßrother Wright, " The March of the Cameron Men." "All Bachelor Oddfellows" was responded to by Brother Spaulding. "The Press," coupled with the name of Mr. Dungan. " The Host and Hostess,'? and " the Chairman^," exhausted the programme and; the j proceedings terminated with ,•' Pour out the Rhine Wine," given by Mr. Batchtlar in his very best style.