ODDFELLOWSHIP.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 8817, 12 June 1894, Page 3

ODDFELLOWSHIP.

The American Order of Oddfellows have jusb celebrated their diamond anniversary. The Order v?aa started at Baltimore, on April 26th, 1819, by Thomas Wildey, John Welch, John Duncan, John Cheatham and Richard Rush worth, who little thought the treat strides that would be made in seventyve years. The following will show the progress during that time:—The Order began with one Lodge and five members. On December 31st, 1892, there were 10,274 Lodges and 773,431 subordinate Lodge members, 2503 encampments and 133,349 Patriarchs, 630 caatons (estimated) and 26,400 Cnevaliere (estimated), 2916 Ttebekah Lodges and 181,033 members, 96,312 of whom are sisters. Add to the above figures the natural growth for the year 1894, and what a wonderful army ia to-day enrolled on the records of the various branches, iucluded under the Independent Order, of Oddfellows. In the seventy-five yeats more than 1.872,869 Oddfellows were made, more than 1,750,000 received relief, over a quarter of a million widowed families were relieved and about 200,000 Oddfellows were buried. The total relief exceeded 65,000,000 dollars. The total revenue for the year 1893 wae ia the neighbourhood of 9,000,000 dollars. In some of the leading places in America homes have been erected at great cost for the use of the widows aud orphans of deceased members. The anniversary has been celebratedswith great enthusiasm and spirit, more eslfeially in rendering thanks to Almighty Gsa for his manifold mercies individually attlsfflsllectively.