ODDFELLOWSHIP

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 124, 21 November 1925, Page 22

ODDFELLOWSHIP

MANCHESTER UNITY LOYAL COMBINATION LODGE. The quarterly meeting of Loyal Combination Lodge, M.U.1.0.0.F., was held at Johnsonville on Wednesday evening. An appeal from Wellington Past Grands' Lodge on behalf of a distressed brother in the Loyal Ivilbirnie Lodge was received, and the sum of £2 2s was voted to the fund. The election of officers for the ensuing six months resulted: 1.P.N.G., Bro.. W. R, Robinson; N.G., Bro. P. G. Richardson; "V.G., Bro. J. M. Leonard; E.S., Bro. S, M'N. Gray; gu.irdian, Bro. K. H. Johnson; warden, Bro. W. K. Taplin. Accounts totalling £40 4s were passed for payment. Officers and members of tho Loyal Wellington Past Grands' Lodge, accompanied by members of town and suburban lodges, arrived, and received a hearty welcome with lodge honours, to which Bro. J. H. Kraft (president) replied. Two new members were initiated, with the following officers in tho chair: Bro. J. Saunders (P.G.,' Britannia), as 1.P.N.G.; Bro. H. Dormor (P.G. Antipodean), N.G.; Bro. C. R. Mansell (V.G., Kilbirnie), V.G.; Bro. K. Bell (P.G., Newtown), Lecture Master; Bro. J. H. Kraft (P.G., Britannia), conducting officer; Bro. Williams (N.G., Britannia), guardian; and Bro. R. K. Couper (P.G., Antipodean), warden. The Ritual and singing of the Odes was carried out in a' most impressive manner. Bro. A. C. Blair, D.G.M., gave an interesting address on Oddfellowship, dealing with the gTcat progress the Wellington district has made during recent years, and congratulated the Combination Lodge on the splendid meeting. An adjournment was made for refreshments. Bro. R. H. Johnson, vice-pre-sident of the Past, Grands' Lodge, on behalf of the visitors, expressed pleasure at the treatment received, and called, on the visitors to give lodge honours. . The N.G. then resumed in open lodge, and called on Bro. R. Cook, secretary, to read the report of the Registrar of Friendly Societies regarding surplus of lodge for term 1915 and 1920. Tho secretary gave a short history '• of the lodge since its formation. He stated that the lodge ■n as formally opened at the old school house, Porirua road, Johri'soriville, on 26th February, 1876, by the Grand Master of the district, Bro. R. A. Marshall, assisted by the C.S., Bro. Edwin Bannister, P.G. The following were the first members initiated: A. Lambeth, J. Henwood, H. Wilmshnrsfc, W. Riddick, and C. Wilmshurst, and the following were admitted on clearances : Bros. D. Braid, G. L«e, W. Morris, and H. W. Stebbings (a son of Bro. Stebbings .was initiated during the present evening). 'Bro. D. Braid resigned the secretaryship on 30th September, 1882, and Bro. H. W. Stebbings held the position. until his death in August, 1922. Bro. J. J. Sim ', held the position for a short term, and was succeeded by the present secretary, Bro. R. Cook. The membership in 1876 was twenty-six, and during a number of years it rose to thirtythree. The year 1923 saw a membership, of 52, and at present the mem-

bcrship stands at 76. The : surplus shown at the end of the 1920 period jwas £730, and the registrar allowed i the following appropriations: £100 to i the distress fund, £50 to the management, and £580 to the rebate to members during 1015-1920 of their contributions to the sick and funeral fund, and, further, that a sum of £10 bo added to their funeral •• benefit, which will now be £40. The total sick pay of the lodge has amounted to £117 15s, Bros. J..H. Kraft, A. C. Mitchell,, and R. K. Couper, officers of Past Grands' Lod^e, briefly addressed the lodge, and. Bro. W. I. Clark, district secretary, gave an address on the position of the Manchester Unity. Ho eulogised the services rendered to the Loyal Combination Lodge by their secretary, Bro. R. Cook. During, the evening Bro. J. H. Kraft was called on to make presentations, as follows: to Bros. W. K. Taplin, R. Cook, and H. C. Workmanj P.G.s collars, for services rendered to the lodge during their term' of office; and trophies to Bro;. K. P. Cook, for proposing the largest number of members during the year, and to Bro. A. G. Vine, runner-up . in proposing members. ■ '