FOUNTAIN OF FRIENDSHIP LODGE I.O.O.F., M.U.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4460, 29 February 1876, Page 2

FOUNTAIN OF FRIENDSHIP LODGE 1.0.0. F., M.U.

The thirtieth anniversary of the Fountain of Friendship Lodge of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity, was celebrated last evening, in the Lorncstreet Hall, by a soiree and ball. An abundant supply of the good things of this life was laid out on two tables, which ran from the doors of the building right up to the stage, but the attendance of visitors was not up to expectation. Mr. E. Heighway, N.G., occupied the chair; and Mr. Goodwin, G.M., the vice-chair.—After the wants of the iuner man had been abundantly satisfied, the Chairman said it gave "him great pleasure to see at least a few present at this, their thirtieth anniversary. He did not intend to make a long spcech, as there were other gentlemen to follow who were prepared to deliver addresses of some length. He would, therefore, without further ado, call upon the Secretary of the lodge, Mn Seering H. Matthews, to give tlieni some information with respect to the Order in geueral, and their own lodge in particular.—The Secretary, in rising to comply with the request, said that he . would state, in as few words as possible, the number of members belonging to, and the financial position of the lodge. The number of members at present on its roll was 290, and he hoped that by the end of the quarter it would have increased to 300. Their lodge was the strongest in the North Island. In the South Island there were some that had a membership of 000 ; but then in the districts in which these lodges were established, the other friendly societies were not so well representee! as they were in Auckland, and i» not a few places they were not represented at all, The financial position of the lodge was very good, indeed. It was possessed of about £12,000, invested principally in property. The fine building in which they were sitting belonged to the lodge, as did also several other buildings. They were in debt to the extent of about £4000, £500 of which they hoped to pay off at the end of the quarter. The building in Queen-street which used to be known as the Oddfellows' Hall had been let to Mr. Coupland as a pro- - duce store, at a rental of £500 a-year. Besides this source of revenue the lodge had saved during tho past two years a sum of £500. With one exception the Fountain of i Friendship was the oldest lodge in the , colony ; the exception being at Wellington, where the pioneer lodge of the Order in New Zealand had been started. He thought the members of the Fountain of Friendship had every reason to be proud of its finzmcial position and of the fine building in which they were then enjoying themselves. He ; had been frequently told that the Order only possessed one hall in the Australian colonies and New Zealand to surpass the Lome-street one in size and elegance. He did not think it necessary on his part to inform those present of tlie advantages which the Society held out to its me*nbers, as most of them were Oddfellows, and the ladies were principally the wives or sweet- ' hearts of Oddfellows. The membership-of . the Society numbered about 500,000, and he might add that it (the Manchester Unity) was the largest in the world, and its funds amounted to about £1,000,000 sterling. Its members had received during sickness thousands of pounds, and he felt quite sure that the municipal authorities in all the principal towns in the British possessions had, by its . establishment, been relieved of a great great amount of care and trouble, in affording help to persons who, had they not belonged to the Society, would have been ren- : dered totally destitute by the death of the heads of their families. The speaker concluded by thanking his audience for the at* tention which they had paid to his remarks. In response to a call from_ the Chairman, the honors of the Order, " Friendship, Love, and Truth," were given with hearty goodwill.—D.P.G.M. Coombes then ♦addressed the assembly upon > the state of the Society in the . province. It was represented by . lodges, comprising nearly 11,000 able-bodied : men. At their disposal they a'■ fund of £2000, upon which every lodge had a claim. The money had been judiciously, invested by the trustees. There were two lodges in town (the Fountain of Friendship and the Good Intent), one at Parn e "> one at Devonport (North Shore), four - in the .Waikato, two at the Thames, and one at Gisborne (Poverty Bay. " * Several of the lodges occasionally g°t into difficulties,- but whenever this occurred the others always stretched out a helping hand.—Mr. Inglis, N.G., responded for tA* • Devonport Lodge ; Mr. Taylor," P.P. for the .Waikato Lodges, and Mr. Cole, r P.P.G.M., for the Good Intent Lodge.. >he ; 7 Foresters were'represented by Messrs.- -&♦ - , Langley, C.lt., Court City of Auckland; and T. Wood, P.C.K.7 Court Zealandia, each 01 whomreturned thanks in a suitable The honours of the Order liaving been again given, the company adjourned for the purpose of allowing the hall to be cleared for dancing. This was soon accomplished

dancing started, and was kept up with nnflamrinS zeal until an early hour this mornj B ° 6 y- r , McComiah and -several members f°the Hobson Band supplying the dance music. Refreshments were provided at sidetables' and were partaken of at intervals. "We may mention that Mr. J. Stacey, confectioner, of Queen-street, was the caterer.