INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume III, Issue 646, 7 September 1869, Page 2

INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.

There is a kro-e and influential society in Wanganui of the Independent Order oi Odd Fellows, which was lately, as many of our leaders know, affiliated with the Order in the United Sr.at.es. The order is fastspreading over the world and it is at the present time, without exception, the most extensive and power- ! tul organisation for extending- aid in sickness or distress, in existence. The correspondent, of the London Times, writing- from Philadelphia on the 2?th April of the present year, gives a most interesting- account of the order, which will he read with pleasure by the brethren throughout the world He says:—Yesterday was a holiday in Philadelphia, beingset apart for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the first lodge of Odd Fellows in the United States. The " Independent Order of Odd Fellows " is one of the largest i ann most important of the secret beneficial associations in the United States, rivalling" the Freemasons in wealth and numbers. For months past it has been preparing* /or the celebration of the 50th anniversary of it* introduction into the country, which was ordered to be held in this city, and the celebration, in which a vast number of people took part, was one of the mos-t imposing- demonstrations ever witnessed h re. On April 26, 1819, Mr Thomas Wildey, associating- with himself Jour others, all of them Englishmen, established the first lodge in the country at Baltimore. They called it Washington Lodge JNo. 1, and worked under a charter obtained from the Manchester Unity. Krom this sprang- the Order in "the United States, the fhst lodge in Pennsylvania being organized in 1821, and the Grand Lodge of the United States at Baltimore in

1829. Thos. Wildey was the first Grand Sire. The first '' encampment " was created at Baltimore in 1827. During the hnlf century just eloped, 006,827 members were initiated, while §20,153,002 were expended by the Order in the relief ot the sick and for other charitable objects. On June 30, 1868, the Order numbered in the United States 3,190 grand ami subordinate lodges, with. 245,035 members, and 790 " encampments," with 43,478 members. Pennsylvania at that time contained 66,235 Odd Fellows, or more than double the number reported by any other State. During the preceding; year, $881,118 were expended for charitable purposes by the lodges, 70,437 by the "encampment" The anniversary celebrated jesterday was ordered by the Grand Lodge of the United States in September last, and the Order did everything in their power to make it a gigantic display. Large delegations from other States visited Philadelphia, and the inhabiI tants poured in from the surrounding country lo witness the pageant The city was gaily decked with flags, and a long procession, containing many thousands of Udd Fellows in ! lull insignia, escorting the dignitaries of the Order, passed through the principal streets. A ball and concerts in the evening, and an ad-

dress by Mr J. L. Ridglev. of BaltU more, Grand Secretary of the Ordeiy were other features of the celebration. '] here were also celebrations' by the Odd Fellows of St. Louis, Cincinnati, Boston, find other cities in commemoration of the day. This Order is regarded as the most useful of the charitable associations of the United States, as it expends a much larger proportion of its receipts than the others {or the relief of the necessitous. It is very popular, extends all over the country, and numbers among its members nearly all our leading public men.