MANCHESTER UNITY.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17966, 11 March 1930, Page 9

MANCHESTER UNITY.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE. | MR F. BEST TO PRESIDE. i j | i VERY MARKED PROGRESS MADE, j j | At the eighty-fourth annual confer- I j once of (he Auckland District, of the ; .Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, which will commence at Auckland tomorrow, the District Grand Master, Sir E. Best, of Hamilton, will preside, ! | while about 100 delegates representative of the Gi lodges in the province , i are expected to attend. Mr Best join- I ed the lodge In Hamilton 18 years ago, and to have passed through the vari- . ous offices to the highest is a credit' to him and an honour to the town in which lie resides. The figures given below indicate in a material way the ; progress Manchester Unity has made, I a marked portion of which has been: in Mr Best's term of office. The Auckland district is what is : i termed a consolidated district, and I , from January .1, 19:10, the dale when it adopted that ’form of government, ; its progress has been highly satisl'ae- j I lory, its numerical increase being con-j siderably in excess of 4000 members. ' The admissions to benellt membership in 1920 numbered 981, by clearance ' 108, and by reinstatement 10, ‘being a ; j total of 1151 entrants. The member- i ship at the end of the year was 7508. ; During the year the district paid in | benefits the following amounts: Sick ' pay £11,742, medical attendance and medicine £9129, hospital fees £3BOO, ; I funeral allowances £1540, maternity,! allowances £2520, and benevolence i j £52, a total of £28,783 for the year. , j At the coming conference, which ! , will be the largest held by the Man- ' j Chester Unity in Auckland, a complete j revision of the rules of the society j j will be considered. The New Zealand j j branch of the society will hold its j j biennial movable conference in Pal-1 I merston North, commencing on Mon- ; j day, April 28. The Auckland district j j will be represented at that conference ; by 16 delegates, who will be chosen J j at the coming conference. The installation of the newly-elected ; j officers of the Auckland district will j be carried out at 8 p.m. on Thursday, i | and the ceremony will be broadcast. | ■ At the conclusion of the installation j j ceremony there will he a social func- j j lion to fittingly 'terminate a notable j gathering. j For the second year in succession the Loyal Hamilton Lodge has won j the membership shield for lodges with a membership of over 200, show- i ing the biggest increase for Hie year. ! The increase last year was 9.4 per i cent.