Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1895 — ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS.

International Supreme Lodge Holds Its Biennial Be—ion in Boston. The biennial sessions of the'international supreme lodge of the Order of Good Templars was held in Boston last

week with a large attendance, at least 5,000 delegates being present. The Good Templars organization is by far the largest temper-' ance orga n ization now in existence, ha vJng a total member' ship of 700,000, of whom, 450,000 belong 'to the adult branch df‘ the 'erder. Origi-

Mrihg in' Oneida- Coufcty/iNew York, in 1851, with a band oLyoung meq, .among ’whnm was,ex-Postmaster fjepprftj James, the movement had. a, grpwth. It has since extended,,to Africa, Asia and even Australia, jy.bere some of the' best lodges o l the order now exist. At the last internatiohai gVahrf lodge. fieTd in Des Moines; there was a spirited latest for the hofior of the gfatrd* lodge this year between Sydney and Boston. There are now established ntt toss than .eighty-five grand lodges,-with over 13,000 subordinate lodges and temples, and the international supreme Jpdge is composed of representatives frem,these bodfesi...The rituals have been translated into sixteen ,different languages, and its strength is shown by a membership of 240.340 adults and 52,747 juveniles in the United States alone, while England,- by the last reports, has 29< ,196 adults and 108,744 members of the juvenile branch,, and British .North America, a membership of 36,039. Even -in frigid Iceland it has secured a foothold, with over twenty lodges, , The pledgq pf the order is that a mem-

ber will not take, buy, sell,' furnish or cause to be furiiifehed to others as a beverage; any spirituous or'malt 'liquors, wine 'of cider, and- in all -honorable ways will ■discountenance the use thereof in socie- . ty. The doors of the lodges are, open to persons of all races and nationalities, and ■ the members are in

effect banded together for mutual protection and co-operation .in, total aJ\st,incnco work. The ritual is, largely made up from Scriptural texts and has bepp, translated |uto eieyeq, .different languages. The Good Templars’ organization \yas the first of all temperance bodies to recognize woman as fully the equal of man In the work of the Order, and -.there-’ iScrfat the slightest doubt that it 1 is largely due to •this that its growth was.so immediate and has been so constant- . , . _ , , One of the most interesting of all Good Templars Is Dr. Oronhyatekha, the Canadian Indian, who for some years was the world’s Good Templar, and was succeeded at the last grand lodge by Dr. Delos H. Mann, of Brooklyn, present incumbent of that high office. ;

DR. D. H. MANN.

DR. ORONHYATEKHA