— The Falls City Tribune. - -
Vol. V FALLS CITY, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER II, 1908. Number 47
Address to the B. P. O. E.
By Hon. A. J. Weaver at the Memorial
Services Last Sunday Evening
Brother Elks and ou>\Eriends:
After listening to the eloquent
eulogy of our Exalted Ruler set
ting forth so beautifully the full
-significance of this occasion,
after listening to the beautiful
songs and witnessing the simple
, et impressive ceremonies of
this order, 1 feel as though
there is little which I could add
to this memorial service. How
ever. in attempting a brief ad
dress, I shall feel amply repaid
ior any effort of mine if 1 im
press you even to a small de
gree the real purposes and high
ideals of the Benovelent and
Protective Order of Elks, which
not only subscribes to the beau
tiful doctrine of brotherly love
and commemorates its dead,
but also teaches the living true
lessons of benevolence, justice
to each other, fidelity to the
home and loyalty to our coun
try’s flag.
As stated by our Exalted
Ruler, the tirst Sunday in De
cember of each year is designat
ed and dedicated as a day on
which shall be commemorated,
by every lodge of Elks in sa
cred session, the memories of
departed brothers. In conform
ity of this law of our order, for
these services are obligatory
upon every lodge, we have met
today in behall of the Falls
City lodge to perform this
sacred duty.
What a sacred privilege it is
to honor our dead. In the mad
rush of life, of our modern life,
when men sometimes lorget the
simplicity and good old fash
ioned ways of the fathers, and
ail because of the power,or per
chance the reputation or dollars
ahead, it is meet and proper,
that society occasionally stop
and ponder other things besides
business, think of other things
than dollars and trade. So last
week this great nation accord
ing to ancient custon paused in
its busy course and observed a
day of thanksgiving, thaksgiv
ing to the great God for the in
creased strength and power of
the American nation; for the
continuance of our liberty; lor
our material growth in wealth
and population, and our pro
gress also in moral and spirit
rial affairs.
)nce n year also the i^reat
American people from Arling
ton, onr beautiful national cem
etery, nestling in the hills of
Virginia and looking across the
beautiful Potomac River upon
our National Capitol, to the
other cemeteries ot the nation
in city and hamlet and country
side listen to patriotic address
os. march to the mutfled drum,
and mourning their dead, strew
flowers over the graves of the
known and unknown soldiers of
the Republic. Once a year, if
not more often, families and
societies also, in pursuance of
this beautiful custom of Deco
ration day, cover with beauti
ful flowers the tombs and graves
of their dead.
And this is the Memorial day
of the Elks, an American organ
ization with eleven hundred and
fll'ty lodges and three hundred
thousand members. Today
these lodges and this member
ship are mourning the brothers
who have passed into the great
beyond and.
‘•In unison Klks even where turn hack
tlu* clock to tiie hour of eleven,
That they may think of those on
earth and those in heaven,
And bow in reverence to sisters,
wives and mothers.
And kneel in silence for their absent
brothers.
To our order it is the greatest
of all days, for upon this day
we turn our thoughts from the
busy routine of life with its
successes and failures, its sun
shine and shadow7,and proclaim
ing the pure and noble princi
ples of Elkdotn, pay a sincere
tribute of love and respect to
tiie absent members of our or
der, to those who have answer
ed the final roll call and who
dwell with us only in pleasant
memory. And mv friends 1 de
sire to emphasize the thought,
that if this order and the other
great fraternal orders of Amer
ica which are likewise promot
ing- the cause of fraterniiy and
brotherhood throughout the
world, served no other purpose
than to adequately remember
their dead, they would not have
been established i n vain.
Whether by public ceremonjr,
marble shaft, green mound, or
silent tear, we speak and think
of our loved ones, it matters
not, but it matters much that
we do think and speak of them
in some way, and the great
order of Elks will live longer
because of these beautiful an
nual services commemorating
its virtues and characters of de
ceased brothers.
Some of these brothers suc
ceeded better than others.
Some of them reached a higher
round on fame's ladder and
some of them did not ascend at
all. Some of them were bigger
and stronger in every way than
others. Some of them battled
against greater odds than
others and sums of them handi
capped, perchance by heredity,
early training or the lack of it,
floundered along with the many
weaknesses that flesh is heir to,
and finally either conquer or
capitulate. In short, among
the men of our order, who have
passed away, we will assume
that the average of human life
prevailed. But whether distin
guished or unknown by worldly
honor, whether rich or poor in
worldly effects, we loved them
all the same because they were
our brothers and today we hon
or them alike. They were all
Elks and as Elks they all stood
on the level. They all subscrib
ed to the same beautiful teach
ings of our order and their
hearts were all filled with that
loyalty and fraternity an Elk
gives to his brother. They all
recognized, as every good citi
zen should, the existence of a
Supreme Being, of a higher
power, the great God who
moves and rules the world. At
the sacred altar of our order
they were taught that justice,
even handed justice, is the rock
of Gibralter and that there can
be no permanent greatness in
nation or state or civic order
without it. And at the sacred
altar of our order they also
learned the beautiful lessons of
brotherly love and charity.
These noble principles made
our order in a sense, a religious
order, not in the holy sense of
the great church of (lod, which
has been the one great power
for good in all times and among
all people, and which is today
the vanguard in civilizing and
christianizing the world; but in
t he sense of doing good by striv
ing for a higher plane of morals,
| for better citizenship and the
I universal brotherhood, which
I begins in the small circles rep
I resented by our fraternal
j orders.
To be sure ours is a cheerful
religion, but it is not a require
ment of holy writ or of the best
[christian precepts that one
'should always be solemn or
straight faced to be good. The
1 Elks believe in the laugh and
the,smile, and particularly in
the smile that don’t come off.
Yes, it is a cheerful religion,
but it is a religion that believes
in taking care of its own and in
| this country tonight there is not
an Elk in good standing who is
I hungry, or ragged, or forsaken.
There are no Elks who are pub
lic charges and none of our ab
sent brothers sleep in the pot
ters' lie Id.
It is a religion that gives to
the poor. Last year the public
charity of the Elks lodges of
America was the magnificent
sum of four hundred thousand
dollars; and this my friends
from one of the small fraterni
ties of America. This gener
osity is public charity for last
year alone, if there was none
before or yet none to come
after, is another justification
for the existence of this order.
How beautiful it is to live in
the present and to live up to
the opportunities of the hour
and this thought as to the act
ive charities of the Elks is no
where more beautifully illustra
ted than in the little poem,
“What Have we Done Today.’’
We shall do ho much in the years to come.
Hut what have we done today?
We shall give our gold in a princely sum,
But what did we give today?
We shall lift the heart and dry the tear.
We shall plant a hope in the place of fear.
We shall speak the words of love ami cheer.
But what did we speak today?
We shall be so kind in the afterwhile.
But what have we been today?
We shall bring each lonely life a smile.
Hut what have we brought today?
We shall give to truth a grander birth.
And to steadfast faith a deeper worth.
We shall feed the hungering souls of earth,
But whom have we fed today?
We shall reap such joys in the by and by.
Hut what have we sown today?
We shall build us mansions in the sk>.
Hut what have we built Unlay?
’Tis sweet in idle dreams to bask,
Hut here and now do we do onr task.
Yes, this is the thing our souls must ask.
What have we done today?
Charity is one of the great
virtues that makes of us all one
great family for the common
good and in no fraternal order
of America is this virtue em
phasized more than it is in the
Elk's lodge of America.
It is an order that teaches
Brotherly Love, that spirit
which makes us less interested
in self and more interested in
others. It has been said many
times and in many ways that the
three greatest words of language
are God. Home and Brother
hood, and we want these ser
vices to emphasize the influence
and power of this sacred trin
ity. God the Father of us all,
and the giver of every good and
and perfect gift, it is proper
that these simple annual ser
vices should be held in this
house. Home, that sacred and
tender spot where clings strong
est of all earthly place, the hu
man affections. Brotherhood
that great arm which reaches
out and includes us all, makes
us all akin, and strews with
roses the rough and thorny
places of this old world.
In the great God may we put
our trust and our hopes. In our
homes may we develop the
high ideals of life and citizen
ship. In our fraternities, in our
fraternal greetings and frater
nal intercourse, may we draw
closer to each other, understand
each other heller and make each
other better.
It i> an vrder that teaches
hospitality. Many a boy away
from home has been saved by
the hospitality of the Elk's
Lodye, by the friendly interest
of men who have traveled the
same road as the youngstranger.
Here the young man linds ex
cel lent reading rooms, the papers
from his home city, current
magazines and a library of good
books and in the cheerful club
rooms, mingling with the mem
bers ol this order who come
from all honorable walks of life
and who almost without excep
tion are virile active American
gentlemen he learns the great
lesson of brotherhood a n d
whether he becomes a member
of our order or not the lesson so
taught goes with him through
life and thereafter lie believes
in that scriptual teaching that
every man is “11 i> brother's
Keeper.” Our order is also
hospitable in the sense that its
club rooms and houses, and iu
some cities these rival the finest
public buildings and private
residences in elegance and ar
rangement, are given over for
the use of charitable,church and
literary organizations. I recall
one instance in Omaha last year
where the club rooms were
given for the use of the Clark
son Memorial Hospital Associa
tion and in our own city time
and again our club rooms have
been used for public purposes.
Thus in this way our order ex
erts another influence for good.
It is an order that teaches
equality, the equality of all
right thinking and right living
men and women, that principle
of democracy which must b e
kept alive in state and church
and lodge if the dream of uni
versal brotherhood is ever to be
realized.
And no where in this great
country does the flame of equal
ity burn brighter than in the or
der of Elks for every Elk takes
home with tiim from the initia
tory service the best badge of
equality the human race has
ever known, the American flag.
In presenting this beautiful em
blem to every member what a
lesson in patriotism and love of
country our order instills.
“Breathes there a man, with soul so
dead.
Who never to himself hath said.
This is my own, my native land."
My friends, Tlie “Lay of the
Last Minstrel” has quickened
the feeling of patriotism among
all peoples since the days of
Sir Walter Scott, and that
American Mag, the emblem of
Liberty and Equality and jus
tice which tells of heroic deeds
and heroic men, has quickened
the sense of patriotism, loyalty
and good citizenship in the three
hundred thousand American
Elks.
And what do we need in our
land today more than spirit of
freedom,we who have progress
ed so rapidly that many new
anti complicated questions con
front us as a people. We are in
new seas because we have drift
ed so fast and we anxiously in
quire, “Watchman, what of the
night?” Which is the course of
National honor, national pros
perity, and civic righteousness?
What shall our answer be to the
faint cry of socialism arising in
our midst? How shall we solve
the trust question involved in
the gigantic combinations of,
capital which in recent years
have been preplexing us? What
also of the rights and duties of,
labor? What of the increasing
difficulties of municipal govern
I merity Mow shall we ourselves
our families and the stateliest
j settle the liquor question?
These and other questions in
'due time must he answered and
in the answers is involved in
large measure the strength and
permanency of the Republic.
Therefore, the church the home
and the lodge can perform no
greater service to humanity than
keep the fires ol patriotism
lighted in every American heart.
These fires of patriotism, which
are nothing more than love of
country and zeal for good gov
ernment. constitute the torch of
American Liberty which is en
lightening the world.
Let us hold this torch higher
and higher every year so that it
will not only light up the dark
recesses of our own country but
sheds it beneficent light in the
dark places of the whole world.
Patriotism such as the Elk or
der teaches, means not only
patriotic precept but patriotic
example, not only patriotic
sentiment but patriotic service,
It means that same interest and
service in the affairs of the state
that a man gives to his home
and to his business.
Sometimes 1 think that the
present generation is too indif
ferent to governmental affairs,
that we are unappreciative of
the blessings we enjoy and of
the sacrifices that gave us this
great heritage. It is said that
Confucius the great Chinese
statesman once traveled in a
distant part of the Empire
which was infested by ferocious
wild bests. One day he came
upon a woman weeping bitterly
and stopping to inquire the
cause of her grief learned that
her husband had recently been
killed by a tiger. Why, asked
the great Chinaman, do you re
main in a province infested with
such danger? “We have a good
government here,” was the wo
man’s reply. Behold! exclaim
ed the sage, “A bad government
is more to be feared than the
rapacious tiger.”
Thus, my friends the full du
ties and hiyh ideals of citizen
ship should be taught in every
lodge, at every altar and at ev
ery fireside in America. And I
am one of those cheerful Ameri
cans who believe that these sac
red duties are bein^very credit
ably performed by our churches
homes and lodges;that while we
have large responsibilities we
have larjLfe capabilities and that
our magnificent ship of state,
freighted with the legacies of
the centuries that are {one, will
pass the rocks and shoals and
enter the harbor of safety.
There is a line in one of the
classics which says “The frozen
river and the1 leafless trees do
not complain. They wait for
the sunshine of spring and sum
mer.” What a beautiful thought
that after death is a new life:
that the sun will shine again
and dispel even the gloom of
the grave: the thought that
while we have our sorrows and
our trials it is not all sorrow
and grevious burden;the thought
that if the warmth of the re
turning springtime brings new
life to the frozen river and the
leafless trees, there must be as
much for the human soul after
life’s winter is ended.
Yes, the law of compensation
runs through everything. It’s
majesty is supreme because it is
a divine law, and tonight in our
sorrow for our absent brothers,
let us not forget that our living
brothers are assembled here in
strength and health and to them
I would say, while dropping a ■
tear at the bier of your dead
brother,like the frozen river and
leafless tree, do not complain,
your brother will live again,and
if you are worthy in the light of
the teachings of the great ordei
to which you belong, worthy in
the light of the teaching of the
great church, in whose beauti
ful edifice we are assembled to
night, you will see Him again.
Hut while here remember the
duties of the present and the
duties to the Living and in per
forming these sacred duties L
ask you to carry with you
through all the years the fol
lowing beautiful sentiment:
*'\Ve live in deeds, not years; in
thoughts, not breaths; in feelings,
not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart throbs,
lie most lives, who thinks most,
feels the noblest, acts the best.”
Report of the Condition
THE BANK OF SALEM
of Salem, Nebraska.
Charter No. 351*. incorporated in the State of
Nebraska, at tin* clone of business Nov. *7. 1908.
K KHOt’RC I's.
bonus and Discount. $93,841.18
(tverd rafts, secured and tin secured 871.91
I Ian kin a house, furniture and fixtures 8,680.86
Current expenses and taxes paid 1.754.0/5
Due from national, state and private
banks and bankers 12,496.20
Cash . 4,040.30
Tola I Cash on hand . 16,536.56
Total. $110,690.57
1.1ABILITIPS.
Capital stock paid in .$ 80.000.00
Surplus fund. 10,000.00
Undivided profits. 7.1J0.06
Individual deposit* subject to
check. 59.484.91
Demand certificates of de
posit.$ 10,085.00 09.569.9f
Total. fllo.o90.57
STATE OK NEBRASKA. /
County of Richardson. 1
I. R. 11. Huston, Cashier of the above named
hank, do swear that the above statement is a.
correct and true copy of the report made to the
state llaukiiiK Board. k B. Huston,
attest :
S. 1*. (.ist. Director.
W. A. Gkkknwalu. Director.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 4th
day of Dec. 1008.
(it?Y P. (rREENWALl».
Notary Public.
M \ commission expires December 22. 1911.
Report of The Condition
of tlie
Farmers State Bank
Of Preston, Nebraska
Charter Number 708. incorporated in the
State of Nebraska, at the close of business
November 27. 1908.
K KSOl'KCES.
Loans and discount*. • $ 33,311.46
Overdrafts, secured and unsecured 598.96
Hankititf house furniture and fixtures 650.00
Current expense# and taxes paid. 1.074.44
Due from nat’l, state and private
banks and bankers... . 10.358.8f
Cash. 3.622.87
Total cash on hand. 13.981.72
Total. $49,616.58
LIABII.ITIKS.
Capital stock paid in $13,000.00
Surplus fund 1.500.00
Iludiided profits. 2.123.90
Individual deposits subject to
Check $21,940.72
Time certificates of deposit 11,051.% 32,992.68
Total $19,616.58
STATE OF NEBRASKA. I
County of Richardson. »
I. Clyde Thacker, cashier, of the above
named bank, do hereby suear that tin* above
statement is a correct and true copy of the re
port made to the Slate Dankiiitf Board.
Cl. VIM- Til ACKK K. Casbie*
ATTK8Tt
\\ . i Maki.havi . Director
Li-.vi Tiiackkk. Director.
Subscribed and sworn to Is*fore me tiiis 5th
day of l>ec. l<Hw.
L. D, McCumbkk. Justice Peace
Report of the Condition
of the
Falls City State Bank
of Tails City. Nebraska,
| C harter No. 159, incorporated in thr
State *»» Nebraska, at til.* close of business,
November 27. 1908.
RESOURCES.
Loans and Discounts $180,428.42
Overdrafts, secured and unsecured- 1,510.39
Tanking house furniture and fixtures. 13.200.00
Current expenses and taxes paid- 3,240.35
Due from nat'l, state and private
banks and bankers. --$59,750.15
Checks and items of exchange 713.57
Cash . 10,343.13
Total cash on hand . 70.o0o.85
Total... 274,992.01
LIABILITIES.
Capital stock paid in $ 50,000.00
Surplus fund 10,000.00
Undivided profits. 13,423.96
Individual deposits subject
to check.$152,904.01
Demand certificates of de
posit. 37,5.54.11
Certified checks. 1,900.00
Due to nat’l, state and private
batiks and bankers. *>.149.93 201.5o8.05
Total.. 274.Q92.0l
State of Nebraska, f
- ss.
County <*f Richardson. 1
I I, W. A. Greenwald, cashier of the above
named bank, do hereby swear that tha
| above statement is a correct and true copy of
the report nuule to the State Banking Board.
W. A. Greknwald, Cashier.
attest:
T. J. Gist, Director.
W. E. Dorrington, Director.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th
day of December, 1908. John W. Powell,
Notary Public.
My com mission expires November 25, 1°09.
