"office." A pleasant answer, "Come right in," gave me courage, and, opening the door, much to my surprise, I discovered the appearance of a most complete business office, with everything in order, and one of the busiest sisters in charge, who, from the moment I entered, made me welcome, and in a very short time was engaged in giving me information about the Ladies' Society. The register of membership was opened for my inspection. I was naturally interested in my home lodge and in my own record. I found that once I had been delinquent, which made me feel chagrined, although I knew it was a truthful record of my membership. I was then shown how moneys were rcceived from the different lodges. The filing system was then explained, where every letter is carefully kept and is always accessible. Bills properly approved by the Grand President are paid by check and filed in their regular order. In fact, there was evidence on every hand that the office of the Grand Secretary and Treasurer is conducted in a businesslike way, and in Sister DuBois we have a business woman, whose thorough knowledge of financial transactions, gained while engaged in the banking business, specially fits her for the responsible duties of the office. The Ladies' Society can well feel proud of this office as managed by Sister Du Bois. All money is deposited in the name of the Ladies' Society.

Sister DuBois explained to me some of the difficulties she had to contend with on account of the carelessness of the local officers in filling out statements, making reports of admissions, withdrawals, transfers, etc., as well as answering correspondence. I saw evidence of my own shortcomings as secretary of my lodge. I had supposed that I was a model officer, but I had to admit that I had much to learn, and I assured Sister DuBois that I would profit by her instructions.

After spending a few hours in the office, I was then shown the supply room adjoining. Here, in perfect system, are arranged the supplies, from whence they are shipped.

I was proud of the office of the Grand Secretary and Treasurer, as it represents to a stranger the business importance of the Ladies' Society.

Sister DuBois had but recently received the balance due on the account of the late Grand Secretary and Treasurer and the accounting of the Board of Grand Trustees made at Albany, N. Y. The full amount is now on deposit to the credit of the Ladies' Society. When I received this

information I recalled reading the report of the Grand Counselor as printed in the convention proceedings.

We can now feel that the office of Grand Secretary and Treasurer is in the hands of a sister who is strictly business, and I predict that when the Grand Trustees next examine the books they will have no difficulty in making a report which will stand the closest scrutiny.

Each of us, my sisters, can be of great help to our Grand Secretary and Treasurer by trying to do our part at home, as the laws require. I have determined to be more careful in my work as Secretary and avoid causing the office unnecessary annoyance. If all of our sisters who hold office and who correspond with Sister DuBois could see as I have what she has to contend with and how patiently she toils and with what care order is brought out of chaos, I am sure all will try as I shall to improve. I was really ashamed of some of the mistakes that I made, especially as I had a full knowledge of the law.

A member's duty to the Society is not completed as soon as she is initiated.

She obligates herself to attend lodge meetings regularly; only sickness or some unavoidable circumstance can excuse her. She violates this obligation when she attends only when it is convenient for her to do so.

She promises to do all she can to promote the interest and growth of the Order. Does she keep her promise if from that day forward she never thinks to ask a friend to join her Society?

Some sisters have all kinds of excuses to make when asked if they attend lodge regularly-home duties, etc. Few of our members have no home duties, but, certainly, we can manage our work and attend a meeting at least once a month, so that we may know what is being done in our lodge room by those members who have kindly consented to fill the different offices.

How encouraging it is to the President of the lodge to see a good attendance at each meeting.

Suppose each one of us should say"There is no need for me to go to the meeting this afternoon or this evening;" how long would our Society last and how soon would we lose all that we have paid in?

No sister who attends meeting regularly and pays her dues and assessments is ever suspended or expelled for any cause.

Our dues are payable every quarter in advance, July 1st, October 1st, January 1st and April 1st. Try and be prompt in sending them in, so that the Collector may not be obliged to notify you. you not be of that much assistance to your lodge?

Can

There is a certain time each quarter to pay dues, just as there is a certain time for those who live in rented houses to pay rent. It is a custom to lay aside the amount of our rent, our gas bill and other bills each month and we pay them without feeling it a hardship. Now let us lay aside each month our dues so that we can pay them as soon as they are due. The member, who will make this a rule, will not only save herself, the Collector of her lodge, and its members, much trouble, but will also save the lodge much expense. Pay up promptly. Don't allow yourself to get behind.

The past history of our Society is a guarantee of what it will do in the future, if your faith in it is supplemented by a regular attendance at lodge meetings and a prompt payment of dues and assessments.

MRS. GEORGE GODING,
President 146.

Home.

The home is the foundation stone of society and of all government. If we do not preserve its sanctity all law will suffer.

Home is where the mother is and the world looks to her to shape the destiny of those of her own household.

Our sympathy goes out to the many men who are far away from home. How anxious they are to return and be with mother once more; but, alas! there are others, less fortunate than they, whose only hope is to do what is right in this life so that they may be able to be with that precious one, called mother, in a better place hereafter.

A great and good man said: "Blessed is the man whose infancy has been watched over, kindled, penetrated, by the eye of a tender and holy mother. That glance has a magical power over the soul

of the child; it beams forth sweetness and life; and as the sun's rays mature the fruits of the earth and sweeten them by the communication of its own substance, so does the mother deposit in the soul of the child the sacred character of love."

The love of a child in a home is something that makes life worth living, feeble as it is, compared with a mother's love.

Dreary must be the home where the heart is not made glad by the prattle of little children. James Whitcomb Riley writes of one "who mourned because no child was his, that death could take it had the Divine will seen so fit to do." "Let me come in where you sit weeping; aye,

Let me who has not any child to die, Weep with you for the little one whose

love

I have known nothing of.

"The little arms that slowly, slowly loosed Their pressure round your neck! the hands you used

To kiss-such arms-such hands I never knew ;

May I not weep with you.

"Fain would I be of service say something

Between the tears that would be comforting

But, oh! so sadder than yourselves am I, Who have no little child to die."

was

ever

No greater responsibility given to human beings than the raising of children. That it is a task can not be denied. The greater part of the burden falls upon the wife and mother and much credit does she deserve, when she does her part well.

The mother should be in touch with her children all the time. Were it possible to avoid it she should never become a bread winner. Instances are not rare where mothers are compelled to leave their little ones with strangers while they go out and help the father to bring home money to keep the wolf from the door. Such conditions, arising from whatever cause, are to be deplored and ought not to exist. The wife and mother who looks after the household affairs, and who takes proper care of all that comes within her charge, does her share over and over again and should not be obliged to help make the living.

A home can not be happy with the mother away. Take from the home hap piness and life no longer hath a charm. CHARLES W. MAIER, Third Vice Grand Master B. of L. F.

In Memoriam.

The members of L. S. 50, of Shreveport, La., extend heartfelt sympathy to Bro. Kelly Logsdon because of the death of his beloved wife. There is a vacant seat in our lodge room, but she has become a worthy member of that Grand Lodge above.

The sisters of Flower of the Desert Lodge 5 sympathize deeply with Sister Arkeills, whose husband, Bro. Al. Arkeills, died from injuries received by his engine going through an open switch. The beautiful floral offerings from the B. of L. F. and L. S., also the number of brothers and sisters who went to Los Angeles to attend the funeral, testify that he was a well-beloved brother.

The charter of Addison Lodge 75 has been draped for the first time. The members extend their deepest sympathy to Sister Rose Harper, whose husband, Bro. Fred Harper, passed to the great beyond January 19th.

We know when moons shall wane,

When summer birds shall cross the sea, When autumn's hue shall tinge the golden grain,

But who shall teach us when to look for thee.

Annual Union Meeting.

The eighth annual meeting of the Ladies' Societies, B. of L. F., of the State of Kansas, will be held at Chanute, Kan., in May. The exact date will be published in the Magazine later.

We are looking forward to a grand meeting. We hope the sisters of other societies will turn out and help us make this, our eighth union meeting, a grand success-for “in union there is strength."

Any information in regard to this meeting will be gladly furnished by Mae L. Lawton, State Secretary, Box 248, Chanute, Kan.

Notes.

The world's need today is of kind women and men. Kindness is the child of love, and its pedigree goes back to God.-Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

"We can not believe too strongly in our own society and in our ability to respond to every legal call made upon it."

Presidents, do you call your lodge meetings to order promptly, at the specified time? If you do not, you can not close your meetings early, and your members will not come out.

Your Editress does not live in Indianapolis. She is the wife of your Grand Medical Examiner, and, to date, she lives with him at 103 Seventh street, Peoria, Ill. By sending all communications for publication in the L. D. to that address you will save Editor Carter the trouble and expense of forwarding the same.

Your attention is called to the letter published in this issue from L. S. 76. Nine members initiated during the last quarter and the good work still going on. L. S. 27 also has a good showing, six initiated at one meeting.

"All that other folks can do, why with patience may not you?"

Every true woman knows that nothing will take the place in her heart or interest which her home and her family takes.

The new prophets are worrying lest the devotion to club life should wean women away from home. If a woman is so organized that love of excitement, desire for office, eagerness to find constant excitement outside of her home, control her actions, she will find dissipation somewhere, and lucky for her family that she stumbles accidentally into a good society She will learn to respect the things which she hitherto slighted, and home and its duties will assume new and more important proportions.-Club Woman.

The sister who comes to lodge with a chip on her shoulder certainly shows poor

taste in her selection of ornamentation. She might have made a much happier choice among this season's dainty little capes, fetching bows and killing epaulettes.

The little prayer was said,
And the golden, curly head
Lay asleep in the tiny bed.

Then a mother knelt and said: "God forgive the discontent,

Pardon Thou the murmur sent With that last small assessment. I'd forgotten that it might Comfort bring, to some sad mite, By whose bed so small and white, Kneels no mother fond tonight."

Sisters, the columns of the L. D. are open to every member of the L. S., and your Editress is at your service, but she absolutely refuses to send in communications for publication that are not signed with the writer's name. She will not publish the name should the writer desire her not to do so, but she must know who is responsible for every article that she submits for publication in the L. D. Owing to restriction of space, long letters of condolence or resolutions of sympathy can not be published.

Every lodge should strive to send something to the Magazine, something of general interest, if possible. When writing of matters of purely local interest you should make your letters short. If you send in lengthy communications do not feel hurt if, when you see them in print, you are reminded of the experience of the old Virginia darkey who went fishing. Having caught one big trout, and, wishing to fish farther down the stream he tied his catch by a string to a small tree and went off. Along came a youngster, also fishing, who had caught nothing but one little shiner. "Hello," said the lad, "here's a find. I wouldn't steal a pin for the world, but fair exchange is no robbery."

So he carried off the trout and left the shiner tied in the same way to the same tree. When the old darkey came back he looked hard at the tiny fish, and scratched his woolly head in amazement.

"Dis am de tree," he soliloquized, "dis am de same string, an" dis mus' be de same fish, but Goramighty how it hab shrunk!"

So with your letters, if they contain long descriptions of balls, socials, etc.they will appear, the same letters on the same subjects; but to make them fit into six pages-"Goramighty," they must be shrunk.

Letters from Friends.

FROM L. S. 159-(Member, Centerville, Iowa.) Iowa Lodge is still progressing. It was organized in March, 1902, by Sister Groner, of Boone, Iowa, with eleven charter members. We now have sixteen active members, but the territory we have to work in is rather limited.

We meet in I. O. O. F. Hall the first and third Thursdays of each month. Our President, Mrs. Gilbert, is one of whom any lodge would be proud and deserves the co-operation of every member.

The B. of L. F. boys take great interest in our society and have shown their appreciation of it by presenting us, on Christmas day, with a set of badges, of which we are very proud.

We have given two socials, which were a success financially as well as socially. During the warmer weather many pleasant afternoons were spent together with friends. Light refreshments were served and each one taxed 10 cents. This helped to swell the treasury.

We were invited to Sister Holland's on February 14th, St. Valentine's day. We spent a very pleasant afternoon. She had the rooms very prettily decorated with small hearts cut from paper, in our lodge colors.

As she expects to leave us soon we presented her with a beautiful china cake plate and cracker jar.

Heart-shaped valentines tied with lodge colors were given as souvenirs. Refreshments were served and all went home feeling glad that we were members of the Ladies' Society of the B. of L. F.

FROM L. S. 5-(President, Needles, Cal.) We, of Flower of the Desert Lodge, are never very idle, there always seems to be something for us to do.

Our joint meetings are certainly a success. We have a subject for debate each meeting and all take active parts in the discussions. We have taken in three new members lately and have the promise of several more.

We are planning for a box social soon. Our annual ball was a success.

I think the writings, in the Magazine, of Third Vice Grand Master Charles W. Maier are grand. What a true brotherly feeling he has for all of us.

We have had several bad wrecks here this winter and they have thrown a feeling of sadness over us. We fear for our loved ones even though we know that God watches over all.

Under the shadow of these fears and when passing through experiences similar to the one through which Sister Arkeills (whose husband's sad death is announced in this issue) has just passed, we realize what a comfort it is to have lodge sisters whose hearts beat in sympathy for us.

We wish all Societies success. We would be pleased to receive a visit from a member of the Grand Lodge.

FROM L. S. 75-(Member, Shreveport, La.) We are beginning the new year

with a better attendance and bright prospects. We voted upon one application and there are three others whom we hope to welcome before the end of this quarter.

We consider that we have a prize in our worthy President, Sister Alice White. We wish to thank the B. of L. F. Lodge 52 for their assistance in our late bereavement.

May words of friendship be ever on our lips and may our hands perform daily deeds of charity. God bless the B. of L. F. and the L. S.

I wish to congratulate Editor Carter. May he and his bride glide down the stream of life through waves of happiness and under the bright sun of prosperity.

FROM L. S. 84-(Mrs. Geo. W. Cox, Chicago, Ill.) Eloysia Lodge now has thirty-six members, a very good showing considering the fact that at one time we gave nine new members, at another seven, to organize new lodges.

At our last meeting I was obliged to resign my office, that of President, as I am leaving the city.

After meeting, the sisters had a pleasant surprise for me. A dainty luncheon was served. Covers were laid for twentytwo. After which I was made the recipient of a beautiful silver creamer and sugar, also a bouquet of our emblematic flower (red carnations). Taken so completely by surprise, my heart was too full for utterance, and I was unable to express the thanks I felt.

I wish, through the columns of the Magazine, to thank the sisters for their generosity, as well as for their loving words to me, all of which I cherish.

Though far away from them in person, my thoughts are often with the dear sisters of Eloysia Lodge. That prosperity and God's blessing may reign supreme in their homes is the wish of their absent

sister.

FROM L. S. 175-(A Member of Signal Mount Lodge 372, Big Springs, Tex.) Pride of the West Lodge gave their first annual ball on February 13th. It was a grand success socially and financially.

The ladies gave to the preparations their best efforts. Much taste was shown in the hall decorations.

By 10 o'clock the hall was completely filled with merry dancers, who enjoyed themselves until about 3.30 a. m. and went away satisfied that they had had a good time. Much credit is due the members of Pride of the West Lodge.

FROM L. S. 76—(Chaplain, Louisville, Ky.) As it has been some time since there has been anything in the Magazine from Lodge 76, I concluded to write a few lines and let the sisters know that we were still in existence.

We initiated nine new members last quarter and have good prospects for as many more this quarter.

of L. F. boys of Lodges 102, 502 and 578 We held a social meeting with the B. and their wives, mothers, sisters and sweethearts. We had dancing and refreshments and a general good time. There were about two hundred in attend

ance.

Everybody went home happy and ready to come again.

such as increase of membership, better All the lodges will derive some benefit, acquaintance among members, etc.

Our Society has a good and hard-work

ing set of officers, and is growing fast.

FROM L. S. 27-(President, Chanute, Kan.) I am indeed proud of our Society and of the work done by our sisters in the past year. We certainly have a band of faithful workers, all working for the good of our Order. Last month we had the pleasure of initiating a class of six into the mysteries of the L. S. on one meeting day. It was the largest class our Society has ever taken in at one time. Just now our time and thought is taken ing, to be held here in May. up preparing for the Kansas Union MeetWe are hop

ing to meet many old friends and many new ones at this meeting. Sisters from all States (also the brothers) will be welcome. Notice of the meeting will be found in this issue of the Magazine. May success attend the L. S., also the B. of L. F.