518 KNIGHTS OF PYTIIIAS. 



LACROSSE. 



order of the executive board. A " strike " 

 may be ordered by local assemblies; but to 

 draw support from the order outside of the 

 striking assembly it must be " legalized," that 

 is, the district assembly must be notified and 

 an investigation made, after which, if the ne- 

 cessity for the strike is granted and no agree- 

 ment can be arrived at, the strikers are en- 

 titled to the support of the district, and, in case 

 of extension and need, to that of the whole 

 order through a general assessment. 



In the absence of direct statistics, semi-offi- 

 cial estimates place the membership of the or- 

 der at nearly 500,000. 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS. The order of Knights 

 of Pythias, which, as set forth in the Declara- 

 tion of Principles adopted by the Supreme 

 Lodge, is intended " solely and only to dissemi- 

 nate the great principles of Friendship, Charity, 

 and Benevolence," with " toleration in religion, 

 obedience to law, and loyalty to government," 

 the object being " peace on earth and good- 

 will toward man," was founded at Washing- 

 ton, D. C., Feb. 19, 1864, by Justus H. Rath- 

 bone, who had previously composed a ritual 

 of a secret society, which, with the object as 

 stated, he now submitted and explained to the 

 members of a vocal association, called the 

 Arion Glee Club. This was approved, an ob- 

 ligation of secrecy was entered into, and the 

 society was organized, taking its name, as sug- 

 gestive of its stated principles and object, from 

 the incident related of the friendship of Damon 

 and Pythias. The Grand Lodge of the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia was organized at Washing- 

 ton, April 8, 1864, and became the Provisional 

 Supreme Lodge until Aug. 11, 1868, when, in 

 accordance with the resolution of a conven- 

 tion, held under the Constitution of said Grand 

 Lodge, at Philadelphia, the Supreme Lodge, 

 Knights of Pythias, was organized at Wash- 

 ington, to exercise "executive, legislative, and 

 judicial functions over the whole order," and 

 to be " known and recognized as the supreme 

 authority of the Knights of Pythias of the 

 world." The executive officers of the Supreme 

 Lodge are: Supreme Chancellor, Supreme 

 Keeper of Records and Seal, Supreme Master 

 of Exchequer (under bond), Supreme Secretary 

 of Endowment Rank (under bond), Major- 

 General of the Uniform Rank, and Medical 

 Examiner-in-Chief. 



Each State, Territory, or Province is, for 

 the purposes of this order, called a Grand Ju- 



risdiction, having a Grand Lodge, which usu- 

 ally meets annually, composed of delegates 

 from the subordinate lodges within the juris- 

 diction. The ranks in the order are, Page, 

 Esquire, and Knight, with additional rank ac- 

 quired by service in office, as Past Chancellor, 

 in subordinate lodge ; Grand Chancellor, who 

 is the presiding officer in the Grand Lodge, 

 and who ranks as Past Grand Chancellor after 

 completing his term. There is also a Uniform 

 Rank, attainable only by members of the 

 Knight's Rank, which is distinct from the sub- 

 ordinate lodge. A uniform, with sword, is 

 designated for its members, and military drill 

 is prescribed. Subordinate lodges provide for 

 the payment of weekly benefits to members of 

 good standing, in cases of disability ; and at 

 death provision is made for a funeral benefit, 

 and certain allowances to the widow or or- 

 phans. The Endowment Rank, instituted Dec. 

 1, 187T, provides for an endowment to the 

 families of deceased members. It is operated 

 upon a plan of monthly assessments, which are 

 fixed and graded according to the age of mem- 

 bers. The power to create, hold, and disburse 

 its funds is vested in the Supreme Lodge. 

 Upon each $1,000 monthly payments are as fol- 

 low : Twenty-one years, 70 cents; thirty years, 

 80 cents; forty years, $1.10; fifty years, $1.60; 

 sixty years, $2.55. The costs of membership 

 are the initiation-fees, which vary, and the an- 

 nual dues. These last can not be less than ten 

 cents a week, but may be fixed by the lodge 

 at a higher rate. Full membership is obtained 

 by " white males, between the ages of twenty- 

 one and fifty years, after being proposed by 

 two members, recommended by an investigat- 

 ing committee as being of temperate habits, 

 good moral character, sound bodily health, 

 recognizing God as the Supreme Ruler of the 

 universe, and having been balloted for and ac- 

 cepted as a Page, proved as an Esquire, and 

 charged as a Knight." 



From official records and estimates, it is 

 shown that in 1885 the Supreme Lodge had 

 supervision over fifty Grand Jurisdictions, with 

 more than 2,000 subordinate lodges, and a 

 membership of more than 160,000; $2,000,- 

 000 was reported as the balance in the treas- 

 uries of the Grand Jurisdictions; $4,500,000 

 as having been paid out in benefits by sub- 

 ordinate lodges ; and $2,500,000 as paid on ac- 

 count of the death of members in the Endow- 

 ment Rank. 



LACROSSE. The game of lacrosse the na- 

 tional ball-game of the Dominion of Canada 

 is undoubtedly of Indian origin. Originally it 

 bore different names, one (Indian) being "bag- 

 gataway." The name it now holds was given 

 it by the French settlers of Canada, suggested 

 by the similarity of the form of the " crosse " 

 as the stick used in the game is called to a 



crosier or bishop's pastoral staff. The game, 

 as played by the North American Indians, was 

 first seen by Europeans when the French ex- 

 plored the territory along the St. Lawrence 

 river and the Great Lakes the Algonquins 

 not only playing it in spring and autumn on 

 the grassy intervals along the rivers, but also 

 on the ice in winter. The Indians used a ball 



