Chapter XXXIX
The Elks
The Elks are a secret society with a ritual prescribing prayers at the opening and closing of the meetings; an oath of secrecy and the usual performances at initiation. Their annual Lodge of Sorrow for the dead is held on the first Sunday in December. This, too, is of a religious character; candles are burned upon an altar, incense is used, and a discourse of a religious nature is delivered. The name is said to have been taken from the description of the Elk in “Buffon’s Natural History,” where the animal is described as “fleet of foot, and timorous of doing wrong, avoiding all combats except in fighting for the female and in defense of the young and helpless weak.”
