BLYTHEVILLE, a town in north-eastern Arkansas, U.S.A., eight m. from the Mississippi river, at an elevation of 2 5 2 f t., and Tom. north of Memphis; the county seat of Mississippi county. It is on the Mississippi River Scenic highway, and is served by the Frisco, the St. Louis Southwestern and the Blythe ville, Leachville, and Arkansas Southern railways. The population increased from 302 in 1900 to 6,447 in 1920, and was 10,098 in 1930 Federal census, of whom about 2,000 were negroes. Blythe ville is an important cotton market, handling 250,000 bales a year. Mississippi county alone ginned 156,941 bales in 1925, and ranks third among the counties of the United States in the production of cotton. Poultry, hay, and corn are other big crops.
(Sons of the Covenant), INDEPENDENT ORDER OF, founded at New York in 1843, is the oldest and largest of the Jewish fraternal organizations. Its membership in 1927 was 78,637, its 607 Lodges and 15 Grand Lodges being distributed over England, the United States, Austria Hungary, Rumania, Egypt and Palestine. It is not a secret society and the ritual is published. Its object is to promote a high morality among Jews, based on standards of charity and brotherly love rather than dogma and ceremonial custom ; political and religious discussions were from the first excluded from its debates. In 1851 the first Grand Lodge was established at New York; in 1856 the supreme authority was vested in a central body consisting of one member from each district lodge. The present constitution (adopted 1868 ) vests this authority in a president elected for five years, an exec utive body and a court of appeals. The first Lodge in Germany was instituted at Berlin in 1883. Many charitable and other public institutions have been established in the United States and else where by the B'nai B'rith, which has also not only co-operated largely with other Jewish philanthropic organizations in succour ing distressed Israelites throughout the world, but has also fre quently undertaken relief of distress without reference to the creed of the sufferers. Various American Presidents have paid public tribute to the valuable work of the Order. See The Jewish Encyclopaedia (1902) s.v. : B'nai B'rith; also Manual (1926).
The Order in 1928 was primarily engaged in cultural efforts, conducting intensive educational programmes, maintaining Hillel Foundations at the universities, and sustaining the Aleph Zadik Aleph, a junior auxiliary.
