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THE TRESTLE BOARD, Vigilant Management/ Modern Equipment, Beautiful Scenery, Excellent Roadbed, Attentive Employes, Through Sleeping Cars. First class drawing room and second class modern upholstered tourist sleeping cars daily through from Oakland to Chicago without change of cars. Lowest rates to all points in the United States, Mexico, Canada or Europe. Ticket Office, 644 Market St., Chronicle Building. Telophone 1531. H. C. BUSH, A. G. P. A., 5 . H. PERKINS, City Ticket Agent, 61 Chronicle Building, 6.44 Market St. , San Francisco. \ THE A MONTHLY MASONIC AND FAMILY MAGAZINE. Vol. XI. MARCH, 1897. No. 3. The Druses of Syria and Their Re- lation to Freemasonry. BY BRO. REV. HASKETT SMITH. Toward the close of the tenth century A.D., there reigned in Egypt a certain Khalif, belong to the Fatimite dynasty; his name was Hakim. This Hakim was a man of extraordinary eccentricity, and of unparalleled inaptitude to govern a great people. Vacillation and fanaticism were curiously intermingled in his character: and he continually annoyed and disturbed his subjects by introducing the most out- rageous measures, which were almost as soon repealed. Thus, amongst other acts of this worthless monarch, he solemnly cursed the First Khalif of Islamism in the principal mosques of Cairo, and a few days afterwards revoked the curse. He issued a strict order forbidding any of his subjects to undertake the Haj, or sacred pilgrimage to Mecca; and the following year he ordered everyone to go under the severest penalties for neglect of his command. He insisted upon all shops and warehouses in Cairo be- ing kept open day and night; he caused all the vines to be uprooted throughout Egypt, and then, a short time afterwards, ordered new vines to be planted everywhere. He burnt the half of Cairo to the ground, and gave his soldiers free license to sack and pillage the remaining half. He abjured Mohommedanism, and afterwards recant- ed. In short, he committed as many follies, excesses and inconsistencies as his pervert- ed ingenuity could invent. There is little doubt that he was in reality insane; for his conduct can be explained in no other way. The natural consequence of his absurd and atrocious folly can be easily conjectured. His people, at first dissatisfied and trou- bled, became gradually turbulent and threatening, until, at length, it was evi- dent that not only his throne but his very life also was in danger. Then it was that, as a crowning act of audacity, and as a last desperate resort, he gave himself out as an Incarnation of the Deity, hoping thereby to reduce his rebellious subjects into reverent submission, and, perhaps, in his insanity really imagining that he really was indeed Divine. His pretensions were supported by a certain Persian named Mo- hammed Ibu Ismail Duruzi, who had hung about his court for some length of time — a sycophantic parasite ready to pander to all the poor monarch’s infatuated notions. It is most probable, indeed, that Duruzi himself first suggested to Hakim the idea of his divinity. However this may be, the blasphemous claim of the Egyptian Khalif was utterly repudiated by his own people. His character and conduct was too well known amongst them to allow of their being cajoled into the acceptance of any such theory : and both Hakim and Duruzi were summarily disposed of, there being little or no doubt that both were murdered. It is probable that nothing more would ever have been heard of Hakim and his pretensions if it had not been for a man named Hamze, who had been a friend and disciple of Duruzi. Hamze was a very different character from either his master or his sovereign, for he was neither an im- poster nor a harebrained madman. But, however he may have been led to enter- tain the belief, he became firmly imbued 98 THE TRESTLE BOARD. with the conviction that Hakim’s claims were founded upon justice and truth, and that he was in very deed an incarnation of the Godhead. He was persuaded that Hakim’s mysterious disappearance, so far from being the consequence of assassina- tion or foul play, had bten his own delib- erate act, and that he had miraculously’ withdrawn himself from a people and generation which had shown themselves unworthy of his divine presence amongst them. He never believed in his death, and he held and taught that he had beta- ken himself to some secret place in the heart of China, where he would remain until the time should come when he could again appear and assert his power. Hamze endeavored to preach this new gospel amongst the Egyptians, but he was driven out of the country and forced to exercise his missionary efforts else- where. He wandered through Syria with- out making any converts, until he arrived on the western slopes of the Lebanon. There he found a strange and remarkable people, living in rigid exclusiveness amongst themselves, holding no commu- nication with the outside world, and prac- tically destitute of any national code of re- ligion, and ready to listen to a new creed. Amongst these people Hamze took up his abode, and he finally succeeded in induc- ing them to adopt his tenets. His per- sonal character was one of singular self- abnegation and purity; and it was proba- bly his personal influence more than the dogmas which he taught which won this race over to the cause which he held. I have said they had practically no religion of their own, and this is true so far as defi- nite doctrines are concerned; but, as I shall presently show, they had amongst them certain forms, rites, and customs which might be said to have been of a semi-religious character, and which were, at any rate, most suggestive and signifi- cant. Hamze drew up a code of dogmas and ethics, and compiled the main principles of his faith and teaching in a work which he entitled “The Book of the Testimonies to the Mysteries of the Unity.’’ For a further description of the tenets contained in this book, I would refer the brethren to an article in Blackwood' s Magazine for December, 1890, where I have more fully discussed the subject. It is sufficient here to say that the fol- lowers of Hamze were named by him after his late master, Duruzi, and that they are known at the present day as Druses. They are now to be found distributed amongst three main settlements: (1) in the Leba- non district: (2) across the Hauran, on the east side of the Jordan; and (3) amongst the Galilean hills and upon Mount Car- mel, in the Holy Land proper. A few scattered families may also be met with further north, in the neighborhood of Al- eppo, but these outlying colonies are merely off-shoots from the main stock, and are the result of later migrations from the original home on the Lebanon. It is not my purpose in the present paper to enter into any detailed history of the Druses, interesting and instructive as the subject would be. This I must reserve for other occasions, for my object now is to prove a couple of propositions, both of which bear intimately upon the history of the Craft of Freemasonry. My two pro- positions are, then, as follows: (I.) That the Druses are none other than the original subjects of Hiram, King of Tyre, and that their ancestors were the builders of Solomon’s Temple. (II.) That to this very day, the Druses retain many evident tokens of their close and intimate connection with the Ancient Craft of Freemasonry. (I.) Anyone who has the most element- ary knowledge of the East, is aware that the subjects of Hiram, King of Tyre, were known by the name of Phoenicians. He is also doubtless aware that the Phoenicians were the great navigators and merchants of ancient days. They have been com- pared by many writers to the English; and, indeed, so far as the spirit of enter- prise, adventure, commerce, and coloniza- tion were concerned, the comparison is by no means inappropriate. We know that the Phoenicians were the first sailors of history who dared to venture beyond the sight of land; that they founded important and flourishing colonies at Carthage, in North Africa, on the islands of Malta, Sicily and Sardinia, in the south of Spain, and many other places; and that they even penetrated as far as England. Their pros- perity and renown were unequalled in the ages in which they flourished; and the very mention of Tyre and Sidon — those mistresses of the sea — are sufficient to bear testimony to their ancient prestige. It has long been understood that the Phoenician race and nationality has become extinct, so far as its individuality of ex- THE TRESTLE BOARD. 99 istence is concerned; and that by inter- course and intermarriage the people have become merged into other races. And this is true, so far as concerns the Phoeni- cians, in the common acceptation of the term. That is to say. those seafaring mer- chants and traders who inhabited the mari- time districts ruled over by the Kings of Tyre and Sidon have indeed lost their dis- tinctive nationality. Phoenicia, in that sense, is nothing more than a name of the past — a departed glory, a vanished power. Such an eventuality was the necessary and inevitable outcome of the conditions under which the maritime Phoenicians lived. It was impossible for them to contract rela- tionship with other nations in the ordinary course of their commercial business and their social intercourse without gradually losing their own individuality of race and character. The very circumstances which conduced to the undying fame of these en- terprising navigators also brought about, in the course of generations, their decay and extinction as a nation. But all that has hitherto been said about these Phoenicians applies merely to that portion of the race who inhabited tfie nar- row strip of land bordering on the sea shore, and who engaged in mercantile and maritime pursuits. There was another section of the race who were, in every sense, their brethren and kindred in blood and family, their fellow subjects in the same realm, partakers with them of the same ancestral stock. This other section presented, however, in the features of their daily life and occupation, a diametrical contrast to their more famous brethren. They were a pastoral and agricultural class of peasants, inhabiting the mountain glens and valleys of the Lebanon, dwelling alone and undisturbed in the secluded retirement of their village homes. They were brought into contact with no outsiders; thev had no relations of business or friendship with other races; and, with one solitary excep- tion in their history, nothing ever occur- red to bring their names into notice. The solitary exception was occasioned by the building of Solomon’s Temple. Hiram, King of Tyre, sovereign of all Phoenicia, maritime and mountainous, proffered his services to his royal neigh- bor, and in the prosecution of his friendly assistance, he commissioned that portion of his subjects who inhabited the rural dis- tricts on the Lebanon slopes, to hew down the cedar trees, to fashion the timbers, to quarry the stones, and to perform all the other necessary labors in connection with the undertaking upon which he had em- barked. Thus, when we read, either in the pages of the Bible or in the history of the Craft, of thesubjectsof Hiram. KingofTyre, who assisted in the erection of Solomon’s Temple, we must remember that these were principally those Phoenicians who belonged to the agricultural and domestic class. It is true that their brethren of the seaboard had also their share in the work, for it was they who were responsible for the safe transfer of all the materials from the Phoenician ports to Joppa, and from thence to their destination at Jerusa- lem. But the Craftsmen and Masons them- selves were mountaineering Phoenicians, inhabitants of those very districts where many centuries later, Hamze preached his new religion and founded the sacred wor- ship of Drusedom. Now I would earnestly draw the atten- tion of the brethren to one cardinal feature of Oriental life. Except under extraor- dinary and abnormal circumstances — such, for example, as those I have enumerated in connection with the mercantile section of Phoenicia — there is an universal ten- dency amongst all Eastern tribes to main- tain unchanged for centuries upon centu- ries their habits, customs, race distinctions and places of abode. Such would espe- cially be the case with an exclusive, retir- ing and pastoral peasantry, such as the mountaineering subjects of the King of Phoenicia. Just exactly as the very con- ditions of life under which the navigating Phoenicians lived, brought about two re- sults, viz, their fame and prosperity for a time, and their subsequent extinction as a race, so did the opposite conditions of life under which their agricultural brethren lived produced two results the opposite of these, viz, their obscurity of renown and their permanence of existence. Long after Phoenicia as a nation had become nothing more than an interesting matter of past history to the world in general, this por- tion of Phoenicia was still maintaining in unknown seclusion its integrity of charac- ter, race, and blood. The downfall of Tyre and Sidon had caused the worship of Baal and Ashteroth to fall into decay, and when Hamze came amongst this people he found them prac- tically without a religion. Their rigid ex- clusiveness of nature had forbidden them to embrace any religion, such as Christian- IOO THE TRESTLE BOARD. ity or Mohammedanism, which would have brought them into communion with the outside world, and one of the chief recom- mendations of Hamze’s faith was that it supplied them with a religion which they could have entirely to themselves. It is, however, a matter of the most sig- nificant note, that though Hamze could not detect among this people any traces of a sacred religion in the strictest sense of the word beyond their vague acceptance of the idea of one God, he nevertheless found the existence amongst them of certain secret and mystic rites. To these he al- ludes particularly in his writings. He speaks of their signs and passwords , of their different degrees of initiation, and of their assemblies within closed doors. These ancient traditional rites and mysteries he appears to have incorporated with his new religion, and some of their phrases, ideas and sentiments he employs and makes use of as if they were his own. I have thus been enabled to trace with- out, as it seems to me, any missing link, the unbroken continuity between the pas- toral subjects of Hiram, King or Tyre, and the Druses of the present day. The historical connection thus established is confirmed in many ways by collateral evi • dence. Thus, an intimate acquaintance with the inner life of the Druses reveals to one’s observing mind many characteris- tics in regard to them which are just the very ones we should expect to find among the modern representatives of these ancient highlanders. In the first place, the Druses are essentially a mountaineering, agricul- tural and pastoral race. Amongst all their many settlements in the Lebanon, the Hauran, Palestine and Syria, there is not, so far as I am aware, a single Druse vil- lage in the plain. They are all on mount- ain heights, perched like eagles’ nests on the summit of lofty hills, difficult of access, and implying from their inhabitants the characteristics of highlanders. Again, in all my researches, and I have been very diligent in my inquiries in this direction, I have never seen or heard of a Druse who is engaged in manufacturing or commercial pursuits. They are, with- out exception, agricultural peasants. We come now to another remarkable point. The Druses invariably assert with confidence that they were the builders of Solomon’s Temple. I have questioned them again and again upon this matter; with some I have feigned astonishment at their claim, with others I have pretended to dispute its truth, with others again I have adopted an attitude of perfect ignorance on the subject. But by all I have been meet with an assured declaration that their ancestors most undoubtedly built the Tem- ple at Jerusalem. The Druses know very little about the Bible or the history of the ancient Israelites. Most of the prophets and heroes of old, with whose names we have been familiar from childhood, are quite unknown by these people of Syria; but there is one name of ancient Old Tes- tament story that stands out conspicuous in the traditions of the Druses. That one name is Solomon. He is their fabled hero; it is in him that all their legends and wonderful stories concentrate, and next to Hakim he occupies the most sacred place in their sanctology. All these facts, duly considered and weighed together in conjunction, appear to my mind a satisfactory and conclusive proof of the first proposition which I have laid before the brethren, that the Druses are the original subjects of Hiram, King of Tyre, and that their ancestors were the builders of Solomon’s Temple. (II.) I come now to the second propo- sition, and shall endeavor to establish with even more convincing clearness, the fact that the Druses present many evident to- kens of their intimate connection with the Ancient Craft of Freemasonry. And here I may remark, by way of pa- renthesis, that if it be so, we have a very remarkable and overpowering corrobora- tion of the claim which Freemasonry makes to its mystic relation to the builders of the Temple. If it be true, as I have already endeavored to show, that the Druses as- sisted to build the Temple, and if it be also true, as I shall now proceed to demon- strate, that the Druses are connected with the Mystic Craft, then it follows, as a nec- essary and logical consequence, that Free- masonry played an important part in the erection of the House of God upon Moriah, if, indeed, it did not actually take its rise in that important and memorable under- taking. The arguments which I shall bring for- ward in support of my second proposition are so numerous and varied that, for the sake of clearness, it is better to distinguish them numerically. (i.) It is well known to every brother of the Craft that a three-fold condition is laid down for the eligibility of a candi- THE TRESTLE BOARD. IOI date to initiation into the mysteries of Freemasonry. This three-fold condition is as follows: “The candidate must be of full age. free born, and of good report.” In the Book of Testimonies to the Myster- ies of the Unity, which contains the prin- ciples and code as laid down by Hamze, there are enumerated in like manner three conditions for the admission of a candi- date into the Druse religion Now, let it be carefully observed, this three fold con- dition is critically identical in every re- spect with that for initiation into Freema- sonry. It is thus expressed: “He that believeth in the truths which have been set forth in this book is eligible for admis- sion to the ranks (i. e. , degrees of initia- tion), and to take his place in the secret assemblies (z. ) The exercise of brotherly love. ( c ) The practice of acts of charity. The Druses have been branded as non- religionists because they discountenance the practice of prayer. In strong contrast to the Moslem with his manifold devotions; to the Jew with his Sabbaths and ceremo- nial rites; to the Greek Christian with his prodigality of symbolism, and to the Ro- man Catholic with his masses, the Druse abjures any visible ritual of worship. He further differs from the other great sects of Syria by his utter neglect of the practices of fasting and oblation. But, so far from this attitude resulting from a want of true principle on the part of the Druses, it is the consequence of a firm and settled ad- herence to their creed, which teaches them that the practice of their first three laws has abrogated the duties of these three acts of devotion. In the words of their lav- giver, “The true belief in the Truth of the One God shall take the place of Pray- er; the exercise of Brotherly Love shall take the place of Fasting , and the practice of daily acts of Charity shall take the place of Almsgiving .” Thus the practical religion upon which the Druses’ conduct is to be regulated may be summed up in the well known words: “Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.” This, then, forms a natural and appro- priate climax to our consideration of the marvellous points of resemblance between the principles and practices of the Druse religion and the principles and practices of Freemasonry. It may be said, in brief, (1), that the conditions of eligibility are the same in substance; (2), that the de- grees of initiation are virtually identical; (3), that the Druses possess tokens, signs, and passwords; (4), that the khalwehs or sacred meeting-houses of the Druses re- semble in many points the Masonic Lodges; (5), that the houses of the Druses are deco- rated with mystic symbols analogous, more or less, to Masonic emblems; (6), that the Seven Stars occupy a position of impor- tance in both systems; and (7), that the practical moral code of both may be rep- resented by the same formula, “Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.” Taking all these points into due consid- eration, and weighing them well together, I can scarcely feel myself presuming too far when I submit to the brethren that I have proved my second proposition, and that I have at any rate demonstrated that the Druses present many evident tokens of an intimate connection with the ancient Craft of Freemasonry. In conclusion, I desire to say that I have no wish or intention to dogmatize upon my theory. I am well aware that, not- withstanding the almost mathematical dem- onstration of my two propositions, the subject has as yet been most rudimentarily THE TRESTLE BOARD. 105 dealt with, and much still remains, doubt- less, to be investigated. And upon this I would desire to make two simple remarks. (1.) Even supposing that the origin of our sacred Craft is rightly to be traced to the ancestry of the Druses, it would be un- reasonable to expect that at the present day we should find the two systems exactly identical upon all points of detail. We must remember that nearlv 3000 years have elapsed since Hiram, King of Tyre, sent his subjects to Jerusalem to assist in the building of King Solomon’s Temple. During that vast period of time the Craft of Freemasonry has experienced many strange and trying vicissitudes. On its gradual passage from its remote mountain home of Phoenicia to its present existence in the lap of Western civilization, it must inevitably have been subjected to many important modifications. Thus, for ex- example, it is by no means a matter of surprise to me, nor is it calculated to weaken my belief in my theory, that the passwords now in use amongst the Druses are unknown in Freemasonry. I have suggested one possible explanation of this fact, viz, that the Druses may, perhaps, have the original Phoenician passwords; but this is only a supposition, and it may very likely be incorrect. Even in that case it would not be astonishing if it were so, nor would it disprove the common ori- gin of Druesdom and Freemasonry. The system of the Druses has undoubtedly been modified by the introduction of the reli- gion which Hamze taught. Hence it would be miraculous and incredible ihat all matters of detail should be found alike in the two Crafts or mysteries. (2.) The second remark which I would make is this. Owing to the jealous exclu • siveness and inscrutable mystery with which the Druses hedge themselves about, the whole work of inquiry and investiga- tion is attended with the utmost difficulty and discouragement. If, for example, one of the brethren, interested by the facts which I have stated in this paper, were to determine to undertake a personal pilgrim- age to the Druses, and to further examine the matter for himself, I warn him that he would in all probability, find himself griev- ously disappointed. It is, indeed, a matter of practical impossibility for a stranger or outsider to learn anything of the secret details of the Druse religious system. It is only after a close and inti- mate abode amongst them for several years a familiar intercourse with them in their daily life, engaging in their occupations and pursuits, eating at their meals, sleep- ing in their houses, sharing in their domes- tic cares and troubles, sympathising with them in their personal sorrows and joys, that I have been able, little bv little, and here and there, to gather together the vari- ous items of my knowdedge concerning their inner life. And even now, thor- oughly as I am acquainted with them, honestly as they have learned to trust me, cordially as they have cast off all suspicion concerning me, I find it absolutely imprac- ticable to question them openly upon the subject of their creed. Whenever I at- tempt to broach the matter, I am either met with what I know to be a deliberate false reply, or else the whole subject is adroitly turned, in a manner which a Druse alone could have the skill to adopt. It has been suggested to me more than once that an effectual mode of prosecuting my researches to the utmost limit would be to offer myself as a candidate for initiation into Drusedom. But this again is impos- sible; for the Druses have a standard say- ing of their own — “The door is shut: none can enter in it, and none can pass out.” None but the offspring and blood of Druses are eligible for admission to their mystic rites. It is a matter of sheer impossibility to convert a Druse to any other religion, and it is an equal impossibility to be in- itiated into Drusedom. Hence, as they say, “the door is shut.” The Tyler stands on duty at the outside; the Inner Guard keeps watch within The anxious enquirer must still remain in the obscurity and darkness of the outer world; and all that he can hope for is to catch some passing glimpse of the internal mys- teries through some chink in the walls laid bare by the careless indiscretion of a stray remark, or by the interchange of courtesies bewteen a couple of Druses, observed by the anxious glance of unsuspected scrutiny. During the great outbreak in the Lebanon in the vear i860 between the Druses and the Maronites, some Druse Khalwehs were forcibly entered, and a few sacred books were captured. Some of these have since been translated and published by Professor De Sacy and others; but they have shed very lit* le light upon the hidden mysteries of the Druse system. They were, after all, but very superficial books; the real records of their secret religion — all of which are, of course, in manuscript alone — are kept io6 THE TRESTLE BOARD. in safe custody of the Khateebs themselves, and are never left in the Khalwehs. When one of these shall have been unearthed and published, and not until then, can we hope to have sufficient means at our disposal to investigate thoroughly the Druse myster ies: and, meanwhile, I can but ask that the brethren will accept the result of my research for what they are worth, and that they will consider them an honest — and, I will hope, a not uninteresting — contribu- tion towards the solution of the problem of the origin of Freemasonry, o Marquis Du Savignac. “My black mammy would have called it ‘de wukin’s of providence.’ There is no other way of accounting for the modus ope- randi. ’ ’ And Sylvester blew out a cloud of smoke, chuckling to himself with the irritating superiority of a man who holds the cream of a joke, and intends to take his own time about sharing it. “I don’t see what you can know about the modus operandi ,” said Jack Clements, savagely. Jack was feeling sore; he had been in love with Betty himself. “My dear boy,’’ answered Sylvester, calmly, “I know all about it; I don’t mind telling you fellows,” he added, “as the ceremony is over and they are going to live abroad. It’s a unique tale, and has, moreover, a pithy moral.” It was the day of Betty Carrol ton’s mar- riage to Marquis Du Savignac, and we had all drifted into the Club in the evening, seeking companionship in misery. For, to the gilded youths whom Uncle Sam sustains with his clerkships, and Washing- ton society welcomes to its bosoms, matri- mony and swelldom are seldom compatible. The Marquis had been as impecunious as the rest of us; indeed, more so, for he sent the half of his salary monthly across to his mother and sisters in the dilapida- ted old chateau in Normandy. The death of a prodigal old father two years before left him with nothing save a title that reached back to the days of Charlemagne, and he had come to America in hopes of retrieving the fortunes of his house. He had not found El Dorado; only a transla- tor’s place in the Stale Department and the entree into society which was his birth- right. Everybody liked him, though he made no secret of his poverty, and he had been served up at dinners andljpoured out at teas for two seasons, and, along with some of the rest of us, had fallen in love with Betty Carrolton. But, unlike some of the rest of us. the Marquis felt it dishonorable to speak of love until he could offer marriage. The limitless possibilities of American flirta- tion had not yet infected his alien mind, and, so far as we knew, his passion for Betty was undeclared. So the announcement of their engage- ment had fallen among us like a bomb- shell, and their marriage and departure for France a week later had left us in a state of limp bewilderment. “You remember the embassy ball ten days ago,” said Sylvester, as we all got something to smoke and settled comfort- ably back in our chairs. “I was strolling through Lafayette Square on my way up there and came on the Marquis sitting on one of the benches, looking the picture of despair. You know how exquisite the Park is these May nights.” “Come, come, Ves, draw it mild!” broke in Caddie Stevens from the bottom of the table. Sylvester shook his head reproach- fully. “Caddie, my boy, Harvard has ruined you; there is no sentiment left in your soul. There’s reservoirs of it in mine, thank the gods; and as soon as I saw the misery in Savignac’ s face I knew it meant ‘Betty,’ and I sat down by him, thinking it would do him good to ease his mind a bit. You all know the kind of a fellow he is — ” “Sort of a hash of Don Quixote and Bayard, with a dust of Sir Philip Sydney over the top,” said Caddie, with an airy wave of his cigarette. “Genuine, too; I’ve seen him treat his washerwoman with the same courtesy he’d use at the White House,” added Jack, with a fervor that, considering the circum- stances, was truly noble. “Exactly,” said Sylvester. “Well, we all know who has been keeping his love for Betty bottled up; but the dav before I met him he had a letter from France saying his mother was stricken with a fatal ill- ness, and he must go home at once. He had gone to say good bye to Betty, and broken down under her sympathy to find that she had been loving him with all the strength of her honest little American heart for nearly a year.” There was a stifled sigh from Jack Clem- ents, but Sylvester went on, ignoring it. THE TRESTLE BOARD. 107 “He found, too, which he didn’t know before, that she had a tidy little fortune left by her mother, coming to her on her wedding day, if she married with her fath- er’s approval. This changed the face of things to Savignac. There were manufac- turing interests in Normandy which he could put on their feet with a little capi- tal, and a dot was to him as appropriate an accomplishment of the marriage ceremony as the priest’s blessing. So he tore round to the house the next morning almost be- fore General Carrolton had finished his breakfast, to ask him, like a gentleman and a lover, for his daughter and her dowry.” There was a sub lued whistle about the table. “Exactly,” said Sylvester. “The gen- eral’s a fine old boy at the bottom, but he goes off like a gattling gun about Betty. He’s been looking for an archangel in a halo, with a clear record in Bradstreets, to hand her over to ever since she left school. And he’s particularly wrathy against for- eigners since Count de Soissons, nee ‘valet,’ swelled round here for a whole season, and was making off'with pretty Polly Hopkins and her fortune when he was discovered. That was before your time, Caddie, but the rest of us remember the scandal. I don’t suppose the general had seen Savig- nac a dozen times, for you know he never troubles about Betty’s followers until they grow aggressive. So when a young gen - tleman of France, with a bank account as intangible as the ghosts of his ancestors, walks calmly in and demands his daughter and her fortune, offering, in return, his princely title and impoverished estates, you can imagine the result. Luckily, the Marquis’ knowledge of English is limited, and the General speaks no French, so the interchange of sentiment was somewhat controlled. But Savignac had gathered the square Anglo-Saxon meaning, and his grief at losing Betty was not greater than his indignation at the slurs upon himself. I suggested his going to the French Min- ister and getting credentials, but his pride would not permit it. ‘Nevaire!’ he said. ‘Am I not myself? Do I not speak for myself? To tell me I am an imposter, desiring only the fortune of his daughter! Oh, Betty — mabelle!’ And he put out his arms with a tone that would have made even you, Caddie, you miserable cynic, believe in love. “He had been forbidden the house, and so was on his way to the Embassy ball to catch a last glimpse of Bettv and start for France the next day. I didn’t see what use it was just then, and so I left him to calm himself and walked on through the park. The place seemed entirely deserted; it was after nine o’clock by that time, and I had nearly reached the H street en- trance when I was startled by the sound of wailing moans and sobs and broken cries, It flashed across me that Savignac’s sor- row and excitement had sent him suddenly mad, and I turned and started back to him on a run, but as I rounded a clump of bushes I saw him and stopped. Sylvester broke off here with a chuckle and leaned back shaking with laughter. Then he drew his chair to the table and told us the rest of the story, adding sol- emnly at the end: “I’ll take my affidavit, boys, for the truth of every blessed word. On the bench in front of the Marquis sat five little darkies, or rather, four of them sat on the bench, and the fifth was laid in the arms of the biggest of the four. She was a small mulatto girl about ten years of age, with a face old and wizened and wise enough for her to have been the grandmother of the children. . The baby lying across her knees, his paunchy little stomach arched up in a bow, was as round and gli-tening as an infant seal. His short wool was kinked into naps over his head, and he wore a brief gar- ment of unbleached cotton and a red flan- nel sacque. A beautiful little quadroon girl, with silky curls falling over her checked apron, sat next on the bench, her arms flung about two pudgy boys of five So exactly alike and so profoundly black that but for their rolling eyes they might have been taken for duplicate shadows. The Marquis looked down at the quin- tette and the quintette looked up at the Marquis, and Sylvester in the shadow of the lilac bush took in the whole. “What is the mattaire?” asked the Mar- quis, gently, “We’s los’,” answered the holder of the baby — the rest of them were gasping with terror. “We libs up to de Boun’rvan’ we wuz gwine to see mammy what cooks fo’ de gin’ral.” She gazed up in the Marquis’ face and seemed to gather confidence from what she saw. “Granny guv us a dime to ride in de hu’dic, but May Lily Belle and Rastus an’ Willum Henry, dey wuz jes’ sot an’ ter- io8 THE TRESTLE BOARD. mined to git peanuts an’ walk. So we got peanuts an’ walked — an’ heah we is! Hit growed dark an’ we los’ our way, an’ we nevur ’spect to git nowharno mo.” The Marquis shook his head in bewil- derment. “L’ Anglais est terriblement,” he murmured. ‘‘Mais 1’ African! What name have you?” he asked aloud, hoping to elicit some words he could understand. “Mine’s Mirandv Johnson,” said the owner thereof, hitching the baby up into a sitting position, “an’ she’s May Lily Belle Johnson, an’ dem two’s ’Rastus an’ Wil- lum Henry Johnson; dey’s twins, bofe of ’em, an’ dis heah’s Claude ’Gustus John- son — I done name him myself.” “And you desire to go home ?” “Yes, sir; we wants mammy, but we dunno de way, an’ we’s clare wore out.” The speaker’s voice trailed into a sob, which was taken up in crescendo by the rest. “I will call a gendarme — a polisman,” said the Marquis, hastily; but May Lily Belle’s sob went into a shriek, and Miran- da made a clutch toward him. “No — mister — please; stop — doan!” cried she; “doan call no p’liceman. May Lily Bell, she’ll jes’ go clear distracted if she sees a p’liceman! We wuz dat scari- fied wuz de reason we cum heah — to git shet of dem an’ de night doctors.” “Night docteurs?” queried the Mar- quis. hopelessly. “Yes; sir. Dey’s jes’ de wustest of all! Dey kills black folks to find out what’s inside of white folks! Dey’s alius huntin’ fo’ lil niggers, an’ dey cotches you an’ ca’ys you off in a baig, an’ cuts you open an’ keeps you livin’ when you’re daid!” went on Miranda, her voice rising to the unctuous horror of her recital; “an’ dey biles babies!” The suggestion of the boiled babies was too much for the delicate susceptibilities of May Lily Belle. She broke into a wail of anguish, clasping Claude Augustus’ red socked foot to her bosom and rocking her- self to and fro, while Erastus and William Henry, as if moved by a simultaneous im- pulse, flung themselves bodily against the Marquis’ knees, roaring together: “Wan’ g’ ’ome! Wan’ g’ ’ome!” “Taisez! — taisez! — ecoutez! — listen!” the Marquis cried in despair. “I will con- duct you — ” as he put his hands over his ears. Miranda came to his rescue. “You Willum Henry and ’Rastus, shet yo’ haids!” she commanded. “Hain’t vo’ got no manners? I sh’d think you was Irish,” she went on, with a withering scorn that smote her brothers into silence. The Marquis looked hopelessly about him. There was not a soul in sight. La- fayette Square, being surrounded by the homes of the aristocracy, is not much fre- quented by stragglers, even on moonlight nights; and Sylvester was safe behind the lilac bush. The exigency before the Mar- quis was plainly and simply his to meet — five little children to be taken to their moth- er. That they were black made no differ- ence to him; in France the color line is not drawn. “I will take you home,” he said. “Will you?” said Miranda, brighten- ing. “Will yo’ tek us to mammy? We mus’ be somewhars near her, kase we all started from granny’s at fo’ o’clock, an’ bin trapesin’ ever sence. De gin’ral’s is over younder,” she pointed in the direc- tion of the State Department. “’Long F — street somewhars, not so far frum de house wid de hants.” “Da ’ants ?” queried the Marquis. “Ghostises,” explained Miranda. “De big yaller house wid de corners cut often hit.” A light broke on the Marquis. “La maison octogone — I comprehend.” He knew that portion of Washington and its landmarks and traditions only too well.j “Come, let us go,” he said, holding out his hand. “Git up ’Rastus,” said Miranda. Then she looked doubtfully up at the gentleman in his evening clothes. “Please, mister, tell me who you is? You ain’t — oh, you sho’ly ain’t one dem night — ” the horrible possibility choked her utterance. A gleam of fun flashed over the Mar- quis’ face and twitched the corners of his eyes and lips. Then he lifted his hat in one hand, placed the other upon his heart and made his most courtly bow. “Mademoiselle, permit me to present myself — M. le Marquis Victor Marie St. Bernardine Du Savignac.” Miranda gave a satisfied sign.” “He’s quality, sho’,” she said to May Lily Belle. She started to rise, but fell back again weakly. “I jes’ cyarnt tote Claude Augustus anudder step. I’sejes’ clar wore out,” she said, her voice break- ing. The Marquis bent and lifted the baby upon his arm. THE TRESTLE BOARD. jog “Le pauve petite!” he said, gently. He held out his left hand, smiling, to May Lily Belle, who, after a moment’s gazing through her shielding curls, clung to him like a kitten. The twins each grasped one of the long satin- lined coat-tails in a grimy fist, and Miranda prepared to guard the rear of the company. “Allons, mes infantes!” said the Mar- quis, gayly, and the procession started. They passed out of the southwest en- trance of the square, crossed the avenue, and took their way via the State Depart- ment and Seventeenth street along F . They proceeded slowly; May Lily Belle wavered with drowsiness and fatigue, and the twins dragged heavily on the coat-tails. There were few people abroad in that quiet quarter, and no one noticed them, though they walked in the full moonlight. Opposite the black shadows of the houses stretched nearly to the middle of the street, and along this coign of vantage slipped Sylvester, as any other man born of wo- man would have done, to see the outcome. “Why didn’t you help them?” broke in Caddie Stevens at this juncture, as the tale was told. “Why didn’t you step up like a man and a brother and carry one of the twins pig-a back?” “Dear boy,” said Sylvester, sweetly, “I am not posing as an emancipation pro- clamation. Besides, I would not have de- prived his brow of its halo.” “ ‘Sentiment’ for ‘stove-pipe!’ ” mur- mured Caddie; but Jack Clements threat- ened him with personal violence, and Syl- vester was allowed to continue. The Marquis seemed hardly conscious of his companions or where he was going. Every foot of that pavement was filled with memories for him, and he had never thought to traveise it again. He dropped his chin upon his breast, full of the bitter- sweet recollections of the past. Suddenly Miranda gave a cry of raptur- ous relief. “Heah tis! Heah’s we-all’s house — an’ Miss Betty an’ de gin’ral!” The Marquis looked up; that house, that house of all on F street, of all in Washington! In front of it stood a car- riage, and down the broad steps she came, her opera cloak gathered about her filmy skirts, and the general’s red face and fierce mustache glooming behind her. The hot blood surged up under Savig- nac’s pale olive skin, and burst like a coal in each cheek. Not for the ludicrousness of his position — he was entirely uncon- scious of it — but that her father should ever again find him at his door. Betty stopped with a little cry and shrank back. The general was looking as if he could thrash somebody, or somebody could thrash him, he wasn’t quite sure which, and he brought up all standing before this tableaux, which the moonlight from above and the lamplight from the hall threw into startling relief. “What the deuce — ” he began. Miran- da darted forward and clutched Betty’s gown. “Oh, Miss Betty, Miss Betty, hit sho’ly is you! We-alls had do mos’ awfullest time ever wuz! Me an’ May Lily Belle an’ the chilluns wuz dat los’ we’d nevur foun’ oursels no mo’ ef dis gemman hadn’t cum ’long an’ brung us hisself — brung us de hull way!” The Marquis stood proudly erect, and Claude Augustus, drooping in sleep, was silhouted against his shirt front; a round, woolly head, with a background of coat- tail, peered from either side of him, and May Lily Belle w’as cuddling his head be- neath her chin. “I beg pardon to so intrude,” he said, addressing the space -above the general’s head, wfith that dignity of the vieille no- blesse no circumstances could subdue. “I was en route from the embassy and met these unfortunates in the gardens. I knew not their destination.” He stopped; his eyes met Betty’s and dropped suddenly. Betty bent and loosened Miranda’s hand. “Go in and bring your mother,” she said. “Papa,” she went on, turning toward him, a little reproachful tremble in her voice, “do you not see? It is Marquis Du Sa- vignac.” The general was staring beneath his bristling eyebrows like a man on whom a light is breaking. “Do you mean to tell me,” he said, slowly “that you came all the way up here with those little niggers — and carried the baby ?” The Marquis gave a little shrug of min- gled amusement and nonchalence. “Que voulez-vous ?” he said, lightly. “They desired the mothaire.” General Carrolton sat heavily down on the broad stone balustrade and dropped his hands on his outspread knees. “Well, I’lfbe ” “A precious old darling!” It was Bet- ty’s voice in his ears and Betty’s eyes look- I IO THE TRESTLE BOARD. ing straight into his — eyes so like her dead mother’s and shining through the big drops that chased down to the corners of her dimpling, quivering mouth. The Marquis had deposited Claude Au- gustus on the capacious bosom of his mammy. He lifted his hat with his old world grace. “I have the honor to wish you a good night.” •‘Here! — stop! — hold on! — come back!” The general was off the steps and after him like a shot from a mortar. “I’m not say- ing what I’m going to do, or giving my girl up yet; but if I made an old fool of myself this morning or didn’t say any- thing I ought to be sorry for — ” the gen- eral was getting frightfully mixed; his tongue was not wonted to apologizing. But he looked Savignac straight in the eves and held out his hand, and the Mar- quis, after an instant scrutiny, gave back a regular Anglo Saxon grip. “And mademoiselle?” he faltered, “and mademoiselle?” he looked past the gen- eral to the house. Betty had sent the carriage to the stable and she stood in the black frame of the doorway, her cloak fallen at her feet, the moonbeams kissing her gleaming hair, bare shoulders and little outstretched hands. Her words were only a whisper, but they reached him: “Mon ami .” — Edna Proctor Clarke , o The Difference. George Lippard, in one of his famous novels, the “Quaker City,” describes two sorts of Quakers: the one very scrupulous about the shade and cut of his coat, the tails of which must be of the exact regula- tion length, the brim of his hat just so wide, and he never mistakes in speaking the -“thee” and “thou,” and is always trying to impress you with the idea that Quakers are superior beings, unimpaired and untouched by human weakness; never- theless, in trade, look out for this sort of Friend. The other, less particular about the exact color of his cloth, less concerned about the brim of his hat, but scrupulously honest in all his dealings, never forgets that he is a part of the great Society of Friends, and that the world at large is watching him, and will judge him by his acts, not by his words. This description applies strikingly to the members of the Craft; the one always ready to tell his friend that he is a Mason, always sure to display conspicuously some Masonic jewel, and always trying to im- press his friends, outside of the Order, that he is a great man and ‘ high Mason;” these boast that they are Master Masons, or that they have taken the “hull degrees'’ in Mason rv. The other perchance never wears a Ma- sonic emblem, never mentions his connec- tion with the Craft except to members thereof, but is always at his post in the Lodge, and always ready to serve on com- mittees; does not seek office, but accepts the same as a matter of duty, and once accepted, does his whole duty in, as well as outside the Lodge-room. Commend me to the brother of this latter description, for of such is the glory of Masonry. But worse than all this is the enthusiast of other fields who brings this enthusiasm to our Lodges with him — the military, the temperance, the religious enthusist — these cannot understand why all Masons should not join in with them; their idea, of course, is the right one. The military man finds not much scope in Lodge and Chapter, and he quickly rushes into the Command- ery, where, amid drills and tactics, marches and countermarches, he finds himself at home; here his talent finds room to dis- play itself, and he soon loses interest in the other bodies and devotes his entire time and money to the chapeau and white feather, the latter, possibly, emblematical of the fact that he has turned his back upon Ancient Craft Masonry. But he de- lights in military drills, is a captain in one of our military regiments, and his knowledge of the art of war comes very handy on the floor of the carpeted Com- mandery. Yet Masons have no fault to find with this enthusiast. True, he does no good, but he also does no harm. More troublesome is the temperance fa- natic. He lectures the brethren contin- ually upon his favorite theme; implores them to flee from the tempting cup and never to touch the blighting curse — liquor. Either he has never touched any himself, does not know the want or need of it, or else he has been “redeemed” out of the gutter, and now turns savagely upon those who moderately indulge in light stimu- lants. He thinks the Lodge is just the field to work in; wants all the members to sign the pledge, and the height of his am- bition is to become Master — not of his Lodge, but of a Lodge composed strictly THE TRESTLE BOARD in of good, sound teetotalers; and he will even make an effort to obtain a sufficient number of brethren of his own way of thinking to start a new Lodge, where his idiosyncrasy will find and have full sway. He does harm in so far that his endeavors in that one direction turn many from the true path of charity. While the Lodge is emphatically a place for the temperate man, it is not a place to proselyte for a fanatical notion; and our brother, the Good Templar, lays too much stress upon this one idea, and overlooks the true and universal aim of the Craft. He, too, soon drops out, unless he is convinced of better things, and becomes imbued in course of time with the true spirit and noble genius of Masonry. But a great deal worse than all these is the religious enthusiast, who insists that every man, especially every member of his Lodge, should accept his theory and his theology. This often breaks out in unex- pected spots; it is sometimes found on election nights, sometimes it stares at you from the ballot-box, and often creates an uncomfortable feeling among the brethren when once aroused. Some years ago, not a thousand miles from Brooklyn, a brother, an eminent di- vine, conceived the idea of founding anew Lodge, the members of which should all belong to his church, or at least certainly to his denomination; it was to be known and recognized as the Lodge par excellence. All the Christian virtues in the universe should center in and around the members of this model Lodge, and none but the truly good, virtuous, and especially none but those confessedly and actively affiliated with some church of “our” faith should be admitted. This Lodge was successfully launched upon a poor aud unsuspecting and sinful Masonic community; the Master was the class-leader of the church; the Senior Warden was the pastor; the super- tendent of the Sunday-school “took” the South, while the sexton figured as Secre- tary, and three good and pious undertak- ers were chosen as the three Trustees. For a while things went along smoothly and the new Lodge flourished like a hot- house plant, fostered by a powerful Christ- ian denomination and backed by a strong and wealthy church. But soon, very soon, all the good material was exhausted, and they were looking around and into other churches to find members. These were not quite so good as those coming from their own fold, still they were good men, and were accepted. Then here and there an outsider was proposed, but he was obliged first to join a church and serve six months on probation, and it was thorough- ly understood that no one could enter this heavenly Lodge except through the door of a church. However, these good people overlooked one important matter. In framing their by-laws they made no pro- vision as to what should be done with back- sliders, and here was a rock upon which these unco good people shattered all their hopes — for the human race is very largely composed of backsliders; and then a very weathy member of the congregation died, and each of the three Trustees was eager to take charge of the funeral arrangements, and this created a jealousy and ill feeling in the Board, which soon spread among the members; for it is a well-established fact that when you touch people’s pockets, Christian or heathen, Jew or Gentile, you touch a very tender spot, much more sus- ceptible than the mythical conscience. Gradually it was found that some mem- bers of the Lodge did not attend church service, evinced no interest in the Sunday- school, and it was suggested that charges be preferred against them. In the mean- time a man became Master of the Lodge who had “backslided” several times, and this broke them all up, at least as far as their usefulness as an adjunct to the church was concerned, and now they are reorgan- ized upon a more worldly plan. Many instances could be cited where clergymen are made Chaplains of Lodges, and with all due respect to the cloth, we would say that we have often heard them pray at instead of for the brethren, and often also bring their peculiar docrines or favorite dogmas up to the Lodge, where they are so out of place. The most annoying and trying time is at funerals, where the reverend brother prays on and speaks of the virtues of the dear departed (whom perchance he had never seen alive), while the members of the Craft are compelled to listen and wait, knowing well that the reverend talker only goes round the corner to his cosy home, while they have a five-mile ride to the cemetery and back, and the Masonic fu- neral service to perform at the grave. Only recently, in an east-side church, the man of the gospel arose and said that, as there was to be services at the grave, he would be very brief in his remarks. It 1 1 2 THE TRESTLE BOARD. was thought, here is a sensible, good man, and he commenced. After talking about twenty minutes the brethren looked at their watches; and from this out it took the gen- tleman two hours to make the few “brief” remarks, while the members had to wait his pleasure, looking out through the dim church windows at a threatening sky, with a three hours’ trip before them. If ministers would only be more consid- erate and more brief in their remarks at funerals, they would earn the gratitude of all parties. — E. Loewenstein. o A Gold Medal. I shall never forget a lesson I received when at school at A. We saw a boy named Watson, driving a cow to pasture. In the evening he drove her back again, we did not know where, and this was continued several weeks. The boys attending the school were nearly all sons of wealthy parents, and some of them were dunces enough to look with disdain on a scholar who had to drive a cow. With admirable good nature Watson bore all their attempts to annoy him. “I suppose, Watson,” said Jackson, an- other boy, one day; “I suppose your father intends to make a milkman of you?” “Why not?” asked Watson. “Oh, nothing. Only don’t leave much water in the cans after you rinse them — that’s all.” The boys laughed, and Watson, not in the least mortified, replied: “Never fear. If ever I am a milkman, I’ll give good measure and good milk.” The day after this conversation there was a public examination, at which ladies and gentlemen from the neighboring towns were present, and prizes were awarded by the principal of our school, and both Wat- son and Jackson received a creditable number, for, in respect to scholarship, they were about equal. After the cere- mony of distribution, the principal re- marked that there was one prize, consist- ing of a gold medal, which was rarely awarded, not so much on account of its great cost, as because the instances were rare which rendered its bestowal proper. It was the prize of heroism. The last medal was awarded about three years ago to a boy in the first class who rescued a poor girl from drowning. The principal then said that, with the permission of the company, he would re- late a short anecdote. “Not r ,long since, some boys were flying a kite in the street, just as a poor lad on horseback rode by on his way to the mill. The horse took fright and threw the boy, injuring him so badly that he was carried home and confined some weeks to his bed. Of the boys who had unintentionally caused the disaster, none followed to learn the fate of the wounded lad. There was one boy, however, who witnessed the acci- dent from a distance, who not only went to make inquiries, but stayed to render service. “This boy soon learned that the wound- ed boy was the grandson of a poor widow, whose sole support consisted in selling the milk ofa cow, of which she was the owner. She was old and lame, and her grandson, on whom she depended to drive her cow to the pasture was now helpless with his bruises. ‘Never mind, good woman,’ said the boy; ‘I will drive the cow.’ “But his kindness did not stop there. Money was wanted to get articles from the apothecary. ‘I have money that my mother sent me to buy a pair of boots with,’ said he, ‘but I can do without them for a while.’ ‘Oh, no,’ said the old wo- man, ‘I can’t consent to that; but here is a pair of heavy boots that I bought for Thomas, who can’t wear them. If you would only buy these, we should get on nicely.’ The boy bought the boots, clumsy as they were, and has worn them up to this time. “Well, when it was discovered by the other boys at the school that our scholar was in the habit of driving a cow, he was assailed every day with laughter and ridi- cule. His cowhide boots in particular were made a matter of mirth. But he kept on cheerfully and bravely, day after day,, never shunning observation, driving the widow’s cow and wearing his thick boots. He never explained why he drove the cow, for he was not inclined to make a boast of his charitable motives. It was by mere accident that his kindness and self-denial was discovered by his teacher. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you — was there not true heroism in this boy’s conduct ? Nay, Master Watson, do not get out of sight behind the black- board. You were not afraid of ridicule, you must not be afraid of praise.” As Watson, with blushing cheeks, came forward, a round of applause spoke the THE TRESTLE BOARD. 113 general approbation, and the medal was presented to him amid the cheers of the audience. — The Childrens Own. o A Boy Wanted. Walking down one of our business streets, the other day, I saw a placard in the show window of a store on which were the words, “A Boy Wanted.” Just then, a bright looking little fellow came along, looked at the placard and hurried into the store. I knew him as the son of a poor widow, and so I waited until he came out, and said to him: “Well, Johnny, did you get the place ?” “Yes, sir,” he replied. “And what are you to do and how much are you to get ?” “I am to sweep and dust and run er- rands, and they will pay me two dollars a week. I must hurry home and tell mother. She will be so glad.” And the boy, who had found a place after weeks of weary hunting, rushed up the street as if he had discovered a gold mine. A sweeper, and duster at two dol- lars a week — it did not seem to be a very grand opportunity, but many a merchant prince and millionaire started on the low- est round of the ladder. It was a begin- ning at least, and it enabled the son to help his mother a little in her hard struggle to keep the wolf from the door. As I walked on, the words upon that placard kept ringing in my ears. Some boys I have heard say sadly: “There is no chance for us. All the good places are filled.” But 'they are mistaken. There never was such a demand for boys as there is to-day. Just think a moment. The railroad presidents, and the college presi- dents are nearly past middle life. And so are the active and successful men in all de- partments. Many of their places will be vacant in ten years, more than half of them in twenty years, and nearly all of them in thirty years. How are those places to be filled? From the ranks of the boys to-day. And who of the boys will get the best places ? Those who are the best boys — those who embrace present opportunities, no matter how humble, and are faithful in present spheres of duty, no matter how lowly. During a debate in Congress, some years ago, a member of aristocratic birth, in re- plying to an opponent, said: “When we were boys, he used to black my boots.” “And didn’t I black them well?” ask- ed the other. “Yes, I must say in justice to the gen- tleman, that he was called the best boot- black in town.” That is the material out of which noble men are made . — Christian Observer. o “The True ‘ Bill.’ ” An incident in the life of a young man in New York came to our knowledge the other day, which, from the spice of ro- mance it contains, as well as an illustra- tion of what a vast deal of good a slight bestowal of charity sometimes does, makes it worthy of record. As the young clerk, a brother and a friend were passing hastily through Broad street, one raw, chilly day in November, a few years ago, they saw standing near the corner of India street, as they turned to go down the wharf, a poor old woman, thinly clad in a calico dress, tattered bonnet and shawl, holding on her arm a small basket in which were a few uninviting looking apples, which she vainly offered to the hurrying pedestrians that passed her. Her stockingless feet thrust into old slippers, and a few threads of white hair scattered over her forehead, she stood shivering in the keen, searching wind, as our two clerks drew near. “Poor old woman!” said one as he ap- proached the poor creature, and with a sudden impulse plunged his hand into his pocket, and, grasping every cent it con- tained, threw it into her basket. The old woman’s “God bless you” followed him on the frosty air as he rapidly passed away. His companion, who witnessed the act, ejaculated at the moment of its perform- ance: “Bill, you are a fool to throw your monev away in that manner, onstreet beg- gars.” “Perhaps I am,” said the other, “but I could not help it; she may be an impostor, but I do not believe it.” The next day the matter was forgotten, and indeed might never have been remem- bered again had it not been brought to mind in the following manner: The next summer, one day, as the young brother was busy over his ledgers in an inner counting-room at his employer’s store, he was summoned to the outer office by the message that some one wished to see him. Going out he saw waiting a fine looking sailor in nautical costume, who eyed him THE TRESTLE BOARD. 114 closely as he approached. “Did you wish to see me, sir?” he said. “Is your name William ?” “Yes, sir, that’s my name.” “Blue eyes, light complexion, stands straight, speaks quick,” said the sailor, half soliloquizing. “Yes, you must be the man, you look just like it,” said the tar. “Just like what?” said the young man, a little surprised. “Why, I’ll tell you! Overhaul your log and tell me if you recollect seeing a poor old woman, about ten months ago, shivering with the cold on Broad street, and trying to sell a few apples to keep her from starving, and you threw a dollar and a half in silver into her basket and walked on — you did, didn’t you — you can remem- ber it, can’t you?” said the sailor, with feverish anxiety. Somewhat staggered by the questioner’s anxiety, it was a moment or two before the young man could collect his thoughts, when he replied that he did recollect throwing some change into a poor woman’s basket, but that the circumstance had pass- ed out of his memory. “Ah! but she hasn’t forgotten!” said the sailor, warmly; “but do you recollect what the man that walked with you said?” he inquired. “Yes, now that I recall the circum- stance, I do. He said: ‘Bill, what a fool you are to throw away your money.’ ” “That proves it,” said the sailor joy- fully, and dashing his hat on the floor, he seized the astonished young man by the hand with a hearty grasp, saying: “God bless you, sir! you saved my mother’s life, you did — I knew you must be the man,” said he to the astonished clerk, “the mo- ment I set my eyes on you. Why, bless your generous heart, that poor old woman was my mother,” said the sailor, a big tear at the same time running over his brown cheek. Drawing his guest aside, the clerk learn- ed that he was second mate of a ship then in port; that he had been searching for his mother’s benefactor for nearly three weeks upon almost every wharf in that part of the city; that during his absence the winter before, he had been taken sick in a foreign port, his mother had met with misfortunes, and had heard nothing from him, and was deprived of the provision he had made for her support during his absence; that, ex- pecting to hear from him, she managed to eke out an existence till the chill month of November found her without food, fire, or clothing, and had driven her to the street to procure them; that the handful of change which the young man threw into her basket procured her necessaries till other means fortunately reached her. In answer to the clerk’s inquiry as to what clew he had to direct him in his search, he replied: “My mother marked you, sir, although you walked off so quickly; and her description of the color of your eyes and hair, and of your height, are correct. Furthermore, she heard your companion call you ‘Bill,’ and say some- thing about the wharf; so I’ve been into every store on the wharves where there are any Williams, and overhauled about two dozen ‘Bills,’ but didn’t run alongside the true ‘Bill’ till I found you, sir. There,” concluded the sailor, “that’s my yarn. I felt I could not rest easy till I thanked you, and that’s what I called to do. My old mother is well provided for now, and I’m second mate of a ship. God bless you, sir! I’ll never forget your name, and may you never know what it is to be poor.” — A Mason in Voice of Masonry. o Courcesy to Strangers. Abraham once entertained three stran- gers, and was surprised when they were about to depart, to find out their celestial rharacter. They had not revealed them- selves as angels, but had been content to receive the courteous attention the good old patriarch was willing at all times to extend to sojourners. Ever since that in- cident there has been an admonition to the people of this world to be careful to treat strangers civilly, for “they may entertain angels unawares.” If there is any one who needs kind and courteous treatment, it is “a stranger in a strange land” or in a strange Lodge. He is away from home and kindred, and must depend upon his fellow-men, those whom he never saw before or heard of, perhaps, to make his stay in the place or Lodge pleasant. There is nothing that will make a man feel more uncomfortable than to be treated rudely by strangers. This is es- pecially true of strangers in our Lodges. They may come from England, Scotland, or Bombay, but being familiar with that universal language of Masonry by which “one Mason may know another in the dark as in the light,” they have a right to ex- pect courteous treatment when they visit a THE TRESTLE BOARD ii Lodge. A kind word, a brotherly grasp of the hand and a friendly spirit, will make the stranger gratefully remember his visit to the Lodge. Buc a lack of attention will fasten in his memory an unpleasant expe- rience, and when he chances to pass that way again he will be sure to give that Lodge a wide berth and refuse to visit. An incident came to our knowledge re- cently of a brother from Bombay who was staying in Philadelphia for a few days, and went to the Masonic Temple one evening for the purpose of visiting a Lodge. He sent in a card that the Tyler had instructed him to fill out. He gave on it the name of the Lodge in which he was made, and some other Masonic information requested. His card was returned to him with some short answer that he could not visit. He was not even treated with the courtesy of having a committee or a brother come from the Lodge to know who he was or by what right he claimed the privilege of vis- iting. With no reasons given for it, he was turned away, and carries with him a very poor opinion of the Lodge that failed in a very simple act of courtesy due to any man claiming to be a Mason. If he had been found unworthy after making his statement or undergoing a proper examina- tion, there would have been time enough to turn him away. A little care to be courteous to strangers wins friends, while acts of thoughtless unkindness makes foes. — Selected. o Practical Harmony. Not the least important of the duties that will confront the Masters when, enter - upon their offices, is that of preserving amongst the members of their Lodges that internal peace and harmony which is not only the best cement of the Masonic struc- ture, but its most weighty recommendation in the eyes of the outside world. No Lodge can be in a sound condition unless its members are at peace with each other, and the Masonic Institution will assuredly command little respect outside if the strongest visible evidence of the profes- sions of the Craft is a crop of quarreling in the light of the sun. Now. in order to avoid this sort of thing, it is of very little use for us to enlarge upon the precepts of the Order. They are so excellent in them- selves, that if they will not go down into the hearts of our brethren by their own weight, they will gain but little prestige from any comments of the Masonic jour- nalist. We cannot gild refined gold. All that is required is that general injunctions shall, where the need exists, be brought home to individual cases. And the proper agent of this process is undoubtedly the head of the Lodge, the Master himself. Our rules very wisely provide that when a condition of discord has arisen between two brothers, as certainly will sometimes be the case, human nature being what it is, they shall not render Lodge work- ing logically impossible by appearing in our assemblies. But the spectacle of one or perhaps two otherwise worthy brethren, for even th«i worthiest have their infirmi- ties, being excluded from the visible Lodge by mutual dissension, is not one that should be allowed to continue without an effort to heal the breach. To act as mediator is clearly the duty of the Master, and, al- though, with that lamentable shirking of realities that has become so unfortunate a feature of latter-day Masonry in the juris- dictions under which we work, that duty has very much dropped out of sight, it is none the less a duty still. In the great Republic of the West, where Masonry, despite much that appears to us sentimen- tal masquerading, is more of a practical power than with us, the duty is one that no Master thinks of shirking; and, for the benefit of those amongst us who are in- clined to take up the same conscientious course, we offer a few words of advice. Whenever any Master hears that two brethren are at variance, and he ought to hear of it very early, he should make it his business to wait upon the senior Mason of the pair, either by himself or accom- panied by one of his Past Masters, and as- certain what the cause of dissension is. Then, knowing to some extent where the land lies, and having been able to guage the state of mind of one party to the trouble, he calls upon the other and talks matters over with him. His next step is to return to No. i, and by a gentle hint here and there find out what terms of reconciliation would be acceptable to him. This ascer- tained, he is in a position to go to the junior with some proposal, and if he has any Masonic tact, he should be able to get the two parties to meet either by themselves or in his presence, and shake hands. No one need despair of success in such a task, for it is surprising what can be done by a third party in such matters. However bitter the quarrel, it will generally be found that the 1 16 THE TRESTLE BOARD real obstacle to forget and forgive is the reluctance of each party 10 take the first step towards reconciliation, for fear of compromising his dignity, but if Some body else will stait the talking, in nine cases out of ten the difficulty is at an end. The main thing to observe is an entire ab- sence of officialism. The Master should carefully make it clear that he goes to ask and to implore, not to command or direct. And further, he is wise if he lets a week or two elapse before he begins his efforts at reconciliation, for time is a wonderful chip- per-off of knobs and excrescences, and he must be very careful to delegate his media- torial duties to one of his Past Masters if he is in the least degree more intimately concerned or connected with one of the belligerents than the other, for even Ma sons misunderstand motive at times. And if, after all efforts have been tried, one or both remain obdurate, he should not hesi- tate to bring Masonic discipline to bear on the purification of the Lodge. But few are the cases in which he will find this necessary if he only goes to work the right way. — ►S. A. Freemason. o Get the Work Lawfully. Before 1717 there were general assem- blies of the Craft; then the four old Lodges in London formed a regular Grand Lodge, and adopted a Constitution and General Regulations. From that time to this, Free- masonry has been organized in lawfully constituted Lodges and Grand Lodges, and a standard ritual has existed and been taught. Sometimes a few brethren have thought the oral method of promulgating the standard work too slow, and have exer- cised their inventive faculties on attempts to find a better way. They have failed, notwithstanding the fact that they have planned and put into use some very ingen- ious “ciphers.” Wherever used their “ciphers” have caused trouble, because they would get astray and could not be found, and because no cipher can be in- vented that cannot be read by an expert. Of late ciphers have caused confusion and discord in a few Grand Jurisdictions, and discipline and expulsions have been found necessary. In Kansas, in 1894, the Capitu- lar Grand Lecturer devoted all his time to a search for ciphers astray, and his report of the matter fills six printed pages. The fact is, ciphers are wrong, and, wherever they exist, should be destroyed. The oral method of communicating the esoteric standard work is the correct one, and no other is safe or proper. First in the Masonic Bodies, and then from the Grand Custodians, Grand Lecturers and other duly authorized brethren should the esoteric standard work be obtained. By this we mean that first, the degrees should be taken in lawfully constituted Masonic bodies, and that then the best lawful in- struction should be had. Nearly all the Masonic Grand Bodies now have Grand Custodians, or Grand Lecturers and As- sistant Grand Lecturers, who are ever will- ing and ready to impart lawful instruction, which is the only instruction that should be sought. Get the work lawfully or not at all. — Voice of Masonry. o A Romanist Who Tells the Truth. Most of the dignitaries who participated in the Roman Catholic Congress in Chi- cago, praised their church in extravagant terms. According to these speakers, Ro- manists have always stood for civil liberty, education, domestic peace, religious free- dom, and a lot of other desirable things. If the whole world could only fall into the arms of the “mother church,” and bow to the Pope, every political, social, indus- trial, educational and religious wrong would be speedily righted. Popery was pro- claimed to be the one panacea for all the world’s moral ills. But one gentleman did not indulge in such superlative eulogy His name is M. T. Elder, and he hails from New Orleans. Mr. Elder is said to be a devoted member of the Roman Catholic church, but this fact does not blind him to the weakness, inconsistencies and dangers of that ancient organization. These he discussed at the congress in the presence of archbishops, bishops, priests, and other churchly lead- ers That is to say, many such dignita- ries were in the congregation of fifteen hundred when the reading of the paper began. Before it closed, however, most of the crowd had vanished. Among other things, Mr. Elder’s discourse contained these sentences : “My contention is, that we have no hold upon the agricultural masses, and that this' fact accounts for many of our deficiencies. Why is it that the greatest men of our na- tion are non-catholic? It is because the vast majority of these great men are frorp sturdy rural stock, and the rural stock of THE TRESTLE BOARD . 1 17 the United States is solidly, staunchly Pro- testant. Let us not whine about prejudice and intolerance, anti-Popery and secret societies. Let us tell the truth to our- selves. Our inferior position — and it cer- tainly is inferior — is owing almost wholly to ourselves. The great men of this na- tion have been, are, and will continue to be Protestant. I speak not of wealth, but of brain, of energy, action of heart. The great philanthropists, the great orators, the great writers, thinkers, leaders, scientists, inventors, teachers of our land, have been Protestants. “What surprises me, is the way we have of eulogizing ourselves — of talking bun- combe and spread-eagle, and of giving taffy all round. I am sorry to say that I cannot well join in this enlivening pas- time. When I see how largely Catholicity is represented among our hoodlum ele- ment 1 feel in no spread-eagle mood. When I note how few Catholics are en- gaged honestly in tilling the soil, and how many Catholics are engaged in the liquor traffic, I cannot talk buncombe to anybody. When I observe the increasing power and ascendancy of the Jews; when I see the superior vigor, originality and opportune- ness of Protestant lay charity over similar attempts on our part, and w r hen I observe the immense success and influence of secret societies, even here, in this most Catholic city in the Union, I have no heart for taffy - giving. When I reflect that out of the 70,000 000 of this nation we number only 9,000,000, and that out of that 9,000,000 so large a proportion is made up of poor factory hands, poor mill, and shop, and mine, and railroad employees, and poor government clerks, I still fail to find ma- terial for buncombe, or spread eagle, or taffy- giving. ” o Mason’s Wives vs. the Order. A few evenings since the writer over- heard a Mason’s wife descanting very se- verely upon Masonry because, as she held, “it had not benefitted her husband in any shape, manner or form.” The indictment was one of a very grave character, and the lady was requested to explain what she meant to convey by the assertion. And the sum and substance of her wail was this: That her husband had not been benefitted n business to any appreciable extent by his connection with the Craft. She evi- dently believed that Masonry was intended to increase the sales of her husband in his business, being ignorant of the fact appar- ently that in his application for admission the husband had subscribed to a document wherein he affirmed that mercenary mo- tives were not influencing him in seeking initiation into the Order. In all likeli- hood the husband had never made her ac- quainted with the aims and objects of Freemasonry. We are quite positive that many Ma- son’s wives are completely in the dark re- garding the Order, simply because they have not been taken into the confidence of their husbands in regard to it. It may not be amiss to answer those who are skeptical as to its teachings, by saying that Freema- sonry is simply an instrument for the good of others. How is it held to the human race ? Only by the strong chains of broth- erly love. What does it bear within its keeping ? Nothing but the message which tells of man’s plans and purposes, hopes and ambitions to be better and truer and nobler in all things here, that he may en- joy a higher and more sublime association hereafter. Nothing except the moral lesson of the every day existence, which is made up of success and failure, teach him of a love which makes him stronger when he fails, and humbler when he succeeds. How is the Institution protected ? By every member who. with the solemn obli- gation engraven on his soul and its whis- pered words of counsel lingering in his ears, remembers its blessings and its ob- jects Who guards it trom destruction ? The millions of brave hearts whose beat- ings can be heard in every land upon which the sunshine rests, and who have taken from its store of treasures the many messages which cheer the gloom and give increased brightness to happy hours. — London Free Press. o Purgatory In a Convent. Exposures that are constantly being made of the damnable transactions of the Ro- man Catholic’ system under the guise of Religion, appear in striking contrast with the works of Freemasonry, which is so bitterly denounced by the Roman Catholic church. It is opposed to secret societies. Yet it speaks in a language unknown to its adherents, builds high walls about its charitable (?) institutions, the doors and windows of which are bolted and heavily ironed, and all its transactions, from the ii8 THE TRESTLE BOARD. * confessional down, are carried on in se- cret, overshadowed with an Egyptian dark- ness of death, and whenever a ray of light penetrates the gloom of mystery it reveals a condition of things that makes “the whole head sick and the whole heart faint,” and convinces those who are willing to see, that “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores.” The following brief insight into the inner workings of one of the Roman Cath- olic institutions is taken from the Christian World: “The nun whom a gallant solicitor as- sisted to escape from a convent, as we re- lated last week, has made an interesting statement to a Hull journalist. The lady is Miss Golding, now living at Beverley, Yorkshire, and the convent is at Douai. She says it is the custom for the common- est, coarsest, most brutal woman to be ap- pointed Lady Superior. ‘My sister, you must think of death,’ is the dolorous ad- vice constantly given. The nuns are obliged to say prayers for hours at a time, even while engaged in teaching, or they are punished with what is called “sore throat.” Some decoction is given in the food, which parches the throat, brings on fever and dizziness, the cold fastens on the lungs; ‘you take to bed, and then you are told to prepare for death.’ Miss Gold- ing earned for the convent ^20 a week by her teaching, but every penny of that as well as her private income of ^45 a year, and her gold watch and chain, v\as taken by the Superior. Food was poor and the clothing coarse and ragged. When she asked to leave, the Superior threatened to send her to the madhouse. “Another punishment is to forbid at- tendance at prayers, the culprit sitting iso- lated like a black sheep. Miss Golding wrote once for her brother-in-law to take her away; but when he arrived, overcome by the mysterious influence of the place, she felt compelled to say, ‘I am not dis- posed to go yet,’ although she was d\ ing to go. As was to be expected, the Mother Superior, together with the ecclesiastical authorities connected with the convent, deny Miss Golding’s story. They always do. M. de Meilhac, the lady’s brother-in- law, who went once to fetch her, indig- nantly denies the contradiction, and de- clares the whole story to be true. He is a Roman Catholic, and, indeed, converted Miss Golding to that faith, she being re- ceived by Bishop (now Cardinal) Manning. The Roman Catholic Dean Sullivan, of Hull, told his congregation that the con- vent authorities say that Miss Golding was subject to hysteria, and had illusions. Did the London solicitor have illusions when the Mother Superior of the convent cun- ningly locked him in a room, and he burst open the door and found four nuns strug- gling with Miss Golding? The Mother Superior cannot overcome this difficulty, but she tries to explain the violence by saying that Miss Golding would not wait to have her costume changed, ‘and as she would not listen to reason, they took from her the cross and veil, at which she cried and abused them loudly.’ It is to be hoped that Miss Golding’s experience will cause other ladies who think of entering convents, to decide to remain in the world and do their duty, in- stead of getting themselves buried alive. Bigotry [and Intolerance in Temp- lary. “The Fatherhood of God and the Broth- erhood of Man” applies distinctively to the teachings of the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council. The Order of the Temple opens up to us an entirely new dispensa- tion, and requires something beyond the mere recognition of “the Fatherhood of God’’ on the part of those who enter our Asylums. As Knights Templar we teach, and we are bound to believe, that Jesus Christ was the Incarnate Son of God; that He was betrayed into the hands of wicked and sinful men; that He suffered the cruel and ignominious death of the cross; that He was buried in the tomb of Joseph; that on the third day He rose from the dead and was seen of his disci- ples; that He appeared unto them in a room, when the door was locked and spoke to the doubting Thomas, who touched the print wounds in His hands and side, and believed. And that He again appeared unto them at Bethany, where He was finally parted from them and taken up into heav- en. Such is Templarism. Whether or not it is any other “ism,” we do not care to inquire. The Mason who is not pre- pared to believe in it has no business to become a Knight Templar. And a Knight Templar who rejects the plain teachings of the Order to which he belongs, had better get out of it as quickly as possible, for so THE TRESTLE BOARD. 1 1 long as he remains in it he is a living lie. — Kiitredge Haskins , in the Orient. o The Cohesiveness of Freemasonry. There is a cohesiveness in Freemasonry that is found nowhere else, and the ques- tion is pertinent, Why is it? In the church there are storms and schisms, divisions and strife. Brother is arrayed against brother, and where should be found a spirit of forbearance and brotherly love, is the bitterest hatred. The fierce fires of hell are not hotter than the fire of religious persecution. Among those who only a short while ago there seemed to be the sweetest harmony, there now exists an antagonism that threatens the peace of the whole religious world. The spirit of de- termined opposition to fancied heresy in some marked and prominent leader of Christian thought, has brought out the very worst weakenesses of the human heart. In their zeal to “defend the faith,” to “maintain the dignity of the church,” they resort to the basest means known in the world, and the hard feelings engen- dered makes those who were fast friends the bitterest foes. Rivers of human blood have been spilled in religious warfare, and the very worst impulses of the human heart have been aroused. The knife of the assassin has been used as a defense of pretended Christ- ian belief. The creed! the creed! has been the cry, and any who dared op- pose the dictum of the church, whether it was in harmony with the convictions of conscience or not. suffered the rack or the thumbscrew or the faggot. * In the State the same spirit of strife and contest is seen. Parties war with each other, and those of a man’s own house- hold are often found arrayed against him. If that difference in opinion were confined to mere matters of conviction, and were not allowed to change a man’s very nature, and cause him to raise his hand againt his best friend, and even in fraticidal strife to curse his nearest kin, it would not be so dreadful in its consequences. In society, jealousies and ambitions cause the widest separations. Pride, with its haughty dangers, estranges those who should be in closest friendship. There are “castes” and “sets” so seclusive and exclusive that hearts are made to bleed from the slights and neglects that are daily heaped upon them. There is no protection in society. A shrug of the shoulder, a knowing wink or an inuendo soon takes shape in a rumor that grows with every repetition, until the purest angel from heaven would be made to appear blacker than the demons of hell. Society destroys friendships. Pride tramples upon the heartstrings and causes distress where there should be peace and joy. All men are equal in Masonry. Not in the sense of social or intellectual attain- ment. but in being the creatures of one Supreme Being. Therefore in the Lodge- room all ranks are leveled, all distinctions are done away with, and the prince and peasant, the rich man and the poor, the learned and the unlearned, meet upon one common level and strike hands as brothers. There is a golden chain of sin- cere affection that binds heart to heart in the mystic circle. Political strife finds no place in the Lodge -room. Religious creeds and theological dogmas are un- heard of there. On the same tessellated floor meet the Christian from his church, the Mohammedan from his mosque and the Jew from his synagogue. Outside their religious beliefs keep them wide apart, and each goes in divergent ways, but in the Lodge-room there is a common altar erected to the one All-Father, to which all can come and about which all may gather as brothers. This is a strong element of cohesiveness. — N. Y. Dispatch. o A Need for Masonic Discipline. We mentioned last month the un-Ma- sonic actions of some brethren in our city, who are giving to the public press the names of those who are passing through the mysteries of Masonry. This method of advertising has reached the point where patience ceases to be a virtue. Scarcely a meeting of any Masonic body can be held but the candidate finds his name in print the next day. To cap the climax of such methods, a full account, with display head- lines, of a Masonic trial, appeared in an evening paper. The case in point, arising out of a bank failure, created a great amount of ill feeling, both out and inside of Masonic circles, and the officers of this Lodge were endeavoring to handle the case judiciously and in a way to reflect credit on the Order. It was a time for indignation to hear the newsboys crying out on the streets and in hotels: “All about the Masonic trial of !” “The 120 THE TRESTLE BOARD. Masons are after the bank wrecker, ’’etc’ “This news was obtained from a Mason.’ Has it come to pass that there is no Ma- sonic secrecy? Shall the proceedings of our Lodges become public property by the perfidy of some one who claims to be a Mason ? It is time the law was enforced, and some one expelled for the good of the Order. — Constellation. o A Mason Swindler Comes to Grief. The public press has very generally pub- lished the operations of one A. M. Petty, who has been depredating on the Lodges of the West and South, for many years by “borrowing” small sums, which he con- fessed that he never intended to return. He borrowed once too often when he struck Bro. L. F. Chiles, who helped him on his way to the amount of $15 00. He exhib- ited sealed papers, claiming to be a mem- ber of the Lodge in Marshall, Ark., and Sheriff of Searcy County, and that he was in pursuit of a fugitive from justice. Not hearing from him in a reasonable time, Bro. Chiles related in the columns of the New Orleans Picayune , how badly he was “taken in,” and the paper had not traveled more than two hundred miles, when Bro. Petty was located, and arrested in Louis- iana on a requisition from the Governor of Mississippi. At the recent term of the Circuit Court of Hinds County, he was sentenced to the full penalty for such a misdemeanor — three months in the county jail and $100 fine. He is now in the Hinds County prison farm, working out his fine, at the rate of $5 00 per month. It could not be proven that he had borrowed from any one person a sufficient sum to make it a felony. “Bro. Petty’s appeal to the Court for clemency is one of the most refreshing documents on record. He admitted that he resolved “to adopt dishonest means to feed and clothe my family rather than al- low them to suffer. In determining to pursue dishonest means to secure this end, I chose the means as practiced by me as the least reprehensible as I regarded it.” Petty claims much credit because he “bor- rowed” from, ratherthan “robbed” hisvic- tims, and asked the Court to “graciously grant” him pardon because of “the trivial- ity of the offense committed.” Since the Court disposed of him, your correspondent received a letter from a gen- tleman, now residing in Los Angeles, Cal., who describes Petty exactly, says he is his brother-in-law, and that he left his wife and three children in Michigan about fifteen years ago, and that they had not heard from him until his recent arrest. It is amazing how many Lodges and brethren are imposed upon by such dead- beats — who are usually expelled or sus- pended Masons, and who are trying to thus “get even” for the imaginary injustice that has been done them. In ninety- nine cases out of a hundred, able-bodied men who solicit charity or “a loan,” are im- posters and cheats. It is a sin and a crime against the principles of Freema- sonry to expend money on them when there may be widows and orphans in the jurisdiction of the Lodge who may be in real need, although unwilling to let their wants be known. These fellows are usu- ally “very bright,” and their plausible tales make an impression on the Master who is fresh in the business of dispensing relief, and who draws his warrant, but who will look in vain for the return of the loan. L. Power , Grand Secretary , G. L. of Miss. * o Echoes of the War. “I have lately noticed,” said Major S. H. Almon to an Inter- Mountain reporter lately, “several army stories in the Ma- sonic Trestle Board in which members of the Masonic Order here figured. Let me relate a ftw that I have never yet seen in print. I remember them quite well, for I happened to be one of the participants in each. “After the battle of Fort Donaldson, John A. Logan’s old regiment, the Thirty- first Illinois, was left on garrison duty un- til about April 25, 1862. I was chief non- commissioned officer, sergeant major, and while acting as such accidentally or pur- posely called at the residence of an old couple named Bates. I found that Mr. Bates was a Mason, being Past Grand Mas- ter of Tennessee. During our conversa- tion he informed me that our army had taken everything about the place, not leav- ing them even enough food for the next meal. He appealed to me as a Mason. I went back to my regiment and informed about seven Mason officers and men, and it would have done >ou good to see the coffee, sugar, bacon and crackers that were carried to the Bates family. The thanks of those we had helped were profuse, and THE TRESTLE BOARD. 121 how proud we felt to think that we had done the family a kindness and helped a brother in distress.” ‘‘Another touching incident took place May i, 1863, on the battlefield near Port Gibson, Miss.,” continued Mr. Almon. ‘‘Logan’s regiment was on the extreme left. I had charge of Company I and was using it for skirmishing purposes. The regi- ment and company charged a battery and captured it. After the battle I walked across the field in the direction of a clump of bushes. On nearing the bushes a Con- federate soldier stepped out, saluted and beckoned me to go with him. I went and he told me that the major of his regiment was in there (meaning the bushes) badly wounded and wanted to see a Mason. I walked up to the wounded man and spoke to him. He asked me if I was a Mason, and I answered in the affirmative. He then srid: ‘I am badly wounded. Have you a regimental surgeon who is a Mason? I told him I had, and he asked me to to get him at once. I did as requested, summon- ing Dr. W. D. Whitnell, who was a mem- ber of a Lodge at Vienna, 111 . The wounded Confederate asked the doctor if he was a Mason, and on receiving an af- firmative answer said: ‘After you have ex- amined my wound tell me truthfully if there is any hope for my recovery.’ ‘‘I helped the doctor to open his cloth- ing, and after making a careful diagnosis of the wound the doctor told him he could live only a short time. The wounded brother then reached over to one side, pick- ed up his soft white hat and handed it to Whitnell, with the remark: ‘Doctor, this is the only thing I have in sight, and I want you and this brother (meaning me) to take it, and if you get down about Mo- bile find my wife and babies, and say to them that it is all papa has to send them. Tell them when, where and how I difd.’ ‘‘Dr. Whitnell took the hat with a full determination of delivering it to the Con- federate’s family some time, if possible, but in 1864 he left our regiment on a sick leave of absence in front of Kennesaw Mountain, and died soon after reaching home. I have often thought of the epi- sode, and wished that the hat and message could have been delivered. If I mistake not the wounded brother Mason was a member of a Georgia regiment — No. 34 Infantry. I have forgotten his name.” “The third incident of Masonic note oc- curred at Charleston, S. C., in August or September, 1864. On July 22 of that year I had the misfortune to be captured near the spot on which General McPherson fell. I was taken to Macon, Ga. , and thence to Charleston where, with 285 of- ficers, I was placed in the workhouse. While there I made the acquaintance of a young officer belonging to an Illinois reg- iment. He had been a prisoner eighteen months, and was sick and disheartened. He had no money and had not heard from his home or mother. One day he asked me what I thought of an appeal to the Masons for help — something to eat. I ad- vised him to do it. He wrote a letter and sent it to Dr. Mackey, our great Masonic historian, who resided at Charles- ton. Two or three days later a tall man entered the prison and inquired for the young officer. I pointed him out. After the doctor had satisfied himself that the prisoner was a Mason he pulled from his pocket a long bill book used for carry- ing paper money and supplied him with greenbacks. I cannot recall the amount the doctor gave his brother Mason. On or about September 24 I was taken away with 240 other prisoners for exchange and never heard what became of my brother prisoner. Before leaving the prison Dr. Mackey told me how to treat some styes on my eyes, and I followed his directions with the result that I was soon cured.” S. H. Almon was sergeant major, cap- tain and major of the Thirty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and is now a resident of Butte. — Butte , Mont., Inter- Mountain. o Polly and the Tramp. “Yes, polly is a pretty bird, and as bright as she is pretty,” said Aunt Abbie to us children, who crowded about the cage to admire the bird’s bright plumage and pert manners. ‘‘Did I ever tell you,” she asked, ‘‘how polly did me a good turn by frightening a tramp away?” ‘‘No, Aunt Abbie,” we all cried, and we gathered about her, anxious to lose no word of the story. •‘Well, children,” she began, “ you know Uncle Daniel has lived with me for years. As he is old and feeble, he stays in the sitting-room and reads or sleeps most of the time. When he is wanted I go to the door and call rather loudly, for he is hard of hearing, ‘Uncle Dan, Uncle Dan, you are wanted.’ Polly has heard these words so many times that she can re- 122 THE TRESTLE BOARD . peat them as plainly as I can, and when anything unusual is going on she will scream. ‘Uncle Dan, Uncle Dan, you are wanted,’ but I never imagined this habit of polly’s would be of any service to me. “One morning last summer I was alone in the house, and while I was clearing off the breakfast table I heard a loud knock at the back doon I opened it, and there stood the dirtiest, roughest looking tramp I ever saw. He asked me for something to eat, and before I had time to make him any reply he pushed past me, and, unin- vited, took a seat at the table. “I never refuse to feed a hungry person, so I brought out what food there was in the pantry and placed it on the table. Nearly all my eatables were down cellar, but I was afraid to leave the man alone to go after them, so I told him he was wel- come to what was on the table. He glanced over the table disdainfully, and demanded something better. “I was afraid to go down in the cellar, thinking he would either follow me or rob the house in my absence, so I told him that was the best I could do for him. “He brought his fist down on the table with an angry oath, and demanded a good hot breakfast. “I was thoroughly frightened, and had decided to run to the neighbors for help, when polly, disturbed by the man’s loud talk, came to the rescue by screaming, ‘Uncle Dan, Uncle Dan, you are wanted!’ “An open door hid her cage from the man’s view, and he threw one startled glance in the direction of the voice, and rushed from the house, thinking, no doubt, it was a child’s voice calling some man about the place to my aid. “My fear vanished with the tramp, and I laughed heartily at his sudden flight. No man was ever changed more quickly from an insolent bully to a crestfallen cow- ard than he was by polly’s words. “I gave her an extra lunch that morn- ing, and I shall always feel grateful to her for saving me from an unpleasant if not dangerous situation . — Atlanta Journal . o Expulsion for Non-Payment of Dues. The Committee on Grievances and Ap- peals of Georgia, sustained the action of Lodges in expelling eighty of their mem- bers, and recommended that they be de- clared expelled by the Grand Lodge, which was adopted. Of this number forty-two had been found guilty of the most serious crimes, and were deserving of the penalty inflicted; the offence of thirty-eight of the number was non-payment of dues. What- ever may have influenced the action of the several Lodges in expelling their mem- bers for such neglect, we do not believe so severe a penalty should be inflicted. Sus- pension or dropping from the roll has gen- erally been regarded as sufficient penalty for this offence. In how many Lodges is it asserted that Bro. Blank is well able to pay his dues, and that he should be com- pelled to do so or be expelled from the Fraternity ? Subsequently it is learned that, although seemingly well off, his af- fairs were in such a condition that it was utterly impossible for him to do so. It will be said by some, “Why did he not ap- pear and show cause why he should not be disciplined, and ask for a remission of his dues?’’ For the reason that nothing is so sensitive as a man’s credit. If Bro. Blank had done anything of the kind, in twenty- four hours the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker would have been apprised of the fact that Bro. Blank was hard- up,’’ and through that very plea from clemency from his Masonic brethren, the harpies of the outside world would have pounced upon him and made things decidedly unpleasant in the way of com- passing his ruin. Brother B. therefore de- cides, wisely or unwisely, to let the Lodge punish him for being guilty of not having sufficient “filthy lucre’’ to pay his dues. The cases like the above may be numbered by thousands. But it may be said that his revelation of his pecuniary circumstances would be held sacred within the tyled re- cesses of the Lodge. It ought to be; but is it ? In twenty-four hours, or less, as stated above, the bad news would have traveled in seven-league boots, and Bro B. would be coveting a pair of the same that he might put a goodly distance between himself and the swarm of creditors with which he was suddenly confronted. This is one phase of the “non-payment of dues’’ question which cannot be gain- said. Lodges in times of financial strin- gency should therefore be very cautious about proceeding against their members for non-payment of dues. Too much char- ity cannot be exercised to avoid doing great wrong to worthy, but unfortunate brethren. It should be so that a brother could go the Worshipful Master and state his cir- THE TRESTLE BOARD. 123 cumstances, and have an extension of time or remission granted him without public- ity. It is doubtful if a solution of the problem will be very speedily reached. The statistics last year of the Grand Lodges in the United States show that some 17,000 were suspended for non-pay- ment of dues. While it is doubtless true in a majority of the instances (as stated by the Iowa Committee on Chartered Lodges) that “their pages on the records will be filled with better material,” there are thousands of whom this cannot be truthfully said. — L. N. Greenleaf, of Col. o Cremation and Freemasonry. A Paper Read Before Durant Lodge . Ho. 268, E & A. M., at Berkeley , Cal., by F. H. E. O’Donnell, P. M. ‘ ‘ To the People of the City : A clean, odorless and expeditious means for reduc- ing all the garbage by a highly effective process is a great advantage, for it will in a large measure relieve the citizens from the danger of zymotic diseases so preva- lent in districts abutting on garbage dumps.” The circular of a House Refuse and Scavenger Company is not a very pious , but, nevertheless, a particularly practical preface to a paper upon the effi- cacy of cremation as a consumer of dead matter. What odds whether that matter be the cell sacred as the past prison house of man’s immortal soul, or the remains of a decomposed cabbage, a deceased cow, or a departed bow-wow. To deal with cremation and its possible Masonic relation in a logical manner, and with impartial justice to cremation and the Freemason, certain premises must be briefly defined. No syllogism can be pre- sented without its premises and conclusion. In this particular, the conclusion is self- apparent. The first proposition to be de- duced may be clearly enunciated by the query — Is cleanliness a recognized Ma- sonic attribute ? The Masonic postulant is early inform- ed that “Masonry is a moral and progress- ive science.” Mark — a science — a pro- gressive science. Pure science is self- evident truth. Perfect science is perfect knowledge or perfection — which is God. Hence, a progressive science is a pro- gression towards a state of perfection — which is perfect Godliness. The preacher has religiously remarked that “ cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Therefore cleanli- ness must be a Masonic principle — a Ma- sonic virtue; for perfect Masonry is per- fect Godliness. Clean linen and a clean countenance are are not absolutely conclusive testimony that the Craftsmen has a clean conscience. That he is a Mason, is, however, positive proof that he knows his utmost endeavors should ever be “to keep himself unspot- ted from the world.” A certain candidate for the mysteries wore a clean collar and a new suit. When, much to his chagrin during the ceremonies a cuticle considera- bly carbonized with coal-dust was appar- ent, and that initiate firmly believes the extemial as well as the internal man is a Masonic pre-requisite. Cleanliness is a Masonic science is more deeply considered by him than geometry, grammar, logic, astronomy, arithmetic, music and rhetoric. Cleanliness will ever come before Masonry in his opinion. Masonry inculcates wisdom. Wisdom directs the pursuit and the right use of knowledge. Knowledge strikes the shack- les from the soul. It gives man a free mind. Mental freedom is the only true liberty. The ignorant are ever and every- where enslaved. Ignorance is the creature of its conqueror — King Brains. Ma- sonry would make men wise. Hence, Masonry would make men free. Wise men and free men should be happy men. Masonry would make men happy. Health promotes happiness. Ergo , Masonry must promote health. The first proposition being thus plainly proved, the second may be formulated as follows: What is cremation? Is it con- ducive to the public health? Are objec- tions to cremation sustained by scientific facts, or superstitious fancies ? If crema- tion does conduce to public health, then it is in accord with the principles and teach- ings of Freemasonry; which as a pro- gressive science promulgates uisdom, knowledge, health and happiness. The English etymology of cremation comes, as the name implies, from the Latin words cremo , to burn, and crematic , a burning. Cremation was first coined as an English word by Sir Thomas Browne, M. D. , a noted London physician of the 17th century. He used it in his famous book, “Hydriotaphia.” or Urne-Burial. “Urne- Burial” describes the funeral rites of all nations. It is the most profound work on the subject that has ever been written. It THE TRESTLE BOARD. ; I2 4 had its origin in the discovery of some ancient sepulchral urns in a mound in Nor- folk, England. “Urne-Burial” was al- most a prophetic warning of the horrors about to happen in London, and more or less throughout Great Britain generally. It was published in 1658 only a few short years prior to the devastations of the great plague. Had the scientific warnings of Sir Thomas Browne been heeded many thousands might have been saved from the sufferings of that loathsome disease and death. It is even probable that the plague might not have spread at all, if the bodies of the sailors who carried it into England had been burned instead of buried. Then an officious coroner, for the sake of fees and inquiry could not have disinterred them. As he was the first sub- sequent victim, it may be reasonably sup- posed that the exhumation was the real cause of the outbreak. Cremation was the general method for disposal of the dead in ancient times. It was practiced by all nations except Egypt, Judea and China. In Egypt bodies were embalmed; the entrails were first with- drawn and burned. The process of em- balming was thereby rendered more effec- tive as a preservative and more efficacious as a disinfectant. Embalming would not succeed so well in countries less dry than Egypt. In Judea the dead were interred in sepulchres cut in the solid rock. In China the ordinary form of earth-burial was used. In ancient Greece it was a mark of igno- miny not to be cremated. Suicides were denied the sacred rite. In Rome pyre- burning prevailed from the end of the re- public till the end of the fourth century A.D. In Caesar’s De Bello Gallacia the statement is made that animals and slaves were burnt as offerings at the same time as the corpse of their master or mistress. The Siamese embalm their dead, and the body lies in state for months or days, ac- cording to the rank of the deceased, after which time it is cremated. The poor Siamese, who cannot afford fuel, burv their departed friends and relations until such time as funds are less fickle, when they exhume and burn them. The German Jews in Berlin, and the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in London were the first to welcome a revival of ere mation. It cannot be asserted that the Jews are an un-Ma?onic people. It is too well known that they are to be counted ameng the staunchest advocates and sup- porters of Freemasonry. The whole Ma- sonic edifice, from foundation to capstone, is a purely Hebraic structure. The history and traditions of Masonry are so inter- mingled with those of the Hebrew nation that it is impossible to separate them. Physicians, chemists and professors of hygiene, the world over, are the strongest advocates of cremation as the only true sanitary method whereby to effectually dispose of all dead matter. Cremation from a sane point of sight is undoubtedly a sanitary measure. Masonic sanity may be accounted by the profane to be a Ma- sonic vanity; nevertheless the adepts know that Masonry is both humanitarian and sanitarian. In the higher degre< s ablution is elevated to the dignity of a ceremony. Why then should cremation be tabooed? In France, Germany, Italy, England, Austria and the United States, cremation societies are rapidly erecting their cre- matories. In India the British government has re- cently built public cinerators, on the latest scientific principles, in place of the old and objectionable native burning-ghauts on the banks of the sacred Ganges. Sci- ence is silently suppressing suptrstition in civilized countries. Among the Hindoos it merely makes their sacred ceremonies more sanitary. The French recently un- earthed their battlefields and burnt the carrion left by the crows. They denied the right of the dead to pollute ffie prov- ender of the living. Tfie rhyme of the poet — “Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the mice away.” can be less poetical, but more truthful if transformed to read — “Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might poison wells, his fellow-men to slay.” The only reason offered against crema- tion by certain ancient nations was, that as ‘ ' fire" was a God, to burn the dead with fire was to pollute the God. In some countries, as in Egypt, scarcity of fuel operated against cremation. The Chinese are influenced to earth burial by the incomprehensible religious phantasy of Feng Skid , the windwater spirit. The Romish Christian dogma denounces cre- mation in order that the dead may be in- terred near the churches of the living, and thereby derive benefit ( free gratis ) from the prayers of the faithful who resort to the churches. No objection to cremation can be estab- THE TRESTLE BOARD . 125 lished on Biblical testimony. The Bible vividly depicts the final clean-up by fire. Death by lightning is certainly incinera- tion by Divine authority. In 1st Samuel xxxi, 1 2th verse, it is written: “All the valiant men arose, and went at night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. Again, in Amos vi, 10th verse — “And when a man’s kinsman shall take him up, even he that burneth him, etc.” In modern Europe and America the Christian and Masonic doctrine of the re- surrection of the body has been used as the main argument against cremation. The safety of living men has been sacri- ficed to the supposed affinity of the spirit to the corporeal case that formerly contain- ed it. The spirit after death, being an im- mortal and immaterial essence cannot be confined in any coffin, cave or crypt. It, too, has been Divinely, and therefore def- initely promised reincineration in a new and incorruptible body. This belief even the iniquitous Tweed gang of New York, or the ex Solid Seven of San Francisco would willingly accept. Those worthies will desire no reappearance of their dry and corruptible bones. Their resurrected souls will make no application for a writ of habeas corpus. The idea of the body, as the Temple of the Holy Ghost, iedeemed and purified, has been the Christian’s chief objection. The redemption of the body does not appear to act as a preventive of putrefaction and consequent powers of poisoning. Crema- tion is certainly not incompatible with a belief in resurrection. Whether repug- nance or prudence is the secret of the pious protest, it is difficult to judge. Modern Christians may, perhaps, be unconsciously canny. Lord Shaftesbury once said, wisely and well, to a convocation of clergy: “What would become of the blessed martyrs if the souls of the cremated be damned?” Masonic objections to cremation have their origin in the superstitions and cus- toms of the Christian Regenerators of Freemasonry who flourished (let us hope not financially, as would some of our modern confreres) during the last century. Cremation should not be an ignomini- ous ordeal to the Knights Templar. Does, it not immortalize the martyrdom of their Grand Master, Jacques de Molai, who was burned at the stake in Paris in 1313 ? It cannot be inglorious to ask that your corpse be permitted to perish as his did. Cremation is common sense. Church- yards and cemeteries are constantly crowd- ed out by the growth of great cities. The atmosphere is vitiated by their fetid ex- halations, and the water and drains con- taminated by their noxious percolations. The constant reopening of graves and re- moval of bones is a desecration of the bodies of the dead. Only cremation can insure “that sweet sleep and calm rest, un- disturbed by the horrors of decomposition and the cold slimy worm that fretteth and devoureth the enshrouded form.” May the progressive spirit of Masonry manifest a willingness to help the cause of crema- tion. To forward human happiness bv promoting health is a sacred and Masonic duty. o For The Trestle Board. The Ritual in California. The explanation of the beautiful em- blems of Masonry, as given in the various Monitors in almost exactly the same lan- guage, marks the ability of the authors in the clear and concise manner with which their meaning and application is given, thereby making it an instructive pleasure to commit to memory and repeat when called upon to do so. Should not the se- cret work by all means be given in the same choice language ? When the Grand Lodge appointed a committee to revise the secret work, it acknowledged the fact that there are imperfections either in lan* guage or arrangement, or both. Thorough work would require the examination of every question and answer, and wherever the language could be improved and the meaning given in less words and thereby clearer and more pleasing, it should be done. Is not the Masonic Fraternity com- posed of .the most intelligent and highly educated men of our land ? and does not the Grand Lodge owe to the members of the Order to give its teachings and every- thing appertaining to it in such language as would make it conspicuous for its beauty as well as for its meaning to the most cul- tured, and thus be a greater educator to the average Mason ? The Grand Lodge, I think, has done wisely in ordering a revis- ion. The question is, will the committee give it the attention that it really demands? I understand that the work will mostly or 126 THE TRESTLE BOARD. entirely rest on one member of the commit- tee, and that the purpose is to change the second section of the M. M. degree so as to make it conform more nearly to East- ern work, and the other is to be brought back to the old, old work of California from which we have strayed. The condition seems to be something like this, as I get it from a member of the Grand Lodge: California does not tolerate in any manner the use of a cypher or any- thing to assist the memory. A former Grand Lecturer, who had been appointed way back in the early days of Masonry in this State, did have something whereby he could tell when his memory proved treacherous. But no other Mason could be trusted with a thing of this kind. At last he was called to his long home, and upon examining his effects this was found, whatever it was; they, knowing no use for it, threw it into the fire — the only thing of the kind in the world. It was a serious calamity. In due time a successor was appointed. He thought he had the work exact. His memory was perfect; but some of the wise brethren shook their heads. The woods seemed to be full of those who had it letter perfect, but no two agreed. Another Grand Lecturer was appointed, and then another, and still another, and the confusion increased rather than de- creased. Here is an example. There are four Past Masters in the jurisdiction of the Lodge of which I am a member; they have received the work from three different Grand Lecturers; these met with the pres- ent Inspector, and no two were alike, and no doubt the same conditions prevail all over the State. These brethren are fully up to the average in intelligence. The fault is not with them, but with the system, or rather with the absence of any system. The present Grand Lecturer deserves to be congratulated in his successful attempt in obtaining the exact old ritual of California, that is if it was worth finding, and what he is giving now is guaranteed as the absolute correct old work, and will be adopted at the next session of the Grand Lodge. The word “old” has a peculiar charm for some people. Masonry is worthy, not for its age, but for its high moral charac- ter as taught through its emblems, and the language used in the explanation of these emblems ought to be and is given in a manner creditable to the Order. The secret work ought to be as creditable, and such has been the purpose in many of the States, and so it should be here. The Masons of California areas intelligent as in any other State, but the wording of the secret work is in parts a reflection on the intelligence of the members of our Order. Some of the questions and answers are not in their proper order, and some are made to sound absolutely foolish. The second section of the M.M. degree seems like a tame affair to one who has had the degree properly conferred upon him. The second section of the F. C. degree is regarded by many eminent Masons as most interesting and most beautiful of all the parts in Masonry. Much of it is monitorial and nicely word- ed, but the secret part as given in this State is much of it very awkwardly expressed, so much so that it seems singular that no Grand Lecturer has ever suggested a change. Any intelligent school-boy could improve it. It seems to me that this com- mittee, instead of digging among the rub- bish for old obsolete phrases, should apply themselves to improving the work, and use the best method of expressing thought, so that the most intelligent and cultured would be impressed with the beauty and ease of expression. Now, as to uniformity of work. Now, is it to be maintained in the future any more successfully than in the past; and it has been thus far a complete failure. The use of any visible means to assist the mem- ory is forbidden. The Grand Lecturer or Grand Master has no right, any more than the Master of a Lodge, to use a key. If by common consent the Grand Lecturer is permitted to use a cypher, why not the Master ? The latter confers the degrees and instructs his officers, and sees that the candidate is properly instructed. The Grand Lecturer seldom confers a degree at the sessions of the Grand Lodge or meet- ings for instruction. He sits quietly by and looks wise. The present system of dispensing the work is a failure. It never has been a success. It never will be. A practical man who has something to do, and knows how to do it, who, with his duties, will retain the work absolutely cor- rect, is a marvel, and in all probability he that can do the latter has no qualification other than that necessary to make a suc- cessful Master of a Lodge. Probably such an one is the least thought of by the Lodge as a fit presiding officer, or even to be made a Mason. Are there no cyphers in California ? THjZ trestle board. 127 There is no better field in America for the publishers of these goods than right here in our own good intelligent State, and it always will be until a better and more practical method is adopted for dispensing the work absolutely correct. If every Master should abide strictly by the law', I doubt if you could find five w r ell posted Masons that would give the ritual abso- lutely alike. I question w’hether they can be found at this time. The same confusion existed in the Chapters so far as uniform- ity of the w’ork was concerned, and when the Grand High Priest called attention to this, a committee w'as appointed and they set about it in a practical way, and now the Chapters have no trouble. No getting to- gether of High Priests and Inspectors spending half of the time disputing about this or that w’ord being the correct one. The Chapter ritual needed no revision. It is as far above the average as the Lodge work is below', and the credit belongs to a California Mason. I think it is time that a Master Mason should be relieved of the necessity of apol- ogizing to our Eastern visitors for the word- ing and aw'ardness of our ritual. And the lecture might be abbreviated somew'hat. A little less about the Temple, and instead give the monitorial complete. That con- tains about all there is of Masonry. How' many California Masons have ever read the Monitor alluded to when the degree was conferred ? How many have ever seen one? Not long since at a Lodge of In- struction wdth several Past Masters, Mas- ters, Inspectors and Grand Lodge members, not one could give the monitorial. One says it is too much to retain, but he that can retain the secret w'ork and not miss a w T ord, ought to be able to retain a whole barrel without any inconvenience, for he must be an extraordinary man. Is the Grand Lodge afraid to trust the constitu- ent Lodge with any responsibility ? From w'hence did the Grand Lodge obtain its existence ? Is it not the creature of the constituent Lodge? Do the Masters who compose the Grand Lodge comprise all the brains there is in the Order ? Does the Grand Lodge attend to its business any more intelligently than does the constitu- ent Lodge ? Is there anything the Grand Lodge does or knows that the constituent Lodge cannot do, or ought not to know’ ? Or is the Grand Lodge composed of any- thing more than the average Mason ? I doubt it very much. And the way dele- gates are sometimes led by the few' older Past Grand officers, you are inclined to doubt their usefulness, as a legislative body, but one is old and skilled, the other new' and inexperienced. If this be true that the Lodge is the peer of the Grand Lodge in intelligence and business qualifi- cations, then it is safe to intrust them w’ith anything that is necessary to perpetuate the w'ork, pure and undefiled or unimpair- ed. Ought not the members of a Lodge to know what night is most convenient in w'hich to hold its meetings; how much the dues ought to be to meet the necessary ex- pense of the Lodge, and w'hat to do with their funds, so long as they meet their in- debtedness to the Grand Lodge and other- wise ? If the members of any Lodge are not qualified to attend to these simple duties in a strictly business intelligent manner, then they have no right to exist as a Lodge, and the Grand Lodge that w’oujd grant a charter to such persons, to make Masons — a privilege vastly more import- ant than that of the mere business — is un« w'orthy the name of a Grand Lodge. The parent that w’ill not put some responsibil- ity upon a child is not giving it the best training for its life w'ork. But the Grand Lodge is not treating w'ith childhood, but w’ith its own equals in every sense of the term. And there is no egotism in saying that California Masons are as intelligent as those of any other State. If there is any discrepancy, it is in the Grand Lodge and not in the constituent Lodges. M. S. Bowman. Riverside, Cal., Feb. 15, 1897. o For The Trestle Board. Masonic Clubs and Libraries. Why should not a Masonic Club and Library exist in every fair-sized tow r n ? As a fact, no reason than that of “insuf- ficient membership” can be given. The field is not like a clearing where one must toil many a year before he ean cut his crop, nor like some hillsides where one has to look out for his harrow’s. All we need do is to burn the grass of neglect, and a little talk will start the thing going. What will be the good ? We have done w'ithout it hitherto. Some one will say, for Masons are grandly conservative, and will contend for the old ways of doing things, for the old landmarks, and it is this spirit of tenacity which pervades that world-wide circle of men and brothers. It 128 THE TRESTLE BOARD. is true Masonry can get along without a club or library; but we must not forget that in these days of our purely speculative science we have lost to some extent the practical feature which in former times helped in a great measure to make our Or- der the powerful organization she is at present; an influence to be felt in every country, in every clime, and ever for the good of mankind. If in past years there was felt the benefit of that social element outside the actual work of the Lodges in order to well-set the cement of brotherly love; if in those easy-going times such was thought good, how much more now is it necessary, when we who work for a liv- ing are obliged to “dig,” early and late, year in and year out. Because of this keen competition, this eternal worry for the dollar for which we have to work so hard, Masons have met less often outside oar tiled doors, and during the last thirty years there is a growing tendency to ab- senteeism in the Lodge itself. What is the result ? Instead of a brother being fined for non-attendance, as in very old times, there are to be seen everywhere the Mas- ters of Lodges looking sorely puzzled at empty chairs, and enquiring: “How can we fill them ?” The cause is not a lack of names on our member- rolls in the cities; there is a steady and continual increase in respect to actual numbers — proved by the crowded state of our halls whenever there happens to be a “Fourth Section.” And so in our love for the ritual and for a bet- ter systemization of Masonic matters, we have lost sight of a most important fact — man is a social being. Hence Masonic clubs, a thing undreamt of until recent years, have been started in many places, and become a benefit to the work of the Craft where they have been formed. We hear of such in Chicago, New York, Brooklyn, London and Cairo, this last mentioned city having, it is claim- ed, the finest in the world. Doubtlessly there are hundreds besides those. Why not have one in San Francisco for the good of its own and visiting brethren ? Why should they not be in all our cities ? There are opportunities in such places as Oakland, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Stockton, and on proportionally smaller scales, in many towns on this coast. Wher- ever there is one Lodge in a place a good club can easily be formed with advantage to Masonry. That clubs would be a valuable adjunct can be seen in a few of the following rea- sons: 1. One such, would afford a good gen- eral meeting place for all officers and mem- bers alike to do committee work, lecture candidates, keep appointments, etcetera; where often they are obliged to meet in the Lodge-room itself now, a place often inaccessible for such purposes, and still more often inconvenient and uncomforta- ble when entrance to it can be obtained. As an addition to this first general reason, such a club would be made a repository for all information useful to the Craft, and generally to be obtained only through some officer of the Lodge, such as notices and times of meetings, a register of names and addresses of city members, etc. 2. It would afford a good cente r at which Masons could meet, whether for Masonic business or otherwise. 3. A good Masonic library and read- ing-room could be started and preserved there, also relics and other things of gen- eral interest to the Craft. In this way the brethren would read and become much bet- ter informed than is now the rule. There would be more interest taken in the history and work of the Order; and well-timed discussions at a place where good author- ities could be easily referred to would pro- duce a wholesome effect on the members, particularly the younger ones who are en- thusiastic and eager to learn. 4. Visiting brothers and strangers could get there information, and, by proper means the accommodation they so often require, without having the trouble they are frequently put to at present. 5. Lectures could there be given at regular stated intervals on subjects Ma- sonic and otherwise. They would be sure to be well attended. 6. It would bind more closely together men who would otherwise never see one another except at Lodge meetings. 7. It would be an immense boon to the bachelors who often have nowhere to meet a brother; and on wet nights it would be a warm, comfortable place where a pleasant hour could be passed instead of their cold quarters, or mayhaps, worse still, a saloon or billiard-room, where gambling is more often the rule than the exception. 8. It would thus be productive of a more united feeling, and be a general re- sort. One could introduce Masonic friends there, and extend their courtesies through it, in many ways otherwise difficult. THE TRESTLE BOARD. 129 9. There could be a properly managed restaurant and refreshments; also, if money was sufficient, a good bath-room, gymnasi- um, etc. 10. It would bring about a larger at- tendance at all Lodge meetings, and by being an outer and visible sign of conveni- ence and prosperity, induce good material to seek admission into Masonic ranks. 11. It would be purely Masonic, and yet widen Masonic influence in practical ways outside the tvled doors of the Lodge. 12. It could be made thoroughly ef- ficient and vet inexpensive. Space will not allow of more than sug- gesting; but these ideas can be elaborated to suit every particular case. In a small town it could be cut down to renting one convenient room, where a few papers and magazines would be constantly on file. Thus, the same ends on a limited scale would result at a trifling cost of rent, pa- pers, fuel and ligh<\ Do we not know of cases where, perhaps, forty dailies or weekly papers and many an expensive magazine come to a town, when a small literary club amongst the members would save enough money every month to fur- nish a good room comfortably and run it to advantage ? From some such small beginnings the plans and work would grow until in every big city there would be found the well equipped, well patron- ized, prominently situated Masonic Club House. There is a prevailing idea that when a Blue Lodge Mason has been admitted into the higher bodies, he will, in their more select ranks, find the social phase of Masonry he expected. Whether this be true, matters not. We must remember it is in the Lodge work the greatest practi- cal good in Masonry is achieved, and it is from this main body of symbolic Ma- sonry the higher bodies are recruited. These higher bodies have found the need of that social element. How much more reason is it then that the same should be well introduced into, and for the good of, this great army of Masons. The club would be sure to be a success. From the fact that all Masters and officers of Lodges in their arduous labor feel the need of a closer union among the brethren, feel the help that such a center would af- ford, not only in a great saving of time, but as a general help to make their term of office a credit to themselves and their Lodge; because of these reasons they would see it for their own benefit to push a club along to success. A good Master works hard for his laurelled honor, and he is apt to appreciate that fact when he is appointed a committee of one to dis- cuss some matter with a worthy brother whom he always hears of as “just gone down to-so-and-so’s to find you;” or when he and his Wardens (living, of course, in different ends of the city !) have to meet and compare notes, and start out onsome er- rand of charity, or for any one of the thous- and duties required of every Master of Ma- sons from time immemorial. A club would thus be a great assistance to a Master, his officers and every brother of the Lodge. The yearly change of these officers and the influence of constant new vitality into the club therefrom, as well as accession to it from novitiates would be a further guar- antee of success. In such a paper as this, it is both un- necessary and impossible to go into the questions of management and cost of run- ning such a club. The ways and means committee of each place must arrange that to suit their own requirements. The success to which the O. E. S. has attained is not due to greater earnestness or finer tenets. They tell their secret when they say “they are going to have a good time,” and the men join them for the same reason. In this oft-recurring social feature of the work they do so well and take so much delight in, they teach us a lesson. Their entertainment committees work probably harder than their visiting committees which are never known to fail. In Blue Lodge or any other Masonry an entertainment is naturally out of place; but every brother has felt often enough that his social chat has been cut short by having to put on his coat. “The Tyler’s waiting, boys! Don’t keep the Tyler!” are the gentle reminders that have stop- ped what would have been many a long-to- be-remembered little talk, which could have been continued at the club. Again, who has not heard many a conversation in reference to time and place of keeping appointments, when the same would have been needless, had it been possible to say, “Down at the club at such a time.” Think the matter over, brothers, and the advantages to be gained therefrom will im- bue you with the necessity of having one in every good sized town. Talk it over with the boys, then start on a small scale and it will come out all right. 130 THE TRESTLE BOARD. Perhaps The Trestle Board and some of the brethren having fuller knowledge on the subject will, in a future number, shed their kindly light for the good of us all. R. A. M. THE TRESTLE BOARD. A National Masonic and Family Magazine. PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE TRESTLE BOARD ASSOCIATION. Terms — $1.00 per year sent in United States, Mexico and Canada, and other Countries $1.25 strictly m advance. Single cop es 10 cents. Subscribers not receiving numbers wili notify us, and they will be supplied free. Discontinuances. — Subscribers wishing our magazine stopped at the expiration of their subscription, will please notify us by postal card otherwise we may consider it their wish to have it continued. How to Remit. — Send Cashier’s Check, Express Or- der, Post Office Money Order, Postal Note or Green oack in Letter. Receipts will always be sent enclosed in the next number issued after the receipt of the remittance. C. MOODY PLUMMER, Manager. Alvin Plummer, Advertising Manager. 408 California St., San Francisco, California. W. R. Kaharl, Special Advertising Representative. Pettengill’s Advertising Agency, 22 School St., Boston, Mass. Non- Affiliated “Bums.” Grand Recorder Blalock, of Washing- ton, reiterates his opinion of non-affiliates in his last Report on Correspondence as follows: “We have nothing to take back in ref- erence to the non affiliate. It is that class of ‘bums’ (of which we have many, I am sorry to say,) who never miss a meal, pay a cent or even give thanks. We think we are as sociable as the average Templar, but do not wish nor intend to be imposed upon, and if a year is not long enough to ‘cast one’s eye around’ this evergreen State of ours and secure a location, we think they should have left their member- ship at home where they belonged until settled.” Bro. Stephen Berry, of Maine, ventures to say: “It is painful to think that a ‘true and courteous knight’ ‘a valuable acquisition to our noble Order,” etc., may go West, and in one short year become such as he describes. There must be carelessness in the reception of candidates in the East, or else the Order is not kept up to the standard of nobleness of which we fondly dream. If this is a growing evil, will it not result in making each visitor pay his share of the reckoning? Such was the cus- tom in the olden time, and such it is in England to this day; while in America it continued so long as Lodges continued to serve out liquors. We can understand it in regard to liquors, for an appetite for drink is apt to get the better of gentle in- stincts, but the appetite for food does not often so betray. We can see that there are objections to charging the reckoning from a remark of an Englishman at a re- cent English Lodge banquet; he said that being a water drinker he failed to get his guinea’s worth. It would not be agreea- ble to be obliged to give up the theory that hospitality is one of the grand charac- teristics of our Order. It is pleasant to look down the long line of tables in the banquet hall, and think, more than half of these are guests, and it would be sad to have to add the thought, ‘but there are many who never miss a meal, never pay a cent, nor even give thanks.’ Of course, we must expect some of mercenary nature to intrude everywhere. There were some base Knights at Arthur’s Court, and we may be assured there were corrupt Knights among the Ancient Templars, but when we know that even they rode bridle- rein to bridle-rein with the noblest, into the car- nage whence none returned, we feel that they were not wholly bad.” As the above appears in the official printed reports of two Grand Command- eries, it is proper to copy and comment upon the subject. Templary inculcates the duties of charity and hospitality toward pilgrims traveling from afar, as Masonry induced the novitiate to assume its obliga- tions that he might travel in foreign lands, obtain work and receive pay to enable him to support himself and family. To accom- plish this to its fullest degree, when the vicissitudes of times and business require one to travel, it is enjoined to keep in communication with brethren at their gatheiings, for are we not all commended to the kind care, protection and brotherly kindness of the Craft whithersoever dis- persed around the globe. How are these duties to our traveling brethren and fraters to be fulfilled except through the oppor- tunities of association. These traveling Craftsmen and Sir Knights are our breth- ren and fraters, and as such are entitled to the consideration enjoined in our ceremon- ies, and to be treated as brothers and fra- ters. If they are not, then should these in- junctions be omitted, and all visitors with- out distinction refused admission to the family meetings of the Craft — especially when refreshments are served, because it THE TRESTLE BOARD 131 may cost something for what they eat and seem to be some degree of physical perfec- drink. We submit that Sir Blalock takes tion required. As we work now in specu- too sordid a view of the matter, unlike the lative Masonry only, that requirement character of a true and magnanimous Knight of the Temple. And he is not unlike a few whom it has been our mis- fortune to meet elsewhere. We do not hesitate to assert that the cause of the com- plaint which should not exist, lies nearer home. The obstacles of affiliation fees and high dues charged, partly because of greater expenses than in the Eastern States, together with the too capricious ballot, is the cause of the large number of non af- filiates, or affiliation elsewhere, that causes so many visitors on the register, especially at meetings when refreshments are to be served. We assert this, knowing that there is no carelessness in the reception of candi- dates in the Eastern States and the Order is kept up to as good a standard as in the West. Neither is it inferior in pecuniary standing. There are occasional mistakes made everywhere in material. There are more visitors at meetings and more relief work demanded of the Craft in the West than in the East, but the Craft in the West are responsible for it to a large extent. They discourage affiliation in their own bodies through excessive charges and the capricious ballot, and seldom is an East- ern member even advised to change his membership to the West. Sometimes one will send East for a dimit, or bring it out with him, but nearly always rerents the act. Let the Masonic bodies of the West abolish affiliation fees and the ballot on affiliation, reduce expenses, and they will soon increase in membership through af- filiation to assist the pecuniary burdens of charity and — paying for refreshments oc- casionally, and no longer travel under the opprobrious appellation of a “bum.” o Physical Qualifications. Bro. Albert G. Brice, G.M. of Louis- iana, says: “The ancient regulations, among other things, require that the can- didate must be capable of receiving and imparting all the signs of the degrees.” His authority he does not state, and we will not question the truth of it, for it has been said so many times, that if it is un- true, most of the Fraternity believe it now. If it is a fact, it must have been adopted when the Fraternity worked in operative Masonry, and at that time there would should become obsolete, for we find the maimed, the deformed, the blind, and the deaf at work in the speculative science, and performing the duties of brotherly love, relief, and truth as well, and perhaps better, than some of the most perfect phys- ical men. We have seen some brethren physically deformed from their birth, fill- ing with credit to themselves and honor to the Fraternity, the highest position in Lodge, and no thought entered the mind of their most intimate brethren that they were any the less good workers in all the duties required of them. In the Grand Lodge above, when this mortality shall have put on immortality, we have no doubt all the imperfections of this mortal structure will be discarded, and the G. A. O. T. U. will recieve and welcome the lame, the halt, and the blind, equally with the physically perfect, and assign them stations and duties of equal honor. If such be His love for His creation, should not His children follow His example and show their friendship and brotherly- love, at least to those wto are worthy, mentally, morally and socially, even if they are physically hardly up to the standard re- quired in army and navy, or a life insur- ance association ? o Masonic Clubs. A correspondent writing on the subject of “Masonic Clubs and Libraries,” on page 127, in this issue, covers the ground pretty well, but omits the most important service such a Club could be made useful for, namely, for employers to find faithful and competent workmen, and to enable breth- ren traveling in this country to find em- ployment with brethren. Such a resort would be useful in bringing employers and employees together for introduction, ac- quaintance and more intimate relations. All brethren out of business or employ- ment are not “bums,” and deserving a cold shoulder. This writer, one morning a month since, advertised in a morning pa- per for a carrier, as he has frequently done before, to apply at eight o’clock a. m., to be employed for one day only. In re- sponse, eight brethren, all having trades or professions, appeared promptly at the hour, and some others called later, hoping to find an opening to work and receive an i3 2 THE TRESTLE BOARD. honest remuneration. The hard times of the past few years have almost made it impossible to continue the employment bureaus in connection with Boards of Re- lief, not because there were no employees, but because employers were discharging help and contracting expenses wherever they could. So we find thousands of hungry men and women on our streets, and among them many Masons, desiring to earn an honest livelihood, and without any prospect or even hope. A Masonic club could be made a means of immense service in every place where brethren could meet and register, and thus find a liveli- hood, without loss of dignity, and with no expense, and employers find more faithful and trusty assistance in all the spheres of employment and professions. o “To the Shame of Non- Affiliates.” “Once a Mason, always a Mason” is an adage older than any Lodge organiza- tion. The only relief from the obligations of Masonry is death. These obligations do not interfere with any duty he may owe to God, his neighbor, his family, or him- self. It includes beyond this only the duties he shall assume to his brethren, their, families, widows, and orphans. He is assured of this fact before he assumes the obligations. He does not obligate himself to become a member of a Lodge even, but promises when he becomes a member of a Lodge; to perform his duty as such to that Lodge or to any other of which he may become a member. We never heard any obligation given in any Masonic body where any promise was made to enter into or continue membership. But it has come to pass, that unless a Ma- son is a member of some Lodge, or is con- tributing to, or recently has contributed to some Lodge, that he is entitled to no recog- nition, even to admit him to Masonic com- munication with his brethren. He cannot even petition for membership in some cases without paying six month’s dues be- side an affiliating fee, which dues are call- ed advance dues if he is accepted, and are retained if rejected to place him “in stand- ing,” as it is called, and to permit him to apply again somewhere, to be rejected again, and so on continuously. We know a brother who has for years been applying for membership and never obtains it, and perhaps never will. And although this is known almost publicly there are brethren who complain about the “detested non -af- filiates” and “locust Masons” who devour and are too mean to pay dues and bear the burdens of membership. These in- stances are known to scores of unaffiliated brethren who become such often for good reasons, and they are discouraged from applying, fearing they too will be black- balled. No man is perfect, no, not one, and each knows his own imperfections, and fears he may “get it in the neck” for that or some petty spite. The “ Gavel ’,” of Detroit, Michigan, says, without call- ing his name, thus including all unaffili- ates, as follows: “The Gavel feels like calling some spe- cial attention to the Mason in Detroit — yes, and elsewhere — who holds his dimit as a non-affiliate, or what is still worse, cannot or will not tell whether he is to-day in good standing in his Lodge, Chapter, Council, Com mandery or Consistory. This man among us at some time passed into these Detroit Bodies as a visitor, and has ever since had the rights and benefits of Freemasonry, without money or price. Like Daniel in the lion’s den, he sits all night and looks at the menagerie, and it don’t cost him a cent. Now, we are sim- ply sick of this fellow who plays the bar- nacle suction act. He well deserves the name of “locust Mason,” because when there is anything to devour he is on hand, and ever ready to do his share in getting away with what others pay for. He toils not, neither does he spin — save yarns — but King Solomon would stand aghast at his cool, audacious, monumental cheek, which is so adamantine that hint, slight or innuendo has no effect upon his continued presence, where he contributes nothing to meet the bill. In Detroit we have nearly 4.000 Master Masons in good and regular standing who are bearing the burden and heat of the day, but the Gavel has it on substantial authority that there are fully 3.000 more, all non-affiliates in this city, who have the entre to all that is Masonic that transpires. This is a crying shame, under the present condition of things. These men, in a majority of instances, will be found ‘visiting,’ where everything is free, but when there is a small charge for a ticket they fail to show up. It is fully time that such drones were pen-photo- graphed, and the fact made very plain to them that they are only Masons in name, and as such cannot play the ‘sponge act' THE TRESTLE BOARD. t ** *> any longer. We have no patience with the old chestnut, that ‘once a Mason, al- ways a Mason.’ This is simply sheer rot, when associated with the case of the man, who has the outward signs, words and due gards, but the generic principles of Free- masonry, are to his heart like a last year’s bird’s nest. Such men are not Masons, but are like suckers in a cornfield, simply serving to sap vitality, but bear no fruit. “In Detroit the Craft has assumed a heavy debt in the new Temple, with all its furnishing and expenses. To meet these recurring bills every man who is a true Mason has starved, scrimped and economized in every possible way to lift the burden even to such an extent that the cracking of the Masonic vertebra around the Temple is like that of the icy pave- ments. The various bodies have from time to time devised entertainments, by which to add to their Temple funds, but while crowds attend, the financial results are seldom more than the actual outlay. This struggle has to be continued, and the burden still be carried by those who hold to brotherly love and relief, but from all this burden-bearing the non-affiliate is ex- empt. ‘Oh yes, he is a Mason, and has his regular dimit from Mullygrub Lodge, and he will probably deposit it with some of the bodies after a while.’ Meanwhile he visits and ‘cousins round,’ and the years glide by. He is perfectly willing that the Detroit brethren should build him a house, but his contribution to the same is nit! Can any description of character, aspiring to any degree of respectability be more despicable than this? Can any ‘Weary Watkins’ or ‘Rugged Rhodes’ be the in- ferior to those excressences who have sev- erally promised to ‘eat no man’s bread for naught,’ and still are doing so year after year ? There may be some respect and pity for the tramp vagabond, but surely none can be found for the tramp Mason, and w'e have him largely in evidence here in Detroit. As Burns said to the devil, ‘O, wad w r e take a thought an’ mend,’ would justly apply to the class we have here slightly excoriated. We feel shame for such, even if that quality be absent from Brothers Donothing. If you cannot or will not help the hewers of wood and drawers of water around the Detroit Temple, then do not intrude your presence there. Take off your jewel, and never whisper that you were once a Mason, because your actions gives the direct lie to the statement. But on the contrary, if you can realize that your work as a Mason did not cease with the issue of your dimit, or your removal from your mother Lodge, then turn in and give a shoulder to the burden now resting so heavily on your brethren, and a willing hand to help along the work.’’ Our brother Fitzmaurice is a liberal Ma- son, and a non-sectarian in religion. Yet he seems to run to the other extreme on unaffiliation, perhaps because some one or a few are not contributing to the building and furnishing of a Temple in Detroit, and in fact, are eating the food and drinking the viands provided for the purpose of aiding to assist in raising funds for the building of the Temple. The Great Light in Masonry, in substance, advises us not to judge others, lest we be judged, for with such judgment it shall be meted to us. We quote all our brother says, that our readers may form an opinion of his argu- ment, w’hich is very frequently advanced by Masons in “good standing,” and have always been the rule of action in some bodies. We submit, in conclusion, that the ob- ligations of Masonry are individual, and that it is in actual violation of obligations to refuse to help, aid and assist a worthy brother, his widow and orphans, because he is not in good standing in some Lodge. It is nothing less than an evasion of obli- gations brought about by shirking the duties of relief and charity upon Lodges. A large amount of unaffiliation is created from this shirking of individual responsi- bility. o Discussing the Ballot. There is a manifest impropriety in dis- cussing the matter of an adverse ballot in a Masonic Lodge. We have reference, of course, to a rejection which has just taken place. When such a result has been reached as causes the Master to state that an applicant has been rejected, that partic- ular case is ended for the time. As a dis- tinguished authority puts the case: “All remarks upon the result of a ballot are un- Masonic and highly improper. The Mas- ter of a Lodge should never permit a member of Lodge to state how he has voted, or in any manner to reflect upon the vote of another member. If brethren forget themselves, it is the Master’s duty to interpose and exercise the authority 134 THE TRESTLE BOARD. vested in him, to preserve order and har- mony. ’ ’ — Repository. The above is appropos to affairs on the Paoific Coast, at least in one locality. Brethren frequently gather after a ballot and discuss freely the result, even when adverse to the candidate. Such a proceed- ing cannot fail to develop the personality of an objecting member, or else he must violate one of the characteristics of a Ma- son by insincerity, hypocrisy and deceit. If every brother knew his duty, not one word would be spoken about the result, and thus preserve the right and the integ- rity of the brother who threw the black ball. A better way would be to require three black balls to reject absolutely. If one or two only were thrown, the objectors should give reasons to the Master, and if valid should be respected, and otherwise should not be respected. We write this advisedly. o The Iowa Ox Was .Gored. A member of Lake Charles Lodge, No. 165, of Louisiana, while in Sioux City, Iowa, fell sick and was destitute. The Secretary of the Board of Relief of Sioux City communicated with Lake Charles Lodge, as to the standing of the sick brother, and asked if they should grant re- lief. The answer was satisfactory, and with this addition: “Please see that the brother gets good and careful nursing, and all his expenses incurred from now on this (Lake Charles) Lodge will be responsible for.” The case necessitated extraordinary expense, and the bill of $400 was sent to Lake Charles Lodge, which replied ex- pressing astonishment at the amount, and stated that they had no funds in the treas- ury, and were unable to pay. The case was laid before the Grand Master of Louis- iana by the Iowa Board of Relief \ and Lake Charles Lodge, when their attention was called to it by him, promptly levied a tax upon their members and cancelled their obligation. There are several lessons taught in this transaction. The Iowa Lodge could do no less than they did for the sick brother, even if it was not reimbursed. If they had neglected the sick brother he would have died, as his case was a difficult one, and required several delicate operations. Per- haps the Iowa Board of Relief was equally impecunious or unable to bear the expense, even if they had known the condition of the Louisiana Lodge; The Wisconsin Proposition obliges each Lodge to take care of its own members everywhere, and if not able, the Grand Lodge shall assist it. This is an improvement on the present methods, and makes it obligatory for Grand Lodge to assist their weak constituents. The Trestle Board favors the Wiscon- sin plan as a step toward the establishment of a larger and stronger organization for the great work of relief, which is the greatest work of Masonry, and is now a greater burden than the Craft should bear in some sections, and comparatively noth- ing in other sections. We have been asked by our Iowa con- temporary to name the Lodges in that State that are delinquent. We kindly suggest to the Secretary of the Board of Relief of San Francisco to make a state- ment of the indebtedness of the various bodies in Iowa to the Grand Master of that jurisdiction, and see if he will order the bills paid by the Lodges, the same as was done by the Grand Master of Louisiana. Iowa should do as it asked to be done by. If it does, the San Francisco Board of Re- lief will be reimbursed with more than $2,000 from that jurisdiction alone, and justice will prevail in this instance. o Rejections for Membership. Bro. Albert G. Brice, G. M. of Louis- iana, in one of his decisions reported to Grand Lodge, says: “It is eminently proper, from wise and prudential motives, that Lodges of the jurisdiction should be notified of the rejec- tion of petitions for membership or for de- grees.” The Trestle Board, being a personal friend, and using the privilege of a Ma- son, must say that it cannot concur in that statement, so far as membership is con- cerned. If Bro. Brice is correct, we would ask what is the relation of a unaffiliated brother better than the profane, and if his name is reported to all the Lodges of the jurisdiction, what are his prospects for affiliation. The fee for initiation is a mo- tive for favorable action, but the induce- ment for acceptance to membership is not so strong. Therefore, the brother, with a dimit does not stand as good a chance for election to membership as a profane, for initiation carries option of membership with it. With our experience and obser- THE TRESTLE BOARD. *35 vation, we believe the ballot for member- ship on any brother in good standing should be abolished entirely. A dimit should be sufficient, and the best recom- mendation that can be produced. We be- lieve that ninety per cent, of the present evil of unaffiliation might have been avoid- ed had no ballot for membership of Ma- sons in good standing been required. Every day we encounter Masons thus situ- ated, and as often do we meet those who are affiliated in other jurisdictions than those in which thev reside. And we be- * lieve that there will be no relief from this complaint of unaffiliation until the ballot is abolished together with the fee therefor. Durant Lodge, No. 268, F. & A. M., at Berkeley, California. John Martin, W. M. A Temple of Masonic Truth and Charity is no- where more fitly placed than in a College Town. It adds glory to the Light of Learning. Durant Lodge, at Berkeley, Cal- ifornia, is situated almost within the portals of the University of California, appropriately named in Henry Durant, the first F. M. Berryman, S. W. The Lodge is honor of Bro. President of the University. Durant Lodge was Or- ganized in 1882 by sev- eral brethren, who dimit- ted from their Mother Lodge, Oakland, No. 188, for that purpose. They were ably sustained by Oakland Lodge and other zealous brethren then resident in Berke- ley. Oakland Lodge, No. 188, presented to Durant Lodge the copy of the Great Light and the Altar that had been given to it by Bro. Charles B. Rutherford, the first MEIi liWr v.i Secretary and a charter member of Oakland Lodge. On that Sacred Volume and at the same altar, Henry Durant had solemnly obligated him- self to the principles and service of our Ancient and Honorable Fraternity. e. c. Bridgman, j. w. Q n evening of Sep- tember 8th, 1882, the few Masons who af- terwards became charter members of the Lodge, met and discusssed the advisability of organizing a Lodge of Master Masons. Committees were ap- - • - pointed, a petition for a charter was signed and other preliminary busi- ness was done. On the evening of October 6th, the second preliminary meeting was held, the committees reported and . 1 • . 1 , J. T. Morrison, Treas. their reports were adopt- ed. On November 29th the By-Laws were drawn up and passed upon, and the Lodge was duly established as Durant Lodge, U. D. At the meeting of the Grand Lodge of California, the following October, a char- ter was granted, and on the 2nd of Novem- ber,, 1883, the Lodge was duly constituted and dedicated as Durant Lodge, No. 268, F. & A. M. The charter members of Durant Lodge con- sisted of the following named brethren: George Dickson Metcalf, Frank Howard Payne, William Robert Edgar, Sec’y. Carrol Wright> Henry Austin Palmer, William McCleave, Wil- liam Albert Young, Simon Fischel, Thos. Frederick Graber, Joseph David Wanger- in, Rev. Dr. John Har- mon C. Bonte, (Recorder of the University,) Thos. Murphy Antisell, George Dally Dornin and Wil- liam Woodroffe Garth - waite. Durant Lodge has had an exceedingly harmoni- ous and prosperous ca- reer. In a period of fifteen years but two of its charter members have passed from this terrestrial sphere. One of the two be- -3- —- ing Bro. J. H. C. Bonte, who died quite recently. The roll of Durant Lodge has steadily in- creased from the original thirteen to ninety-five members, and financially it ranks as one of the best e. d. Thomas, s. o. in California. The Past Masters of Durant Lodge are Bros. George D. Metcalf, Frank H. Payne, Carlos R. Lord, Wm. Ellis, Joseph Mc- H. H. Dobbins. Chap. 136 THE TRESTLE BOARD. W. H. Waste, J. D. Clain, James B. Henley, Francis H. E. O’Donnell, Robert Edgar, B. P. Bull and John C. Jensen. The present officers are Bros. John Martin, Mas- ter; F. M. Berryman, Sen- ior Warden; E C. Bridg- man, Junior Warden; J. T. Morrison, Treasurer; Robert Edgar, Secretary; H. H. Dobbins, Chaplain: E. D. Thomas, Senior Deacon; W. H. Waste, Junior Deacon; Robert Greig, Marshal; T. C. Kierulff and C. J. McClain, Stew- ards; and G. R. Noack, Tyler. Durant Lodge has furnished and contin- ues to furnish its full quota of members to fill the ranks and offices of other Masonic Bodies. Among its members who have held or are now holding such offices are Bro. George D. Metcalf, P. M., at present Grand Generalissimo of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of California; Bro. Francis H. E. O’Donnell, P. M., is a Past High Priest of Oakland Chapter, No. 36, R. A. M., and the present Master of Geth- semane Chapter, No. 2, Knights of Rose Croix, A. Sc A. S. R. ; Bro. Robert Edgar, P. M. , is Commander of De Molay Council, No. 2, Knights Ka- dosh, A & A. S. R., Past Master of Oakland Coun- cil, No. 6, R. & S. M., and King of Oakland Chapter, No. 36, R. A. M. ; Bro. John Martin, the present Master is Past Master of Oakland Lodge of Perfection No. 2, A. & A. S. R. , the latter of- fice now being filled by Bro. A. L. Olt, another member of Durant Lodge. The munificent gift of Bro. John Martin, W. M., has enabled Du- rant Lodge to introduce on the Pacific Coast the use of costumes in confer- ring Blue Lodge degrees. This custom prevails largely in the Eastern Jur- isdictions, and greatly en- hances the effect of the c.j. McClain, stew. r itual and the interest in the work to all present. Durant Lodge has been requested by several local and Robert Greig, Mar. T.C. Kierulff, Stew. city Lodges to exemplify the work in this manner. The use of costumes does not vio- late any landmark of our Order, but, on the con- trary, does more towards making the work realistic than is possible in any other manner. Let the Masons of California sus- tain and emulate the pro- gressive spirit of Durant Lodge, and the lesser light lit therein will finally illumin- ate the whole Land of the Golden West. Peaceful, prosperous and progressive, Durant Lodge is ably and faithfully ful- filling its mission of Brotherly Love, Re- lief and Truth. o Editorial Chips. There is a legend that none were en- titled to the Royal Arch Degree except those who had been elected and presided over a Lodge as its Master, and in fact the Royal Arch Degree was not conferred upon any others only since about two cen- turies ago. But as the extension and use- fulness of the Royal Arch degree was thus materially circumscribed a ceremony of passing the chair was substituted for the actual service requisite. Some favor the exclusion of the Past Master’s degree from the Chapter, as of no use, others favor the abolition of the requirement for the pre- siding officer of a Lodge. The Trestle Board believes it should remain piecisely as it is now, with the additional require- ment, that it should always be conferred in long form — not as we have seen it in Cali- fornia, without any explanation thereafter — but as it is done in the other extreme of this country, where its lesson is impressed upon the candidate and is forever retained in his mind thereafter. We view it as a farce, and meaningless when conferred otherwise. A full explanation of the de- gree and its lessons should follow the work. The Orphans’ Home of North Carolina, since February, 1873, has taken in and cared for 1,595 children If they had been left alone, had grown up amid their evil surroundings, there is a reasonable proba- bility that a large majority of them would have been criminals and prostitutes. The cost of running the institution the past year was a fraction under $77x0 per cap- ita. It was established by tne Masons, not G. R. Noack, Tyler. THE TRESTLE BOARD. i37 for the children of Masons only, but for the destitute and homeless orphans of the State, regardless of belief or other affilia- tions. It is managed by eight directors, five of whom are elected by Grand Lodge and three appointed by the Governor of the State. As a result, the State donates $ 10,000 annually to the support of the asylum. Of the 212 children now in the asylum only 35 are the children of Masons. We commend the plan of this institution to the investigation of the Trustees of the California Masonic Home. There is a great need and opportunity for doing much good for the destitute and friendless of this Coast, and where the weakest and most poverty-striken should have the greatest influence to gain admission to be educated and taught some useful employment to fit ‘hem for life’s duties. The pauper and criminal classes are largely on the increase, and it is a melancholy fact that the increase is caused by the lack of proper care and education of the growing generation. Masonry should be foremost in the work of charity and pure beneficence, instead of following on after other associations. While the promoters and managers of our Masonic Homes are contriving to make the poor man pay as much for Masonic re- lief as the rich man, by inviting Lodges to contribute annually one dollar for each member of a Lodge, the Eastern Star is solving the question of ways and means by asking each individual to pay as much as they please or feel able to pay. The East- ern Star is working on the true Masonic principle, which requires no one to pay for relief any more than they can without in- jury to themselves and those dependent upon them. We have heard of only one Lodge that has accepted the invitaiion of the Managers of one Masonic Home to pay one dollar a year for each of its mem- bers without any limit of time. We have received a printed copy of the address of Bro. Gustave Gunzendorfer. the retiring Master of King Solomon Lodge, No. 260, of San Francisco, which position he has filled for two years past, together with a portrait of the Master and the an- nual reports of the Treasurer, Secretary and Board of Trustees, and a roster of the officers and members of the Lodge. It is a pamphlet of 26 pages, and contains everything desired and much of value to the Craft and membership. No one after reading its pages will complain of want of knowledge of the affairs of the Lodge, and it is an example worthy of imitation by all Lodges that none shall complain of ig- norance of the affairs thereof. We shall quote from the address hereafter. In New Jersey “the fact that an accused brother has been judged guilty in a court cannot be used in a Masonic trial.” We once knew a case where a brother was ar- rested, imprisoned and discharged from no charge being preferred against him at all, but he was tried by his Masonic breth- ren and expelled from the Fraternity, he offering no defense. The case seemed to be one of expulsion on suspicion. Justice is often defeated by law, but sometimes law is defeated by justice. The Cathedral of the Scottish Rite in the new Masonic Temple at Los Angeles was dedicated on February 22, at which Bro. Thomas H. Caswell, 33 0 , Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, S. M. J. of the United States; Bro. W. Frank Pierce, 33 0 , Inspector General of California; Bro. Charles F. Crocker, Grand Master of Grand Consistory of California, and other active members of the Rite in California, were present and assisted. Fully 200 Scottish Rite Masons were pres- ent. The ceremonies were very impressive and realistic. A mixed quartette rendered in excellent manner some chants from the ritual and several solos. A banquet closed the occasion with toasts and responses. The Grand Lodge of California has granted a dispensation for a Masonic Lodge to fourteen petitioners from Hilo, in the Sandwich Islands. Of the three Lodges at Honolulu, Hawaiian Lodge, No. 21, is under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of California, one works un- der a charter from the Supreme Council of France, and the third is under the juris- diction of the Grand Lodge of England. We cannot understand why smokers should insist on driving away those to whom tobacco smoke is offensive, and fill the room with an atmosphere which is deleterious to health. We have no per- sonal objection to fresh tobacco smoke, but when we go home, our better half im- mediately knows that we have been where there was something going on beside the work of brotherly love and relief for poor THE TRESTLE BOARD. and distressed brethren, their widows and orphans, and although we receive no Cau- dle lecture her faith in the efficacy of Ma- sonic work and association must receive a slight touch of doubt. In these hard times, when millions of men are idle from compulsion, or seek to live by their wits, and preying upon each other, every Lodge in the city and country should ask the questions, during the meet- ings, “Are any brethren out of employ- ment?” “Are any brethren in need of help?” as well as the usual inquiry of “Are any brethren sick or destitute?” The Lodge everywhere should be the means of relieving the distress of brethren in all ways possible, and especially to make them honest by giving them honest em- ployment and paying honest wages. What is Masonry for, if it is not for the purpose of helping, aiding and assisting each other in all ways possible, and it is far better to give employment than money. Most men do nat desire to eat the bread of idleness. The Constitution and Regulations of every Grand Lodge should be amended so as to prohibit the ballot on membership of any constituent Lodge. This is in accord- ance with true Masonic brotherly- love and friendship. Any variation from this is un- charitable, un fraternal, unbrotherly, and places the Fraternity in the position of the ordinary benefit societies, who give no aid or relief unless the applicant is in good standing, and perhaps do not need it. A Lodge in Missouri declines to reim- burse a Lodge in New York city for the support of a foidow of a deceased member of the Missouri Lodge, but is willing to pay her expenses to Missouri and provide for her the balance of her life in the Ma- sonic Home if she will return to Missouri. For some reason, perhaps friends or rela- tives, she wishes to remain in New York. There is only two remedies for this disa- greement between these two Lodges. One is the adoption of the Wisconsin proposi- tion of reimbursement, and the other is the establishment of a National Body with a National Fund from which all calls for relief and charity shall be drawn. To adopt either of these will remedy this par- ticular case, but the establishment of the National Body will accomplish more. It will make Masonry a universal institution instead of a sectional society divided up by State lines, and governed by the idio- syncracies of each particular State. The Grand Lodge of New Jersey, held its noth Annual Communication at Tren- ton, January 27-28, Bro. Josiah W. Ewan, Acting Grand Master, presiding. The Report of the Finance Committee showed receipts the past year to be $10,538.40; expenditures, $10,947.92; balance on hand, $8,847.43. The Charity Fund amounts to $7, 1 38. 37. The present membership is 16,094. Dispensations for two new Lodges have been granted. The following officers were elected: Geo. W Fortmeyer, G. Master; Josiah W. Ewan. D. G. M.; Joseph E. Moore, G. S. W.; W. Holt Apgar, G J. W.; Chas. Bechtel, G. Treas.; Thos. H. R. Redway, G. Sec.; W. D. Rutan, D. G. Sec ; Rev. C. H. W. Stocking and Rev. H. A. Griesmer, G. Chaplains; Henry S. Haines, G. Instructor; Walter Chand'er, G. S. D.; Elmer E. Smith, Jr., G. J. D.; John A. Parker, G. Marshal; David George, G. S. S.; Wm. Carman, Jr., G. J. S.; John W. Bodine, G. Sw. B.; David G. Baird, G. Pursuivant; Luther S. Skillman, G. Tyler; C. Foreman Smith, G. Organist. At the Annual Convocation of the Grand Chapter of New York, held in Albany, February 2d and 3d, the following officers were installed: John Webb, Jr., Governeur, G. H. P.: John W. Palmer, Brooklyn, D. G. H. P.; Joseph A. Crane, Rochester, G. K.; J. Harris Balston, New York, G. S.; Herman H. Russ, Albany, G. Treas.; Christopher G. Fox, Buffalo, G. Sec.; Rev. James B. Murray, Moravia, G. Chaplain; Alfred A. Guthrie, Albanv, G. C. H.; George A. Newell, Medina, G. P. S.; John W. Ferrier, New York, G. R. A. C.; Adolph Muehsam, New York, G. M. 3d V.; Jeremiah R. Sturte- vant, Theresa, G. M. 2d V.; Frank T. Gilbert, buffalo, G. M. 1st V.; George McGowan, Palmyra, G. Lecturer; Wm, H Gladding, Albany, G. Sentinel. The past year the net increase of mem- bership was nearly 500, making a total of 19 000 affiliated companions within the jurisdiction. Hereafter no member of the Masonic Fraternity in Minnesota can sell intoxi- cants, and 100 persons now in the liquor business will be expelled from the Order if they do, not change their occupation. The Masons of Minnesota evidently want to be classed as good temperance people. J. B. Allen, a colored man, has been elected a member of the Council of the Governor of Massachusetts. Race preju- dice is disappearing slowly but surely in this country. There is an excellent custom in a certain Lodge in New York. It is to announce the intention of proposing at the next stated communication the name of a per- son for the degrees. Should any brother in the Lodge prefer not to have this person in his Lodge, and yet have too much con- THE TRESTLE BOARD. 139 sideration for him to black-ball him, he may advise, in perfect confidence, that the petition be given to some other Lodge. In New Jersey the Grand Chapter O. E. S. makes a visit to each of its constituent Chapters on stated days, by notice given. Bro. Edwin A. Sherman is engaged in writing what is to be known as “Fifty Years of Masonry in California.” It will appear from the press of Geo. Spaulding & Co., in twenty monthly parts at $1 each. Bro. Thomas G. Lambert, of Monterey, Cal., has served eighteen years as Master of Monterey Lodge, No. 217. This is a record of which he may be proud. Few can excel it. The Grand Lodge of New Jersy has de- cided to establish a Home for aged and in- firm brethren. The Rev. Edwards Davis says: “Prize- fighting is merely a brute contest. I hope the championship will finally go to Peter Jackson; then I should like to have him contest with an orang-outang, that victory might go to the beast.” Mrs. A. K. Coney, wife of Bro. A. K. Coney, Mexican Consul-General, died in San Francisco, and the funeral service was held in the “Church of our Lady of Gua- dalupe,” on Sunday, Feb. 21st. By her request the funeral was attended by Geth- semane Chapter of Rose Croix, Scottish Rite. o Chips from Other Quarries. We do not have postal savings banks, although in every other enlightened coun- try of the world their value has ceased to be a matter for discussion. When the sys- tem was introduced into England Sir Rob- ert Peel remarked that the measure was so good that he wondered it had ever passed. That was thirty-six years ago. Since then Austria, Hungry, France, Belgium, Swe- den, Russia, the Netherlands, Italy, the British colonies and even Hawaii have fol- lowed England’s example, while Germany has a complete system of municipal banks answering the same purpose. And not one of the millions of depositors in the foreign public savings banks has ever lost a cent through failures or defalcations, while in New York city alone the earnings of the depositors in twenty-two savings banks were swept away in the three years end- ing with January i, 1897, and a single savings bank failure in San Francisco has robbed twelve thousand people, reducing many of them to destitution, driving some to suicide, and making others a charge on the community whose criminal negligence permitted them to be plundered. Hundreds of thousands of depositors, the choicest, the most industrious, the most thrifty, the most deserving of the American working masses, have been deprived of their ac- cumulated earnings and brought to ruin by the failure of their Government to heed the absolutely uniform and conclusive ex- perience of the world, and to give them that protection which almost all publicists agree would be legitimate and salutary. How many conservative citizens have been turned into anarchists by that sort of treat- ment there are no statistics to tell, but the subject might be worth the attention of the statesmen who think that the most import- ant improvement within the reach of our postal service is an increase in rates to en- able the Government to pay exorbitant railroad charges without a deficit. A prominent Mason of this State, after a slimly attended funeral, in substance of- fered the following resolution: Whereas , it is the duty of every good Mason to uphold the good name and fame of Masonry, and Whereas, on week days the brethren are either tired, busy, or it rains or shines too much, and Whereas , it is too much trouble to dress in their best clothes during week days, therefore, be it Resolved , that it is hereby declared the duty of any member of this Lodge here- after to die only on Saturdays, so as to be buried on Sunday, that the Lodge can turn out in full strength and pay the proper res- pect to his memory. — Texas Freemason. Bro. Fred. G. Mock, editor of the Idaho Mason , has a wonderful Masonic record; one that will be read by old-timers down East with amazement. But many of the Eastern Masons don’t yet understand how bright the Western Mason is. Bro. Mock was initiated September 6, raised October 4, 1890, dimited October 1, 1891. In one month he again dimited to assist in forming a new Lodge, and served as first 140 THE TRESTLE BOARD. Master of same, was re elected in 1892- 93 and ’94. In the Grand Lodge he was elected Grand Lecturer in 1893, and again in 1894 and ’95. In September, 1896, he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Idaho, although not then a Ma- son of six years. — The Masonic Constellation. Can any one tell us why a young doctor should not have the same right to adver- tise himself that the young lawyer has ? When we began the practice of law we ob- tained permission to refer to not only some of the most distinguished citizens, and large mercantile firms of Boston, but also to similar firms and citizens in New York and elsewhere, and so helped to lay the foundation of a business which gave us the means of devoting the last twenty- eight years of our life to the humane work in which we have been engaged. Now, why should not the young doctor have the same privilege ? Is it not for the public interest that the public should have the means of finding out something about the doctors, whose signs ornament our streets ? There are M. D.’s to whom we can safely entrust our lives and the lives of those that are dear to us, and there are other M. D.’s to whose humanity and skill it would not be safe to entrust the life of a cat. — Geo . T. Angell. The underlying principles of Masonry are more ancient than the universe, and emanate from the great I Am, and it is not essential for us to solve the problem as to when Masons first congregated or the ex- act date of organized Masonry. In some jurisdictions Entered Appren- tices and Fellow Crafts may be dimitted; these we have a right to take up in that character, and finish the work of the for- eign Lodge, notwithstmding the fact that we do not grant dimits to Entered Ap- prentices or Fellow Crafts, or concede the right of a foreign Lodge to finish our work. — G. L. of Miss. The following resolution, adopted at the last Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi, should be followed by every Grand Jurisdiction in this country : “ Resolved , That it is the sense of this Grand Lodge that the prerogative of mak- ing a Mason at sight does not exist by virtue of any landmark or ancient regula- tion, and is not conferred by the constitu- tion or laws of this Grand Lodge.” “Our Fraternity is unlike any other or- ganization or society. It has traditions, laws, customs and methods of proced- ure peculiar to itself. It is so old, so firmly established, that it is not ob- liged to resort to means to perpetu- ate itself which other more modern so- cieties find it necessary to adopt. Free- masonry does not advertise itself. It seeks no one. It must be sought. Any attempt to force it under the public eye is so re- pugnant to its traditions as to be prohib- ited by Constitutional enactment. It is not for the public; it is for its own votaries, and the public has no right to know any- thing about that in which they have no concern. Masonic matters should not be mingled with the gossip of communities, and he who talks about the affairs of his Lodge to chance acquaintances in public places has no proper conception of his Ma- sonic obligations. He who prints anything concerning Freemasonry without proper authority violates Article xvii, section 25, of our Ahiman Rezon. “My attention was called to an item which appeared in the local news column of a country newspaper, stating that Mr. A. B. C. would, that evening, be raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason in Lodge No. — . The editor was a Master Mason, and it is hard to believe that so gross an offense was committed ignorantly.’ I instructed the District Deputy Grand Master to warn him that it must not be re- peated. “Our officers have much to contend with in keeping our over zealous brethren, who are often imprudent, within the strict line of their duties, and while some in- fractions may be attributed to heedless- ness and be dismissed with a word of cau- tion, a repetition of them should be visited with severe penalties. Persistency making Masonic affairs material for news-mongers and street gossips is reprehensible enough for punishment. Let us have no more of it.” — M. H. Henderson , G. M , of Pa. Die Bauhutte , which is the organ of the Craft in Germany, has recently been ex- posing brethren who, in order to push their business, have utilized Masonic emblems as trade marks, and others again who have the bad taste to bedeck themselves with jewels to curry favor with a certain class THE TRESTLE BOARD. 141 of individuals with whom they hope to en- ter into commercial relations. The paper in question very properly points out that there is quite enough discredit brought on the Craft as it is by Masonic “tramps” who “sponge” on Lodges and brethren for a living, without Freemasonry being further debased by having its many sym- bols cheapened and misused. The remarks made by the editor of Die Baukutte are applicable to New Zealand as well as other parts of the world. I am not aware that Masonic emblems have been used here as trade marks, but it is common enough to find our symbols in hotel bars The Square and Compasses over a cask of XXXX are, I presume, supposed to be a guarantee that the liquor is above suspicion, but this is not always the case. — N Z. Craftsman. The first reliable account touching Ma- sonry, historically considered, is found en- graved in almost obliterated characters on the walls of Melrose Abbey church, and establishes the fact that as early as 1136, Scotland was dependent on Master Masons imported from abroad. The inscriptions are in the wall of the south transept. On a shield are two pairs of compasses and fleur-de-lis Masonically arranged, and be- side them the words: ‘Sa gaes ye compass even about, sa truth and laute do but doute. Behalde to ye hende O John Mor- vo.’ John Morvo, or Murdo, as the name is sometimes spelled, is said to have been the first Master of Melrose Lodge. Few Masonic Lodges can show documentary evidence of being in existence over two hundred years, but old Melrose Lodge can show an almost unbroken succession of records for nearly three hundred years, while Melrose Abbey dates from 1136.” — Bro. A. T. Wolff, Grand Orator of Illinois. Bro. John Stewart, Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York, lately appointed Peter Ross, LL.D., of New York city Historian of the Grand Lodge in succession to Charles T. McClenachan, whose death recently occurred. Dr. Ross is the author of several well-known books, including “The Scot in America,” “Scot- land and the Scots,” “The History of the Literature of the Scottish Reformation,” and a “Life of St. Andrew.” He has been connected with the Masonic Frater- nity for many years, and served as Master of Scotia Lodge, No. 634, New York, during two terms. For the past eight years he has been its Treasurer, and as its official Historian published some two years ago a volume detailing its progress. — Boston Ideas. There really is some fun to be got oc- casionally out of the usually heavy pom- posity of the dailies — one of them describ- ing a light refreshment had by one of the Lodges in the Temple, the other night, as a “superb banquet.” As the principal ingredient was coffee and the festive and jovial “weiner wurst,” we guess the re- porter got a little mixed between that and some other spread he may have attended later on. — Freemason , Los Angeles. Thousands of our modern churches are costly club houses, which serve no earthly or heavenly purpose save for three hours on one day in each week. The spirit of the modern church is not Christ-like, and it has developed a class of Sunday Chris- tians. There is no doubt that modern Christianity is suffering from dry rot. We have Sunday churches devoted to a ser- mon, earnest and polished, to singing ar- tistic and cultivated, and that is all there is to it. In San Francisco, at an expendi- ture of $118,700.00, our fifteen leading churches have made 385 conversions an- nually. Our 4,161 operating saloons have an annual revenue of $14,500,000. There are, as a direct result of these saloons, 13,- 363 arrests for drunkenness. Conceding that all crime is the indirect result of drink, we have 8,000 annual converts to the saloon, 385 to the church. My figures. I quote from Chief Crowley’s report. — Rev. W. A. Gardner , of San Francisco. The oft- repeated question, “How should a Mason wear his apron?” and others of like character, count for nought in our es- timation, says the Masonic Record , when compared with the questions: “Has the surviving family of our deceased brother a sufficiency of food in the house?” “Are they supplied with coal enough to keep them comfortable?” Are their clothes warm enough to keep off the cold?” “Has Bro. a situation whereby he can earn enough to support his family?” etc. Make it practical, brethren, in each act of your every day life. Should you chance to learn of the surviving relatives of a brother Mason requiring assistance, don’t wait until the family make request I 4 2 THE TRESTLE BOARD. lo the Lodge for aid, but hustle yourself and see to it that their immediate wants are supplied. Don’t permit a brother Ma- son to be out of employment a single day, if through your endeavors he can be put to work. Don’t practice saying what you will do, but do it — do it quickly and ef- fectually. The Royal Craftsman , of Somerville, N. J., says: “We see it going the rounds of the Masonic press, that the use of robes has been prohibited in this Grand Juris- diction. This is a mistake. A resolution to that effect was introduced at the last Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge, but on motion, was indefinitely postponed. ’ ’ An exchange very righteously says that “a brother who has waxed old or infirm, or who through misfortune has become poor and destitute, ought not to feel ob- liged to dimit from his Lodge on account of inability to pay dues,- nor should he be permitted to do so. A remission of his dues and a cordial welcome is by right his due.” A Western exchange says that a practi- cal revivalist requested all in the congre- gation who paid their debts to rise. The rising was general. After they had taken their seats, a call was made for those who didn’t pay their debts, and one solitary in- dividual arose, who explained that he was an editor, and could not, because the rest of the congregation were owing him their subscriptions. “The indistinct recollection of a few forms and ceremonies separated into les- sons called degrees, the regular Lodge meetings, the occasional banquet and Lodge entertainment, the funeral dirge, the casting of the sprig of acacia in the grave of a departed brother, the occupancy of the Master’s chair, and the consequent attendance upon our Annual Grand Lodge meetings, suggest themselves to the minds of too many Masons as a sufficient and proper reply to the oft repeated question, “What is Masonry?” What is life but a gasp for breath, a tiny cry, a period of ex- treme helplessness, a very short formative term, a few years of probation, bringing with them trials and triumphs, hopes and disappointments, again the enfeebled state, the declining strength, the gasp for breath, and life is over. But is this all of life ? No. ‘It is not all of life to live.’ So, the forms and ceremonies of our institu- tions, the public processions and our an- nual gatherings are but the visible portions of that mysterious brotherhood which binds us closely together with the ties of friendship, and prompts us to deeds of be- nevolence and charity.” — M. IV. William H. Besi. A member suspended for twelve months for un-Masonic conduct of any kind is not bound for dues during the time of his sus- pension. While previous edicts on this question have had reference only to sus- pension for non payment of dues, the prin- ciple applies to suspension for any offence. A suspended Mason is deprived of the privileges of Masonry, and should, there- fore, not be chargeable with dues, it mat- ters not how and why he was suspended, during the time which the suspension is operative. — G. L. of Georgia. The Free Masons of America will be in- terested to learn that the Museum of Ma- sonic Curiosities, collected for an expose at the Catholic Congress at Trent, is to be kept together and travel the world for the enlightenment of those inside and outside Freemasonry, says the Chicago Times - Herald. Apart from a copious library of books dealing with Masonry, there are documents which are produced to prove the contention of the Congress orators that Freemasonry is an anti-religious sect. It will surprise most Freemasons to learn that the simple symbols used in their in- itial rites, not only originated, their op- ponents aver, in Phallic worship, but com- mit them to a recognition of diabolism. The neophites, the anti-Masons say, may be ignorant of the symbolic significance of the signs, but the masters know what it means. For instance, these adepts are said to be well aware that the triangle repre- sents. not the holy Christian trinity, but the Indian trinity, wherein Satan as de- stroyer holds equal rank with God as creator. A brother Mason is in good standing; he becomes demented, is sent to a lunatic asylum; is afterwards unable to attend to his Masonic obligations — how shall he be reported to the Grand Lodge? Held, he should be reported as in good standing, and his dues remitted. He is neither dead, THE TRESTLE BOARD. *43 suspended nor expelled, but is in such mental condition as that no dues could be legally collected from him, therefore he should be borne on our rolls as in good standing and without any dues chargeable therefor. — G. L. of Georgia . There is more trouble in a Lodge, caused by the great army of “stay at homes,” than from any other one cause. First, their absence leaves vacant places that should be filled. Second, they are sure to be the first to “kick” on the outside and condemn everything that is done. They often for- get that dues must be paid in order to carry on the affairs of the Lodge, and they make up the large majority of the delin- quents. Fourth, they soon join the army of the indifferents, and eventually land among the thrpng of the unaffiliates. Fifth, if anything goes wrong they are the first to exclaim, “I told you so.” They fail to recognize their own responsibility. They forget that those who are carrying on the Lodge are doing the work which the “stay at homes” ought to assist in. One generally associates a Mason and an orphan together, just as the Divine Master and the Christian are associated together. A Mason is the guardian of the orphan, just as the Master is guardian over his peo- ple. “Like as a father pitieth his chil- dren” applies equally as well to Masons and orphans as to God and his people. As long as there is a Mason in the world there will be orphans for him to look after in one way or another. It is his birthright — this duty of loving and serving orphans, and he cannot throw it off by attempting to sell it for a mess of potage. The work that Masonry has to do in an operative way — the laying of one stone upon another in the building of a temple, is not half so important as the work of properly caring for the bodily temple of humanity. God gave a Mason his work, and though he is good enough to overlook faults and mis- takes, he nevertheless expects the work to be done. — Orphans ’ Friend. During our late war with Great Britain, a muscular member of the Society of Friends, while on a coasting voyage, was overhauled by a British privateer and the captain came to him for instructions. His reply was “Thee will do what thee think- eth best,” which of course meant fight. During the engagement, the Quaker saw a boat-crew attempting to board another part of the vessel, and seizing the leader threw him about ten feet out into the water, saying as he did so, “Friend, I hope thee can swim !” The vessel was saved. An- other good Quaker story is of the young man who came on a moonlight night to ser- enade the Quaker’s daughter, but by mis- take got under the old gentleman’s win- dow. After following various others with “Home, Sweet Home,” the old gentleman, who was anxious to go to sleep, came to the window in his night dress and pleas- antly said, “Young man, if thee hast a home, and a sweet home as thee sayest, why don’t thee go home?” The Government of Spain prohibits any Mason from wearing a Masonic charm or pin in public. If our Government were to do the same thing the price of old gold would take a tumble, lunatic asylums would be overtaxed to hold the cranky exterior Masons and “constitution of our fathers” worn thread-bare in their efforts to main- tain their constitutional rights. An instrument for measuring the flight of birds was made years ago. This instru- ment has been adapted to measuring the flight of insects. It has been discovered that a house-fly flies faster than birds. It can fly twenty-five feet a second, and when frightened it increases its speed to one hun- dred and sixty feet a second. A swallow is considered the swiftest of flying birds. A naturalist saw a swallow chasing a dra- gon flv, and it could not catch the fly. Bees and wasps not infrequently keep up with a fast train for some distance, trying to get in at a window. — The Outlook. In the Bible we find no intimations that Moses ever performed any such miracle as bringing the dead to life, yet the Samari- tans, in their religious hymns, attribute to him the exercise of this miraculous power. There is a tradition of the Moslems, re- corded by Tabari, to the effect that when Moses went up into Mount Sinai to receive the Tables of the Commandments, he took with him the seventy elders, and on the Mount a cloud came down and enveloped Moses, and hid him wholly from their view; and when he had received the Com- mandments, and came forth out of the cloud unto them, the elders murmured that they had not also received the revelation, whereupon the cloud enveloped them also, 144 THE TRESTLE BOARD. and they heard all the words that had been spoken to Moses. Then the wrath of God blazed forth, and a thundering was heard so great and terrible that they fainted and died; but Moses feared, and prayed to God, and the seventy men were restored to life, and came down the Mount with him. The Revista Masonica, Buenos Ayres, is authority that in November, 1895, there was a Catholic organization effected in Paris, France; having for its object united action against “sects inspired by Satan,” of which Freemasonry was declared to be chief. The members take an assumed name so as not to be known, and women are eligible. It is known as Liga Labar- um, and has three degrees, legionary of Constantine, soldier of San Miguel and Knight of the Sacred Heart; the female members are known as sisters of Joan D’Arc. During the war of 1812, or that year when the frosts visited Maine every month of the year, the crops suffered and the peo- ple suffered. Gov. William King, the first Governor of that State after its admission to the Union, sent one of his unemployed vessels south and brought back a cargo of corn, which he sold at cost to residents of Bath and vicinity, allowing no man to purchase over two bushels. This act of the bluff old Governor puts a new light upon his character. Gov. King was the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Maine. An Englishman touring through Amer- ica, went on board a steamer late one night, and on the following morning, after walking on deck and looking round him, he stepped up to the captain and asked, “I beg your pardon, but would you kindly tell me what lake I’m on?” “The Lake Huron,” replied the captain, and turned away. The Englishman looked puzzled for a moment, and then, following the captain, began, “I beg your uardon, you said — ” “It’s the Lake Huron,” roared the cap- tain, thinking the man was deaf. “Yes, I know,” persisted the passen- ger, “but what’s the name of the lake that I’m on ?” “The Lake Huron !” shouted the cap- tain, incensed at what he thought gross stupidity, and he turned away to relieve himself by railing at one of the hands. The Englishman looked more puzzled than ever. “The lake you’re on is the lake you’re on. Of course it is ! The lake I’m on can’t help being the lake I’m on. What impertinence ! Let me look in my guide- book; perhaps that will tell me.” It did tell him; and then the humor of the situation suddenly dawned upon him. We have just read an amusing story of b man who undertook one morning to scold his typewriter. She listened patiently to all he said, but when he added that he didn’t want a sheet of postage stamps left on his table, and told her to put them ‘ ‘ anywhere out of sight,” she drew them across her tongue, clapped them on top of his bald head, and taking up her things left the office. An English paper tells the story of a reverend gentleman who, the other day, was most anxious to spare the feelings of his congregation. Fastidiousness was a strong point of his, and he delivered the following: “In my last discourse, you will remember, I alluded to the fact that the Prophet Jonah was three days and three nights in — in — the whale’s society. A brother can never be questioned nor compelled, in open Lodge or elsewhere,, nor can he ever state how or why he voted upon an application for membership. — G. L. of Georgia. o Literary Notes. We have received printed copies of the Proceedings of the following Grand Bodies, for which the Secretaries have our thanks: Grand Lodges of South* Carolina, Minnesota, Tennessee, Alabama: Grand Chap- ters, R. A. M., of Tennessee, Rhode Island; Grand Coun- cils, R. and S. M., of Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kansas; Grand Commandery, K. T., of Ohio; Grand Chapters, O. E. S., of Vermont and Michigan. O Deaths. In San Francisco, Feb. 8, Philip Aronson, a native of England, late member of Shakespeare Lodge, No. 750, of New York city, aged 44 years. His funeral was attended by Fidelity Lodge, No. 120. In San Francisco, Feb. 12, Joseph McQuoid, a native of New York, a member of Mission Lodge, No. 169, aged 80 years. In San Fiancisco, Feb. 18, Lyon Zacharias, a native of' Nakel, Prussia, a member of Doric Lodge, No. 216, aged 58 years, 5 months, 24 days. In San Francisco. Feb. 24, John C. Wilson, a native of , Brooklyn, N. Y., a member of Golden Gate Lodge, No. 30, aged 52 years. In San Francisco, Feb. 28, Robert Bright, a native of Ireland, a member of Golden Gate Lodge, No. 30, aged 79* years, 10 months. In San Francisco, March 5, Thomas D. McKenna, a native of Illinois, a member of Mt. Moriah Lodge, No. 44, aged 60 years. THE TRESTLE BOARD. CONTABACO. A Homeopathic treatment for the cure of the tobacco habit. One course of treatment, lasting about ten days, is guaranteed to remove the craving and produce a positive aversion to the use of tobacco. Contabaco is perfectly harmless and is devoid of all the obnoxious and dis- agreeable features common to nearly all other methods of treatment for the enre of the tobacco habit. One complete course of treatment with full directions, nicely packed in a vest-pocket case, may be obtained from your druggist or will be sent to any ad- dress, postpaid, on receipt of Sf.oo. Manufactured only by The Contabaco Company, San Francisco. Cal. My Experience. 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