Vol. XVIII. No. 9. MARCH 19 0 5 n\ MASONIC MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY THE TRESTLE BOARD CO. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. — DO YOU WANT — SUMMER BOARDERS? People living along the North Shore Railroad, or reached by its lines, are invited to send in description of their hotels, boarding houses, camp grounds, etc., to Geo. W. Heintz, 222 Sansome Street, San Francisco, for insertion in North Shore annual publication. No charge. trestle Board CONTENTS FOR MARCH, 1905 The Selection of Material 517 Source of the Master’s Authority 51S Life 520 A Memory of a Western Journey (Verse) 523 Heard in the Ante-Room 524 Freemasonry and Cremation ’. 525 The Master 527 The Speculative Character of Masonry 52S The Internal Dangers of Masonry 530 Perfect Ashlars of Masonic Thought 532 Editor’s Corner *.534-537 The Right to Masonic Relief Making Masons at Sight. Prerogatives of the Grand Master. The Shriners. Resignation of Office. Can This Be True? Monarchs as Masons 539 The Beauties of the Ritual 540 Masonry Yesterday and To-day 541 The Travels of a Master Mason 543 The Cornerstone and Its Significance 546 The Broken Column 547 Church, Home and Lodge 54S The Golden State 549 True Charity 550 Acts of the Scottish Grand Lodge 551 Eastern Star Points 553 Signs, Their Meaning and Influence 555 Chips from the Quarries 556-557 Book Shelf 55S PUBLISHKD MONTHLY BY trestle Board Compang jo 2-104 Second Si., San Fra?icisco, Cal. Edited by James Wright Anderson Walter N. Brunt, and Edmund Mansfield Atkinson. Busine.«-s Manager. Subscription Price, $i.oo a Year; Single Copies, io Cents. Entered at the Post Office at San Francisco. California, as second-class matter. Liberal commission to active agents. Correspondence solicited from every locality, jurisdiction and country on subjects pertaining to every Rite and Branch of Masonry. THE TRESTLE BOARD IN EVENING CLOTHES FOR IMMEDIATE USE WE STAND PRE-EMINENT “(|l)r J§uL” 6. Jlctlus Sc ^fja. (^jcrlusiop (jTlolli irrs. 132 l^carng j^lrprl. ^ati Jju-nncisro. Masonic Calendar. SflN FRANCISC O AND ALAME DA COUNTIES. Stated Meetings. MONDAY ist ’Occidental Lodge, No. 22. 1st ’Hermann Lodge, No. 127. ist fKing Solomon’s Lodge, No. 260. ist & 3d *San Francisco R. A. Chapter, No. 1. ist & 3d jGolden Gate Commandery, No. 16. ad &4th gBeulah Chapter, No. 99, O. E. S. 2d & 4th fff Olive Branch Chapter, No. 169 O. E. S. every **’Oakland Scottish Rite Bodies, ist & 3d fffSan Francisco Chapter, No. 196, O. E. S. last ****Fruitvale Lodge, No. 336. TUESDAY ist ’Golden Gate Lodge, No. 30. ist ’Oriental Lodge, No. 144. ist ”San Francisco Lodge, No. 360. ist It Brooklyn Lodge, No. 225. every ^Mission Commandery, U. D. ist & 3d ’California Chapter, No. 5. R. A. M. ist & 3d **Starr King Chapter, O. E. S., No. 204. ist ffOakland Commandery, No 11. 2d & 4th jlvy Chapter, No 27, O. E. S. 2d &4th ||f Unity Chapter. No. 65, O. E. S. ist & 3d Berkeley Chapter, O. E. S., Berkeley. WEDNESDAY ist ’Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 44. ist ’Crockett Lodge, No. 139. ist ’Excelsior Lodge, No. 166. ist ^Mission Lodge, No. 169. ist& 3d ffOakland Chapter, No. 36, R. A. M. ist ’California Council, No. 2, R. & S.-M, 2d tlslam Temple, A. A. O. N. M.S. 2d&4th ggCarita Chapter, No. 115, O. E. S. ist& 3d fKing Solomon’s Chapter, No. 170, O. E. S. THURSDAY ist ’’Starr King Lodge, 344 ist ’California Lodge. No. 1. ist ’Fidelity Lodge. v o. 120. ist gSouth San Francisco Lodge, No. 212. ist ’Doric Lodge, No. 216. ist ^Mission R. A. Chapter, No. 79. ist || || Alcatraz Lodge, No. 244. 2d ggOak Grove Lodge. No. 215. ist ’San Francisco Lodge of Perfection, No. i,S.B At Call ’San Francisco Chapter, Rose Croix, No. 1. At Call ’Godfrey de St. Omar Council, No. 1. At Call ’San Francisco Consistory, No. 1.. 5th ffOakland Council, No. 12, R . ScS . M. At Call ’Pacific Coast Masonic Veteran Association 2d & 4th fHarmony Chapter, No. 124, O. E S. 2d & 4th ffOak Leaf Chapter. No. 8, O. E. S. ist & 3d ffOakland Chapter. No. 140, O. E. S. ist & 3d tCalifornia Chapter. No. 183, O. E. S. ist fttPresidio Lodge. No. 354. FRIDAY ist ’Pacific Lodge. No. 136. ist *Loge La Parfaite Union, No. 17. • ist ff Live Oak Lodge, No. 61. ist ^Durant Lodge. No. 268. every ’California Commandery, No. 1. ist & 3d fGolden Gate Chapter, No. 1, O. E. S. ist ’I.oggi Esperanza Italiana, No. 219. 2d & 4th JCrescent Court, No. 3, R. & A. D. SATURDAY Alameda Lodge, No. 167. rst ffOakland Lodge, No. 188. ist ^Berkeley Lodge, No. 363. 2d ggAlameda Chapter, No. 70, R. A. M. every Masonic Board of Relief, Emma Spreckels Bldg., 927 Market St., Room 604. last ’Past Masters’ Association. 2d & 4th TfMission Chapter, No. 155, O. E. S. ist & 3d f Aloha Chapter, O. E. S., No. 206. * Masonic Temple, Corner Post and Montgomery St6 t Franklin Hall, Fillmore, bet. Sutter and Bush Sts. t Golden Gate Commandery Hall, 629 Sutter St. g Masonic Hall, Railroad Ave., South San Francisco. ^ Masonic Hall, 2668 Mission St., bet. 22d and 23d Sts. ff Masonic Temple, 12th & Washington Sts., Oakland. i t E. 14th St., East Oakland, f Peralta St. near 7th St., West Oakland, g Masonic Temple, Park St., Alameda. fj[ Masonic Hall. Berkeley Station. ***^oottish Rite Cathedral, 14th & Webster Sts., Oakland f ff 223 Sutter St. ’♦Devisadero Hall, 217 Devisadero St. •’’♦East I4 th St. and Fruitvale ave., Fruitvale, JltOctavia and Union Streets. Masonic Hall, Centerville, Cal. trestle Board Vol. XVIII MARCH, 1905 No. 9 THE SELECTION OF MATERIAL BY BRO. CHAS. C. CLARK, P. G. M., IOWA. OWEVER. much condemna- tion, he whom I have termed the professional blackballer deserves, of one thing I am abidingly satisfied. Infinite- ly less harm has been done the Institution by keeping out good men than has directly resulted from a reluctance to exercise this great prerogative of our Fraternity. Where we lose by malicious blackballing one man who would in every way he a credit to Masonry, we admit two whose presence in the Order is a constant menace to its very existence, whose membership is a dis- grace to the Lodge which shelters them, and whose appearance in our ranks on public occasions not only brings the blush of shame to our own cheeks, but also leads the pure and true to question the virtue of an institution which shelters and ap- parently condones the actions of these black sheep. It is very true that we can not expect too much of merely human in- stitutions; even the twelve had its Judas. Indeed, I do not know that absolute im- munity from evils is at all desirable, for after we all grow in proportion as we rise superior to trials and afflictions, their fierce fire best purifies the gold of the soul, but even so they come in swarms without being run after, and the point I earnestly desire to impress upon your minds is this: Greater care should be exercised in the selection of our member- ship. Growth in numbers alone means nothing in an institution founded upon the eternal rock of truth, whose cardinal virtues are temperance, fortitude, pru- dence and justice, whose trust is the ever- living God, whose ideal is purity, and whose hope is of unending growth and development in all that is good and true and beautiful. Character should be the touchstone, and unless the petitioner measures up to the full stature of a man, no fear of censure from his friends, no dread of having one’s motives miscon- strued, should prevent his rejection. Xot that we are to look for perfection; God knows how few of us would ever have been members had our characters been examined in the white light of exact jus- tice. Yet the candidate should possess those qualities of mind and heart which lead him to instinctively seek the com- panionship of the good and upright, which make him detest the low and base, and guarantee a constant growth in all that goes to form the genuine, manly man. But whether the black ball cast be the result of this high conception of duty, or the outward manifestation of an evil, 518 THE TRESTLE BOARD spiteful, malignant nature, when the Mas- ter declares the ballot dark, the incident should be absolutely closed, and he who seeks by covert insinuation, bold asser- tion, or by careful exclusion to determine just who is the caster of the black ball, is unquestionably guilty of a Masonic offense, and should, without hesitation, be disciplined. The real danger, it seems to me, lies not so much in the malicious use of the ballot as in the failure to carefully pick our material. One good man or a dozen good men kept out do not seriously dam- age us, but, ah, me, the woe that is caused by one black sheep ! A Lucifer, single- handed once shook the very foundations of heaven, and so one mistake in favor of a petitioner whose only recommendation is that he is a hail fellow, well-met, may be the entering wedge which will event- ually split the Lodge asunder, make it the object of contempt of all good men, and at the last cause it to miserably per- ish from the earth. The work of the committee should be thorough and search- ing; not only the present character but the past deportment should be minutely examined. Even with a favorable re- port, if any Brother knows aught that would in his honest judgment make the petitioner a damage to the Craft, he should unhesitatingly express his disap- proval, being careful to know as he would answer to his God that his action is prompted by a sincere and pure consider- ation for the best for the Fraternity, and not by private pique or personal grudge. SOURCE OF THE MASTER’S AUTHORITY ITHUST the walls of a tiled lodge the Worshipful Master is subordinate to two beings — God, and the Grand Mas- ter of the jurisdiction, or his deputy representing him. In all else the Master of the Lodge within the Lodge is paramount, states Wm. A. Singleton in the Disciple. The absolute authority of a Master over his Lodge is a landmark of Masonry. It is the landmark of Masonry. It is the only landmark of Masonry peculiar to Masonry. All the other landmarks are held by Masonry in common with other institutions or are of later date than this. For instance, belief in God, secrecy, modes of recognition, permanent assem- blies, and others, are not peculiar to Ma- sonry. The three degrees, the Hiramic legend, the Grand Master, Grand Lodges, and others are of later date. But the absolute authority of a Master over his Lodge is peculiar to Masonry, is not found in any other institution, goes back to unquestionable antiquity, and is derived in direct unbroken line by the Master of the Speculative Lodge from the Master of the Operative Lodge, and in- hered in the latter and inheres in the for- mer for precisely the same reason; in the case of the Operative a material reason, in the case of the Speculative a symbolic one. For the purpose of this article, it may be assumed that Speculative Masonry is derived from Operative, the facts of the latter inducing the symbols of the former, and that Speculative Masonry, as a dis- tinct science does not antedate 1717. While the derivation of Masonry as re- lated in the legend of the craft is incredi- ble as not consonant with historical facts, if for no other reason, the legends are valued as showing at the dates of the vari- ous copies what was then believed by the craft. The earliest authentic date ascribed to one of these legends is 1583, the Grand Lodge MS. But there is obviously older, but of uncertain date, A. D. 1390 being the one imputed. TllE TRESTLE BOARD 519 This, the Regius MS Halliwell Poem, attributing the origin of Masonry to “euclyde,” i. e., Euclid, the famous Greek geometrician (a palpable anachron- ism) in Egypt, states that, having or- dained certain rules, “Furthermore yet, that ordained the Master called, so should he be. So that he were most worshiped, Then should he be ycleped (called).” Thus, not only the title of “Master” but “Worship” is ascribed to the origina- tor of Masonry. Euclid, the legendary founder, was the first Worshipful Master of Masons. The Grand Lodge MS., 15S3, states that “Ewklad” ordained, among other matters to the Craft, “And also that they snould call ye gor’nor of the woorke Mr. in the Tyme that they woorke with him.” Among the various terms found in the Masonic manuscripts, charges, regula- tions, etc., appears that of the “Lord” or “Lords.” The context, of course, indi- cates that it is not Deity referred to, but employers. In the Cooke MS., assigned by Mackey to 1490, which repeats the apocryphal story of Athelstorne, there is attributed to him certain regulations, one of which is this, in substance: And moreover they (Masters) shall be charged to well and truly expend the goods of their lords, as well of the lowest as of the highest, for those are the lords, for the time being, of whom they take their pay in recompense of their service and toil. Of the Steinmetzen of Germany there are the earliest records of and relating to Masonry. Prior to 1459 these do not give any idea of the nature of the Craft, and even those of this date are not suffi- ciently clear. But in 1563 was promulgated “The Brother Book,” which contained, inter alia : “ When a Master gives a Plan for a Work. — Till. If any one contracts for a work and gives a plan for it how it shall be the work shall not be cut short of any- thing in the design, but he shall execute it according to the plan which he has shown to the Lords, cities, or people, so that nothing be altered on the building. Unless it be that the Lords will it so, then may he alter it according to the Lords’ wishes, but without seeking undue advan- tage.” “Ordinances of the Wardens and Fel- lows of the Stonemasons' Craft. — XLII. Every warden shall hold his master in honor, be willing and obedient unto him, according to the rule of Masonry, and obey him with undivided fidelity, as is meet and of ancient usage. And a fellow shall also do likewise.” Some general observations are now per- tinent. Of all the crafts of the days of purely Operative Masonry, that of Ma- sonry was the most systematic and exact. Aside from the exactitude of the science of geometry, that upon which the skill of the Mason was employed, a building re- quired a specific, definite, predetermined plan. And this must be strictly adhered to to ensure fidelity of work and com- pleteness of result. The Master, therefore, with the lord or employer, agreed upon a plan, which was to be unchanged unless the lord consented. This plan the workmen were to strictly follow under the direction of the Master. The rationale of this is obvious. Of all the Lodge, the Master alone knew the whole plan. Each workman only knew his part. For a workman to dispute the Masters instruction and to insist upon doing his part in some other way than that ordered by the Master would have produced, inevitably, confusion, disar- ranged the plan, and ruined the building. And it is said that this “undivided fidel- ity” to the Master “is meet and of ancient usage.” It must necessarily have been so. It could not from the very nature of the art have been otherwise. In other arts or trades a disobedient workman would have spoiled only some special piece of work. A disobedient workman in Ma- £20 THE TRESTLE BOARD sonry might ruin an entire edifice upon which years of toil had been spent. Hence, implicit, unquestioned obedience to the Master' was enjoined. As operative Masonry is the only art or trade which, from its nature and texture, could and has furnished a speculative sys- tem, from the facts of the one have been elucidated the symbols of the other. The implicit, unquestioned obedience enjoined to the Master of the operative is also enjoined to the Master of the Specu- lative Lodge. And for precisely the same reason and by a precise analogy. In Speculative Masonry, the Grand Lodge is the analogue of the lord, the la- bor of. the Lodge is the analogue of the plan, the candidate the analogue of the material. Each speculative workman has his particular part to perform, and while, as a matter of fact, each may know, and some do know, the entire plan, yet it is not the function to know this. But it is the duty of the Master. How the several parts shall fit together, how the moral edifice shall be completed, the Master alone is obligated to know, and for the work he alone is responsible. Hence, all the workmen must yield him “undivided fidelity,” and obey without question. As in the olden time, the lord, and he alone, could supervise the Master, so the Grand Lodge alone has the power to which the Master of a constituent Lodge is amen- able. LIFE BY BRO. ALBERT PIKE. IFE is not short, but long. To those of us who have grown old it does not seem only a little while since we were children. When we stand in the softening and fad- ing glow of lifers calm sun- set, and look backward along the road by which we have come from childhood to old age, and the lanes and by-paths into which we have wan- dered, it seems a long, long while since we commenced the journey, and the thronging memories of joys and sorrows and the unforgotten faces of the dead seem to come to us from epochs of our lives far apart in the past. Life is not measurable by its hours and days, its months and years, but by its work, its actions, its events. That life is not short which has had its childhood, its youth, its manhood and its old age. if we count it by its rejoicing and the mourn- ing, its hopes and fears, its gains and losses, its achievements and disappoint- ments, its labors and rests, its success and reverses, its friendships outlasting years, its loves and jealousies, its deeds and en- terprises, its marchings through the des- erts and its restings among the trees along the rivers. In our life, even when we mark in its calendar three score and ten years, has in- deed been as brief as the life of the moth or May fly, if we have lasted only as long as the thin spheres of dew last, that in the morning tremble upon the petals of the flowers and exhaling die, because no length of time, however great, is a meas- ured fraction of eternity, and the life of a star is but a point in infinite time, why should we lament, and beat our breasts in anguish, and clothe ourselves in somber garments, and cast dust upon our heads, and weep disconsolately, and in our hearts resent what seems to us the capricious cruelties of God, when one beloved by us, who has lived a large or little portion of a life so pitifully insignificant, has been taken from us. leaving unlived the frac- THE TRESTLE BOARD 521 tional residue of that moment of eternity, to the whole of which we think he was en- titled? Why, if life he not worth living, if God, in giving us our life and time, has given things contemptible, to be scorned and not to be thankful for, why should the human insect, whether ant, or bee, or butterfly, assemble others of his kind to- gether and tell the story of the lives of other insects of his class, when their ephemeral existence, petty and pitiful, has ended? And why recount their virtues, and the deeds for which he thinks they ought to be remembered a moment or two after their deaths? It is not the part of a wise man, or of a healthy intellect, to belittle humanity or human life, its interests and ambitions, its passions and commotions, its pursuits and aims, it desires and hopes and aspirations, its work or prizes or cherished pleasures and recreations. We are here simply to prepare ourselves for another life. “This life also,” it has been well said, “is a part of eternity; this world also revolves among the stars.” We are here to live this life well; and it is not alone the fitting of individual men and women for Heaven for which the race exists. On the contrary, man’s highest duty and noblest work are to benefit others, to enlighten and elevate them, to ameliorate their condition, to se- cure for them political liberty and freedom of conscience, to confute those who preach to them that they are but a superior race of animals, and that there is no God and no protecting Providence. The Creator of the universe is not in- different to the welfare of the world and of humanity. The forces of nature are His varied action, and men are His in- struments to achieve results. Even an ant or a bee does not work for its own susten- ance or enjoyment alone. Each works for all and all for each; and so the highest purpose of human association is neither self-improvement nor individual profit. A man neither works, thinks, studies or writes for himself alone, and that life is worth living which is devoted to making things go better in this world; and this not in these present days only, but in the days that are to come. ALBERT PIKE TEMPLE The elegant new home of the California Bodies of the Scottish Rite, the “Albert Pike Memorial Temple,” was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies early in February. The program was carried out substantially as given in the February Trestle Board, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Febru- ary, 7th, 8th and 9th, day and evening, and Friday afternoon, the 10th, were devoted to the conferring of the degrees from 4th to 32d. Monday evening, February 6th, witnessed the formal dedication of the beau- tiful building, which represents years of earnest labor on the part of the Temple As- sociation, especially of Brother F. J. H. Rickon, president of the association and the prime mover of the project. Brother Rickon was on that occasion presented with an elegant set of silverware by his brethren of the Rite, as a token of their appreciation of his untiring efforts. Brother Rickon pre- sented the Bodies with a beautifully bound Bible. Brother W. Frank Pierce, Sovereign Grand Inspector-General of California, de- livered an address of welcome, which was happily chosen. The brethren of the California bodies royally entertained their fraters from far and near, and set a high standard of ele- gance and hospitality. SAN FRANCISCO SCOTTISH RITE San Francisco Lodge of Perfection No. 1, A. and A. S. R., announces March and April meetings as follows : March 2, Secret Master (in Full Form) ; March 16, Perfect Master and Intimate Sec- retary (in Full Form) : Provost and Judge, and Intendant of the Building (Communi- cated) ; March 23, Knight Elect of Nine (in Full Form) : Knight Elect of Fifteen and Knight Elect of Twelve (Communicated) ; March 30, Stated Meeting, reception of peti- tions ; April 6. Grand Master Architect and Royal Arch of Solomon (in Full Form) ; April 13, Grand Elect. Perfect and Sublime Mason, conferred in Full Form and Cere- mony. 522 THE TRESTLE BOARD THE TRESTLE BOARL 523 A Memory of a. Western Journey WRITTEN BY SIR FAY HEMPSTEAD, GRAND RECORDER OF ARKANSAS IN REMINISCENCE OF II IS SOJOURN AT THE TWENTY-NINTH TRIENNIAL CONCLAVE. G’lint of gold on a sapphire sea ; And a pleasant memory comes to me ; Of the glorious stretch of a beryl bay; And the frowning heights of Tamalpais; Of the swish that the curling breaker has, By the prison isle of Alcatraz ; Of the oak and the eucalyptus, seen Through their pendant walls of living green ; Of the walk through the cedar-scented air, In the hills of Berkeley, brown and bare ; Of the stream that sings to the sliding moon. From its tortuous channel, boulder-strewn, That lies in many a fold and twist By the hills that are hued like the amethyst ; Of the peak that lifts from the vale below, With its beetling turrets clad with snow ; Then the mist creeps inward, heavy and dull. Hiding the haunts of the seal and the gull ; And the blackened walls of the night retire In the lengthened stretch of the street of fire ; With its myriad colored lights that dip, From miles away to the ferry slip ; And the land is light to the harbor’s lip. Again; where the fissured cliff-rocks reach To the wide expanse of the ‘lonely beach ; And the desolate waste draws on to be By the shores of the lifeless inland sea ; Or there, where out in the dazzling day An army marched with banners gay : With the steeds, and the show of martial pride. And the populace banked from side to side ; With cheering that echoed far and wide. Or more. Of the concourse vast and gay In the monster hall, at the head of the way ; Where the redwood branches intertwine With the fragrant leaves of the mountain pine ; Of the welcome that sat in eye and hand From the best to the least in that favored Pnd: Prompt to comply with the farthest demand : Where the word of request was the voice of command. Glinting of gold on an azure sea, I welcome the memory thou bringest me. As I gaze on the fading lights that end Where the sea and the sky-line together • le-d ! 5£4 THE TRESTLE BOARD HEARD IN THE ANTE-ROOM BY THE DISCIPLE. “Well, they knocked your man out/' ob- served the Flippant Young Mason. “Knocked my man out ? I had no man to knock out/' replied the Solid Old Ma- son. “Why, you were on the committee on •, weren't } t ou?" “Yes." “Well, he was blackballed, wasn't he?" “Yes, but he was in no sense my man/' said the S. 0.. Mason. “I was only one of a committee appointed to investigate whether he was worthy to be a Mason, and finding him so in our opinion, we re- ported favorably. There our interest in the matter ended — at least mine did — and his fate became the property of every member of the Lodge present." “I should feel considerably cut up if a report I had made were treated that way/' said the Flippant Young Mason. “You'll get over that after you have served on a few committees," said the older one. “In the first place, it is the right, which is not to be questioned, of every brother to say whether a man may become a member of this Lodge or not. Those who blackball an applicant usually have good reasons for doing so, or think they have, which amounts to the same thing." “But it. is unmasonic to keep a man out because of personal prejudice," said the F. Y. Mason. “True," replied the S. 0. M., “but there is nothing so easy for a brother to con- vince himself of as that a man whom he does not like is not fit to be a Mason." “But such a brother puts his own judg- ment up against that of a committee whose business it was to discover whether there was anything objectionable in the candi- date's character," said the F. Y. M. “True again," said the S. 0. M., but he may be possessed of information which the committee did not have." “Then was it not his duty to give that information to the committee?" “Yes, and perhaps* he does so, and the committee do not attach the same impor- tance to it that he does — what then ? Why, then he avails himself of the means given him of keeping him out — the black ball. What would be the use of taking a ballot if the report of the committee were final ? The committee are merely the agents of the Lodge to discover whether the peti- tioner is worthy — not merely whether he has ever acted unworthily, but whether there is in him that which would make him a desirable member of the Lodge — not that he is not bad, but that he is good." “Well, I would feel like making a * fuss about it, if I were on a committee and re- ported a man to be all right, if he were turned down," said the F. Y. Mason. “To be a Mason is no man's right, but a privilege assent to which must be given, actively or passively, by every member of the Lodge. You have a perfect right to prevent the admission of any man who ap- plies and are responsible to no power on earth for your vote. Masonry is a so- cial institution, and we have a right to say whom we will not associate with, pro- vided we got there first," replied the S. 0. Mason. “Well, do you think it is right?" “Sure ! Whatever is Masonic is right." The first volunteer regiment in the Phil- ippine Islands campaign against Spain was composed exclusively of Californians. Yosemite Valley, the world’s greatest scenic wonder, is in Inyo County, Califor- nia. The world’s leading whaling port is in San Francisco, California. California leads all other States of the Union in the production of quicksilver. THE TRESTLE BOARD 5 Vi 5 FREEMASONRY AND CREMATION TAR brethren in the Eastern States are discussing pro and con the propriety of the use of the Masonic Funeral Service at cremations, and although the question does not seem to have agitated the Pacific Coast very deeply as yet, the time will doubtless come, owing to the increasing popularity of this means of disposing of the dead, when the question will be vig- orously argued in California. The following article, written by Bro. J. H. McClure, of Michigan, apropos of the topic, will be read with interest, due allowance being made for the fact that Bro. McClure writes from a Michigan standpoint. While we may or may not ac- cord with the brother in all the argument set forth, and in his strong negative view of the case, his article is none the less in- teresting : “At- this date there has been no Masonic decision in Michigan in regard to the cre- mation of dead Freemasons and using the authorized burial service at a burning of the body. Disposing of the dead body is a solemn moment, and not one to ignore different conditions and the use of lan- guage so inappropriate and never intended to be used. Standing by a cold grave is not standing over a fiery furnace intense- ly heated to receive a new "guest*' : nor is it to be the final resting place and “sleep of the unnumbered dead,” where “no gen- tle breezes fan their verdant covering.” These thoughts suggest the words of B. P. Shelley: There is not one atom of yon earth But once, was living man: Nor the minutest drop of rain That hangest in its thinnest cloud But flowed in human veins. ‘M hat a thought ! That in three short hours four-fifths of that body lovely even in death, are sent flying through the lam- bent air to become part of other vegetable or animal forms ! “Freemasonry is well digested, and too well established to become a representa- tive of a new doctrine. The conservatism of the Order should save it from a prac- tice which tends toward unsettling what is now so thoroughly established and is in harmony with the ritual. Freemasonry has its essentials and usages, and what- ever tends to unsettle any of these is an innovation and inadmissible. It is fond- ly to be hoped that there are very few Freemasons who are ready to give adher- ence to a practice which calls in question the intelligence of the author of the Great Light, as well as the author of the laws, the discovery and interpretation of which constitute our modern science. Are God and Freemasonry unscientific? Freemasonry is not a religion, but an ac- knowledgment of one, and a borrower from one, from the Great Light. Crema- tion seeks to set aside the teaching, prac- tices and essentials of Freemasonry by forcing meanings not warranted in Scrip- ture. With laborious research not one passage nor not one word could be found in the Great Light which would aid or authorize burning the dead. Moreover the usages and practices of those to whom the revelations were given establish the meaning intended. A long line of in- stances. with no exception of authority, should be enough to settle the method of disposing of our dead. Burying, burning and boiling are mentioned, the fir-t only commended. Further, the practice of burning the dead, on general principles, is obnoxious, because it was an acknowledgment of a heathen firegod, which was supposed to purify the corpse from sin, and was a de- vout act of the relatives or friend-. Achilles so burned Patroclus* body with libations and vows. But now we are met by the plea that the only scientific method is cremation, and that science is not hea- then. But. as strange as it may seem, the book on cremation by Armstrong ad* 526 THE TRESTLE BOARD mits that its antecedents are heathen. It is off the piece of evolution by Darwin, who was honest enough to admit that his theory was intended to upset the state- ments of the Bible and Masonic practice of 6,000 years* uninterrupted history. Are Freemasons of Michigan ready to drive in the entering wedge? It is not a question of • opinion of individuals, but Biblical and Masonic interpretation. Freemasonry is a moral institution, and its morality is taken from the Bible. The Bible is the only sacred book recognized by the fraternity and the only one quoted at every stage in the work of the Blue Lodge. Some Masonic brethren, oratori- cally inclined, expatiate on the univer- sality of the Order, without seemingly stopping to think of what must happen in its adaptation to any other religion, if such a thing could be done, except on the present basis only. A similar institution might be formed, but would it be Free- masonry? So essential is the Bible in Freemasonry that no Masonic Lodge can be open nor stay open except in the pres- ence of the open book and Masonic jewels. It is no wonder that the Bible is called the Great Light to guide the trusting brother on his quest for Masonic and sat- isfying light and truth. Hence, it is not astonishing that Masonic Grand Lodges in the United States refuse recognition to those professed Masonic bodies who ex- clude the Bible from their altars, or deny the existence of the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul. Question, would a body be Masonic which substi- tuted another book than the Bible on its altar? The universality of Freemasonry can only be predicted, when the essential principles are maintained. A Worshipful Master must be a “good man and true/* determined by Masonic standards. Free- masons must observe the moral law, or ten commandments. A newly made brother is a point in a circle included be- tween two parallel lines, etc. Everywhere a. candidate is confronted with the Bible, and the members are reminded of their obligations. Is the Bible a safe guide in disposing of the dead? As has been already, said, the Bible cannot be quoted in support of cremation of the dead. The practice is mentioned, and an instance given, but no commendation. The practice is burial, and everywhere the language used is in perfect harmony. Just so, also, in our Ma- sonic ritual service, which must be muti- lated or have read into it unmitigated ab- surdities and sheer nonsense. The cause of the fall in battle of Saul and his sons by the Philistines and their subsequent beheading and pollution was only after the Lord had utterly forsaken Saul to his self inflicted fate. It will be remembered also that the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead who gathered up the be- headed bodies of Saul and his sons and burned the soft parts, and buried the bones, were those who were the guilty de- scendants of those who were nearly wiped out for a great sin in Israel. They were executing the consequences of sin. There were certain sins which were to be punished by burning to death, but this is not cremation in any sense, just as the final judgment will be purifying the earth by fire. The “burnings** at funerals also give no assistance. The good kings had burnings made for them, one of which is described in the case of Asa. They laid his dead body in a “bed which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries* art. “and they buried him in his own sepul- and they made a great burning for him,** chres which he had made for himself in the city of David.** But it was the bed and spices which were burned, and of great value — but not the body. But of the wicked 'Jehoram it is said, “His people made no burning for him like the burn- ing of his fathers. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepul- chres of the kings.** Much has been made of that word “ashes’* as found in Genesis where Abra- THE TRESTLE BOARD ham, when he spoke of himself, “which am but dust and ashes,” in talking to the angel who was on his way to Sodom and Gomorrah to make ashes of its inhabi- tants, as no cremationists would advocate for themselves. Abraham spoke nine- teen hundred years before Christ, in a very scientific way, of his decaying body in the cave of Mashpela, that it would re- turn to dust and ashes, but not by burning with literal fire, but by decomposition, chemically considered. The word ashes in the church rituals, as well as in the Masonic burying ritual, which was copied in the main from the church rituals and services, is a word of emphasis and for the purposes of euphony. Xever are “ashes” used, but it is a handful of dirt in the hands of the AY. M., S. AY. and J. AY., who at proper moments deposit it in the grave, but not in a burning retort, where it does not and can not go. This ought to be au- thority enough on ashes. The present orthodox Jews, as well as the practice of Jews in all their history, is interment. Christians have followed in the same way. Each has carried out the instruction of God to Adam. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return into the ground, for out of it thou wast taken; for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." Then said Solomon: “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." T1 k* Mes- siah said: “Let the dead bury the dead." The Masonic service is not a burning service, and is inharmonious to it in at least thirty different places. If we must officiate at cremations, let there be a ser- vice which will be pertinent. The third degree should be convincing against crema- tion. It emphasises burial. Solomon and Hiram, the widow's son. were buried, the latter three times. The coffin and spade would be meaningless emblems. The mon- ument erected to Hiram’s memory was over his remains, but his ashes were not in the urn, because he was not burned. This is not all that could be said on the subject. Cremation has no authority from the Great Light. The Bible directs other- wise. The letter perfect will discounten- ance cremation. Masonic usage is against cremation: not a word is in its favor in the work. Masonic teachings have no en- couragement, but everywhere burial is the word. Cremation is purely an innovation in Freemasonry. THE MASTER The Lodge is ruled by a Master. The word Master comes to us from the Latin magister — a chief, director or magistrate ; and ultimately from a Sanscrit word, sig- nifying great. To this day, a ruler over great territories in India is called a ma- harajah, or great king, just as the Per- sian monarch styled himself great king or king of kings. But until comparative- ly recent times the Lodge was ruled by a AYarden. The Master was the employer or “lord,” for whom the work was done. He seldom appeared among the men, though on extraordinary occasions he may have graced their meetings by his pres- ence. At a later date it was the custom of masons, as of other artisans, to place themselves under the protection of some powerful man, who guaranteed to them their ancient privileges and promoted their interests. If this protector ap- peared among them, it would be as a su- perior, before whom they uncovered. In some jurisdictions the Alaster wears hi- hat in open Lodge. May this not be a survival of the old habit of the master or lord remaining covered in the presence of his employes or dependents? — A. T. Freed , in Masonic Sun. He who is quick to promise is often slow to perform. 528 THE TRESTLE BOARD The Speculative Character of Masonry BY BRO. 1VM. D. TODD, P. G. II., COLORADO. EX and brethren here assem- bled, be it known to yon that we are lawful Masons, true and faithful to the laws of our country and engaged by solemn obligation to erect magnificent buildings to be serviceable to the brethren and mankind, and to fear God, the great Architect of the Universe. We have among us, concealed from the eyes of others, secrets we do not divulge; but these secrets are lawful and honorable and not repugnant to the laws of God or man. They were intrusted, in peace and honor, to the Masons of ancient times, and having been faithfully trans- mitted to us, it is our duty to convey them to the latest posterity. In the morning light of sunshine men forget the long hours of preceding dark- ness, and the small beginnings that lead to complete fruition. We see here to-day not merely the study and labor of a few weeks or months, but the foresight, the patience and the waiting of many years. The Fraternity to-day could not erect the stately edifice destined to grace this cor- ner had there not a generation ago been men equally zealous, who made it possible by laying the foundation for the fund which you are now expending. Most of those brethren have gone to their eternal reward. They sowed and we reap. They laid a corner-stone which we may well re- call on this pleasant occasion, for Masonry loves to be true and give to every man his just dues, without distinction. The foun- dation stone of this Temple was laid down deep in the ground many years ago, and it has been our privilege to perfect the work thus modestly begun. Our ceremony to- day is but brief, but not too brief to de- prive us of a kindly thought for the serv- ices of our pioneers and those who fol- lowed on, fostering and caring for the ulti- mate end, through a long series of years. It is not necessary to more than allude to the foundation of a Fraternity whose origin is more or less uncertain, but as to whose antiquity there is no division of opinion ; nor to the ceremonies with which you are so familiar. But among out cus- toms which have come to be recognized as well beyond as within our precincts, none is more general than that the corner-stone of important public buildings should be laid by the Fraternity of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, and according to their time-honored ceremonies ; and if this is desirable in public buildings, it is still more so in edifices to be devoted to Ma- sonic purposes, as this is to be. But, my brethren, it is not of the char- acter of Masonry as an operative art, or its ceremonies as they appear to the un- initiated, that I shall briefly address you, but in its speculative character. We do not now attempt the erection of buildings such as that of King Solomon’s Temple, whose practical workmanship, architect- ural skill and effects, as seen through the long vista of ages which have rolled by, has never been excelled or even approximately equaled, but an attempt to emulate the character of the Grand Master, whose temple is not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. So that as we can no longer as a craft lay claim to operative workman- ship, our reputation must be established on a speculative foundation. This mag- nificent building, with no architectural superior in our beautiful city, and not many, if any, in our great country, and which will stand as a monument to the character and liberality of the Masonic Fraternity in Denver when we now present shall have so long mouldered into dust that the living shall have never heard our THE TRESTLE BOARD names, is, after all, a mere mass of brick and stone, differing only from other build- ings in various details of material and ar- rangement. But Masonry, as it is now practiced, is moral and not physical. While it is true that the great temple erected by our ancient brethren has long since passed into the elements, or been buried deep in the rubbish of ages, and its very existence, per- haps, to the cynical, a mere myth of his- tory, not so with its builders, for though dead, they still survive as then. Our ancient Grand Masters still live; live in the love and veneration of the thousands upon thousands of their brothers, scattered all over the habitable globe ; and not only do they live now, but will continue to live until time shall be no more. Xor is Masonry kept alive by mere empty forms and ceremonies, or by such exercises as we have held to-day, nor by the work that is done within our tiled lodges; if that were true the mold would long since have been heaped over its grave; it would long since have taken place amongst the forgotten orders and societies of the past. While it is quite unnecessary to attempt to trace our Ma- sonic antiquity or to feel that our existence in any degree depends upon the truth or fiction of its origin, yet we do know that this is the oldest living organization, and that its members are yearly increasing. Then, if that much be true, which is un- questionable, there must be some reason for it, and that reason is its inner char- acter. The world at large can see its public ceremonies, can read its public rituals, can see its members in their daily walks of life; but Masonry, as it is, is re- served for you, my brethren, and that which is not seen by men is that to which Masonry owes its present and future existence. Masonry is the character of its members, and this the world sees, quietly measures and un- derstands as its true worth. Its effects o'2'J the world sees, it? cause.- they can only surmise. Xow, my brethren, if this corner-stone has been successfully laid, not merely as a trifling part of a material structure, but if its moral application has touched the hearts of the Masonic Fraternity of Den- ver, the future of the Masonry here will exhibit.it, and I will be proud of the hum- ble part I have had in these ceremonies. Perfection is not earthly, has never been attained by man, and we do not pretend to claim impossibilities for ourselves or Ma- sons; but if we continually strive to make each day better than the next preceding, we shall come as near perfection as men or organizations ever reach. A few words to you. my brethren of Denver, who are building the magnificent temple dedicated to Masonry. The higher our pretensions the more scrutinizing the public examination, and therefore the greater the necessity of conduct in the daily walks of life that shall be above crit- icism, that the cause we represent may not suffer. Strive' to keep in mind that the Masonic character should be in keeping with this temple — broad, generous and towering upwards. Let it not be said that hearts and hands are less ready to be stretched forth to a needy brother than when our home was more humble and Un- pretentious. Xever forget that it is the giver in this brief walk of life who most enjoys gifts bestowed and kindly acts per- formed, provided he be influenced by love and not by display. Jolted the Jewel “That came near jarring the diamond out of me/' is what the jewel said when it was pinned on the breast of a man who omitted to say. “This is the greatest sur- prise of my life; I did not expect it!" — M issou ri F reem ason . When some people catch on to a joke they never let go. 530 THE TRESTLE. BOARD MASONIC HOME, PLATTSMOUTH, NEBRASKA. THE INTERNAL DANGERS OF MASONRY BY REV. HOPKINS B. CADY, RHODE ISLAND. X THE ancient times Masons were employed mostly in building temples and mos- ques, and were thus in close touch with the priests, travel- ing from place to place as their services were needed. In this itinerant life of theirs they felt the need of some kind of organization, not only for their own protection, but for the protection of the priests or those that hired them. They had three orders of work- men — Apprentices, Fellowcrafts and Mas- ter Masons, and they were very particular about men that they took in as Appren- tices, and were also very particular about advancing an Apprentice to a Fellowcraft. A man had to be a first-class workman or be proficient as a Fellowcraft before he could be advanced as a Master Mason, and by their organization, no man, an Appren- tice or Fellowcraft, could go even to a strange place and get work as a Master Mason, and thus all work was done by thorough workmen. If you should travel in the East, you would find temples and mosques that have stood for centuries; and it is said that the mortar and cement are like the granite itself and, in fact, have stood the weather THE TRESTLE BOARD 531 and wear and tear of centuries better tEaif“Yo‘ shorten 'the term of office and create the granite. It has been the desire of masons for years to find out its composi- tion. Much money and time have been spent, but they have thus far failed and have been obliged to confess that the ma- sons of modern times cannot compete with those of centuries ago. and the question arises. Why ? To my mind one of the rea- son is this — they were more particular about their workmen, whom they took in as Apprentices and whom they advanced to Fellowcrafts and Master Masons, and’ thus they had the very best men that the country could produce. And this brings me to the thought that one of the internal dangers to Masonry in these times is that we are not particular enough about the men we take in. Masonry is popular, and dangerously so. A certain German of long ago, in naming the centuries, named the eighteenth as woman's century, and he was right, for woman never came into prominence as she did in the eighteenth century : but I think he might have called the last decade a time of organization, .for the world is organized almost to death. Men and women feel that they must join one or more societies, until now there are not evenings enough in a week to attend the meetings. With so much of this spirit in the world it is not strange that many turn their at- tention to Freemasonry and apply for ad- mittance to our Lodges, and we are in danger of getting men in who are un- worthy. Our examination of the candi- dates should be more thorough. W e should not look at the numbers as much as at the character of the men. I am afraid that we sometimes let the social standing, the wealth, or the political posi- tion of a candidate warp our judgment and influence our minds. As the ancient Masons took in only the best, so we should aim to accept only men of high character. Another danger may arise from our annual elections which has a tendency an unworthy desire upon the part of some to get into the line of promotion. Th»*re is no doubt some men whote greatest am- bition is simply to become a Past Master, and they work for that and that only ; and when such men pass the chair they vanfi away as quickly as Jonah’s gourd. A1 their interest is apparently gone. Mich persons are not a help to the Lodge, but rather a detriment. Then again there may be danger in - lecting men for the subordinate office. Put men in the line of promotion and t lev expect to be promoted, and all expect some time to be Master. The danger is that we do not think of this when we fill the lower chairs. A man is a good fellow, popular in the Lodge, of fine form and figure, and the members say. ‘‘Let us put him in." and in he goes. They forget that a man can have all the qualities of which we speak and then not be the man for the place, and in this way we get officers that are not a credit to the Lodge. Very much depends upon the officers, for they have it in their power to build up or tear down a Lodge. In the selection of a man for a subordinate office the question should arise, “Will he make a good Master of the Lodge?” If you think that he will not. don’t put him into any office. Don't say. “Oh, he will do for a deacon.” If you give him the office you will be obliged to disappoint him by a “turn down" or afflict the Lodge with a poor Master. Be watchful and careful of the interests of the Lodge and see that no harm come- by the introduction of unworthy men into the Lodge and by filling our chairs with men that are good Masons on the floor but poor ones in the chairs. Our institution has been through the storms and sunshine, and still it stands like the granite hills. This is owing to the character of the men that are identified with the order. God grant that the coming days and years will not see the standards of admission low- ered. 5 32 THE TRESTLE BOARD A Perfect AsHlars of ’ $ Masonic Thought m RETHREX, you who preside over the Craft, you who are the leaders and teachers of your people, to whom they look for light and guidance, upon you devolve great duties and serious responsi- bilities. Purge your lodges; purify your membership. Raise high the standard of Masonry in your communities. Do your duty manfully and bravely, without fear and without favor. Scrutinize closely the character of those who seek to enter your inner door. Let no one, however great or wealthy, be admitted whose character does not measure up to the full standard of a man. Keep out no one, however humble or lowly, whose life is clean, whose acts are pure. Show to the world that to be a Mason is to be a man of upright life and noble aspirations. Keep the fires of Masonry burning brightly upon your altars and in your hearts. Would that to-day I could stand before you with lips of flame, with heart of fire, and appeal to you, trumpet-tongued, to give us men, grand, heroic men, sun- crowned, who stand upon the heights, whose lives shine with the beauty of holi- ness and the glory of divinity. — Grand Master Meyerhardt , Georgia. It is true, a man may become a fossil in a Master's chair as well as anywhere else, but the scramble for a place in the East that has come under my observa- tion is certainly the other extreme. There are few men who can preside with proper dignity over a Masonic lodge, and fewer still are properly versed in Masonic law to fitly stand as the representatives of Masonic bodies. This desire for official preferment has, in many lodges, become rampant, and has worked serious injury. A reaction in such localities must surely come, and the Past Master's roll will not contain so many names as at present. — George E. Knepper Idaho . Result does not equal resolve. The Divine Mathematician has such laws in his algebra of human effort that man's equation must be written, result equals resolve divided by two, plus regret. The gratification of achievements, no matter how great, is never complete. As the possession of a great power exhilarates, so does it stimulate the consciousness of im- perfect achievement, and brings the blemish of regret to the fruit of labor. — Bestor G. Brown , P. G. M Kansas . Death ever margins the pages of our history. As small as is the cycle of our annual communications, yet so certain is the great immutable law of nature that we may never hope to gather but that some place shall be vacant — some lights be extinguished — Bestor G. Brown , P. G. M Kansas. Masonry teaches the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and it fra- ternally clasps in that great brotherhood all who accept the One Great Father, God. Masonry presents no Masonic God, or idea of God to its initiates, nor does it narrow and weaken the Institution by in- sisting on such a generalized definition of religious belief that all may unite in it. It does not attempt either to direct or stifle religious belief, or its expression. The Christian kneels before the Masonic altar, and on the book of his Christian faith, the Holy Bible, pledges his life to truth ; the orthodox 'J ew kneels before the same altar, and on the book of his faith, the Hebrew scriptures, takes the same THE TRESTLE BOARD 533 vow to truth; the Mohammedan now kneels before the same altar and on the Koran, the book of his faith, takes the same vow to truth. Each accepts the one God, because there is only one God. Each in his search for truth reads according to the dictates of his own conscience; each may repeat his own creed — different, of course, because creeds are many, — but as. he does so each stretches forth his hand across the Masonic altar and grasps the hand of the other, and calls him brother. Masonry teaches universal toleration of religious belief or creed, not a universal creed. — William 21. Shaver, Kansas. We have confidence in our fellow-man. The spirit of Freemasonry is fundament- ally incompatible with that rather wide- awake spirit of materialism and cynicism which would make life sordid, ugly and despicable, by supposing men’s motives to be solely those of greed and selfishness. Our Order sees a spark of the Divine in man; it declares him to be “For aye re- moved from the developed brute; a god, though in the germ.” It is to the glory of our Craft that we would save this Divine spark from being obscured by that in man’s nature that tends to obscure it, to raise him farther above the brute than was his companion in creation, to help him to know and sus- tain the dignity of a noble destiny, and with it all, even to renew (with that stoop of the soul which in bending upraises it too) the submission of man’s nothing per- fect to God’s all complete. — Owen D. Thomas , P. G , 21. , Kentucky. Freemasonry is the pioneer of civiliza- tion. It has a creed broad enough to em- brace all that is good in all religions. It makes good citizens better ones under any form of government. It breaks down the barriers of birth, race, creed, and tends to make all nations one great common nation. Who would not prefer to be a member of an organization that had its branches and alliances in all lands, embracing good men of every nationality, rather than of a high and exclusive caste with narrowing creed of self-conceits, self-righteousness, and self-sufficiency ? What Freemasonry want- is a field of operation as broad as its prin- ciples, a career of aggressive charity, har- monizing the warring elements of society, substituting the arbitration of reason for that of the sword, and when wars come, a- come they will, softening the asperitie- and animosities and staunching the wounds, and relieving the sufferings they entail. There is a mission and a work for our noble institution at all times and all over the world. There is work enough, too, for all we can enlist and for all the allies we can gain. Our creed and professions are good. What is needed is that our career should correspond with our creed, our practice with our profes- sion. — Samvel Word , Montana. We are of a conservative nature. We believe in Masonry as it existed in the days of our fathers : we mean before all the hurry and bustle of the present day. when there was time for everything and everything at a proper time; in the days when the attentive ear caught the true meaning of Masonry, and it was not thought necessary by means of robes and glittering paraphernalia, to teach Ma&onry to a candidate through the eyes. As a matter of fact, it is ‘‘light in Masonry” that the candidate is seeking for. and it is only by a study of the teachings of Ma- sonry through his brains that his heart becomes fitted with pure Masonic love to God, his neighbor and himself. — Albro E. Chase , G. 21., 2Iaine. Masonry in its highest sense is brother- hood: Brotherhood in its highest sense is Love ; Love in its highest sense is the spirit of God, for God is Love. Hence Masonry is the search after light, after right, after truth, after God. It summons us “To that cathedral, boundless as our wonder. Whose quenchless lamps the sun and moon supply ; Its choir the wind and waves, it- organ thunder. Its dome the sky.’’ — Grand 2Iastcr Adams , Minnesota 534 THE TRESTLE BOARD EDITORS’ CORNER JAMES WRIGHT ANDERSON, EDMUND MANSFIELD ATKINSON, Editors The Right to Masonic Relief We have had presented ns the question “Can a Lodge require a member thereof, or the widow of a mem- ber, to reside at any particular place in order to entitle him or her to relief from the Lodge in case of need ?” The answer : No. There is nothing in the laws of Ma- sonry that absolves any Lodge, any Board of Relief, or any Mason, from the solemn obligation to aid and assist all distressed, worthy Master Masons, their widows or orphans whithersoever dispersed around the globe. There is nothing in the laws, regulations or teachings of Masonry that justifies a Lodge in saying to a worthy brother, or to the widow or orphans of a brother who was in good standing at the time of his death, that he or they must reside at a particular place in order to be entitled to relief. It is not the right of any Mason, Lodge, or Relief Board, to demand of the person seeking relief that he must reside at a Masonic Home, or that, if absent from the jurisdiction of his Lodge, that he must return thereto in order to be entitled to relief. There is not in all the teachings of Masonry any requirement except that of worthiness. The mere allegation of unworthiness will not justify the withholding of relief. A brother may by his action be really un- worthy, but so long as he is in good stand- ing in his Lodge, that is, so long as he is not, for any cause, suspended or expelled from his Lodge, he is, when in distress, entitled to relief. If a Mason dies while in good standing, his Lodge and his brethren are bound by most solemn obli- gation to grant needed relief to his widow and orphans. There is, and there can be, no honorable retrocession from this obli- gation. The observance of the obligation does not depend upon residence. The laws of the Fraternity nowhere regard the place of residence as a factor in determin- ing the matter of relief. On the con- trary, our laws distinctly declare that the Lodge is bound to render relief to its members, their widows and orphans, wheresoever they may sojourn. In these later days there seems to be a growing disposition on the part of many Lodges and many brethren in the Lodges to shirk obligations solemnly assumed, and to seek pretexts to justify them for failure to do what as Masons they are solemnly bound to do, so far as they are able. In the light of his conscience, individually and in Lodge capacity, every Mason is under ob- ligation to bestow relief so far as he can do so without serious injury to himself or to those that are dependent upon him. We have never read of, or known of any provision in Masonic law or custom that makes relief dependent upon residence* Nor do we know of any law or custom that warrants Lodges to say to distressed Ma- sons, their widows or orphans, that they must reside in any particular place in or- der to entitle them to relief. Making Masons What doeS this eX P res " at Sight S ^° n mean ? We rea ^ in the ancient Consti- tution that power is granted to the Grand Master “to assemble a Lodge and make Masons at will” We take it that this simply refers to time and place. We do not deny that this power may be exer- cised by either the Grand Lodge or the Grand Master, especially in cases of emer- gency. But it cannot rightly be exercised by either Grand Lodge or Grand Master without compliance with all the other requirements. The ancient Constitutions THE TRESTLE BOARD indicate what the requisites for admission into the Order are. The applicant must possess certain qualifications. That he does possess the requisite qualifications must be ascertained. The applicant must be elected to receive the degrees, and must have the unanimous consent of the mem- bers present to receive them. The ancient Constitutions, and all modern constitu- tions recognize this fact; so do the Land- marks. The opposition of one member suffices to reject, and this has always been regarded as an inherent right, — one not subject to dispensation. If a candidate is rejected he cannot again apply for the period of one year, and this provision is not subject to dispensation unless the ob- jection is removed. The power of dispen- sation can apply only to the limitation of time or place, and then only as provided in the Constitution. In short, making Masons at sight is no more or less than conferring the degrees at a briefer inter- val than that required under the law, if all other requisites are complied with. Prerogatives of the Grand Master The government of the Fraternity of Free- masons by a Grand Master is a landmark of the Order, and, as such, cannot be changed. The Consti- tution of the Grand Lodge of California recognizes this landmark; but it does not admit that the office of Grand Master is independent of the Grand Lodge, or that he can act in violation of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge. Our regulations expressly state that the Grand Master is the creature of the Grand Lodge. True, the office is, as Bro. Mackey says, indebted for its existence to a land- mark of the Order; but it does not follow from this that the Grand Master is above the Constitution, or that he may disre- gard any of the provisions of the Consti- tution. The powers and duties of this officer are clearly defined in Article II, Part 2 of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge, and beyond the limitations there- in expressed he cannot legally act. Dur- 535 ing the interval between the Communica- tions of the Grand Lodge, he may exer- cise all the executive functions of the Grand Lodge as specified in Sec. 3 of Ar- ticle III, Part 2 of the Constitution. We are aware that some Grand Lodges hold to the doctrine that the Grand Mas- ter is supreme and that being bo he can perform any act that in his judgment he may deem desirable. A Grand Master of California at one time acted upon the presumption that he was above the Con- stitution, and, claiming that he had the right under the landmarks to “make Masons at sight," regardless of the con- stitutional provisions, proceeded to avail himself of what he deemed his prerogative. He assembled several Masons in places not devoted to Masonic purposes and con- ferred the three degrees upon persons that had been rejected by Lodges of the juris- diction. Upon the matter being brought to the attention of the Grand Lodge, that Body acted promptly and decisively, and subsequently adopted resolutions to the effect that the Grand Master is but the creature of the Grand Lodge, “with no implied powers inherent or divine; and that it is competent for the Grand Lodge to try its Grand Master for any misde- meanor in office, and to deal with him as the nature of his offence might require. It is not necessary then in order to un- derstand the prerogatives of the Grand Master to do more than carefully to ex- amine the sections of our Constitution above quoted. Suffice it to say that in California, at least, the Grand Master must be guided in the discharge of his duties by the fundamental laws of the Grand Lodge; he has no implied powers. In this connection we quote a couple of paragraphs from the able comments upon the action of the Grand Master above al- luded to, as entirely expressive of our opinion upon the powers of a Grand Mas- ter. These comments were made by the Committee on Correspondence of our Grand Lodge. The committee supple- mented their report with resolutions, the 536 THE TRESTLE BOARD substance of which we have quoted above. Their report was concurred in by the Grand Lodge, and the resolutions append- ed were adopted. The excerpts are as follows : “In an hereditary monarchy, the ruler may, with at least a show of plausibility, claim divine authority. But when the head of a government is an elective officer, the first and fundamental principle of election renders him amenable to those who bestow it. Our tra- ditions and historical records show that from the days of King Solomon, at least, the office of Grand Master has ever been elective — which by all parity of reasoning, renders the incumbent amenable to those who bestow it upon him, and, consequently their creature, with no other powers than those delegated to him. He is but the agent of his electors, and, of necessity, according to every principle of justice and reason, is dependent upon and responsible to them.” “The highest delegated authority among Masons is vested in the Grand Lodge, which is composed of the officers and representa- tives of the several subordinate Lodges — whence all power emanates. A Grand Lodge, at this day, is but the representation of the Craft with the power of legislation. To it is confided the power of electing the executive officers of the Order, and the exercise of such other powers as their own Constitution recog- nizes ; to promote the welfare of the Craft, and the usages of Masonry. The grand officers are but constituent parts of the Grand Lodge, and it would be denying an axiom to assert that the Grand Master, or any other member thereof, possesses powers superior to the whole Body collectively. It needs no argu- ment or proof to show that the whole is greater than a part, or that a part is less than the whole. Then if there be no power vested in the Grand Lodge by implication, apart from the strict letter of the Constitution, how can it be urged that the Grand Master, a constituent part thereof, possesses such im- plied powers.” In 1887 the Toronto The Shriners Freemason published the following : “The advance guard of the Shriners has arrived at the city gates, but their welcome was a cold one. The craft, after recovering from the plague in Egypt, has made up its. mind that this through-by- daylight robbery, which for four years past has been perpetrated on the innocent, must stop. The vampires have gone through for the last time. They begged, they borrowed, and st ood in with any- one who .would aid them in their pillage; and now the lesser lights, the remnants of the Grand Army of Purse Squeezers, are trying to play the game, like their masters , in the swindle — but the craft won’t be caught ; once in a lifetime is enough. We don’t want the Shriners. We have had the Egyptians, and that has been such a nasty nauseous morsel that it makes the craft sick and weary when their frying- pan rites are served up to us.” All the same, however ; the Shrine came ; and that organization has grown in numbers until at present there are in the United States and Canada an army of nearly 100,000. This vast number in- cludes many of the best and ablest men in the land. The mere fact that admission to this great Order is based upon member- ship in the Knights Templar or in the Scottish Rite is guaranty of the character of those who belong to it. Many of those not connected with Masonic Bodies are of the opinion that the Mystic Shrine is the highest branch of Masonry. To such we may say the Mystic Shrine forms no part of Masonry. It is simply a great social Order, that has made membership in the Knights Templar or in the Scottish Rite a qualification for admission. That the Order is one calculated to do great good no one who knows anything of its teach- ings and practices can gainsay. The writer of the above extract in the Toronto Freemason was laboring under a severe attack of caeoethes scribendi or angina ventri when he indited it. If he is not yet a Shriner, the existence of a fine Shriners’ Temple in Toronto must be a source of great annoyance ; more particularly so since the second highest officer in the * Imperial Council is a member of that Temple. Resignation of Office May the Master of a lodge resign? The deci- sions of the Grand Lodge of California say “yes.” Any officer may resign. We are aware that many authorities decide differently; but such is the rule in this .Jurisdiction. Bro. Mackey is of the opinion that the Master of a THE TRESTLE BOARD 537 lodge violates his obligation by resigna- tion, basing his opinion on the assumption that the Master obligates himself to serve during the entire period for which he has been elected. In this Jurisdiction the Master takes no such obligation. Even were there such an obligation, no one could bind himself to perform impossi- bilities. Circumstances may render it im- possible for a Master to continue in office for the entire period; circumstances may even render it necessary for him to with- draw from his lodge. So our Grand Lodge has thought, and so think we. Can This Be True? An Illinois exchange remarks that “the prac- tice of a Mason putting in a petition for a profane is reprehens- ible/'’ and even goes so far as to make the statement that in that jurisdiction “often the formality of signing a petition is waived, and one Mason fills out the peti- tion and signs it for his friend without the latter ever having read it through, or knowing one word it contains.” Just what peculiar brand of Masonry is this reputed Illinois article which per- mits the forging of the name of a profane to a petition for the degrees, is left for the reader to conjecture. If the Masonic laws of Illinois countenance the perpetration of such a fraud, that State certainly needs a snaking up; if the custom above alluded to obtains without warrant or permission of the Grand Lodge, or in viola- tion of its laws, the condition of affiairs is but little better; if the practice exists at all, the adjective reprehensible is not half strong enough. Such a custom is abominable , detestable : it may with perfect propriety be termed damnable. To so use a profane’s name without his consent is a wrong upon the individual, and to forge a signature to a petition is a fraud upon the lodge, and therefore a violation of an obligation which every Master Mason has solemnly assumed. To use a forceful expression, this is about the “rawest” piece of work imagin- GIVE US NOTICE Subscribers are urgently requested to report promptly to this office every failure to receive the Trestle Board. It is our purpose to afford prompt and unfailing service, if such is possible. If your magazine is not delivered promptly we want to know it. It is especially requested that all changes in address be specifically re- ported, and it is necessary in such cases that both the old and the new addresses be given, that we may find your name upon our books. Brethren, if you change your addresses you can- not expect us to know it unless you yourselves notify us of the fact. In a great majority of the cases of failure to receive the publication, which we have investigated, it has been found either that the subscriber has changed his residence without notifying us, or that non-receipt of the magazine is traceable to some other oversight not the fault of this office. Give us due and timely notice. able. If such a thing were attempted in California, its perpetrator would certainly find himself facing serious charges, and the outcome would be a visitation of severe discipline upon the offender. We can hardly credit this statement ; we prefer to believe that our contemporary is in error, and that such a practice does not obtain in Illinois, as represented. Not & Reform Institution Masonry is not a reform institution and lodges should recognize the fact. A brother said the other day that he expected to bring in the petition of a very dear friend whom he knew had some fault's, but he felt confident that when he got in it would be for his own good. But the rLk is too great. Xo Mason should recom- mend any person to a partic-ipati m in our mysteries unless he believes that hi will reflect honor upon our ancient fraternity. — Exchange. 538 THE TRESTLE BOARD BICYCLING IN CALIFORNIA IN JANUARY. THE TRESTLE BOARD r»;5V MONARCH® N American paper has recent- ly published a somewhat lengthy article entitled“Mon- archs as Masons, why they are not active Members.” Most of the “facts” will, we feel sure, be as new to the distinguished personages therein named as to our readers, but one or two excerpts will be interesting if only to show “how Masonic” as well as universal history is sometimes “wrote.” “Three monarchs,” is goes on to say, namely, “Edward VII, the Kaiser, and King Oscar, belong to the Craft of Freemasonry, and in each in- stance they have, since their accession to the throne, ceased to be active members, and have severed their connection with the Lodges to which they belonged. The fact is that they have found the obligations of sovereignty incompatible with those of the Brotherhood. Thus, during the last year of Queen Victoria’s reign, the dis- covery that an atheistic Masonic Lodge, known as the Hiram Lodge, had been con- stituted in London under a charter from the Grand Orient of France, compelled the then Prince of Wales, in his capacity as Grand Master of the English rite, to issue a violently worded decree directed against French Masons, denouncing them as beyond the Masonic pale, and prohibit- ing British members of the Order from holding any Masonic intercourse with them. True, it was in keeping with the attitude assumed by the Grand Lodge of England in 1877, when the Grand Orient of France banished, so to speak, the Al- mighty from its Lodges, excluding in the most rigorous fashion from its ceremonies all acknowledgment of or reference to the Great Architect of. the Universe. But in view of the role displayed by Masonry in the political life of France, where most of the leading statesmen, from the President of the Republic and. the Premier down- ward, are members of the Craft, it was, to say the least, awkward and it is easy to AS MASON® see that il' circumstance* wen* to an>» necessitating the issue of another attack upon French Masons by the Engliih Grand Lodge, the connection of King Ed- KING EDWARD VII. IN MASONir RKttAM ward with the latter would not merely endow the manifesto with an otlicial and international character, but would bo cal- culated to impair the friendly relation- between the two Governments.” We fear the facts do not warrant the writer in crediting King Oscar with the prudence which appears to have actuated King Ed- 540 THE TRESTLE BOARD ward and the Emperor William in retir- ing from the Grand Mastership on ascend- ing the throne. “This danger was brought home to the King within a few weeks after his acces- sion, for among the earliest petitions which he received after becoming King was an appeal signed, not only by a large number of Turkish Freemasons, but like- wise by thousands of other members of the Craft, calling upon him to use his in- fluence to secure the freedom of a brother Mason, ex-Sultan Murad, who, for the last quarter of a century has been impris- oned at Constantinople on the pretext of a mental malady by his younger brother, the present ruler of the Ottoman Empire. It was, perhaps, fortunate that a few days before this petition reached its destination King Edward had surrendered the Grand Mastership of the Order in England to his brother, the Duke of Connaught, since otherwise his Masonic obligations would have forced him to take some steps in be- half of Murad which might have clashed with the political interest of his kingdom. “The Emperor William on succeeding to the throne, with the object of avoiding just such quandries as these, hastened to sever his connection with the Craft, nomi- nating his cousin and brother-in-law. Prince Frederick Leopold, to the Grand Mastership; and King Oscar of Sweden showed similar prudence. Napoleon III, however, neglected to- take this precaution when he became Emperor of the French, and it was owing to his Masonic obliga- tions that he gave such powerful support to the United Italy party south of the Alps, in defiance of French interests. For it is hardly necessary to point out that it was to the advantage of France that Italy should remain divided up into a number of petty sovereignties, instead of consti- tuting one united kingdom that would necessarily become a menace and a danger to France. Unfortunately for his Tacts/ the popular Swedish monarch is still the Grand Master of both the Grand Lodges of Sweden and Norway, King Edward is ‘Protector of the Order/ and the Kaiser never occupied the position of Grand Mas- ter .” — Masonic Illustrated. THE BEAUTIES OF THE RITUAL A ritual is a work of art, and like all works of art is valuable not merely for what it represents, but mainly for what it suggests to the mind. This is true, whether the work be a poem, a painting, a piece of music, or statuary. The mate- rial representation may be good, and the technique beyond criticism, but if no thought or feeling is suggested but little value attaches, and we soon tire of them; but a little picture of two poor peasants in a rough field, pausing in their work, with bowed heads, at the call of the bell in the litle church beyond, tells the whole story of a life of toil, hardship and devotion. Men do not tire of such pictures and the grand lessons taught by thefn. So of our ritual. It suggests to our minds great thoughts, in simple, homely words. To the humblest mind there is a lesson that it can understand, and to the noblest of men, grander truths yet to be learned, are clear- ly taught. Do not change it by a word. No matter if some of our phrases are quaint, and perhaps passing out of cur- rent use, hold to them, fix them in the memory. Let our Entered Apprentices and Craftsmen hear them again and again, until they find them fixed indelibly in the mind, and so ever after to influence their daily life and conduct. — Bro. John M. Pearson ■, P. G. M., Illinois. Nothing tires one more than to hear men boast of their honesty. The attempt to be a good fellow has spoiled many a good man. THE TRESTLE BOARD 041 MASONRY YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY BY THE REV. DR. BUCKLEY, OF WATERBURY, COXY. 0 other human institutiou has stood the test of time and maintained its vigor as has Masonry. While other or- ganizations have arisen, cul- minated and passed away, the sunlight of Masonry has continued to dispense the genial rays of charity, friendship and brotherly love without changes or variation. Antiquity, stability and universality are its trinity. In the beginning of the fifteenth cen- tury Henry the Sixth of England asked of our brothers of that day, “Whence came Masonry?” The answer was, “From the East.” |He then asked. “Who brought it westerly ?” The answer was, “The Phoeni- cians.” Certain it is that the Phoenicians, whose capital cities were Tyre and Sidon, were the early patrons of a semi-religious mys- tic fraternity or society of builders known in history as the Dionysian architects. Members of this fraternity were employed by the Tyrians and Sidonians in the erec- tion of costly temples to unknown deities, in the building of rich and gorgeous pal- aces and in the strengthening and beauti- fying of their cities. From this fraternity Hiram, King of Tyre, chose those cunning workmen whom he sent to aid King Solomon in the erec- tion of the temple on Mt. Moriah. The 'Jews were neither architects nor artificers; Solomon, therefore, was forced to employ tne Sidonians to cut and prepare the tim- ber for the temple in the forests of Leb- anon, while the Tyrians, celebrated artists, gave their superior skill for the execution of his plans. Josephus is our authority for saying that the temple at Jerusalem was built on the same plan, in the same style and by the same architects as the temples of Hercules and Astarte at Tyre. All three were doubtless built by these Dionysian architects, who at that time were numerous throughout A.-ia Minor, where they possessed the exclusive privi- lege of erecting temples, theaters and other public buildings. They allowed no stranger to interfere in their employment, recognized each other by signs and token-, and professed certain mysterious doctrines as we do to-day. In 1717 Masonry ceased to be operative and became purely speculative ; henceforth our work is not to build temples and thea- ters, but to build character, a much nobh i work; for as Emerson says. “Character is greater than intellect.” If it be true that a tree is known by its fruits, Masonry may justly be proud of the character of the men who have knelt at her altar: Washington, Warren, Han- cock. Franklin, Lafayette. Jackson, Clay. Garfield, McKinley. Is it but an accident that the two men who to-day stand at the head of the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race — I mean King Edward the Seventh and Theodore Eoosevelt — are members of thi- Fraternity? This race, which has stood for freedom, liberty, civilization, the no- bility of manhood and the purity of womanhood, may well be led by men who so nobly represent the race and who stand so high in the ranks of this Fraternity Freemasonry teaches no religious dog- ma, it interferes with no man's religious belief save his belief in the existence of Almighty God. Sectarianism therefore has no place among Masons. Masonry is en- gaged in promulgating Christian truth, not in intensifying Christian differences. Xeither is it a political institution: it neither knows nor cares what are the po- litical opinions of its disciples. Thus the Masonic Lodge room furnishes one place on earth where men of all religious be- liefs and of all political parties may meet and stand together in mutual confidence and friendship. o 42 THE TRESTLE BOARD What has a community a right to ex- pect of an institution like ours with such a history and with such ideals ? First, it has a right to expect that Ma- sons shall stand for the purity of the home, for the bulwark of our republic is the American home. Let us teach our boys the great meaning of the word "duty” in its relation to society, to the common- wealth and to the church. Let us teach our daughters that chastity is the corner- stone of womanhood. Let us demand the same high ideal of virtue in man as in woman, and as Masons let us remember that man is never so much a man as when he defends, with his life, if need be, the purity of woman. Secondly, let us bring in a reign of brotherly love in a realm where to-day there is hostility, and try to do away with that unnatural strife that is going on to- day between capital and labor. Here are two forces pitted against each other like two hostile armies, while as a matter of fact their interests are identical, not an- tagonistic. And what is needed to-day is less distrust and more confidence ; less ig- norance and more knowledge of the true relation of the one to the other; less sel- fishness and more of the plumb line of God's righteousness. Because we as Ma- sons represent in our ranks capital, busi- nes ability and labor, we are especially fitted to bring order out of chaos, to bring the world to the recognition of the great principles of human brotherhood as we meet our fellowmen upon a common level and act upon the square. You cannot sanctify your sins by call- ing their consequences crosses. Even an awkward deed is better than the most eloquent dream. Hope not the cure of sin till self is dead, Forget it in love’s service, and the debt Thou canst not pay the Angels shall forget, Heaven’s gate is shut to him who comes alone ; Save thou a soul, and it shall save thine own. — Whittier. Visits of Grand Lecturer Brother William Harvey Edwards, Cal- ifornia's most efficient Grand Lecturer, has been very active in the discharge of his official duties during the past few months. Since October 1st of last year, and previous to February 1st instant, Brother Edwards has held lodges of in- struction at Oakland, San Francisco, Fres- no, Santa Rosa, Jackson, Sacramento, Plaeerville, Salinas, St. Helena, Los An- geles, Pasadena, San Bernardino, River- side, Santa Ana, San Diego, and Centre- ville. Since the 1st of February, the following communities have been visited and lodges of instruction held therein: Santa Cruz, February 3d; Watsonville, 11th; San Francisco, 12th; Willows, 17th-19th; Stockton, 25th-26th; Mill Valley, March 6th. In each of the above places the lodge of instruction was held for the benefit of the Masonic district. In nearly every case the meetings were largely attended, and great enthusiasm prevailed. The brethren everywhere seem eager for instruction, and are doing their utmost to acquire perfect rendition of the ritual. Brother Edwards found the Fraternity most prosperous in every section visited; the lodges are very active, and the material being worked upon is the very best in the communities. The work is of a most excellent character, and great progress is being made. Great Relief As the pedestrian passed the deserted lot seven masked men sprang out and be- gan to* pummel him unmercifully. "Help ! Help !” shouted the pedestrian. "What are you trying to do to me?” "Rob you !” retorted the leader of the wicked gang. "Thank heaven ! I thought you were going to give me a college initiation.” — Ex. A woman's silence is more significant than a man's words. THE TRESTLE BOARD 513 THE TRAVELS OF A MASTER MASON BY ALBERT G. MACKEY, M. D. E learn from the ritual that it is the great object of every Master Mason, the object which induced him to attain to that sublime degree, that, having perfected himself in Masonry, he might travel into foreign countries, work and receive wages as a Master Mason. Now, thousands, we suppose, have heard this ritualistic expression, repeated, as it is, at the opening and close of every Mas- ter's Lodge in the country, without dream- ing for a moment of its hidden and spirit- ual meaning; or, if they think of any meaning at all, they content themselves with interpreting the Masonry by refer- ence to the actual Masons at the Temple of King Solomon, the travels to their pur- suit of employment in the surrounding countries, and the wages, to the gold and silver which they were to earn, by the ex- ercise of their skill in the operative art. But such interpretations do not belong to the true system of Speculative Masonry. Here there is always something symbolic concealed beneath the apparently plain language of the ritual. There is in Ma- sonry an exoteric and esoteric meaning — a letter and a spirit. The former is worth nothing — valueless for all instruction ; but the latter is full of religious signification to cheer the heart and elevate the thought. The search after this hidden signification, and its application to moral and religious purposes, is what constitutes the science of Freemasonry. What, then, is the esoteric meaning of this travel of a Master Mason in search of work and Master's wages? So far as the true object of Masonry is concerned, the Templeof Solomon might be a nonentity — its builder a myth — and all the traditions of the Order have no better foundation, in historical fact, than the tinctures and elixirs of the old alchemists. It is folly to suppose, and we presume no wise Ma- son now supposes, that the institution of Speculative Masonry was established and is still preserved to perpetuate a few facts in Jewish history, connected with the building of a religions edifice, about ten centuries before the Christian era. It were an idle thought to imagine that, for three thousand years, the energies and tal- ents of any class of reasonable and think- ing men would have been employed in handing down, from generation to genera- tion, the few barren facts — barren as far as any philosophic value is to be derived from them — which are contained in the traditions of ancient Craft Masonry. Why, the mere facts, considered only as facts, without any s} r mbolic instruction to be derived from them, could be embraced within the narrow compass of a dozen oc- tavo pages, and these printed, 'too, in neither minion nor brevier, but the largr-t type and with the widest margin. Long since, if this had been all for which Ma- sonry was intended, tradition would, as she has done in a thousand other instances, have yielded her control of the deposit, and delivered it into the safer hands of her offspring, history. To give these naked facts a value, which shall endear Masonry, as their sa- cred depository, to our affections, and se- cure for our respect, we must clothe their nakedness with symbolic instruction, and this can alone be, as it must always have been, the legitimate design of the insti- tuton. Considered, then, in this light, the temple is no longer that material edifice erected by the wisdom of Solompn and the assistance of Hiram on the “threshing floor of Oman, the Jebusite”; it is a pro- found symbol, to be interpreted in differ- ent ways; sometimes, as the life of man. to be spiritually built up; sometimes as the world or the universe in which he is the laborer; sometimes in one way and 511 THE TRESTLE BOARD sometimes in another, according to the different light in which it is viewed, and to the different accessory symbols with which it is connected. But, almost always, the Mason himself is to be considered as a type or symbol of a man, laboring in this temple. Im- pressed with this idea, Goethe, himself a Mason, says: The Mason’s ways are A type of existence, And his persistence Is as the days are Of men in this world. Now, let ns apply this symbolism to the passage of the ritual which is under consideration, and see how we are to ex- plain the saying that a Mason is induced to seek the Master’s degree "to perfect himself in Masonry, that he may travel into foreign countries, work, and receive Master’s wages.” The true Mason, endued with proper sense of his own intellectual wants, and of the capacity of the Institution to grat- ify them, does not seek the Master’s de- gree that he may thus be entitled to the charities of the - Order, or be a participant of its social advantages. These objects are beneath the ambition of the truly wise man. He proposes to himself a better end, which is the acquisition of truth, and Masonry is to be the road by which the truth is to be attained. This is the whole object of speculative Masonry. The Eng- lish lecturers, when they defined Masonry to be “a science of morality,” would per- haps have done better if they had de- scribed it to be “a science of truth,” a science engaged in the search after divine truth, which is everywhere symbolized by the Word, ever sought and never found, and for which substitutes only are to be given, suitable to the spiritual and intel- lectual infirmity on infinite man. Yet this Word — this divine truth — this knowledge of the true nature of God and of man’s relation to that Infinite Being — is promised in the Master’s degree, and hence it is called the perfection of ancient craft Masonry; and until the severance of the Boyal Arch from it, it was not nearly so; although now, as a Masonic degree, or a source of Masonic instruction, it is manifestly imperfect and incomplete. But the ritual was formed for its ancient condition; and hence a Mason is induced to seek this degree for these reasons : First, that he may perfect himself in Masonry. It comes to him with the prom- ise that it will give him this perfection, although the promise is not kept, except approximately. Now, to perfect himself in Masonry is to acquire from its science all the means and appliances which are to enable him to possess this divine truth, the object of all his researches. Masonry is not, itself, divine truth, but it is the science which is to teach the way to it. It is not the Word, but the giver of the Word. And hence the fisrt object of every candidate, in his initiation into what has been so jusly called the “sublime degree of a Master Mason,” is to provide himself with the necessary means of prosecuting his search after divine truth. The temple in which that Infinite Being whom he seeks to know is enshrined is placed on the summit of a hill — far, far beyond him; and the Master’s degree is the gateway through which alone he can penetrate to the path that will lead him to the object of his search. Hence to gain admission here is to gain the perfection and consummation of his power of search. Still, the search is not over ; the object is not attained, the goal lies still before him. But thenceforward the path is plainer and the search more hopeful. And hence the Mason becomes a Master that he may per- fect himself in Masonry. Secondly, he becomes one that he may travel into foreign countries, and work as a Master Mason. Now, how futile and frivolous is the idea that by this phrase- ology is meant that the only object of the acquisition of this degree is to enable its possessor to avail himself of all the world- ly advantages of increased skill in the art, to benefit himself while traveling among strangers, and in want or distress. If THE TRESTLE BOARD there be any who entertain this narrow conception of the design of the third de- gree, snch men have lost the time and la- bor which they spent in passing through the various grades of Masonry. They had better abandon it forever as something that they cannot comprehend, and confine themselves to some society having no other design than the mere granting of pecuniary relief. But Masonry presents a nobler object, and, to enjoy its advant- ages, we must first learn to appreciate this object. Where, then, is this foreign country into which the Mason expects to travel, and where, as a traveler, he will receive some advantage from the skill he has ac- quired as a Master Mason? Does it not strike the attentive Mason that there is some allusion to it in the explanation of a portion of the working tools of a fellow- craft, where the candidate is informed that the level teaches him that “we are traveling on the level of time to that un- discovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns.” The phraseology, it is true, is modern, for it is borrowed from Shakespeare; but the thought was in Ma- sonry long before the Shakespearean clothing was given to it by the modern lec- turer. Life on earth is but a preparation for the life to come. The latter is only the continuation — the completion and the consummation — of the former. This idea prevails throughout the whole symbolism of speculative Masonry. There is in it, as its most prominent teaching, a life to be lost, and a resurrection from death ; there is a loss, and afterward a recovery; there is a first temple, which is destroyed, and that is the life here: and a second temple, built on the ruins, of the first, and that is the life to come. Hence Oliver, speaking of the common design of the ancient mysteries and the Masonic initia- tions, uses the following language : “Above all. the reader will be struck with the re- markable fact, that the abstruse doctrines of the resurrection and a future state, which were not perfectly understood, even by God’s favorite people, were embodied in the ceremonies of initiation: where the candidate is not only figured to die and be restored to life, but the torments of a place of punishment are broadly con- trasted with the happiness of the final re- ward which good men are so sure to enjoy after death.” Thus, too, in the monitorial portions of the ritual, we learn that the third de- gree is symbolic of the end of life. The language is unequivocal, and, well known as it should be, it will still bear reciting. “The three steps usually delineated upon the Master’s carpet are emblematical of the three principal stages of human life, viz., younth, manhood and old age. In youth, as Entered Appretices, we ought in- dustriously to occupy our minds in the at- tainment of useful knowledge; in man- hood, as Fellow-Crafts, we should apply our knowledge to the discharge of our re- spective duties to God, our neighbors, and ourselves; that so, in age, we may enjoy the happy reflections consequent on a well- spent life, and die in the hope of a glorious immortality.” Hence, then, if the symbolism of life terminates with the third degree: if all its ceremonies are so arranged as to bring to us only the great lesson of death, and after it the resurrection, it follow.- that uo travel for which it prepares the candidate can have any reference to the present life. The Master receives the great teachings of that sublime degree, with all its sym- bolic embellishments of death and a resur- rection, to fit him for a journey into that unknown country, for which all life is but a preparation. It is now scarcely need- ed, if all this is admitted, to say what are the wages to which he looks as th<- re- ward of his labors. If heaven be the "for- eign country*’ on which the Mason i- to enter, then the wages he must seek will be those appropriate to a denizen of that ce- lestial region. If "the wages of sin is death.” then the wages of virtue mmt be eternal life. Death and life — darkness and light — error and truth — are the an- 546 THE TRESTLE BOARD tagonistic principles which are ever before each man, and of these he must choose. The Word, in Masonry, is symbolic of this life, and light and truth; and these are to constitute the wages of the Master Ma- son, who, having built his first temple of mortal and fading life here below, travels into that foreign country beyond the skies, where his employment will be to erect a second temple of immortal life, whose cap- stone is eternal truth. Such was the sentiment of the old her- metic philosophers, who seem, in many things, to have been little else than specu- lative Masons, when one of them exclaim- ed: “The reward which this mastery will bring to the artist is, indeed, inestimable; for having it he need want no worldly blessing. For wealth, he need take no care, and from all frailities of body, he hath a most sure antidote.” Let the Master Mason ponder well on these doctrines, and he must glean com- fort from them. The Corner-Stone and Its Significance HE Masonic significance of this ceremony may well claim our attention for a moment. The symbolism of the corner- stone, when laid by the hand of the craft, is full of import and significance as regards its form, its situation and its permanence. In form it must be square on its surface, and in its solid contents a cube. The square is to us a symbol of morality, and the cube of truth. We place the stone be- tween the north, the place of darkness, and the east, the place of light, symbolizing the Masonic progress from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge. Surely, this is a happy symbol. May it not be our idle day dream that those who reach after learning within the walls of this school may be taught to live lives of purity and morality, may keep the truth as a guide ever before them, and grasping the oppor- tunities the teachers provide, advance to knowledge from the natural imperfections of youth? Ambition can pilot them into paths of knowledge which shall lead them upward and on in the journey of life. We use corn, wine and oil — all elements of Masonic consecration — peculiarly fitting. In the olden time, in eastern lands, these products constituted the wealth of the peo- ple, the support of life and the means of refreshment, and the Psalmist enumerates them as the greatest blessing we enjoy, for it is “wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens mam’s heart.” We, therefore, use corn as an emblem of plenty, wine as an emblem of cheerfulness, and oil as an emblem of comfort and con- solation. — Bro. J. Ross Robertson , Tor- onto. It is in the private station that the true and loyal Mason can ever work. Our in- stitution does not elevate her members to the “Oriental Chair” as a condition precedent to an honorable retirement from her active service any more than she ex- pects her interest to be quiescent after the business of the communication is com- pleted. — T. Seddon Taliaferro , Jr., P. G. M. } Wyoming. The man who compasses the destruc- tion of his neighbor is often caught in his own snare — Aesop. You cannot move mountains of sin when standing on the molehill of conceit. All donkeys have long ears; some wear silk hats. A song in the heart is worth two in the chair. THE TRESTLE BOARD 547 THE. BROKEN COLUMN # BY BRO. AY. AY. SAAYYER, OHIO. HE student of Masonry” is na- turally interested to know when and how the emblems which do so much to illus- trate and fix in memory the lectures were introduced into the work. Some of them cer- tainly did not come unsolicited and freely offer themselves to the builders of our Ma- sonic structure, but were won from the hitherto unknown only after long and pa- tient study. This is emphatically true in the case of the broken pillar and AA'eeping virgin. Xot till 1819 had this beautiful and striking emblem been evoked by a Ma- sonic mind. And not till several years later did it come into general use. In the early years of 1800 Jeremy L. Cross conceived the idea of his Hiero- glyphic Monitor, a work of great value, especially considering the times in which it was brought out, which proved to be a mine of good things from which subse* quent writers drew largely, often without giving the author due credit. Brother Cross found but little to help him in de- veloping his idea, but he persevered and succeeded very well to his satisfaction in the first and second degree, giving not much original matter, but materially im- proving the classification and arrange- ment. But when it came to the third de- gree, there was something wanting which his intense thinking could not bring to light. So he called to his help a brother Mason, the mayor of Xew Haven, and they, after struggling over the matter for two weeks, could not hit upon a symbol combining simplicity and fullness of meaning to suit the purpose. Appeal was then made to another Mason, a copperplate engraver. Hieroglyphics multiplied, la- bors intensified, and still just the thing needed would not unveil itself to the strug- gling mind. Brother Cross was in distress but victory was near at hand. Being in Xew York and strolling by old Trinity church, our author saw in the churchyard a broken column, part of a monument that had been erected to Commodore Lawrence. Ah! said our seeker, here is the very thing. When great men die they have a monu- ment; we will have the broken pillar and the other part leaning against it. But Avhere shall be the inscription recounting the merits of the dead? And to this came the answer in the open book. Still inven- tion. that has now come to consciousness of poAver, is not satisfied. To Avhat pur- pose the eulogium of the dead unless there be a reader? And to that thought there re- veals itself the figure of the Aveeping vir- gin. Thus there greAV for us this beautiful and impressive symbol, a joy and a help to us in our study of the third degree. Masonic Teaching What does Freemasonry teach ? The first lesson AA~e are taught is to be a good man and true. To subdue the passions act upon the square, keep a tongue of good report, maintain secrecy and practice char- ity. It teaches us to obey the Haa s of the country in Avhich we live ; to be agents not of revolution but of evolution : to strHe to reform humanity by persuasion and en- lightenment, and teache* that the ideal Ke- public is a Democracy or Brotherhood — 4 *'a government of the people, for the peo- ple and by the people.” Hence tyrant* and autocrats, political and ecclesiastical, in all ages, haA’e been bitter foes of Ma- sonry . — Henry B. Adams, M hincsotn. “Never a tear bedimmed the eye That time and patience did not dry, Never a lip that was curved in pain That could not be kissed into smile* again.” A purse is the most common pou'tice f r the conscience. There is no science without the supernatural 548 THE TRESTLE BOARD CHURCH, HOME AND LODGE BY BRO. N. M. LITTLEJOHN, WISCONSIN. YIELD to none in loyalty to onr cherished Order, bnt with all my love for and devotion to Masonry I am free to ad- mit and affirm that there are institutions over and above and beyond Masonry — the church and the home. Whoever is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of true Masonry, whoever squares his life and conduct by its precepts, whoever is striv- ing to. attain to the highest and best there is in this life, is very likely to be drawn to and assume the more sacred duties of the church. And one who is a true Mason will continually strive to keep the hal- lowed family circle an undefiled sanctuary of love and affection. Thus we have a trinity of noble institutions — the church, the home and the lodge — each working in its own field for the elevation and perfect- ing of mankind. There is no reason why those three institutions should not work together in harmony, for each is striving for the same results, and why should they antagonize each other? Is there a Mason amongst us who does not believe and ac- cept the comforting assurance given us by the church that there is a better and happier life awaiting us in the great here- after? Or one who doubts ’that the ties of family and friends sundered here by death may be reunited on the golden shore? Or one who does not recognize the fact that faithfulness to duty and to principle in our earthly lodges is a pre- requisite to gaining admission into that perfect and celestial lodge above? With- out the hope and the assurance of a brighter and better future state, life here would be a barren waste, not worth the living. Were oblivion to be the end of all earthly life and hopes, bitter, indeed, would be the cup of sorrow. When death parts us from loved ones here, the Ma- son’s hope is made bright and strong by the lesson we are taught while standing by the uprooted “acacia” — the great les- son of immortality. Then mourn not for our brother, whose memory we honor, to- day as one lost, but mourn his absence only, for he is not lost, only gone before, and all who are worthy may follow, and meet him again in the Grand Lodge of Perfection. The Rule of Three A philosopher has thus described the rule of three: Three things to govern — temper, tongue and conduct. Three things to think about — life, death and eternity. Three- things to fight for — honor, coun- try and home. Thrda things to hate — cruelty, arro- gance and ingratitude. Three things to love — courage, gentle- ness and affection. Three things to delight in — frankness, freedom and beauty. Three things to wish for — health, friends and a cheerful spirit. Three things to avoid — idleness, lo- quacity and flippant jesting. Three things to admire — intellectual power, dignity and gracefulness. Going Up If Jacob’s ladder were a reality, and it offered a free way to heaven, how many persons there are who would wildly de- mand an elevator. — Exchange. It is no use praying against sin while you are sinning against prayer. There are no curative properties in the religion that is taken as a dose. Every woman believes in platonic love — until she tries it. THE TRESTLE BOARD 349 THE GOLDEN STATE Statistical Information Regarding California California holds the record with a sweet potato weighing 44 pound- and an Irish potato 46 inches long, weighing 13 pounds. Anchovies, in every way resembling the Mediterranean article, are abundant in San Francisco Bay at certain seasons and are pickled and barreled for shipment in large quantities. The Eastern lobster, with a small body and long claws, is unknown in Califor- nia waters. What are called "lobsters” on the Pacific Coast, a species of crawfish, have no claws and are of large size but inferior in digestibility and flavor. The venomous element in California is represented by the centipede, the taran- tula, the scorpion and the rattlesnake. The first three are common on the plains and the rattlesnake in the foothills. But instances of fatal bites are extremely rare. Sardines, in all respects equal to the imported French article, are caught and canned at San Pedro Bay in Los Angeles county. The fish are put up in California olive oil and not in the coarse cottonseed oil which has hitherto injured the reputa- tion of the American sardine. Pebble Beach, at Pescadero. in San Mateo county, California, is worth visit- ing. The stage drive over the mountains is delightful and the beach for a mile or more is strewn with beautiful colored pebbles resembling opals in appearance, and of all the hues of the rainbow. The house described by E. H. Dana in “Two Years Before the Mast," in con- nection with the festivities of the old California period nearly a century ago. L still standing at the angle of the City Hall Plaza, at Santa Barbara. The descend- ants of Governor De La Guerra, mentioned in the tale, continue to dwell in th: building. The battery of modern high power guns on the Presidio bluff is jealously screened from observation, but acting in conjunction with the batteries on the opposite shore at Lime Point it would be absolutely impossible for a hostile ship to come within several miles of the harbor entrance without risking destruction. The range of the guns in the batteries is from five to ten miles. The fame of the great Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, near v an dose. Cal., is not based solely on the great telescope it possesses, though this is the second largest refractor in the world, with an object glass of 36 inehe- aperture. The work done at the Observatory during the few years it has been in existence is of interna- tional interest and includes the discovery of a fifth satellite of Jupiter and innumer- able double stars and nebulae. The Observatory is open to visitors on Saturday evenings up to 11 o'clock. 550 THE TRESTLE BOARD TRUE CHARITY True charity means far more than mere alms-giving — far more than the mere fur- nishing to the destitute food, fuel and clothing- — far more than providing homes for widows and orphans, and hospitals for friendless and homeless sick and wounded people. It means all that is expressed by brotherly kindness and relief, magnified by benevolence and beneficence, the pro- duct of which is love and peace. It means assisting, aiding and relieving those in dis- tress, as well as those in want. It means the extending of the “helping hand” in the financial, the moral and the spiritual sense. It means not only soothing the unhappy, sympathizing with their misfor- tunes, and compassionating their miseries, but the restoring of peace to their troubled minds, and the raising of them to the plane of true prosperity and happiness. It means not only relieving, but also com- forting the meritorious and the virtuous who are in distress; not only the extricat- ing from their misfortunes of those who are incapable of extricating themselves, but also the building of them up in right, in success, in honor and in true wealth; not only helping up industrious persons who from unavoidable troubles and diffi- culties have fallen into ruin ; not only aid- ing and protecting innocent maidens, des- titute widows and helpless orphans, as their needs may require, and, not only fur- nishing homes to the aged whose resources and abilities are exhausted, but also exem- plifying to them, as far as humanity can, that divine compassion — that love — which Immanuel exercised when He trod earth’s weary and desolate path, when He healed the sick and raised the dead, and when He, though a Man of Sorrows, and ac- quainted with grief, denied no genuine ap- peal for relief from distress, but to the penitent thief on the cross said: “This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” This is the real significance of true charity, and the best Freemasons and members of the Eastern Star are those who fully exem- plify it. This is the charity which is the foundation, the structure, and the glory of Freemasonry and of the Order of the Eastern Star. It is the charity which is not limited to earth, but which extends throughout the realms of eternity, and is the glory of the Temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens . — John W. Brown in the Eastern Star . But He is a. 32° Recently a visitor appeared at a com- munication of one of the Kansas City Lodges, says a Missouri exchange, and, as no one could vouch for him, the usual committee on examination was appointed. The committee labored long and diligently to obtain even a wee bit of evidence that the intended visitor had ever been in a Masonic Lodge. The first question in the catechism of an E. A. he answered, “From the Midland Hotel.” To the second ques- eion he mildly said, “To visit your Lodge.” His knowledge of Masonry or of any of the lectures was wrapt in Egyptian darkness. He was a philosophic Mason in this, that the shadow of Egypt rested upon him, besides he wore a 'Shrine pin. The committee thought it would be well to preserve some record of this visitor, hence he was asked to sign the Lodge reg- ister. This he did with a bold hand, backing up his name with “32° of Kansas,” and then proceeded to unfold his patent, on the margin of which were the names and numerals of many, possi- bly, of equal Masonic intelligence. But numerical Masonry did not go with the committee. The visitor went home re- flecting over the unwarranted impudence of these Blue Lodge fellows who dared to ask him “Whence he came?” Masonic sympathy should be like elec- tricity, which flashes instantaneously. He who cannot bear humility cannot wear honor. THE TRESTLE BOARD 1 ACTS OF SCOTTISH GRAND LODGE In the number of the Trestle Board published in November - of last year the issue was raised as to whether action taken by the Grand Lodge of Scotland in authorizing by dispensation the establish- ment of a subordinate lodge on American soil, i. e., the Island of Maui, Hawaiian Territory, subsequent to annexation of Hawaii by the United States, said subordi- nate lodge to operate under Scottish au- thority and jurisdiction, was not a viola- tion of the “American Doctrine,” a prin- ciple of Masonic law promulgated by various grand bodies of this continent, which declares that in political divisions of the United States where Grand Lodges have been established, such Grand Lodges hold exclusive jurisdiction over such ter- ritory, there being but one rightful Grand Lodge in a State or province, and that furthermore, no foreign Grand Lodge has the right to establish subordinate bodies within any portion of American territory subsequent to its becoming such. The action of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in planting its foot upon American territory was, upoc good authority, characterized as unneces- sary, if not a violation of the jurisdic- tional rights, not of the Grand Lodge of California merely, but of the Grand Lodges of the United States, which hold concurrent jurisdiction since the passage of the Hawaiian Annexation Act of 1898. Now it seems that the young Grand Lodge of New Zealand has applied to the Grand Lodge of Scotland, its mother Grand Lodge, for recognition, and the parent body endeavors to impose some very hard conditions as the price of its compliance. The following from the pen of that able Masonic writer, Bro. Joseph E. Morcombe, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will be read with interest as being apropos of the situation: “The Grand Lodge of Scotland ranks high among the governing Masonic bodies of the world. The native qualities and acquired gifts of the North Briton- haw contributed largely to craft aehi< wmient and learning. Yet tin* typical Scotsman has a bent for law, and is apt to lx* liti- gious. He will hold long and vehemently to technicalities, even though lie conduct - the argument with great good humor. I have just read a MS. copy of the ‘Articles of Recognition’ proposed by the Grand Lodge of Scotland to the youthful Grand Lodge of New Zealand, and can see there- in Sandie's conceit and love of bargain- ing. As these ‘Articles* have not bo» n published in the American Masonic pro--, they may have interest to those who fol- low these comments. They are lengthy and may be thus synopsized : “The Grand Lodge of New Zealand having applied to the Grand Lodge of Scotland for recognition as an indepen- dent Masonic body, it is agreed that such recognition shall be accorded upon the following terms and conditions: “The Grand Lodge of New Zealand shall be the recognized Grand Lodge of the colony, with reservation that all Lodges holding from the Scotch authority shall be entitled to adhere to that body, and shall have full privilege to practh Freemasonry within the colony, ^cotti-h Lodges now dormant, or which may h* - come dormant, shall be held as adhering to the Grand Lodge of Scotland. But it shall be competent for members to sep- arate themselves from these Lodges an 1 become members of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand or of its subordinate bodie-. “The Grand Lodge of Scotland will n* t authorize nor charter any new Lodge in the colony upon the Grand Lodge of X< w Zealand agreeing not to grant any .war- rant for any Lodge outside the colonv. But if any Lodge working under the Grand Lodge of the colony shall at any time de- sire to transfer its allegiance to the Scot- tish grand body, it may do -o by return- ing its charter and making application to the proper authorities. All charter- 552 THE TRESTLE BOARD creating Lodges in New Zealand, issued bv the Grand Lodge of Scotland and all books, documents and other property now retained by individuals or Lodges now working under the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, shall be unconditionally deliv- ered to the provincial or district Grand Masters of the first named body. This is further emphasized by a demand that ‘all moneys, furniture and regalia which be- long, or belonged, to Lodges holding of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the mem- bers of which have, wholly or partly, seceded from the Grand Lodge of Scot- land and joined the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, shall be returned forthwith/ All provincial and district Grand Lodges, all subordinate bodies and all members hold- ing to the Grand Lodge of Scotland shall be given full recognition by the colonial Grand Lodge. Each body is to respect and give effect to sentences pronounced by either on offending members. “In event that the Grand Lodge of New Zealand shall not within twelve months comply with and agree to these terms the Grand Lodge of Scotland will hold itself free to ‘exercise its sovereign jurisdiction in the colony, as heretofore, irrespective of the existence of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, and as if the same had no existence/ “These are surely hot the terms of a family agreement, but rather the harsh conditions dictated to a vassal by his suze- rain or the impositions forced by a victor upon his late foe. The ‘mother Grand Lodge’ may be a very lovable old body to her obedient and non-assertive children, but she shows a vixenish spirit to such as have grown beyond the maternal apron strings. How do these conditions accord with the sacred American doctrine of ex- clusive jurisdiction, extending to the po- litical boundaries of state or province, and within which there can be but one gov- erning body, and that native? Just im- agine terms such as these proposed even to the weakest of our Grand Lodges, and imagine, if you can, the answer that would be returned to the proposer ! And the stalwart antipodal brethren are not the men to meekly submit to such dicta- tion. The brother sending the copy from which I have quoted says: ‘Our board of general purposes, with our Grand Master’s instructions, has replied that we could not even consider these articles, as it would be derogatory to the dignity of the Grand Lodge to accept any such terms/ Remember, too, that all this is evidently an afterthought on the part of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, as four years ago it took action to unconditionally accord the recognition requested.” Fate and Chance The life of a State, like the life of a man, consists of episodes. As we stand near to the grave and look back along the paths of our life, we wonder at seeing dur- ing how little of our time we have ad- vanced on straight lines toward the leading objects, great or small, for which we imagined ourselves to live. Continually we have either wandered from the course determined on, or been either seduced or forced to follow by-paths, circuitous and crooked. It never was otherwise with any man, or with any State. It always seems to us that we have, for the most part, oc- cupied ourselves too much with matters and affairs of small importance; and yet, by what seems inexplicable chance, the most trivial circumstances, occurring solely in consequence of those accidental aberrations, have often strangely tended to secure or remove beyond our reach the chief objects at which we have aimed. No wonder the ancients made Fate supreme, even over the gods ! — Albert Pike. The combined harvester, first used in California, will cut a swathe 40 feet wide, threshing and sacking the grain at the same time. The record cornstalk, 36 feet high, was grown in Los Angeles County, California. The largest farm in the United States is in California. THE TRESTLE BOARD EASTERN STAR POINTS RESIGNATION ATIENCE is an element of resignation. Resignation is patient, uncomplaining sub- mission, even under unto- ward circumstances. It em- bodies hope, trust and cheer- fulness. It is one of the most beautiful traits of human character. It is the phil- osophy of contentment and happiness. We are in duty bound to get the best out of life that is in our power. It would be folly to be resigned to a disagreeable con- dition of affairs if that condition were, avoidable. We should make our environ- ment as pleasant and cheerful as possible. If we are surrounded by evil, we should carefully plan to remove it. and tvork hard to accomplish that purpose. We are not getting the blessings out of life that we should, unless we hopefully, cheerfully labor to secure them. We should extract from passing time the very best and pleas- antest it is capable of furnishing. The old notion that to be religious we must be half miserable, or that we should be gloomy and always carry a long face, is now obsolete. Religion that is worth anything is cheerful and smiling. God is not a gloomy, morose being. He made the blue vault of heaven, and put on the brow of night the twinkling, laughing stars. He scattered flowers, Nature’s smiles, upon earth. These things speak eloquently of His goodness, and most loudly do they call for cheerfulness in the creature man. It is a duty we owe to ourselves and our neighbors to look on the brighter ?ide of a condition, and find as much peace and happiness as the circumstances contain. There is no life so narorw, no life so hum- ble, no life so circumscribed that does not have more good in it than we at first think conceivable. If, instead of looking with covetous eyes on the superior benefits and greater happiness others enjoy, we would set to work to live our own life in our own way, we would be surprised to find that flowers blossom in soil which we thought would produce only weeds. "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap.’* If we sow flowers we will reap flowers. If we sow weeds we will reap weeds. The great secret of resignation is to force ourselves into harmony with our surroundings — not an easy task, to be sure — and compel them to yield their best product. An envious man cannot be happy. He will be discontented with his condition. He will be impatient and complaining. He will grumble at his lot. and envy tho-e who are in what he thinks a higher posi- tion in the world. He destroys his own happiness and gets nothing out of life. To him life is a burden. He plants in the soil of his heart only rank weeds and com- plains that he does not gather fragrant flowers. After all, there is nothing to live for but character, and there is no condition in which we may not build character. We should be patient and contented. The morning will break at la.-t. "Work and wait, work and wait, is what God says to us in creation and providence.” We should 554 THE TRESTLE BOARD be cheerful even in the most trying mo- ment. When a painful experience can be avoided, our efforts must not cease, but when the unavoidable occurs we must fit ourselves to it. If we do so, and use our experience to our soul^s advantage, we will soon learn that in life there is peace and joy . — Eastern Star Signet. RUTH The story of Ruth is one of those ex- quisite idyls of love and domestic life which brings remote ages close to our hearts, while all the splendid incidents of solemn history leave antiquity at a dis- tance measured by the centuries that have rolled between. It has a distinction among these stories. It is the classical instance of a friendship between two women. What David and J onathan are for men, that for the other sex are Ruth and Naomi. And, strange contradiction to modern flippancy, is the passionate love of a girl for her mother-in-law. Whosoever then would be interested in Ruth, must learn to take on interest in the elder friend, Naomi. Nor is this dif- ficult. Through the dimness of centuries we still discern one of those personalities which sway toward themselves all who ap- proach. At a time when personal names meant something, she bore the name “Win- some.” A generation ahead of the beauti- ful Ruth, Naomi had her reign of beauty, when in the story she comes to her native city a broken-hearted widow, there is a stir of excitement, as the return of one who had been the charmer of all hearts. Sadness, quietness, strength — these make the notes of her life melody; but she had the gift of making strength attractive. — Harper’s Bazaar. Mrs. Pauline Dohrmann, Worthy Grand Matron, made a tour of visitation through the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California during the month of February. Washington’s birthday, February 22d, was appropriately observed in the various Eastern Star Chapters throughout the State. The Candidate Like a newborn child he approaches the altar, clothed only in the white vesture which belongs to innocence. He must voluntarily agree to the essential require- ments that are . demanded.. However he may have been animated by these vices of the profane, his sincere abjuration and renunciation of them is the absolute pre- requisite to his acceptance as a Mason. The symbolic teachings, the lessons of the traditions, the high character, the true and noble aspirations which are inherent in the ritual of Freemasony, powerfully impress the hearts and minds of those who, seeking light, behold, and listen, and learn. It is thus, and therefore, Free- masonry now is a living witness to these truths. Age cannot weaken its powers. For centuries and generations it has in many climes reared its majestic temples, uninjured by the storms of time or the devastations of revolutions in dynasties. Freemasonry is safe between God and Truth. There it has its abiding security. The whirlwinds which sweep away the structures of profane peoples and gov- ernments pass harmlessly by our tem- ples, as if the mark on the doorposts were visible even in their relentless fnry. The still, small voice, which in the silence of desolation comes out from our tyled re- treats, tells us, “Be not afraid ; your trust in God, it is well founded, for the Great Light declares you shall never be con- founded .” — Richard Vaux , Pennsylvania. Value of Cheerfulness And the best part of health, says Em- erson, is fine disposition. It is more es- sential than talent even in the works of talent. Nothing will supply the want of sunshine to peaches, and to make knowl- edge valuable, you must have cheerfulness of wisdom. The jo}* of the spirit indicates its strength. All healthy things are sweet- tempered. THE TRESTLE BOARD 555 SIGNS— THEIR MEANING AND INFLUENCE LLOXEZ, the eminent trav- eler and explorer, who, in 1670, visited the Foxes and Western Indian tribes, found them deeply incensed against the French, but after the exercise of much patience he got a hearing with them. When he showed them the crucifix they threw tobacco on it as an offering. Later, says Bro. A. J. Burton in the Keystone, he taught the whole village to make the sign of the cross. He told the story of Constantine to a war party; they daubed the figure of a cross on their shields, and came back victorious, extolling the sacred symbol as a great war medicine. Probably there is no instance where the value of the sign is more ap- parent than in this historical incident. All through the early ages the most im- plicit confidence was placed in signs. All great events were predicted through their medium. If we read Shakespeare we find that before each calamity there is a prediction of impending trouble. In prehistoric ages signs were the alphabetical languages. The same remark holds good to antique times. What is to be the advantage or benefit of signs in the future? Are they not becoming obsolete? Why do we need them when there is a far better system of record? And so arises questions regard- ing the efficacy of the sign as something that carries or implies a secret power or charm. Is there an instantaneous in- fluence surrounding the sign that trans- fers its qualities or benefits to its posses- sors? There is a peculiar suggestiveness in many signs, for they carry the mind back to ceremonies that are inspiring. Seeing the signs we recall sentiments that are full of agreeable contemplations, re- minding us of zeal, friendship and unity, also of associations that are strong and sincere. I am of the opinion that signs are of just as much importance to-day as ever. While in times past they were brought into more general use by the working classes, still we find it impossible to abol- ish the sign. As the great fraternities in- crease that make them a conspicuous fea- ture, it is altogether probable that they will be more generally used than ever before. They are available means of recognition, and quick mediums of communication, and the future will probably make signs more prominent, and men will partake of their advantages even more than now. If we work upon marble, it will perish ; if upon brass, time will efface it ; if we rear temples they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon our immortal minds — if we imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God, and love of our fel- low men, we engrave on tablets something which will brighten throughout all eter- nity . — Daniel Webster. GRAND MATRON’S MESSAGE Stockton, California. To the Worthy Matrons, Officers and Mem- bers of All Eastern Star Chapter- of Cal- ifornia. Greeting: Accept my heartfelt personal wishes for another pleasant and prosperous year. Let us look forward with abounding faith that peace and harmony will prevail among us all. If there have been differences or unpleasant misunderstandings, let u- for- get and forgive, and with loving heart- con- secrate ourselves anew to “Love One An- other.” Let us daily remember our -olemn obligation, and do all in our power to pro- mote the welfare of our fellowmen. Yours fraternally. Paulina Wetzlar Dohrmanx Worthy Grand Matron. O. E. S.. of Cal. THE TROWEL The Trowel is a smybol of true brother love, and of perfect unity of the Craft in temple building. The brother who keeps the trowel and its Masonic use- in mind will ever build in his Temple of Life for higher character and greater usefulne-s to his kind. — Exchange. The first cable car system was con- structed in San Francisco, California 556 THE TRESTLE BOARD CHIPS FROM THE STONE QUARRIES News of the Craft Gleaned From All Sources RENO’S PROPOSED TEMPLE Further data regarding the contemplated new Masonic Temple for Reno, Nevada, brief mention of which was made in these columns last month, is given below : A building incorporation will be formed and from this will be secured the funds to erect the new temple. The hall will be as modern as money can make it. The cost will range anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000. It will be three stories in height and will be planned ex- pressly for lodge purposes. The first floor will be used for stores. A few offices may be located on the upper stories, though of course this is not definitely decided upon. The ceil- ing of the main lodge room will be two full stories in height. A big banquet hall will also be a feature. The new building will be for the use of all branches of the Masonic Order. When it is finally completed it is probable the headquar- ters of the Commandery now located at Vir- ginia City will be removed to Reno. A Shrine may also be established, and in fact, all degrees of the mystic order will have headquarters in the new building. The site is undoubtedly the best in the city. Located as it is right on the banks of the Truckee River, fronting on two main streets and in practically the center of the city, it will become more valuable and desirable as time advances. The Reno Masons intend to make their new home one that will rank with any in the West. The site covers an area of about one hund- red feet sciuare. The plans will probably cover this entire space. NEW TEMPLE IN PORTLAND Advices from Portland state that the Ma- sonic Grand Lodge of Oregon is making plans to erect a handsome Masonic Temple in the near future, to cost approximately $175,000. The old Temple, at the corner of Alder and Third streets, will be sold mid the money used in erecting the new building. The structure will be a modern one several stories high. No choice of site has yet been made, but several are under consideration. As soon as one is purchased the new Temple will be erected. The richest Lodge in the State of Maine is Ancient Landmark, of Portland, which will celebrate its centennial on June 10, 1906. It has a fund of about $20,000, and nearly five hundred members. IN UTAH STATE The various Masonic bodies of Salt Lake City are to have a new home. Preliminary arrangements have been made and an option has been secured for a suitable site. Plans will shortly be submitted by architects for the erection of an elegant structure, to cost be- tween $60,000 and $100,000. The lot chosen is on First street near A, and directly opposite the burial place of Brigham Young. It is 5x8 rods, is well above the grade of the street and commands a splen- did view of the valley and mountains to the south and east. Ogden, as well, will have a new lodge home. The Masons of that city will erect a new Masonic building on the west side of Wash- ington avenue, between Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth streets, in the heart of the city’s business section. The structure will be a three-story, modern fire-proof building, in every way up-to-date. Mount Moriah Lodge No. 2, A. F. and A. M., of Salt Lake City, celebrated its 39th anniversary recently with appropriate ceremo- nies. A banquet was served, over 225 persons being seated. Mount Moriah Lodge enters upon its fortieth year with a strong set of officers, and a large and enthusiastic member- ship. MASONIC EXCURSION President A. W. Foster, of the California Northwestern Railway, entertained 100 mem- bers of the San Rafael and Ukiah Masonic lodges on a r special train to the town of Wil- litts February 26th. The party embarked at San Rafael and was given a couple of hours at the citrus fair at Cloverdale en route. From Willitts they were taken on a special obser- vation car to Sherwood, where a view of the mammoth redwoods was afforded. In the evening, returning to Willitts, the party vis- ited the Masonic Lodge at that place, the oc- casion being the conferring by that body of the third degree upon W. A. S. Foster. A sumptuous banquet at Hotel Willitts closed the festivities. The occasion was pronounced most enjoy- able by the brethren in attendance. Sir H. B. Gillis. of Yreka, Grand Senior Warden of the Knights Templar, paid an official visit to Visalia Commandery February 16th. There is talk of forming a Masonic Lodge at Oak Park, a suburb of Sacramento. THE TRESTLE BOARD THE CRAFT IN GENERAL The Masonic building at Prescott, Arizona, was recently damaged by fire. The Masons of Goldfield, Nevada, purpose securing a lot and erecting a new Masonic Temple. The Masonic Temple at Tacoma, Washing- ton, pays a monthly income of $500 ; the Ma- sonic Hall Association of t^iat city recently declared a semi-annual dividend of 3 per cent. A HEALTHY INFANT A handsome new Masonic Temple is to be erected in Los Angeles for the use of Golden State Lodge, F. and A. M., of that city, which is the baby Lodge of the city of the Angels. The building will be erected by the Golden State Masonic Temple Association, recently incorporated with a capital stock of $60,000. The building will cost $35,000, and will stand on a lot 110 feet on Union avenue and S2 feet on West Twenty-third street. It will be three stories, and the exterior walls will be of red pressed brick, with trimmings of white pressed brick, galvanized iron cornices and staff decorations. The main entrance, which will be on Union avenue, will be con- structed of stone. The first floor will contain five storerooms 21 by 71 feet, with a nine-foot driveway in the rear. On the southwest corner of the second floor there will be office rooms and the remainder of this floor will be fitted up for apartments, with all modern conveniences. The entire third floor will be devoted to Lodge purposes. The Lodge room, 38 by 60 feet, will have a splendid organ balcony, and in connection with the Lodge room will be ante-rooms and a preparation room. There will be a banquet hall 48 by 52 feet, with an orchestra balcony. Connecting with the banquet hall will be the secretary’s room. In addition there will be a ladies’ reception room or hall parlor 18 by 28 feet. All the halls will be decorated in a pleas- ing manner and every arrangement will be made for the comfort of the members and the work of the Order. The officers of Golden State Lodge No. 358 are : Master, J. H. Bean : Senior Warden, P. W. Garn ; Junior Warden, George W. Ted- ford. STAR NOTES At its first meeting in March Golden Gate Chapter, of San Francisco, held a book social. Beulah Chapter recently held an “old clothes social,”, all in attendance being arrayed in odd raiment. The Grand Patron instituted a new chapter in Los Angeles on St. Valentine’s day, Feb- ruary 14th. CALIFORNIA IN PARTICULAR Ocean Park, California, has applied for a dispensation to open a new lodge. Fifty breth- ren have signed the petition. The cornerstone of the new $12,000 Carne- gie Library at Watsonville was laid with Ma- sonic honors February 12th. The directors of the Masonic Hall Asso- ciation of San Jose paid off the last of their indebtedness in December last. Grand Commander W. Frank Pierce made a visit of inspection to Los Angeles Com- mandery, No. 9, K. T., February 23d. Ft. Bragg Lodge, No. 361, F. and A. M., held a reception and banquet recently in com- memoration of its organization. One hundred and fifty invitations were issued, and the at- tendance was very large of brethren and ladies. The Acacia Fraternity, established at Stan- ford University a short time ago, whose re- quirement for membership consists in affilia-, tion with the Masonic Order, has leased the Roosevelt house in Palo Alto. Next fall the new Fraternity expects to build or lease a house on the University Campus. DOINGS OF ISLAM Islam Temple, A. A. O. X. M. S., mad# a pilgrimage to the oasis of Nevada City March 3d, where a number of the regenerate were dragged over the red hot sands of the desert. The following program has been arranged for the near future: March 25th. theater party, Majestic Theater; April 19th, ceremonial ses- sion at Mechanics’ Pavilion ; April 27th, even- ing, military novelty by drill corps ; May 6th, pilgrimage to. Santa Cruz. In connection with the pilgrimage to Stock- ton, arrangements have been made for a trip down the beautiful San Joaquin River to the famous Pierce stock farm. The ladies will be invited to accompany the Nobles on the Santa Cruz trip. The military novelty night will be held at Mechanics’ Pavilion for the purpose of rais- ing funds for the trip of the Arab Patrol to the meeting of the Imperial Council at Niagara Falls in June next. All who attended the Patrol’s first military novelty night over a vear ago will look back on that entertainment with pleasu re. Islam Temple now numbers more than 2000 members. Bro. Win. S. Moses. 32°. was on March 3d installed Grand Cross Almoner of San Fran- cisco Lodge of Perfection. A. and A S R. This is the eightieth time that Bro. Moses has been installed as a Masonic officer. Thirty candidates were given the 32d de- gree of the Scottish Rite in Lo; Angeles Feb- ruary 28th. •558 THE TRESTLE BOARD Book Shelf The Trestle Board acknowledges the re- ceipt. since the last issue of this magazine, of the following Masonic publications : From Bro. W. A. Waliher, Grand Secretary, proceedings of the Grand Lodge, F. and A. M., of Georgia, for 1904. From Mrs. Ella B. Shearer, Grand Secre- tary, proceedings of the Grand Chapter, O. E. S., of Ohio, for 1904. From Noble Charles E. Markham, Re- corder, Year Book of Ismailia Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., for 1904. From Comp. Francis E. White, Grand Sec- retary, proceedings of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M., of Nebraska, for 1904. From Comp. Jacob T. Barron, Grand Sec- retary, proceedings of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M., of South Carolina, for 1904. From Bro. George W. Atkinson, Grand Sec- retary, proceedings of the Grand Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of West Virginia, for 1904. From Sir Knight Alpheus A. Keen, Grand Recorder, proceedings of the Grand Com- mandery, K. T., of New Mexico, for 1904. From Comp. Alpheus A. Keen, Grand Sec- retary, proceedings of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M., of New Mexico, for 1904. From Mrs. Lorraine J. Pitkin, Grand Sec- retary, proceedings of the General Grand Chapter, O. E. S., of the United States, for 1904. From Bro. O. A. Deering, Grand Master of the Grand Council of Oregon, R. and S. M., the author of “The Origin of Freema- sonry, ’’ an address delivered before that body in 1904. From Brothers Geo. H. Vaupell, Secretary, and Gil W. Barnhard, a brochure containing address of Master, and reports of officers of Garden City Lodge, No. 141, A. F. and A. M., of Illinois ; also program of addresses at the celebration of fiftieth anniversary of said Lodge, held September 27, 1904. California holds the record with a sweet potato weighing 44 pounds and an Irish potato 46 inches long, weighing 13 pounds. California leads all other States in bar- ley, furnishing one-fourth of the total pro- duct. The J. )I. Gray Company Manufacturers of. . . . Presses. Dies and Special Machinery Power Punching and Shearing Machinery OF EVERY DESCRIPTION 209-21 I Mission St. San Franciaco Telephone Main 5745 THE TRESTLE BOARD deMbE 10 , 0 ^® Cili THE POPULAR SCENIC LINE TO SALT LAKE CITY, LEADVILLE PUEBLO, COLORADO SPRINGS, DENVER OMAHA, KANSAS CITY, ST. LOUIS CHICAGO AND ALL POINTS EAST Connecting: at Og;den Union Depot with all Southern Pacific Trains 15 he Only T rans-continenfal Line "Passing “Directly T5hrough Sail Lake City THROUGH PULLMAN AND ORDINARY SLEEPING CARS PERSONALLY CONDUCTED TOURIST EXCURSIONS DAILY TO ALL EASTERN POINTS DINING CARS Service a la Carte ON ALL through trains For rates, free illustrated books of travel, etc., inquire of or write to J, D. MANSFIELD, Gen. Agt. Pass. Dept. 625 Market St., San Francisco, Cal. L. B. JOHNSON, Frt. and Pass. Agt. 11 East Santa Clara St., San Jose, Cal. J. T. SKELTON. Frt. and Pass. Agt. 1017 Second St.. Sacramento, Cal. TIMOTHY MEF, Frt. and Pass. Agt. 230 South Spring St., Los Angeles, Cal. AGENTS V WANTED By the Trestle Board Co. to secure new subscribers. Apply to the Manager. THE TRESTLE BOARD CO. 102-104 Second St., San Francisco, Gal. W. STATHAM Piano Manufacturer and Tuner. Pianos for rent and sold on easy payments. 106 McAllister St. S. F. THE TRESTLE BOARD FOR. Anyone sending a sketch and description may quickly ascertain our opinion free whether an invention is probably patentable. Communica- tions strictly confidential. HANDBOOK on Patents sent free. Oldest agency for securing patents. Patents taken through Munn & Co. receive special notice, without c harg e, in the Scientific American. A handsomely illustrated weekly. Largest cir- culation of any scientific journal. Terms, $3 a year; four months, $1. Sold by all newsdealers. MUNN &Co. 36,Broadwa >’ New York Branch Office, 625 F St., Washington, D. C. Wedding Invitations and Announcements CALL ON 102-4 Second Street TLBPHONB MIAN 199 SAN FRANCISCO BLAKE, OMIT k TOWNE Phone Private Exchange 330 DEALERS IN ....PAPER.... North Shore Railway TIME TABLE 55, 57, 59, 61 First Street Between Harket and Mission Sts. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. BLAKE, MOFFITT & TOWNE, Los Angeles BLAKE, McFALL CO., Portland, Ore. YOU CAN MAKE $3 TO $10 A DAY — Fitting glasses for us. Pig profits. I Our 24-page FRKK EYK BOOK ► tells how. Write for it today. JACKSONIAN OPTICAL COLLEGE, Dept. 2001, Jackson, Mich. MAY 17, 1903. December 4, 1904. Leave San Francisco, A. M. — 7 :05, 7 :45, 8:25, 9:10, 9:50, 11:00. Leave San Francisco, P. M. — 12:20, 1:45, 3:15, 4:35, 5:15, 5:50, 6:30, 7:15, 10:15, 11:35. Leave Sausalito, A. M.— 6 :08, 7:03, 7:43, 8:20, 9:03, 10:18, 11:38. Leave Sausalito, P. M.— 12 :58, 2 :23, 3 :53, 4:33, 5:10, 5:50, 6:25, 7:08, 10:53. WANTED Ten men eac h State to travel, tack if nil I L.U signs and distribute circulars and sam- ples of our goods. $60.00 per month. $3.00 per day for | expenses. KUHLMAN CO., Dept. M. Atlas Block, Chicago. BYRON MAUZY PIANOS 308-310-312 POST STREET SOHMER PIANO AGENCY THE TRESTLE HOARD SWISS mU BllliK 524 Montoomery St. rel. Main 3604 Saw Fkawce»c« Authorized Capital, % \*+QjOOO Subscribed Capital, 160 U.OC* Paid up Capital, IMOyOOO Off l( ERS HfBimef, martin ft Tognanim A • R NTS ARTHUR BAUR, C**hier A. A. MICHEJLETTI, A— 't CaaKW BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chas. Maggini G. Lepori S. Graadl P. Tognazzini G. Granncci C. Gchrct O. Boats FOR RENT Dress Suits Tuxedos Prince Alberts A. ZellerbacH (£L Sons THE- TATE'RHOMSE * Telephone Main 1133 416-426 Samome Street For Banquets, Balls and all Ma- sonic Festivities. Fit Guaranteed. LOUIS S.KOLL Merchant Gailor 254 ELLIS STREET San Francisco ! Branch at Los OBJECTIVE ) SUBJECTIVE > METHODS COS FIRM A TIVE ) Dr. Alvin Plummer EpJ^GPTICIAN. HRS. 10-3 Ri£can do for you? Is there anything 0§ 408 CALIFORNIA ST. ^ SAN FRANCI6CO. CAL Bexrvk of California Building TULLOCH’S THOROUGHBRED POULTRY EGGS FOR HATCHING C 3 T BLUE ANDALUSIANS Eggs $2.00 per 15, from First Prize Pen, San Francisco Show, 1903 BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS Eggs $2.00 per 15. E. B. Thompson Strain PEKIN DUCKS Eggs $2.00 per 12, First and Second Prize Winners, San Francisco Show, 1903 BIG TREE DUCK RANCH 263 1 San Jose Ave. Alameda, Cal. III -y\e tZ/cZ Z/? 0 J 77 Ttfe-ZZ 7Z& * tZoa *Z(Z jZ0Zjzz&%e Z/zej7? &Z &ZZ, m S fMi ml I ' tddM y ' i f /TO/EMITE ENGRAVING <&,\ % Mon^omery ’ i5t., jan VrariCT^oo*—^ THE TRESTLE BOARD MASONIC MONITOR Jnst Revised# ' Contains the Degrees of the Lodge,! I Election, Installation, Prerogatives, I I Duties, Parliamentary Law, Laying I l Cornerstone, Dedicating Halls* Bur-» \ ial Services, Masonic Calendar etc. L L Bound, cloth, .75, Leather, 1.00 f MASONIC EMBLEMS Sample, 25 cents Per Dozen, $1.50 Gold plated, mounted on a Pearl Back. We can furnish not only these, but a better grade as well, also for other lodges and societies. If interested, send for further particulars. BASTIAN BROS. 7 1 Mt. Hope Ave., Rochester, A. Y. Learn to write well ..f or 2 5 Cents.. A small mechanical device just in- vented by a Professor in Heidelberg, Germany, makes the poorest penman a splendid writer in a few days. Endorsed by Prominent College Presi- dents and Educators, generally in Europe and America. Sent postpaid on receipt of 25 cents in coin or stamps. State whether for man, woman or child. Agents wanted on salary and commission. Educational Mfg. Co. 119 S. 4th St. # Philadelphia# Pa. Telephone South 163 HaUied Co. \JndertaKers and Fmbalmers 946 Minion Street San Franctsco Masonic Cards Ball Programs Menus, Etc. SEND FOR SAMPLES AGENTS WANTED Bcidgei from 1c to $5.00 each WALTER. N. BRUNT ...T'RIJITE'R... — and Manufacturer of — MASONIC REGALIA EMBLEMATIC CARDS and BADGES V v v» V v» ...Is notv located at... 102-104 Second Street Corner of Mission, San Francisco, Cal. Di*.gon*illy opposite Wells F^rgo (St Co. Express The Largest and Most Modern Offices on the Pacific Coast V SEND FOR THE Conclave Number OF THE Trestle Board OVER 200 PAGES Beautifully Illustrated, with full particulars of the Conclave PRICE 25 CENTS v THE TRESTLE BOARD CO. 102-104 SECOND STREET SAN FRANCISCO. CAL. V