Evening Star Newspaper, November 1, 1923, Page 4

IDEA OF MEMORIAL " DUETOGREAT FIRE Destruction of Washington Relics Inspired Masons to Build Temple. The magnificent George Washington Masonic National Memorial, as so many other great things in history, is the outgrowth of necessity. It is no single individual's idea. It was | not conceived In any one brain, pro- | posed by any certaln person or| fostered and promoted by any Bepa- rate and distinct group. It had its humble beginnings, went through the test of courage and faith, and finally | emerges as one of the outstanding | achievements of mankind and de- voted brotherhood. | Alexandria-Vashington Lodge No.' 22 at Alexandria, Va. of which our, first President was the first worship- | ful master, possessed a large number | of relics of this distinguished mem- ber of our craft. The British troops occupied Alexandria in 1814, but they respected Masonic property and_not one possession of the Alexandria Blue | Lodge was disturbed by the redcoats. But In May, 1871, another Invader Who respects no man and no craft visited Alexandria. A devastating fire burned the city hall, in which the ‘Washington rellcs had been placed for safekeeping, and with the build- ing consumed at least two dozen articles of priceless value on account of their association with the first President. Among these was the bier upon which the remains of Washing- ton were borne to the tomb and the crepe that floated from the door of his house to tell the sad news of his death. Temple Burned Down. The Temple of Alexandria-Wasn- ington Lodge also was burned down in this conflagration. The temple was rebuilt and the Washington relics placed in it. Only a few visitors were privileged to see the Washington memorabilia. That was not so much of & denlial to visitors {n earlier days, as there were comparatively few who ourneved to Alexandria prior to 1896. ut in that year an electric raflroad ‘was completed, connecting Washing- ton with Alexandria. The electric railway naturally increased the num- ber of visitors to Alexandria by the hundredfold. It aiso brought thou- sands of members of the Masonic or- der, who reverently asked the privi- lege of seeing the many articles so closely assoclated with George Wash- ington and which were in the custody of Alexandria Lodge. So many requests came from viait- ing Masons that on May 1, 1807, after having been closed to the public for forty years, the temple was again thrown open to visitors, with Park Custis Timbermann in charge. Since then the vearly number of visitors has gradually increascd from 600 to 16.000. As the number of viajtors in- creased, the appeals for a fireproof structure in which the Washington heirlooms should be housed also in- creased. Lawler Takes Interest. In 1908 Oscar Lawler, past grand of Callfornia, and at that time secretary of the interior, ‘became deeply interested in the sub- Ject. He visited Alexandria on sev- eral occasions and earnestly besought the lodge to lssue an appeal to the fraternity at large for funds to erect | £ jmore Imposing structure for the odze. In the meanttme there had been so much discussion of the project that almest unconsciously the germ of the G ¢ Washington Masonic National Memortal came into existence. The | suggestion to create a natlonal or- ganization to promote the memorial project met with favor among mem- | bers of the fraternity In Alexandria ! and elsewhere. In fact, the M: ns United States became almost nit in approval of the project to some kind of a memorial to ton the Mason. Fortunately, one of the first to grasp the idea and fully to comprehend the {mpor- tance of the project as_ \Most Worshipful Master Joseph W. Eggles- ton. at that time Grand Master of | Masons in Virginis, who not only approved the plan adopted by Wash- ington Lodge, but strongly recom- mended It to the favorable considera- | tion of the other grand masters of the United States. This indorsement, followed by an invitation and appeal from Aléxandria-Washington Lodge, produced the desired results, and on February the time ‘appoint- ed for a conference, eighteen repre- sentatives of as many Grand Lodges assembled In the Masonic Temple at Alexundria, prepared to consider the subject in detail. On motion the following committee on organization was appolnted: James D. Richardson, sovereign grand gommander, A. S. S. R., southern Jurisdiction, representing Tennessee, chairman; Thomas J. Shryock, grand master of Maryland; D. D. Darrah, deputy grand master of Illinols: Henry Banks, grand master of Geor- gla; H. H. Ross, representing Ver- mont; Thomas J. Day, past grand master of Delaware; John H. Cowles, grand master of Kentucky; James R Johnsgon. grand master of South Car. olina; Willlam H. Nichols, represent- ing Texas; J. K. M. Norton, R. S, Barrett and C. H. Callahan, advisory for Lodge No. 22, Alexandria, Va. Favorable Report. After several hours of deliberation the committee reported favorably upon the whole proposition, submit- ting to the conventlon certain reso- lutions and a tentative plan of or- ganization, which were approved and unanimously adopted by the council. It was the first step in the organiza tion of a movement which would soon 8pan the continent and embrace with- in its membership a great majority of the grand lodges in America. The resolutions “approved and indorsed the proposed .erection of a. Masonic temple as a memorlal to George ‘Washington, under the auspices of | Alexandria-Washington Lodge, No. | 32, A. F. and A. M.” and they pledged the earnest support of those present | to this commendable undertaking. ' Further, they requested all grand masters to call the subjcet to the at- tention of the lodges within their several jurisdictions and urged upon them hearty co-operation and as- sistance. Before adjournment a national as- | soclation to carry out the memorial | purpose was decided upon and meeting to bring about such an or ganization was called for one ye: later, February 22, 1311, also at Alex- andria. Pursuant to this prearranged plan, representatives from twenty- seven Jjurisdictions assembled there on Washington's birthday, 1911, with Most Worshipful Master ‘William B. McChesney presiding. This meeting decided upon the formation of the George Washington Masonic Na. tional Memorial Association, set- | ting forth its object to be, first, the collection of ‘a fund to erect' and maintain a suitable memorial to George Washington in the form of a temple; second, “to provide a piace the several grand jurisdic-, members of said association, may perpetuate in imperishable form the memory and achievements of the men whose distinguished services, zealous attachment and unswerving fidelity to the principles of our in- stitution merit particular and last- ing reward; to create, foster and dif- fuse a-more intimate traternal spirit, understanding and intercourse be. tween the several tions and sovereign . gra throughout the United Sta insular possession: At the annual meetings, year after gar. progress was reparted. Shooters.! i1l in Alexandria, was purchased | Wwith _additional lands around it, for the site of the Droposed memorial. At the i920 sesslon the ways and; means committee was delegated to secure architects' plans for a me- morial etructare: 1t Teported at the 1921 mesting. In the meantime funds had besn slowly accumulated, as the movemest to erect the memorial @alned momentum among Masone. GEORGE WASHINGTON MASONIC MEMORIAL, CORNER STCNE OF WHICH Design of Memorial Copied From Greeks The design for the George ‘Washington Masenic, National Memorial is taken from those of the ancient towers built by the Greeks and the Romans to mark the entrances to their harbors and on whose summits great flaring beacons lighted the way of the ner at night. ‘The architect; of it1 “The xreat tower: of the memorinl reprexents to the world at large the gulding spirit of Washing- ton in statexmanship and hin revered preeepts which for all time will set an example by which the xhip of state may di- rect its comrne.” [ WASHINGTON * WAS LAID TODAY-PARTICIPANTS AND CONSTRUCTION SCENES DECLARED | BEACON FOR MASONRY Speaking before 30,000 persons at the dedicatory services Incident to laying the corner stone of the Na tlonal Masonlec Memorial in Alex- andria today. the Rt. Rev. James E. Freeman, Protestant Episcopal Bish- op of Washington, said in part: “The glory of Masonry consists in the character of the men who, in times past and in the present gener- ation, have constituted its constit- uency. That it standards the greatest figures in our country's history and that it and noblest of our men is an evi- dence of its inheren¢ worth. Our lineage is one of which we may be ustly proud, and among the great names we have Inscribed upon our | rolls none is greater than that of the | tncomparable patriot and President, George Washington. One might al- most say, in the language of holy writ, as he surveys this scene today and ‘recalls the history and tradi- tions of this countryside, “the place whereon thou standest is ground.” Here within our vision lived and walked and wrought the master spirit of his age. Within the confines of these Virginia hills were witnessed not only the acts of the private citizen and country gentle- man as he pursued the noiseless tenor of his way, but here, too, were witnessed those high resolves of loy- alty to state and country and those noble deeds of service that will for- ever enshrine his name in the an- nals of the nation as its first and foremost citizen Idenls of Masonry. We are met here today, not so much to think of Washington the patriot, the so.dier, the commander- in-chief and ultimately the President of the republic, as of Washington the high exemplar of those splendid ideals for which this ancient order stands. All too frequently in our words of Dralse of the great characters that adorn the page of our nation’s his tory, we extol their virtues and fall to emulate those enduring qualitics that lent to them greatness and dis- tinction. More and more we are realizing today that, if our nation is to endure and occupy its just place of prestige and power among the na. tions of the world, it must stand squarely and without evasion or mod- ification for those great principles for which the fathers of the nation stood during those pregnant and tre- mendously important days that marked the genesis and evolution of our form and system of government. “It is easy to trace in these early days the influences that helped to shape the destiny of the republic, and among these Influences one that we belleve had a far-reaching effect was that for which Freemasonry has ever has drawn to its| stiil | persistently appeals to the strongest | holy | ! stood. Inwroukht In the very lite of | our body, directing and determining | its whole course, the mainspring of | its action In the supreme expression, of character are the two basic | principles set forth in the words fa miliar to ‘every Mason—namely, the | fatherhood of God and the brother- | hood of man. | “These formulae underlie and se- | cure the whole fabric of our frater- | nity. The one cannot exist without the other, for, in the language of an ancient writef, ‘If a man loveth not | hiz brother whom he hath seen. how can he love God, whom he hath not seen? Obligation of Members. “However men may differ in their creeds and forms or religious expres- | |slon and devotion. here in Masonry | no man s found acceptable who de- | nies the superintending care and pro- tection of Almighty God, and no man is reckoned worthy of our fellowship | who is unwilling to assume his just | and fafr obligations to his brother | {man. ~ Here we find in these tw weighty obligations that which con stitutes the basis of our civilization. | Religion on the one hand. which guarantees to us a reasonable recog- nition of the sanctities of life in all | its relations, and our bounden social obligation on the other that compels us to observe with fidelity our re- sponsibilities to the social order of which we are a part. Shall we not today ac we récall the greatness of Washington's character, the man who In himself exemplified these two great principles of life, reafirm our faith in them and-re dedicate our- selves, our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor, that through us these basic and welghty principles shall find a larger expression in this present critical age than they have ever had before? Daty of Amerien H “There are those among us today who | are regarding, perhaps with selfish in- difference, the great and serious crisls through Which we- are now passing. With a sense gf security got justified | by the facts, they are seering to as- | sume that neither trust iA God nor per- | sonal responalbility for one’s fellows is | an obligation resting upon every citizen of the state. There i8 a form of in- dividualism that discloses itself now and again in our corporate life that is ! €0 selfishly insular that It constitutes a | menace to those ideals and institutions | to which we as a people are committed Frequently—too frequently—we _have discovered in our body corporate the epirit of antagonism to American in- stitutions and the well conceived In-| struments we have dévised for the pro- | tection of American rights and Amer- | ican intereste. There are those among | us who, in their overweening desire to | sce us promote what they call an inter- | national spirit, ‘would have us forget | the rock from whence we are hewn and | | the purposes for which we were born. | We of Ameriea are By no means recreant to our world obligations: this{ we have repeatedly disclosed in our at- 33250 For Your New Suit or ’Cm‘zt! Tailored by Expert Union Tailors! Hard to believe! But TRUE! —And that’s my policy—“Expert Tailoring—at Low Prices!” You can be sure of QUAL- ITY MATERIALS and distinc- tive tailoring in any suit order from ' REED—and price you pay gets the you the best VALUE you can possibly buy for your money! Order your cold-weather suit or overcoat NOW! A small de- posit will start it. of stress gnd storm we have dem-| onstrated our fidelity by lupnor(ln‘l the government and by giving the best that we have for the main- tenance of its avowed principles. We are not insular, and surely no one | will charge us ‘with being insolent. We are American to the core and we are unwilling to brook any interfer- ence from within or without that threatens our institutions or jeopar- dizes our life as a republic. “The need today for a more matked demonstration of thts loyalty in every relationship of life is Imperatively | ticle -published demanded of every man who has as- sumed the obligations of our fraterni- ty. the sanctions of religlon have their large and consplcuous part, While our fraternity gives to every man the unchallenged wght his religious expression shall take, we, nevertheless, demand of every loyal son of our order that he shall the God and Father of us all, in whose hands, we belleve, are the issues of life. This we hold as a basic prin- ciple, and this we belleve guarante to_us our security and perpetuity as| & fraternity and as a nation. Coupled with this and immediately related to it is our bellef in those human obli- gations that make for and contribute to equity and fair play as between | man and man. In this avowal of our high purpose which constitutes in itself the in- spiration not only of our fraternity but of the nation of which we are citizens. “Here within the confines of this| great republic, the processes that af- fect the solidarity of our national life bave at length welded {nto a compagct whole forty-elght sovereign states, and today we witness a Unlon of states one and inseparable. Hetero- geneous and polyglot as our population is, the spirit of fraternity has so grown among us that today we are forgetting ractal and social differ- ences and coming more and more to assume our just obligations to eve type and class within our body cor porate. True, the processes of as- similation have not as yet developed here in America al] that we could de- sire, The one influence that stays the progress of this assimilation and the larger federating of our common in- terests proceeds from those would create class hatreds, or pro- voke strife in our industrial order or would seek to incorporate in our sys- tem of government things alien and repugnant to our highest Interests and institutions. Spirit of Jesus, “Not until the world has been per- meated with that spirt of fraternity for which our ancient order stands, and of which the Man of Galilee is [the supreme exemplar, shall the world | go free from the awful curse of war and ail its attending circumstances This is no time for clamorously main taining our position of proud isolation as regards fellowship with those who are immediately related to us here at home or with those in other land who, with us, share the responsibility be permtited to do so character. is, ‘we still in other parts of the world Upper, left to right: Col. Loulx A. Watres, past grand mmster of Pemn- | sylvania, and former lieutenaut governer, is president of the Georme | Washingten National Masonic Memork: ton. How memorial will | appear whi Charles H. Callahan, grand master of, irginia, In charge of the ceremonies nt Alexandria. Center, left: The Memorinl under construction. View of the eig) Iiths in axsembly room. Right: Hoisting of 9%~ co emtrance. Lower: Trained mules used in the construction, walking up the fromt | ntepe. ditions cf the world at large, we must | Gruen Watches—An Ideal Gift The difference between a watch made to sell and one made to run cannot be seen with the un- trained eye. Gruen Watches COULD be made to sell as cheap- Iy as any, but Gruen qual- Gruen standards of craftsmanship and fine watch construction can- not be put into a watch which retails below §25. own and methods our just | probi When you buy a Gruen Watch at $25 andl up you. pay the minimum price for a quality watch, and you get with it at no ex- tra cost_a name which stands for..dependability, artistic designand lasting satisfaction wherever good watches are-kiown. 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Any e. “Our fraternity is universal in its| 1 o - | I i3 aniversal In its|group of men within our body cor- | and comprehensive as humanity it- self, but universal as our fellowship cherish those national marks or characteristics that give a touch of uniqueness to our order and | of th that distinguish it from jurisdfctions ' privileges Funda- ! porate, no matter what their place or station may be, who are unwilling to subordinate self-interests in i Interests of their fellows and for the common weal of all, are unworthy protection of our flag, or the of our free government. The very Fall Evenings Sound the Call for M-U-S-I-C ’ ’ . “When the Frost Is on the Pumpkin--- Make Your Selection From the Following | titude toward our neghbors at home and | obligations to the sisterhood of nations. | 3 abroad. We shall continue to discharge | But if we are to bear our full share | ¥ in our own way and according to our | of respensibility in helping to solve the | ~ = —We’ll Stake Our Reputation for Reliability That These Music Values Can’t Be Beat Our Player-Piano Club "A GENUINE AEOLIAN PIANOLA Jud, t as it rel D ate L on udgment as it relates to t ectio 2 “hall take. ,&nd- the Masonic Service Association. glve his wholehearted allegiance to!Ppublicity is to be found that| who | the | building we rear here to| mentally our fraternity stands in this the memory of one of our greatest country for American traditions and sons will uliimately crumble and fall ) American ideals. Repeatedly in times ynless it has for its security the un- DISCLAIMS NEWS STORY. Masonic Service Association Not Promoting National Lodge. o the Editor of The Star. The executlve commission. of the Masonic _Service Association of the United States ires to disclaim in the most positive terms any knowl- edge of or comnection with the ar- in The Washington Star of the date of October 30, giving the Impression that a national grand In this conception of citizenship, | lodge is ibout to be formed This article appearing at the time of the annual meeting of the Masonic Service Assoclation might carry the impression that there is some con- between such a proposition For that reason the executive com- mission desires to give the widest to the following provision constitution of the Masonic Assoclation, which reads: rovided, That = this constitution ishall never be amended in such man- ner as to provide or permit the de- !'velopment of this association into a | national grand lodg HARRY G. NOYES, | Chairma; of ¢, Servl | falling devotion of those who would give their lives, if need be, in de- fense of the principles for which | Washington and the fathers of the | republic stood. | "No building is too sacred, when undefended. to resist the assauits of those who with sacrilegious hands would pull down and destroy even the falr temple of liberty. No na- tion in human history—let us avow it with pride—has, more persistently stood for the broad principles of human_brotherhood than our own |land of America. Unprecedented as {our growth has been, unknown as |are our resources, unmeasured as is our wealth, we still cultivate and { maintain the sensitive heart and the esponsive and ready hand. This is at lonce our glory and our pride. Sur | not at this time are we to rela: | efforts or restrain our enthu n hastening the day when ‘man to {man the world o'er shall brothers | be for a' that’ “Our unique and peculiar contribu- tion as a fraternity to the order and | peace of the worid will be secured fonly in so far as we exemplify those | fundamental principles for which we i stand. Our methods are mot charac | terized by force, nor do we extend our influences by any intrusive form of | propaganda, We do not proselyte, nor |do we seek to interfere with the privileges and prerogatives of others. We use no means or measures that are repellent or offensive to any group or clags within our body cor- {porate. Within the hallowed precincts of our lodgerooms, where the spirit of a true brotherhood prevails, we {observe with respect and reverence {our ancient forms and usages, but, however secretly we may observe our ceremonial, we stand before men in { the open 1ight of day, unabashed and | unashamed, with charity for all and I malice toward none to witness t« ! those great ideals for principles which | our fraternity affirms and for which it unfadiingly stands. “We will have no part with those who would create cleavages or di visions or provoke strife and bitter- ness between any group Or_groups within our body corporate. We are | loyal, without qualification or eva- sion of any kind, to American prin- es and American ideals. 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