Evening Star Newspaper, April 10, 1932, Page 70

white and blue lights, which encircle the room. Over the stage is a pipe organ cham- ber with louvers to direct the music either into the amphitheater or the Memorial Hall, as desired. Above the tiers of seats and level with the second floor of the building—the amphitheater is two stories high—are 16 marble col- umns reaching to the ceiling and form- ing a semi-circle around the auditorium. These tall, graceful columns of St. Gene- vieve Missouri marble are 18'% feet high, a little over 2 feet in diameter, arrd Shey weigh 6 tons eaech. The trims threugh- out the auditorium are of jet-black York fossil, which accent the soft chameleon tones of the celumns. Besides the two main floors ef the building described, there are seven stories in the tower, making in all nine floors. The principal sections of the tewer are the three floors with very high ceilings and tall memorial windows on all four sides. These high steories are each sup- ported by a lower-ceilinged story. There are 42 tall mémorial windows, 27 feet high, in the tower, adding great dignity and charm to the architectural unity of the building and giving to the solid masonry of the pyramid a light and airy effect almost of fragilness. The three high steries in the tower are the States memeorial, library and museum. The States Memorial Hall, the largest story in the tower, is 63 feet long, 46 feet wide, 33 feet high and has 16 memorial windows. This room is reserved for statues or other memorials to individ- uals and affiliated bodies from the vari- ous States in the Union. The library, on the sixth floor of the building, is a tall, handsome room with 14 memorial windows. It will house the National Masonic and Histeric Library, and par- ticularly those books pertaining to George ‘Washington. Ollofthechhfp&rposeaott.he\vuh- . ingten Masonic Memeorial Associa- tien is te unify the more than 3,000,000 Masons in the United States by main- taining a library which will become the center of Masonie information through- out the civilized world. Among the valu- able beoks that have already been pre- sented to this library are 6,000 volumes pertaining to the lore and history of Freemasonry, collected by the late Rae J. Lemert of Montana. The Lemert library of Masonic literature is one of the largest of its kind in the United States. The last tall story in the tower is the museum, where priceless relics of George Washington and of Masonry will be ex- hibited to the public. Above the museum, on the ninth floor, is the open observa- tiom platform, which is 364 feet above sea level and 257 feet above the ground. Frem this height may be viewed a ter- ritory rich in historic significanee. At the foot of the hill is Alexandria. The city of Washington and its majestic pub- lic buildings are plainly visible. To the south is Cameron Valley, the site of many Colonial homesteads. Further on is Pohick Church, and on a clear day the tower of Mount Vernon may be seen above the tree tops. Fort Washington, at least 20 miles of the Potomac River, Gunston Hall, Arlington and many other historic landmarks are plainly visible. Above the observation tower is the 20- tone rack of the electric chimes. The chimes, which can be heard a mile away, were presented by Col. Watres of Penn- sylvania. Above the chimes chamber is an aluminum finial, approximately 6 feet square at the base and 18 feet high, which is expected te remain bright indefinitely, as the cap of the Washington Monument is still bright, although it has been in place for more than 50 years. The airplane beacon in the top of the temple is a permanent memorial to the Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons of Virginia, which gave $17,000 toward its construction. Nothing like this torch has ever before been devised. It consists of four radials covered with aluminum sheet, each 19 feet high and forming a crossing at the top. The light from the great lantern lens, which is 25 inches across, reflects against the metal, and refracting, forms a dazzling torch against the sky, visible for many miles. The torch is 333 feet from the ground and 440 feet above sea level. It is higher than the dome of the United States Capitol. Although the city of Alexan- dria, formerly known as Bel-Haven, “the beautiful harbor,” owes its early exist- ence to commerce, the beacon on the Washington Memorial is designed to guide the ships of the air rather tham seagoing vessels. It is also interesting to know that im B city likewise named Alexandria, in an- SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, APRIL 10, 1932. An air view of the memorial, taken several weeks ago. cient Egypt, was situated one of the seven wonders of the world—a famous old zikkurat lighthouse, which for many centuries guided the storm-tossed mari- ners safely into port. Some say that this old lighthouse, which has served as a model for the most celebrated towers, was built by Alexander the Great; others attribute it to Clecpatra, but the best evidence indicates it was built about 283 B.C., during the reign of Ptolemy II, by the architect, Seostratos. findrisi, an Arabian geographer of the twellth century, says: “It was situated on the Isle of Pharos. The octagonal tower, which was built in offsets, was 600 feet high and the top was so small it could be embraced by the arm of a man. It was made of solid blocks of marble cemented with melted lead. The light looked like a star and could be seen for a hundred miles.” This old tower was destroyed by an earthquake in 1375. Other famous zikkurats of history are the Tower of Babel, and its smaller sis- ter, the Zikkurat of Ur, a temple to the moon-god, built about 2300 B.C. TH!: little that we know of these ancient towers has come to us through legends and from the study of coins found in the ruins. Following the age- old custom of burying coins under the stones and columns of public buildings, Carreoll A. Warthen, superintendent and engineer in charge of the construetion of the Washington Memorial, says that the workmen have buried in the masonry of the temple at least one coin of every denomination of American money in use today. The city of Alexandria is an appro- priate place for a monument to Wash- ington, and it is also fitting that this monument should be built by Masons. Many of his closest friends were mem- bers of Alexandria Lodge, No. 22. Wash- ington was master of the lodge for 20 months. At his death the citizens of Alexandria formed his funeral cortege, its ministers conducted his funeral serv- ice and its Masons pronounced their solemn ritual over his bier. After his funeral Martha Washington presented the general’'s bed room clock te Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick for the lodge. Dr. Dick, who was one of the attending physicians at Washington's last illness, cut the pendulum cord and stopped the old timepiece at 20 minutes after 10 p.m., so that it would forever after mark the exact moment of Washington'’s death, The old clock is the only piece of furni- ture which has not been restored to its place in his death chamber at Mount Vernon. Pollowing Martha’s example, other members of Washington’s family pre- sented the lodge with articles closely as- sociated with his life. The collection soon became a museum. Among the relics is the Masonic apron worn by Washington at the laying of the cormer stone of the National Capitol, his bed room clock, wedding gloves, farm spurs, a black glove worn at his mother's funeral, a little pearl-handled knife, a One of the capitals—the largest polished capitals of any rock in the world— placed on the eight Corinthian columns in the memorial. s e gift from his mother; his cupping amd bleeding instruments and an eld Chip- pendale chair used by Washington when he was master of his lodge. This chair, which was in constant use for 117 years, is now kept in a glass case to protect it from further siashes by souvenir hunters. Another treasured relic owned by the lodge is the little silver and ivery handled trowel used by Washington, September 18, 1793, at the laying of the corner stone of the United States Capitol. Although the Alexandria-Washingion Leodge ewns two portraits painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds and other notable works of art, their most prized possession is a pastel portrait of Washington, painted in 1794, by William Williams of Philadelphia. It was ordered by the lodge, accepted by it, and Washington, himself, approved the portrait. This is the only painting of Washington from life showing him in extreme old age and in Masonic regalia. The pieture is always kept im a steel vault and guarded night and day. It is insured for $100,000. : In the olden days these and other in- teresting relics were kept in a museum adjoining the lodge room, but on May 19, 1871, a fire destroyed the building and many of the relics were lost. Among those lost were the bier upon which the remains of Washington were borne to his tomb, a picture of Martha Washing- ton in her youth, several original letters of Washington and many other relics too numerous to mention here. After the fire the temple was closed to visitors, and it was not until 1907— 36 years later—that it was again opened to the public. Since that time a eom- tinuous stream of pilgrims have visited the Alexandria-Washington lodge rooms. It is assumed that eventually these relies will be placed in the George Washington Masoriic National Memorial, which was built for them. (Copyright, 1932) Elm Trees Menaced AN!.’Wmna.cetotheelmsortmsM has been discovered in Ohio and the United States Department of Agriculture has called on all tree lovers everywhere to keep watch that the spread of the disease may be prevented. The disease in question, Duteh. Eim disease, causes a wilting of the leaves, which sometimes dry and cling, still green in celor, to the branches, while others turn yellow or brown and fall. The emnd leaves of branches last which, together with a tendency of the tips ef the twigs to bend, stand as characteristic symp~- toms of the disease. The wilting is likkely to Qceur either in May or June, with the progress of the disease slow in some cases, with a single large branch being affected annually, while ia other cases the tree dies completely in one year. A clean cut across a twig in an affected tree will disclose brown discoloration of the sapwood, while the peeling of the bark will reveal streaks of brown running through the sapwood. Any persons discovering trees thought to have beenafluudarereqnesudtosendmtm olllol‘,’zlnehvofitomemu‘.hmfl- ease laboratory of the Ohie Agricultural Experi- ment Station, at Wooster, Ohio. Tennis Ball as Pincushion lloN a hot Summer day in Los Angeles,™ said Celia Brunton to the Hobby Club, “the friends with whom I was spending my vacation decided te drive to the orange groves, Soon we were out of the city, driving through scenes of beauty; the sparkling blue sea on eme side, on the ether, white bungalows, with palm trees and flower beds filled with scarlet gera- niums on the front lawns. “At last we entered the orange groves, and a picturesque sight greeted us. It was the pick- ing season, and hundreds of pickers were busy on the job. They were a jolly bunch of peo- ple, happy-go-lucky, many of them owning roll- ing homes, cute bungalows on autes. “These folks follow the fruit harvests ail over the country. We stopped and chatted with them as we ate some of the luscious oranges which they offered to us in the shade of the trees. “Back home in a department store, tenmis balls and oranges catching my eye simultane- ously gave me the cue for a noverny pin~ cushion. “Rolling twe layers of cotton around the ball, I then covered it with orange-coloved satin, drawing the material taut and it neatly. I added a stray leaf of green foliage to give it an artistic touch. The finished product was the quaintest pincushion I hawve seen in many days.” 1Wool Supply Declines Mmma,m,mwzpflmfia'flm required annually to meet the demands of the world markets. Of this amount enly about 30 per cent is produeed im the Northerm Hemisphere. In so far as the United States is concerned, it is expected that this year’s shear- ing will show a decided falling off in produe- tion, because the decrease in the number of ewes, together with generally poor pasturing conditions last year, is Iimiting the quantity and quality of the wool.