The Builder Magazine

November 1926 - Volume XII - Number 11

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Spiritual Significance of Freemasonry - By BRO. SILAS H. SHEPHERD, Wisconsin

Memorials to Great Men Who Were Masons - William Richardson Davie - By BRO. GEORGE W. BAIRD, P. G. M., Washington, D. C.

Planning a Tuberculosis Sanatorium - By T. B. KIDNER

Facts for Fable About Frederick the Great - By BRO. CYRUS FIELD WILLARD, California - (Concluded from October)

The 1745-1747 Rose Croix Chapter at Arras - By BRO. A. L. KRESS, Pennsylvania

Lord Stirling's Macaronis - By BRO. WILLIAM M. STUART, New York

WHAT IS MASONRY DOING FOR INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS?

 

EDITORIAL

THE PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED

APOLOGIES

HELP WANTED

DREAMS

 

THE NORTHEAST CORNER - Bulletin of the National Masonic Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association

 

The Precious Jewels - By BROS. A. L. KRESS AND R. J. MEEKREN (Continued)

 

THE LIBRARY

THE ENCIRCLED SERPENT

YOGA, A STUDY OF THE MYSTICAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE BRAHMINS AND BUDDHISTS

SHORT READINGS IN MASONIC HISTORY

THE HIDDEN LIFE IN FREEMASONRY

GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

HIGH LIGHTS OF CRESCENT HISTORY

 

THE QUESTION BOX and CORRESPONDENCE

THE SYMBOLISM OF SALT

THE IMMOVEABLE JEWELS

JOSEPH SMITH

A QUESTION OF AUTHORSHIP

SCOTTISH RITE PASS-WORDS

THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA

THE CHERUBIM

 

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The Spiritual Significance of Freemasonry

 

By BRO. SILAS H. SHEPHERD, Wisconsin

 

THE most essential thing for every Freemason to learn is just what Freemasonry is, and how it functions. The ritual contains all that is necessary to a very clear and comprehensive knowledge, but in many cases those who participate in the forms and ceremonies of the ritual fail to carefully analyze the things they hear and see, and even those who assume to teach sometimes fail to fully understand the words and sentences they have memorized.

 

We are told that Freemasonry is a "regular system of morality veiled in allegory, which will unfold its beauties to the candid and industrious inquirer." It has also been defined as "the subjugation of the human that is in man by the Divine; the conquest of the appetites and passions by moral sense and reason; a continual effort, struggle and warfare of the spiritual against the material and sensual." Another very beautiful definition is that it is "a union of unions, an association of men, bound together in their struggles to attain all that is noble, who desire only what is true and beautiful, and who love and practice virtue for its own sake." Many are the definitions that might be quoted to show the high importance and spiritual significance of Freemasonry. Methods of expression differ, but every student of Freemasonry is agreed that its forms and ceremonies are but a means and method of bringing man to a better comprehension of the real purpose of life, and to develop the qualities of his soul.

 

We often read in Masonic books and periodicals that Freemasonry is not a religion. "A religion" implies one of several or many religions, and in this respect Freemasonry is most emphatically not a religion. If we accept the definition of religion as the outward act or form by which men indicate recognition of a God to whom obedience and honor is due, we cannot well deny that Freemasonry is positively and basically religious.

 

It will be readily conceded that any person who desires to become a member of the Fraternity has little conception of its serious purposes. He is, however, given a fairly comprehensive idea in the formal petition he signs, and again in the questions to which he must give unequivocal answers. These questions are of first importance. If the answers are sincere and strictly lived up to, the candidate will not only become a member of the organized Fraternity, but will also be a Freemason in its most comprehensive sense. He will learn to subdue his passions--fear, hate, greed, selfishness, prejudice, intolerance, anger, envy--and improve himself in the science of character building. These questions, which every Freemason answers in the affirmative, are so important that we believe every candidate ought to not only memorize them but frequently question himself as to whether he is strictly complying with them:

 

 Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, that, unbiased by friends and uninfluenced by mercenary motives, you freely and voluntarily offer yourself a candidate for the mysteries of Freemasonry ?

 

Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, that you are prompted to solicit the privileges of Masonry by a favorable opinion conceived of the institution, a DESIRE FOR KNOWLEDGE and a SINCERE WISH OF BEING SERVICEABLE TO YOUR FELLOW CREATURES?

 

Do you seriously declare, upon your honor that you will cheerfully conform to all the ancient established usages and customs of the Fraternity?

 

These are serious obligations voluntarily assumed, and no deviation can be made without moral retrogradation. We repudiated mercenary motives and declared our desire for knowledge. What kind of knowledge ought we to expect? Surely not that which pertains to our financial, material or physical welfare. The knowledge we can rightly expect and surely find is a knowledge of our moral and spiritual nature, and is to be used in being serviceable to our fellow creatures.

 

If we have gone thus far and failed to comprehend the deep spiritual significance of Freemasonry, the address of the Junior Deacon to the candidate ought to put everyone in the proper attitude for the impressive ceremonies. This also is of such importance that frequent rehearsal of it is greatly to be desired.

 

"Mr. _____, the institution of which you are about to become a member is one by no means of a light and trifling nature, but of high importance and deep solemnity. Masonry consists of a course of ancient hieroglyphical and moral instructions, taught according to ancient usage, by types, emblems and allegorical figures. Even the ceremony of your gaining admission within these walls is emblematical of an event which all must sooner or later experience.... You are doubtless aware that whatever a man may possess here on earth, whether it be titles, honors or even his own reputation, will not gain him admission into the Celestial Lodge above; but, previous to his gaining admission there, he must become poor and penniless . . . dependent on the sovereign will of our supreme Great Master."

 

Can there be any further doubt that Freemasonry is appealing to the soul of man? The esoteric ceremonies of reception ought fully to satisfy us, but for the purposes of this essay we are only using the monitorial portions. The prayer at the reception of a candidate might alone give us the very keynote of Freemasonry.

 

"Vouchsafe Thine Aid, Almighty Father of the Universe, to this, our present convention. Grant that this candidate for Masonry may dedicate and devote his life to Thy service, and become a true and faithful brother among us. Endue him with a competency of Thy Divine wisdom, that by the secrets of our art he may be better enabled to display the beauties of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth, to the honor and glory of Thy Holy Name. Amen."

 

The Masonic brethren who established this great nation on the principles of Liberty and Equality placed their trust in God. They placed a motto, "In God we trust" on the coins of the country. Freemasonry stresses not alone a belief in God, but a trust in God. No lodge is ever opened or closed without invoking Divine assistance.

 

The Holy Bible, that great light in Masonry, is the most conspicuous article of furniture of a lodge. It is the first thing which is intrusted to the care of the Master at his installation and he is told that it "will guide you to all truth; it will direct your paths to the temple of happiness, and point out to you the whole duty of man."

 

"The Holy Bible is to rule and guide our faith." The English lodges call it the Volume of the Sacred Law, and Mackey, in his use of it as a Landmark, calls it the Book of the Law, because he says it is not absolutely required that everywhere the Old and New Testaments shall be used. "Masonry does not attempt to interfere with the peculiar religious faith of its disciples, except so far as relates to the belief in God and what necessarily results from that belief. The Book of the Law is to the speculative Mason his spiritual Trestle-board; without this he cannot labor; whatever he believes to be the revealed will of the Grand Architect constitutes for him this spiritual Trestle-board, and must ever be before him in his hours of speculative labor, to be the rule and guide of his conduct."

 

These quotations from the monitorial parts of the verbal ritual are only helpful hints at the possibilities that lie hidden in the symbol and allegories. These are only hidden from those who fail to follow up their expressed "desire for knowledge" with the necessary industry and zeal to acquire it. Nothing in Freemasonry is ever hidden from those who are worthy and properly prepared. Our hearts and souls are the soil in which the seed must germinate. Not only must we be industrious as physical and intellectual beings but we must be industrious spiritually if we are to "divest our minds and consciences of the vices and superfluities of life, thereby fitting us as living stones for that spiritual building, that house not made with hands. eternal in the heavens."

 

We find three principal systems of symbolism in Freemasonry. First, the building of a spiritual Temple by the use of symbolic tools. Just as surely as the operative workman can erect a temporal structure by the tools and implements of architecture, so we can erect a beautiful Temple of Character if we will use the tools of our speculative science as we are taught. No great cathedral was quickly built, neither can we expect to erect within ourselves a perfect character without long continued and persistent effort. By the constant practice of the one tenet of Brotherly Love, we may make daily progress. Brotherly Love is not only a beautiful ideal, but an actual fact in nature. It is our failure to live in conformity to it that causes most of the discord and confusion in the world. We profess to believe in it. We profess to regard the whole human species as one family. Unless we practice it we are failing to practice Freemasonry. By their fruit shall ye know them.

 

The search for the lost word. The quest of the Holy Grail. The endless search for truth and light which never ceases from the cradle to the grave. The symbolism of the lost word has taught countless Masons the usefulness of searching for the Truth. God's Infinite Truth is not comprehensible to our finite minds. As we prepare ourselves by soul development we receive as much as we deserve.

 

Lastly, Freemasonry teaches by an allegory of unsurpassed beauty the great lesson that our bodies are but the temporary shelter of our soul, and after passing through the experiences necessary the dust returns to its Mother Earth and the soul returns unto God who gave it.

 

"It was the single object of all the ancient rites and mysteries practiced in the very bosom of pagan darkness, shining as a solitary beacon in all the surrounding gloom and cheering the philosopher in his weary pilgrimage of life to teach the immortality of the soul. This is still the great design of the Third Degree of Masonry."

 

It is in the light of this teaching that the Master Mason, raised to the eminence of that "Sublime Degree" can look back on the Charges he received as all Entered Apprentice. Then, the precepts of the Moral Law were symbolically expounded by authority; now, in the further light afforded him, he sees the reason for what; before he took on trust, and is thereby fitted to guide others in his turn.

 

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Memorials to Great Men Who Were Masons

 

William Richardson Davie

 

By BRO. GEORGE W. BAIRD, P. G. M., Washington, D. C.

 

THE subject of this article was born at Egremont, near Whitehaven, in England, in the year 1756.

 

In 1764 his father came out to the Colonies and settled in South Carolina, bringing his eight-year-old son. The boy was educated by his uncle, the Rev. William Richardson, who lived near Catawba, S. C., and who adopted him and made him his heir. He was sent to the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton University) where he graduated in 1776. He had taken up the study of law, but in the summer of the same year joined, as a volunteer, in the opening hostilities of the Revolution in company with a number of his classmates. Later he received a commission as Lieutenant in a newly organized troop of dragoons and, having risen to the command of the squadron, joined Pulaski's Legion and shortly after received the rank of Major. At the battle of Stone Ferry, June 12, 1779, he was badly wounded in the thigh and during his convalescence resumed his legal studies at Saulsbury, N. C., where he was admitted to the bar in September of the same year.

 

In the winter of 1780 he raised another body of cavalry, in the equipment of which he spent the whole of his private fortune bequeathed to him by his uncle. With this force he protected the southwestern part of the state from the British attacks from South Carolina.

 

He was present with his troops at the battles of Ranging Rocks and Rocky Mount, and did noteworthy service in assisting General Gates when he was reorganizing his forces after the disastrous defeat at Camden. Cornwallis followed Gates to Charlotte, expecting to cooperate with Ferguson (who was killed at the battle of King's Mountain soon afterwards), and Davie remained in command of the rear guard and inflicted considerable loss on the advancing British forces as they entered the town, retiring afterwards with trifling loss. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel of the Cavalry of North Carolina, and was appointed Commissary General of the Southern Army by General Greene, which post he filled most efficiently fill the end of the war.

 

After peace was declared he settled at Halifax, N. C., and began the practice of law and soon rose to the highest eminence in his profession. He was one of the delegates to the National Convention which framed the Constitution. At this he strongly supported the equal representation of states in the Senate and also the taking the slave population into account in assigning the number of Representatives sent to Congress by the states of the South. He did not, however, actually sign the document, as before the close of the proceedings he was called home on account of serious illness in his family.

 

He was a member of the State Lecrislature of North Carolina for a number of terms and drew up the bill instituting the State University which, after opposition, was passed in 1789. He gave personal attention to the appointments of the college staff and was actively concerned in the business of erecting the buildings, of which, as Grand Master of Masons, he formally laid the cornerstone.

 

He was influential in formation of the State of Tennessee, which had previously been a part of North Carolina, and was three times appointed a Commissioner to settle the boundary line between the two states.

 

In 1794 he received a commission as Major-General of Militia, and in 1799 was elected Governor of the state. Soon afterwards he was sent to France with Ellsworth and Murray on a special mission to the French Directory, the result of which was the convention that was signed between the two countries.

 

President Jefferson appointed him as a Commissioner to arrange a treaty with the Tuscarora Indians, a task he successfully performed.

 

It has not been possible to ascertain when and where he was made a Mason, but his membership and interest in the Craft is sufficiently proved by the fact that he was Grand Master of North Carolina from 1792 to 1798.

 

In person he was a handsome man of commanding appearance, and of remarkable physical strength, so much so that he was noted for this among the pioneers and backwoodsmen who formed so large a part of the revolutionary forces. He was distinctly and unmistakably of the aristocratic type, yet in manners, though dignified, he was affable to all. He received the degree of A. M. from Princeton University in 1779, and that of L. L. D. from the University of North Carolina in 1811. He died at his home, "Tivoli," in November, 1820, near Landsford, South Carolina, and was buried at Waxhaw Church on the Catawba River.

 

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Planning a Tuberculosis Sanatorium

 

By T. B. KIDNER

 

Copyright, 1926, by the National Tuberculosis Association

 

THIS general discussion of the requirements of a modern Sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis was published in pamphlet form by the National Tuberculosis Association. In order that members of the N.M.R.S. may have full information at hand concerning the problems involved it has been thought advisable to reproduce so much of the monograph as would have a bearing on the situation facing the Masonic Fraternity. The matter left out dealt chiefly with the requirements of female patients and children. Doubtless later on these also will have to be taken into consideration, but the main principles governing the planning of such an institution are fully covered in what is here presented.

 

THERE is probably no type of building in which greater changes have occurred in recent years in its general planning and internal arrangements than a sanatorium for tuberculosis. These changes are largely due to new demands for facilities for diagnosis and treatment which have been so markedly characteristic of the institutional care of the tuberculous during the past decade.

 

The National Tuberculosis Association, through its Institutional Advisory Service, has made many reports upon individual sanatorium planning projects and has also, from time to time, published articles dealing with current tendencies in sanatorium planning. There seemed to be a need, however, for a comprehensive statement on the subject, and this monograph has been prepared in consequence.

 

DETERMINING THE SIZE OF THE PROBLEM

 

In every sanatorium building scheme, whether it be for a new institution, or for the enlargement of an existing one, the first step should be to determine the size of the problem; that is, the number of beds that should be provided to meet the needs that the proposed institution is to serve. Several methods of doing this have been developed from the experience of the past twenty-five years; no one method is applicable to every district or community.

 

In the registration area of the United States, and in other places where proper vital statistics are available, the usual formula for obtaining the number of beds that should be provided in a sanatorium is that for every death occurring annually from tuberculosis in the district to be served by the institution, there should be one bed.

 

In districts where the vital statistics cannot be relied on, an approximate estimate of the number of tuberculosis beds required can be made by using the formula of one bed for each one thousand of the population.

 

SELECTING A SUITABLE SITE

 

Having determined the number of beds that should be provided, the next step is the selection of a suitable site; this is a matter of prime importance.

 

The National Tuberculosis Association has recently issued a monograph entitled, "Selecting a Site for a Tuberculosis Sanatorium," which goes thoroughly into the subject. In this the following factors are discussed at length:

 

(a) Accessibility. "For several reasons, it is most desirable that a sanatorium should be readily accessible from a center of population.

 

"It is exceedingly important to remember that sites remote from centers of population are inconvenient and costly in the matter of obtaining supplies; also for the transportation of patients to and from the institution on admission and discharge and, occasionally, for short leave of absence or for visits of relatives and friends. Further, and this is of prime importance, it is most difficult to attract and retain adequate help, professional and general, in isolated places."

 

(b) Area Required. "The area required for a sanatorium site may be found by allowing one acre of land for each six patients."

 

(c) Altitude and Climate. This is discussed at some length in the monograph, from which the following paragraphs are quoted:

 

"Today, however, very few specialists lay stress upon altitude and special climates in the treatment of tuberculosis. In fact, a great many specialists aver that it is far better for a tuberculous person to 'take the cure' in a climate similar to that in which he will live after his disease is arrested, rather than in some high, dry climate, as his return to his former climate may be trying, or worse.

 

"It should be said, however, that in certain form of tuberculosis there is undoubted value in a high altitude, with dry air; but in general sufferers from tuberculosis today are not being advised to seek an other climate in which to take treatment."

 

(d) Exposure and Topography. "These factors must be considered jointly, together with the factor of area. In fact, the first consideration is that there must be adequate space for the buildings on ground that is level, or only gently sloping, and plenty of level space or walks, on which the patients may exercise.

 

In the northern part of this continent, the patients buildings should be orientated to face about S. S. E. but in the warmer parts of the country, the buildings should face more to the east, so that the hot afternoon sun will not shine on the patients' quarters.

 

In localities where cold winter winds are experienced, shelter should be provided by rising ground, preferably wooded; or, in a flat country, by a windbreak of trees.

 

(e) Water Supply, Electric Power, Sewage Disposal and Drainage. The conditions and requirements governing any other type of institution apply equally to a tuberculosis sanatorium, and need not be entered upon here.

 

(f) Non-Proximity to Disagreeable Surroundings. A tuberculosis sanatorium should not be located in conjunction with any eleemosynary institution, or with a hospital for contagious diseases. It is notoriously difficult to induce persons suffering from tuberculosis in the early, recoverable stages of the disease to enter a sanatorium which has no stigma attached to it, and the difficulty is increased manifold when the sanatorium is associated in the minds of the public with some institution for socially dependent persons.

 

Industrial or factory districts are also unsuitable as the location for a sanatorium, since pure air is an absolute necessity in the successful treatment of tuberculosis.

 

(g) Pleasant Surroundings. Pleasant surroundings are undoubtedly an important factor in the treatment of tuberculosis. The treatment is long and tedious, and patients must often lie for weary months, or even years, looking out over the landscape and the grounds of the sanatorium. Because of this, the site should command a pleasant view, and the grounds themselves should be beautified.

 

“FLOW LINES"

 

In the planning of a building for any special purpose, the architect must be guided by certain underlying principles common to all buildings.

 

The sanatorium movement began when it had been shown by the early experimenters in this direction that tuberculosis was curable by a regimen of rest, fresh air, and suitable food, and in esse, a sanatorium is primarily a building so arranged that this formula of rest, fresh air and good food can conveniently be applied in it.

 

This original idea has, however, received many accretions during the experience of the sanatorium movement, particularly during the last decade. In addition to what might be termed the "passive" treatment implied in the formula of rest, fresh air and good food, a great many other methods of treatment have been introduced in recent years. Among these might be mentioned artificial pneumo‑thorax; special methods of treatment of diseases or affections of the upper respiratory tract, so often associated with pulmonary tuberculosis; the use of heliotherapy in the treatment of tuberculosis of the bones, joints and glands; and, more recently, chest surgery. With regard to the last named, it should be said, however, that it is usually better to arrange that cases requiring major surgical operations, including thoracoplasty, should be removed to a general hospital, although they should be returned to the sanatorium for their prolonged convalescence as soon as surgical convalescence is over.

 

Provision must therefore be made for these features of sanatorium treatment.

 

Largely because of the tedious nature of the process of "taking the cure," it has also been generally recognized for some years past that means must be taken to relieve the intolerable ennui of a prolonged residence in a sanatorium. To that end provision is now made in all modern sanatoriums for organized recreation and amusement and also for occupational therapy. The latter is in many cases also made the basis for vocational rehabilitation after the disease has been arrested and the patient leaves the institution.

 

A tremendous assistance in diagnosing the disease also became available a few years ago by the invention of the X-ray machine. A properly equipped laboratory is also indispensable for diagnostic and research purposes. A modern sanatorium is, therefore, much more of a hospital than were the earlier institutions.

 

THE CLASSIFICATION OF CASES

 

For the purpose of sanatorium treatment tuberculous patients are usually grouped broadly into three classes:

 

(a) Bed or "infirmary" cases: acutely ill, requiring bed care and regular nursing.

 

(b) Semi-ambulant cases: able to dress and to walk to the congregate dining room for meals, but, at first, not able to take further walking exercise.

 

(c) Ambulant cases: able to take a certain prescribed amount of exercise daily, which is increased as the patient's condition improves.

 

This broad classification into three groups has also various sub-classifications, differing according to the practice of the institution concerned. Some of these will be indicated later on in the course of this article.

 

In sanatorium planning in recent years, the accommodation for patients in these three groups has usually been provided in the following proportions:

 

Infirmary cases  (not less than) - 40 per cent

Semi-ambulant cases - 35 per cent

Ambulant cases  (not more than) - 25 per cent

 

It is noteworthy, though, that in recent years there have been many complaints from sanatorium superintendents of a shortage of beds for infirmary cases and several leading authorities are in favor of making the proportion of infirmary beds considerably higher than 40 per cent.

 

In view of this, most of the sanatoriums planned in recent years in this country, including U. S. government institutions, have provided for patients who have reached the semi-ambulant stage of treatment a type of accommodation that is of a modified infirmary type. If it should happen at any time that the accommodation for infirmary cases is overtaxed, it is then possible to give such cases proper care in the quarters provided for semi-ambulant cases.

 

With the foregoing classification in mind, it is convenient at this point to include some remarks on the "flow" or progression of patients through a sanatorium.

 

In good sanatorium practice it is usual to keep all newly admitted patients under observation in bed for a week or two, for diagnosis and classification; the reception and observation section being almost always a part of the infirmary section.

 

If a patient is acutely ill, he is placed in a single room. When a patient improves somewhat he is usually removed to a two-bed room. Later, he is assigned to a somewhat larger internal unit, in most modern sanatoriums usually a four-bed ward, and at that stage is generally able to walk in a dressing gown to a local dining room near the ward and take his meals.

 

If he continues to progress he reaches the stage in which he can put on his outer clothing and walk to the main congregate dining room of the institution to take his meals. He is then classified as a "semi-ambulant" case, and is transferred to the section provided for patients in that stage of treatment.

 

At first his walks to and from the main dining room may be the limit of his walking exercise, but little by little this is increased until he becomes an "ambulant" case, and is again transferred to other quarters.

 

In planning a tuberculosis sanatorium it should therefore be borne in mind that as the virulence of the disease abates, and the patient progresses towards recovery, he also progresses in a physical manner, so to speak, from one part of the sanatorium to another.

 

This is important, for two reasons. In the first place, the accommodation can be progressively simpler as the patient's condition improves, which has a bearing on the cost of the structure and the equipment. In the second place, tuberculosis specialists attach great value from a psychological standpoint to this progression through the several types of quarters, as a patient looks forward to his transfer to another section as an evidence of his progress towards recovery.

 

FUNCTIONS AND BUILDINGS TO BE PROVIDED FOR

 

(a) Administration; medical and general.

 

(b) Patients' quarters; advanced, semi-ambulant and ambulant cases.

 

(c) Service buildings; dining rooms, kitchen and bakery, store-rooms.

 

(d) Ice plant and refrigeration.

 

(e) Laundry and sterilizing plant.

 

(f) Heating plant.

 

(g) Garage; repair shops, etc.

 

(h) Quarters for staff and employees.

 

(i) Assembly hall for religious exercises and recreation, with rooms for occupational therapy.

 

In addition to the foregoing, if the institution is isolated from public facilities, it is necessary to include:

 

(j) Lighting plant.

 

(k) Water supply.

 

(l) Sewage disposal system.

 

It is not necessary to provide separate buildings for each of the things enumerated; in fact, in a small sanatorium they are often provided for in two or three buildings.

 

Even in comparatively large institutions, experience has shown the wisdom of certain combinations, which will be indicated in succeeding sections of this article.

 

SUBSTANTIAL BUILDINGS NECESSARY

 

In the early days of the sanatorium movement, structures of the flimsiest type were usually provided, and that unpleasant term "shack" came into use in tuberculosis institution construction and was, unfortunately, only too appropriate in most cases.

 

Today, however, buildings of the flimsy type of construction, formerly considered quite suitable for the housing of patients ill with tuberculosis, are no longer provided. Another important point is that the "open ward" type of plan, which has been given up in modern general hospitals, has also been abandoned in all first class modern sanatoriums for tuberculosis, small internal units being now employed. Briefly, it may be said that the outstanding characteristic of recent tuberculosis sanatorium construction is that the planning of the buildings in which patients are housed has been modified from former practice so as to provide greater comfort and privacy for the patients, as well as facilities for various modern forms of treatment.

 

One of the most important points to be stressed is that in regard to acutely ill patients who require "infirmary" care, the accommodation provided in a first class sanatorium for tuberculosis differs scarcely at all from that provided in an up-to-date general hospital, except that adequate provision for open-air sleeping must be made. The auxiliary rooms for infirmary cases, such as the nurse's duty room, the diet kitchen, the toilet and bath accommodation, the utility or utensil room, are similar to those which are found in a modern general hospital. As a patient's condition improves, however, the accommodation provided may be progressively simpler in type.

 

Probably the most important point to be insisted upon is that the patients must not be subjected to fire hazards. The National Board of Fire Underwriters reported some time ago that in the two years preceding the date of the report 870 hospital and institutional fires had occurred in this country. Buildings in which patients are housed should therefore be fire-resisting. Bed-ridden patients should not be housed on the second story of a frame building. In fact, that part of a tuberculosis sanatorium in which infirmary cases are housed should, as stated above, be of the type of construction that would be selected today for a general hospital.

 

Whatever type of general layout be adopted, it will generally be found that the most convenient arrangement is to plan the central building of a sanatorium group as a combined unit for medical and general administration, and a reception hospital and infirmary.

 

DETAILS OF PLANNING

 

(a) Medical Administration. The following rooms should be provided for medical administration: An office for the medical superintendent; examination rooms (one for each fifty patients); eye, ear, nose and throat examination and treatment room ("head room") ; X-ray suite; dental room; simple operating room (for minor surgical procedures) ; laboratory (north light required); pharmacy; open decks for sun treatment; two rooms for artificial light treatment; conference room and medical library.

 

(b) General Administration Offices. These should include general business office; office for superintendent; waiting room for visitors (entrance hall) toilets for visitors (each sex).

 

It has been found to be convenient to have the medical superintendent's office and the general business office arranged one on each side of the main entrance hall, which often forms the waiting room for visitors.

 

INFIRMARY CASES

 

In modern, fireproof, sanatorium infirmary buildings, the more seriously ill patients (usually bedridden) are often housed on the upper story, as this affords greater quiet than the lower stories. When a patient's condition improves somewhat, so that he can walk to the bathroom, he is transferred downstairs.

 

What are the characteristic features of the care and treatment that must be provided for infirmary cases, and for new cases kept in bed for purposes of observation, in addition to a proper bed in a suitable room?

 

Obviously, such patients must be fed, a fact that will guide the architect in locating the floor diet kitchen, always remembering that the travel of a nurse or ward-maid to and fro between the diet kitchen and the patients' bedsides must be minimized.

 

Patients that are "bedfast" will, of course, require the usual personal attention necessary for such patients, which will guide the architect in locating the nurse's duty room, with its equipment of bedpan sterilizer, utensil sterilizer, utensil rack, slop sink, laundry tray, worktable, and supply cabinet.

 

Fresh air, of course, is a sine qua non in treatment, and provision must be made in the form of porches for open-air sleeping for all but the more serious ill patients. For the latter, properly arranged windows of the awning type, with a vent in the wall opposite to afford thorough ventilation, will provide all the fresh air necessary. It should be possible, however, to wheel even seriously ill patients in their beds to an open porch occasionally.

 

For infirmary patients who are able to leave their beds, bathroom and lavatory accommodation must be provided near their quarters.

 

It is also a good plan to provide, next to the floor diet kitchen, a small dining room, where patients who are able to leave their beds and put on a dressing gown may take one or more meals daily. Patients appreciate greatly the break in the monotony thus afforded, the effect on their progress is good, and the labor of tray feeding is reduced.

 

The foregoing paragraphs deal only with "creature comforts," and attention must now be given to the various medical features of diagnosis and treatment that must be provided for infirmary cases.

 

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICES AND ROOMS

 

In locating the rooms for medical administration, due regard must be given to the fact that they must be conveniently accessible for bed cases, who may often require to be wheeled to one or other of these rooms in a cot or on a wheeled stretcher. It must also be remembered that walking patients from the semiambulant and ambulant patients' quarters will use these rooms. Because of this last-named condition the medical rooms should be so located that patients from other units of the sanatorium will not enter a patient's corridor in the infirmary (central) unit when coming to it for treatment.

 

If several examination rooms are provided, it is convenient to arrange one on each floor. Each room should be equipped with a simple lavatory bowl in one corner.

 

The X-ray suite should include a combined office and interpretation room, with space for filing current plates or films; a dark room for loading and developing, and a machine room. Practice varies greatly in different institutions with regard to the use of the X-ray apparatus, but for sanatoriums up to, say, one hundred beds, it will probably be found satisfactory if the machine room is equipped with a modern, self-contained combination machine which can be used both for radiographic and fluoroscopic work. For institutions of greater bed capacity it is usually more convenient to provide a separate room for fluoroscopic examinations, although for economy and convenience it should form a part of the X-ray suite. A couple of dressing cubicles should be provided and a w. c. for gastro-intestinal work. The X-ray suite should not be in a basement but should be, preferably, on the main floor near the rear entrance.

 

The dental room should be large enough to take a standard chair and instrument cabinet. A small laboratory should adjoin it, and should be equipped with a sink with hot and cold water, space being provided near the sink for a work bench.

 

For the various minor surgical procedures which become necessary in sanatorium routine a simple operating room should be provided. The room should be well lighted naturally by a window on its north side (not a skylight) and should also be properly equipped with electric lights over the operating table for work at night or on dark days. Adjoining the operating room should be a preparation room, equipped with a small "bank" of sterilizers, two surgeon's scrub-up sinks and a hopper sink; space being allowed also for cabinets to hold sterile and unsterilized supplies. Dressing rooms for the surgeon and the nurse are necessary, but the latter is often combined with the nurse's work room adjoining the preparation room.

 

The eye, ear, nose and throat room should have a small dark room adjoining, but in small institutions provision for darkening the room itself by an opaque window shade, enclosed in a boxed casing, is often made. A lavatory bowl should be provided.

 

The laboratory should have north light, but considerable latitude is allowable in its location. There is no objection to its being placed in the basement, for example, provided the basement is well out of the ground.

 

The pharmacy should be located on the main floor, near the rear entrance, for the convenience of ambulant patients.

 

Provision for heliotherapy is often made in the form of open decks on the roof of the infirmary building. On each deck there should be a covered portion for “air baths," which are used in conjunction with the direct exposure of the patients to the rays of the sun.

 

These decks can be used both for the infirmary cases and for patients from other units. In several recent examples, however, in addition to the decks, open balconies or terraces have been provided, adjoining the rooms of the more seriously ill patients, and French windows have been installed, so that patients can be wheeled out for sun treatment. It must always be remembered that patients undergoing this treatment are practically nude, so that the decks and balconies must be so arranged that the patients can not be overlooked from rising ground or other buildings.

 

A room should be provided for artificial heliotherapy. Outlets for electric current required for the several types of lamps used in artificial heliotherapy should be installed in the walls. This form of treatment is so new that definite standards as to the number of lamps that should be provided are not available, but in the sanatoriums recently erected by the U. S. Veterans' Bureau it was decided to provide outlets for lamps in the proportion of one lamp for each ten patients.

 

Since artificial heliotherapy is resorted to chiefly in cold and cloudy weather, when it is not feasible to expose the patients on open decks, extra artificial heat should be provided in rooms where it is applied, as the rooms should be well: ventilated. The best method of ventilation for such rooms is to admit fresh air by open windows and to provide a vent for the escape of the vitiated air on the opposite side of the room; hence the necessity for extra heat.

 

For convenience of oversight and control the rooms for artificial heliotherapy are often arranged in the center of the building, between the open decks on the roof.

 

A dressing room, with toilet facilities, should be provided near each deck. In some institutions where heliotherapy is being employed, shower baths are also provided.

 

It is well to provide that not less than 20 per cent of the beds in the infirmary section of a sanatorium be in single rooms; 30 per cent in two-bed rooms and the balance in small wards of not more than four beds each.

 

As indicated above, it is not usually considered necessary to provide special porches for patients who are seriously ill, but porches should be arranged for about 60 per cent of the patients in an infirmary section. It should be possible, though, to wheel any patient in his cot to a porch. Doors should therefore be not less than 3 feet 8 inches wide, and corridors 8 feet wide.

 

PORCHES

 

A treatise might be written on the subject of porches for open-air treatment in sanatoriums, of which several kinds have been devised. In general, porches are of two types: (a) those which adjoin a room or ward, but are so arranged that direct sunlight can enter the room or ward; (b) the continuous porch which extends along the front of several rooms or small wards.

 

Advocates of the former type of porch (structurally, more expensive) point to the advantage of direct sunlight in the ward afforded by this arrangement, as against the continuous porch. It should be pointed out, however, that where continuous porches along the front of the rooms are provided, the patient spends most of his time on the porch; the room in the rear being used chiefly as a dressing room. If the patient is bedridden, the nurse or attendant wheels his cot into the room when the patient is bathed. In extremely cold weather, the patient may sleep at night in the room; but in modern institutions adequate thorough ventilation is provided and the patient gets sufficient fresh air in the room without discomfort.

 

Except in warm climates, porches for tuberculous patients should always be glazed. Windows of the kind usually referred to as the "awning" type, that is, pivoted at the sides and opening outwards, are much better for tuberculosis sanatoriums than ordinary double-hung sashes and windows of the casement type.

 

Whatever type of window be selected, however, alike in porches and in rooms, the upper portion should always be provided with a sash over a transom bar, to allow of fresh air being admitted without subjecting the patients to a direct draught. The sash over the transom should be operated by a device not under the control of the patients. It is also advisable to glaze this sash with "cathedral" or "Florentine" glass of a soft amber color, which, being less trying to the eyes, adds to the comfort of the patients.

 

AUXILIARY ROOMS AND FEATURES

 

Plumbing fixtures for infirmary patients should be installed in the following proportions:

 

Lavatory bowls - 1 to 8 patients

Water closets - 1 to 10 patients

Bathtubs - 1 to 15 patients

 

(Shower baths are not suitable for infirmary patients.)

 

For patients' outdoor clothing and suit cases it is usual to provide a storage room at some convenient point in the building, probably in the basement. For the rooms themselves, patients confined entirely to bed require only a standard bedside table with locked cupboard; but as soon as patients are able to walk, to the bathroom, a simple wardrobe, in which to hang the dressing gown, etc., should be supplied.

 

Some sanatorium and hospital superintendents are in favor of the built-in wardrobe or hanging closet, while others prefer a piece of furniture. At present, the tendency seems to be towards the latter.

 

There remain to be mentioned a few other auxiliary rooms that are common to all types of hospitals and that must not be omitted in the infirmary section of a tuberculosis sanatorium.

 

On each floor there should be a nurse's office, furnished in the usual way, and containing the annunciator of the patients' call system.

 

For approximately each thirty patients a linen room or closet, to hold not more than two days' supply, should be provided. The equipment should consist of shelves not less than eighteen inches deep in the upper portion, the lower shelves to be about thirty inches deep, the uppermost wide shelf to form the working table. A room six feet square will be sufficient. Outside light is desirable. The location should be as central as possible for the beds which are to be served from the closet.

 

Linen chutes are very satisfactory as far as bed patients are concerned, but are not desirable where the patients are ambulant, as various odd things are sometimes thrown down the chute by the patients. For the latter it is better to provide in the utility room, or other convenient place, a receptacle for soiled linen and to send it by an orderly or attendant at regular intervals to the laundry.

 

Closets for brooms and cleaning materials, equipped with a slop sink, must be provided on each floor. In many institutions these closets are too small to contain the various equipment and materials and it is well to make them of generous size.

 

In all infirmary units of more than one story, an elevator large enough to take a standard wheeled stretcher must be provided.

 

Some authorities do not consider it good practice to include a morgue in the hospital unit, and believe it is better to locate it in some inconspicuous place near, or in the working buildings, such as the institution garage, or, in some cases, the laboratory building in institutions where it forms a separate unit. A room for a mortuary chapel is sometimes desirable, but it should not be made a prominent feature of the building group; rather the reverse.

 

SEMI-AMBULANT CASES

 

As mentioned in a previous section, a patient is usually classified as "semi-ambulant" when he is able to dress and walk to the main dining room. At first this may be the full extent of his exercise, the rest of the day being spent in a cure chair on a porch or in an open ward. Such patients can be conveniently and economically housed in one-story or two-story buildings of the "pavilion" type, the sleeping quarters being usually a modification of the open ward type of accommodation.

 

In several recent examples, however, two-bed rooms, with a continuous porch in front, have been provided for patients in this stage of treatment. This not only affords greater privacy and comfort for the patients but permits of infirmary patients being cared for in case of an overflow from the infirmary section.

 

The location of the buildings or units for semi-ambulant cases is important. In the first place, as these patients have only recently passed from the infirmary stage of treatment they should not be required to walk very far to the main dining room. For the same reason enclosed walks should be provided between their quarters and the service unit. A warm, well‑lighted and properly ventilated day or sitting room should be provided.

 

An office for the nurse in charge is necessary, but a call system is not required.

 

In order that infirmary cases may be cared for when necessary it is well to provide a diet or distributing kitchen, with very simple equipment.

 

It will seldom be found necessary, however, to include a utility room, since infirmary patients that may overflow from the infirmary section proper into this section will almost certainly have reached the "dressing gown" stage, and will therefore be able to use the bathroom.

 

Plumbing fixtures for semi‑ambulant patients should be provided in the following proportions:

 

Lavatory bowls - 1 for each 4 patients

Water closets - 1 for each 6 patients

Bathtubs - 1 for each 10 patients

Shower baths - 1 for each 10 patients

 

The water closets should be separated from the lavatory and bathroom, but one lavatory bowl should be installed near the water closets.

 

Dental lavatories need not be installed if the plugs are omitted from the regular lavatory bowls and a, simple mixing faucet (single spout for hot and cold water) installed. Ablutions may then be performed in running water and the same bowls used without offense for teeth cleaning.

 

It was formerly a common practice to locate next to the lavatory and bathroom in a sanatorium a congregate dressing room for the patients, but it was found in many institutions that such a room formed a congregating place for purposes other than that for which it was designed, thus adding to the work of supervision. In cold weather, male patients would often gather in the warm dressing room, with all windows closed, and play cards in an atmosphere vitiated with tobacco smoke.

 

Therefore, in most modern sanatoriums, it is customary nowadays to provide small dressing rooms, or space, near each patient's bed. Where the porch is a continuous one, the rooms in its rear are generally used as dressing rooms; each for one or two patients. Another very satisfactory method is to provide individual dressing cubicles in a warm corridor at the rear of a combined room and porch.

 

A linen room, a janitor's closet and a store room for patients' baggage should also be included.

 

A rear walk or low terrace, at grade, should be provided at the rear of the building, where patients may recline on cure chairs in the shade during very hot weather. Some storage space for the cure chairs should be provided.

 

AMBULANT CASES

 

As indicated earlier in this article, the accommodation for sanatorium patients can be progressively more simple (and less costly) as the time of discharge from the institution comes nearer.

 

For patients who have reached the ambulant stage of treatment, and are on "full exercise," very little medical and nursing care is necessary. A strict disciplinary regimen is, however, enforced in most sanatoriums for patients who have reached the stage and are undergoing the prolonged period of convalescence usually required before the physician pronounces the disease "arrested."

 

It is therefore very necessary that, alike in the location of the buildings for ambulant cases, and in the planning of their internal arrangements, ease of supervision be considered.

 

The principal requirements for the housing of ambulant patients are that they shall be provided with comfortable living quarters, including a day or sitting room; porches for open-air sleeping and, of course, proper toilet and bathing facilities.

 

Buildings of the pavilion type are quite suitable for ambulant patients, and may be of one or two stories. The earlier pavilions were usually mere, open shed-like structures, but for some years past, as in all types of hospital and sanatorium planning, the trend has been towards the provision of more comfort and privacy for ambulant patients in a tuberculosis sanatorium.

 

This had led to the advocacy of detached cottages, each housing from two to four persons, for patients in this stage of treatment. There are, however, two rather serious objections to the cottage type of housing in public sanatoriums. First, the additional initial cost; and second, the great difficulty of supervision of the patients.

 

An ingenious and successful attempt to combine the two ideas of the cottage for a small number of patients, and the building for comparatively large groups, was made by the U. S. Public Health Service several years ago. A building pavilion was designed, embodying "the cottage idea in a congregate building." A number of these buildings that were erected have proved very satisfactory, alike to the staff and the patients.

 

More recently the U. S. Veterans' Bureau has designed another type of building that also affords great comfort and privacy for the patients and provides for ease of supervision.

 

An office for the nurse in charge of the building should be provided.

 

The proportions for plumbing fixtures specified previously in this article for semi-ambulant patients will also serve for the ambulant patients' building.

 

The day room, the baggage storeroom, the janitor's closet, and the rear terrace at grade, all as recommended for the semi-ambulant patients' quarters, will also be suitable for ambulant patients.

 

Inasmuch as patients who have reached this stage of recovery are able to go out of doors in all weathers, considerable latitude is allowable in the location of their quarters. As remarked earlier, however, ease of supervision must always be considered, and the buildings should be well in sight of the central unit.

 

SERVICE UNIT

 

The service unit of a tuberculosis sanatorium usually includes the main dining room for the patients; a dining room for the staff ; a dining room for the help; kitchen and bakery, with storerooms and three-section refrigerator for daily supplies; a serving room and a dishwashing room.

 

If the contours of the site permit, it is convenient to arrange rooms in the basement for the bulk storage of supplies.

 

In locating the service unit, two things must be borne in mind. First, that most of the food for the patients in the infirmary section is prepared in the central kitchen and must be conveyed easily and rapidly to the patients. Second, the unit must be so located that it can be reached conveniently, under shelter, by the semi-ambulant patients.

 

The most convenient location is directly in the rear of the central unit, to which it should be joined by an enclosed walk or corridor. Very often it is located on the line of the axis of the central building. If, however, as in several recent examples, the architect adopts the open rear court type of plan for the general arrangement of the several units, the service building is located at one side of the court and is balanced on the opposite side by the community building.

 

Dining Rooms. The capacity of the patients' dining room should be equal to the total number of semi-ambulant and ambulant cases provided for in the plans.

 

As regards staff dining rooms, it is not so easy to determine the capacity since the practice varies in different institutions. In some sanatoriums the members of the medical staff have a separate dining room; in others, all the personnel of the professional grades, including matron, nurses, dietitians, laboratory technicians, occupational therapists and clerical employees, share one dining room.

 

As a rough approximation, it may be estimated that in the ordinary public tuberculosis sanatorium the professional personnel will number about eighteen per cent of the bed capacity of the institution. It should be added, though, that for small institutions, the percentage of personnel is usually higher, which is one of the reasons why small public sanatoriums are not economical.

 

The personnel of non-professional grade may roughly be estimated at 22 per cent of the bed capacity; although local conditions must, of course, always be considered in planning for personnel of all grades.

 

All the dining rooms should be light, airy and attractive; particular care being necessary in these respects in the patients' dining room. Small tables, to accommodate from four to six patients each, are now almost universally provided; rather than the long barrack-like tables for a large number of patients formerly used in institutional dining rooms.

 

Congregating Space. It is convenient and advisable to provide near the entrance to the patients' dining room a "congregating place," or room, where the patients may gather a few minutes before the hour for serving the meal. Simple toilet and lavatory facilities should be provided in conjunction with the congregating space.

 

Cafeteria Service. In planning the serving room, the possibility of the so-called cafeteria or self-service method being used should be borne in mind by the architect. Sanatorium superintendents are divided in their views as to the desirability of the cafeteria plan, some being enthusiastic advocates of its adoption and others being quite against it. It is advisable, however, in planning the serving room that the architect provide for the possible adoption of the cafeteria plan without expensive structural alterations. In the past year or two, in some institutions where the cafeteria system has been installed, it was necessary to cut openings in solid partitions to provide for the serving table.

 

All dishes and tableware used by the patients must be sterilized. The dishwashing room should be located, primarily, to save walking, but it must be well ventilated and, if at all possible, an outside room.

 

In most modern sanatoriums, separate dishes and tableware are provided for the staff dining room, and are washed and kept in a special serving room and pantry adjoining the dining room.

 

The kitchen, the bakery, and the storerooms for the daily supplies require no special description, being generally similar to any other institutional layout.

 

Quarters for female help are often provided on the upper story of a service building, which is a convenient and economical arrangement.

 

Bulk Storage Rooms. If, as is very desirable for purposes of economy and control, the rooms for the storage of supplies in bulk are in the basement of the service unit, a proper grade entrance should be arranged. Near the entrance there should be a small office for the storekeeper or other officer whose duty it is to receive and to issue supplies.

 

In the majority of public sanatoriums, perishable supplies are purchased in bulk and stored in the institution. Refrigeration must therefore be provided in the storerooms.

 

For the daily supplies for the kitchen, a three-section refrigerator is necessary.

 

The diet kitchens in the infirmary section will also require a small ice box, but this presents no problem today, now that small electrically‑operated refrigerators of domestic size are available at moderate cost.

 

LAUNDRY, HEATING PLANT AND GARAGE

 

It is convenient to arrange one combination unit to include laundry, heating plant and garage. The location of such a unit will be governed chiefly by two considerations; first, the direction of the prevailing winds; and, second, the levels of the various buildings to be served by the heating plant. Consideration must also be given to the convenience of hauling coal to it without passing the patients' buildings, so as not to disturb the inmates by noise and dust.

 

The laundry should be planned so that soiled articles cannot come in contact with finished articles. Two doors should therefore be arranged; one for the incoming and one for the outgoing articles. Inside the incoming door should be a clear space for sorting. Adjoining this space should be the sterilizer (large enough to take a mattress), the rest of the laundry machinery following in order, so that articles are passed forward in regular route to the final tables where they are folded and placed in the clean receptacles for return to the main linen room of the institution.

 

It is scarcely possible in these days, when the use of the automobile is so general, to indicate the car capacity of a sanatorium garage. In a sanatorium having a capacity of, say, one hundred beds for patients, a four-stall garage should suffice for the official cars; including a truck and an ambulance. If, however, the institution is at some distance from a railway, or other means of public conveyance, it is usual to maintain a bus service at certain intervals between the institution and the nearest point at which a public conveyance is available.

 

In an institution so situated, there is also the problem of providing shelter for the cars owned by the personnel, often a considerable number. Obviously this latter question must be considered in the light of local conditions.

 

Repair shops for the engineer, the carpenter, and the painter, are necessary and can conveniently be placed with the garage.

 

Quarters for male help are often provided in this unit.

 

In considering the subject of personnel quarters, it is most important to remember that it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract and retain institutional personnel of high grade and reliability. This difficulty is often aggravated in the case of a tuberculosis sanatorium by the unfounded fear that the disease may be contracted by persons in contact with the patients.

 

A great deal of attention has been given to this matter and steps have been taken to overcome the difficulty. More comfortable and homelike living quarters are being provided for all grades of personnel and, most important of all, the personnel quarters in first-class modern sanatoriums are quite apart from the patients' buildings.

 

Physicians. The medical director should be given a modern, family house, preferably near the entrance to the grounds. The quarters for assistant medical officers should be similarly located. In this connection, it is well to note that the number of such assistants is laid down in the standards for sanatorium administration promulgated by the American Sanatorium Association. To be rated as a Class A sanatorium according to these standards, the institution must employ one assistant resident physician for every fifty patients up to 150, and one for each seventy-five patients beyond that number.

 

If the bed capacity of the sanatorium is such that several assistant physicians will be required, it may be anticipated that at least one of them will be a married man, and provision must be made accordingly.

 

Nurses. The standards of the American Sanatorium Association call for one nurse to each ten patients. The superintendent of nurses, the matron and nurses in charge of the children's unit, and other female employees, such as the laboratory technicians, the dietitians, the occupational therapists and clerks, will also reside with the nurses.

 

As indicated above, it is no longer considered good practice to house the personnel in the same building with patients; and this is particularly to be borne in mind in providing quarters for nurses. The nurses' home of a sanatorium should be located well away from the patients' buildings and, preferably, near the entrance to the grounds. 

 

It is necessary that nurses be housed far enough away from the patients' quarters to give that sense of detachment from duty which is imperative for the relaxation and rest of the nurses; also, to allow of the nurses and staff engaging in social recreation without disturbing the sick patients. A location near the entrance to the grounds is recommended because nurses returning at night from leave will not require to pass the patients' buildings, which is an important consideration.

 

No better expenditure can be made by sanatorium authorities than in providing comfortable, homelike quarters for the nursing staff. It is therefore recommended that each nurse be given an individual bedroom. The superintendent of nurses should have a small, private suite of sitting-room, bedroom and bath.

 

Toilets and baths should be provided in the proportion of one for each six nurses; lavatory bowls, one to four persons, or, better still, an individual lavatory bowl in each bedroom. Toilet rooms should always be separated from lavatory, and bathrooms.

 

A general sitting-room is necessary; also, opening off it, two small semi-private rooms in which a nurse could receive a visitor with Some amount of privacy.

 

Because of the difficulty always experienced with fine laundry work when sent to the institution laundry, a simply equipped laundry should be included in the nurses' home so that the nurses can care for their own fine work. The equipment should include as a minimum a double laundry tray, a wringer and two ironing boards with electric outlets. A dryer is also convenient. In a large institution more equipment should, of course, be provided.

 

Maintenance Superintendent. In most sanatoriums, a man is employed to look after the upkeep of the buildings and grounds. A house, planned for a married man and family, should be provided at some point in the grounds away from the sanatorium buildings proper, for this officer.

 

Other Personnel. In large institutions, special buildings for male and female help respectively are often provided, but in most cases quarters are arranged in some of the auxiliary buildings. As indicated earlier in this article, quarters for female help are often provided in the service unit and quarters for male help in the heating plant. In some recent plans quarters for male help have been arranged in the community building.

 

COMMUNITY BUILDING

 

No institution for the care and treatment of tuberculosis can be considered complete nowadays unless it has adequate provision for the organized recreation and entertainment of its patients; also of its employees. Provision should also be made for occupational therapy.

 

Accommodation for these features of sanatorium treatment is often provided in a "community building." Such a building should include an assembly hall which can be used for religious exercises, concerts and entertainments, including moving pictures.

 

The provision for occupational therapy should include a well‑lighted shop for simple work in arts and crafts, and classrooms where instructions in ordinary school subjects can be given. The size of the shop and the number of the classrooms will depend upon the number of patients. A storeroom for supplies must also be provided.

 

The patients' library is also often placed near the assembly hall and the occupational therapy rooms, as these several activities are usually in charge of one person.

 

In locating the community building, due regard must be given to the facility with which it may be reached from other units.

 

The assembly hall should be planned to accommodate at one time at least 50 per cent of the patients and 50 per cent of the personnel. In some institutions, a considerable number of seats must also be provided for visitors, but this is a variable factor and no general statement can be made as to their number.

 

LIGHTING PLANT, WATER SUPPLY AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL

 

It was remarked in the early part of this article that it is necessary in planning a sanatorium to include these features if the institution is isolated from public facilities.

 

Since, however, the type of installation required for these very necessary adjuncts to a sanatorium does not differ from the type suitable for other kinds of institutions, it is not necessary to make any extended remarks on the subject.

 

It is deemed well to point out, however, that it is usually more satisfactory, except in very large institutions, to purchase electric current than to produce it in the institution.

 

An abundant supply of pure water is, of course, absolutely necessary and great care should be taken to insure it. If at all possible, the sanatorium should be supplied from some public water system, but if this cannot be arranged, every precaution must be taken to provide water in adequate quantity and pure quality to meet present and future needs. In considering the quantity of water necessary, it is exceedingly important to remember that the supply must be adequate in amount and pressure to afford proper protection from fire.

 

It is also, of course, a great advantage if a sanatorium can be connected with a public sewage system, but if this is not possible, a modern, individual disposal plant can usually be provided without difficulty. In view of public sentiment, special precautions must be taken regarding the disposal of the effluent.

 

* * *

 

WHAT THEY SAY

 

Mr. Cary B. Fish, Grand Master Grand Lodge of F. and A. M., Sarasota, Florida.

 

"It gives me great pleasure to announce to you that both the Grand Council and the Grand Chapter appropriated a small amount for the National Masonic Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association."

 

Mr. Burton L. French, Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

 

"It seems to me that through the Grand Lodges of our states adequate appeal can be made for the approval of a reasonable comprehensive program that might include the donation of possibly one dollar per capita per lodge to this particular purpose and possibly a lesser annual per capita contribution for the maintenance of certain parts of the overhead that would need to be sustained.

 

"I have sometimes beard complaints of lack of interest and attendance in lodge matters. To the extent to which this is true we must charge ourselves as being without an adequate program for service that will appeal to Masons. A lodge either locally or nationally does not die that has work to do. It dies when the work has been completed."

 

Mr. Will H. Gibson, Grand Master Grand Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Boise, Idaho.

 

"I want to assure you that our jurisdiction is vitally interested."

 

Mr. O.D. Olson, Secretary Boulevard Lodge, No. 882, A. F. & A. M., Chicago, Ill.

 

"The erection and endowment of a hospital of this character will meet a long-felt want, and I sincerely hope that your efforts in this will meet with unqualified success.

 

"At the present we have two members of our lodge who are in New Mexico on account of suffering from tuberculosis. One of these is located at Albuquerque, and, although he has so far been of no expense to the lodge, the cost is great for him and his funds are being rapidly depleted. He is asking us if we can find some sanatorium for him that would not be quite so expensive."

 

----o----

 

Facts for Fable About Frederick the Great

 

By BRO. CYRUS FIELD WILLARD, California

 

(Concluded from October)

 

LANTOINE, whose arguments we have been considering, also tries to throw discredit on Dalcho as well as on Albert Pike. Frederick Dalcho was a doctor born in England who afterwards became an Episcopalian minister and was regarded in Charleston as a man of honesty and of very high standing. He was Lieutenant Grand Commander and on a committee which drew up the circular letter which our Supreme Council sent to all the Masonic bodies of the world. It made the official assertion in 1802, only sixteen years after the Constitutions of 1786 had been signed and ratified, that they were the Supreme Council for America under these Constitutions, and that they had been drawn up under the authority of and signed and ratified by Frederick II, King of Prussia.

 

This was an official document issued by our Supreme Council. It is worthy of credence as such. Lantoine calls it "the discourses of Dalcho," but this is a false statement of the facts. Only sixteen years after the adoption of the Constitutions, they knew the facts better than Lantoine at this late day, who slavishly follows the old falsehoods which Pike branded as such.

 

Albert Pike said after reviewing all the circumstances that he was convinced that Frederick was the head of the Rite, and I must say that in approaching the subject determined to be as fair as possible, yet in the main prejudiced against the idea, I have been obliged, by the evidence taken from official records in America, to accept the fact that Frederick was the head of the Rite we now call Scottish from 1762 to the time of his death.

 

THE SCOTTISH RITE IN AMERICA

 

At a celebration on Sept. 20, 1785, the members of the Philadelphia Lodge of Perfection walked in procession to their new lodge room in Black Horse alley, which then was dedicated, followed by speeches and a banquet. It is this ceremony to which Col. Solomon Bush refers to in his famous letter to Frederick, King of Prussia. An elaborate account of this ceremony is given in the Pennsylvania Journal of Sept. 24, 1785 [as given in Sachse's Ancient Scottish Rite Documents] wherein the several toasts are given, the first being to "The Sublime Lodge of Perfection this day consecrated," while the second is to "Our Illustrious Brother the King of Prussia," and the third is to "Our Beloved Brother George Washington, the Intended Grand Master of America." This shows there was a reason for Frederick being put second instead of Washington, immediately after the toast of the Lodge of Perfection, he being considered the head of the Order to which the lodge belonged. It is to be noted that it was then a matter known to the newspapers, that Frederick the Great was the head of the Rite, as shown in the printing of the toast immediately after that of the Lodge of Perfection and before that to George Washington, that is, the one to "Our Illustrious Brother the King of Prussia."

 

What is the reason that the Scottish Rite persisted in America and was carried back to France and the rest of Europe from which Stephen (not Etienne) Morin brought it in 1761 ? The excesses of the French Revolution, the frenzy of fear that possessed the aristocracy and propertied classes from the publication of Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" in answer to Burke's denunciation of that revolution, the fulminations of the Jesuits, the Abbe Barruel and Prof. John Robison, against the Illuminati and Freemasonry which caused the passage of the "Secret Societies' Act" in England and Scotland from which Freemasonry was barely exempted, the revulsion of feeling in Germany and elsewhere on the Continent against the Illuminati, the Gold Rosicrucians, the Rite of Strict Observance, the Clerks of Lax Observance and the multitude of other Masonic degrees and systems, swept away, to a great extent, all but the three degrees. It was in America alone that the Scottish Rite was preserved through all these troublous times to be later re-introduced into France and elsewhere in the world.

 

We have three authentic official sources of information, at least, to show that the headquarter of the Rite was at Berlin. They constitute documentary evidence that cannot be controverted nor denied.

 

THE BUILDER for June, 1920, page 160, printed a facsimile of the Charter of the "Ineffable Lodge of Perfection," instituted at Albany, N. Y., on Dec. 20, 1767, by Henry Andrew Francken, who was deputized by Stephen Morin. Copies of the minutes of this lodge were printed in William Homan's "History of the Scottish Rite," which says that Dr. Stringer, who was later the Deputy Grand Inspector General for that district, gave notice that the founder (Francken, then at Kingston, Jamaica) had written him to instruct the lodge to send to Berlin a list of their members "with their qualities." The secretary evidently knew the address of the person in Berlin to whom this list was to be sent, for it was not given. In Pike's "Historical Inquiry," p. 129, it says:

 

In the old minute-book of the Grand Lodge of Perfection at Albany, N. Y., the lodge is required, under date of Sept. 3, 1770 to prepare reports, etc., for transmission to Berlin.

 

This is exhibit number one, and is from the official records of a Lodge of Perfection and shows that Berlin was the headquarters to which its reports, list of members, etc., had to be sent.

 

In the facsimile of the Charter of the Chapter of Prince Masons (P.R.S.) at Kingston, Jamaica, which is, or was, in the Enoch T. Carson collection, and which Chapter was organized by Stephen Morin on April 30, 1770, and of which Henry A. Francken is given as the first member and which is signed by Morin, it is expressly stated in the Charter itself that it is issued in conformity with the Regulations adopted by the Nine Commissioners at Berlin, Prussia. This is official document number two.

 

THE LETTER OF SOLOMON BUSH

 

The third is taken from the records of the Sublime Lodge of Perfection at Philadelphia, as given in Sachse's "Ancient Scottish Rite Documents," and which records are still in the possession of the Scottish Rite bodies of that city. This is the famous letter of Col. Solomon Bush, Thrice Puissant Grand Master of the Sublime Lodge of Perfection, who writes an official letter for the lodge in 1785 to Frederick, King of Prussia, as the head of the Order to which the Philadelphia Lodge of Perfection belonged. [Sachse, Anc. S. R. Documents, page 80.]

 

In this letter to Frederick, as head of the Order to which the lodge of which he was Master appertained, he, as Master, said that he was enclosing with this letter, "Agreeable to the rules of the Grand Councils, a list of the members of our lodge in the prescribed form." These words "in the prescribed form" are the strongest possible evidence not only that Col. Bush knew what the form was, that was prescribed by the Supreme Council of which Frederick, King of Prussia, was the head, but also that the Philadelphia Lodge of Perfection knew that it was connected with an Order whose headquarters were in Berlin. It is identical in its purport with that given by Francken to the Albany Lodge of Perfection to send a list of its members also to Berlin.

 

Then again Col. Bush, the Revolutionary hero, well known in Philadelphia, where he had been captured by the British, was a Deputy Grand Inspector General of the Order for Pennsylvania, as is stated in his recital of his standing in that letter, and known by reputation to Frederick as one of his leading officials in America working under him, and he necessarily would know who was the head of the Order, of which he was one of the leading officials in America. At this very time, Baron von Steuben was in Philadelphia (much of the time trying to get Congress to settle his accounts) and he, as a military man, would know his comrade in arms with the romantic history, and as Frederick's former Adjutant General and likewise a Mason, would have quickly undeceived Col. Bush if Frederick had not been the head of the Rite to which the Philadelphia Lodge of Perfection belonged. It is incredible to believe that a lodge could exist and not know where its main headquarters were and who was the head of the Order to which it belonged. On Nov. 2, 1785, the records of the lodge, as given by Sachse [A.S.R. Documents], read as follows:

 

On Motion that a Committee be appointed to write to the Grand Council at Berlin and Paris, informing them of the establishment of this Sublime Lodge and of the names of the several Members who compose the same and their several degrees. It was ordered that the following be a Committee for that purpose, viz.: Charles Young, John Vannost, P. Lebarbier Duplissis and the Thrice Puissant, and such Committee were earnestly requested to have such letter prepared against the next meeting that the same may be signed by the Thrice Puissant & transmitted as soon as possible.

 

On Nov. 5, 1785, there was the following entry:

 

The Thrice Puisst., as one of the Committee appointed at our last meeting to write to the Grand Council at Berlin and Paris, informed the lodge that the said Committee had gone upon the business but were not fully ready but would make report the next meeting.

 

On Nov. 8, 1785, there is the following in the minutes:

 

The Committee appointed to write to the Grand Council at Berlin and Paris reported a draft of a letter to the Grand Council to Berlin, which being read the same was approved and the Secretary was desired to make out a fair copy of the same to be transmitted to the Grand Council at Berlin.

 

This minute alone is proof positive that the headquarters for the Lodges of Perfection were at Berlin and that they were subordinate to the Grand Council at that city. On Dec. 7, 1785, there was the following minute:

 

At a Sublime Lodge of Perfection held at Black Horse Alley; fair copy of the letter to the Grand Council of Berlin was then offered by the Secretary agreeable to the order of the last Meeting. Which being read the same was ordered to be entered upon the Minutes and is as follows: [Here follows the letter on the Minutes.]

 

Here are four different entries, on different meeting nights and more than a month apart, in which it is four times asserted that the letter is to be sent to the Grand Council of Berlin. Why should any one doubt that this lodge knew the body to which it owed allegiance ?

 

Any unprejudiced person who has read the peculiar phraseology of the Scottish Rite documents, certificates, diplomas, patents, such as those to Morin, Francken, Hays and Forst, and will carefully read the above letter, cannot help but admit that Col. Bush knew that Frederick was the head of the Order of which he was the Deputy Grand Inspector General for Pennsylvania.

 

The phrases, "Illustrious Chief of the Grand Council of Masons," "In what manner shall I express myself to the glorious and renowned Frederick," "Your generous Presidency over the Two Hemispheres at the Great East of Berlin," "Our Great Thrice Puissant and Grand Commander," "Beloved Brethren in Council convened at the Great East in Berlin," "remote as we are from the Great East of Berlin," "Great Light of Berlin," "Most Respectable Sovereign," repeat over and over that there was a Grand Council at Berlin to which the Lodge of Perfection at Philadelphia was subordinate, and the letter names Frederick as its head.

 

THE VALUE OF THE EVIDENCE

 

It is affirmative official documentary evidence whose effect cannot be destroyed. It would require positive documentary evidence to the contrary, of equal force, to discredit the official statements of these three different bodies of the Rite at Albany, Kingston, Jamaica and Philadelphia, who were subordinates of this great secret organization of which Frederick was the recognized head. Edgar Alien Poe in his "Murders in the Rue Morgue" goes into the almost overwhelming percentage or degree of probability when three persons testify to a fact. Here are three official and documentary statements, besides a world of tradition and hearsay evidence, that the head of the Rite was in Prussia, and in one case Frederick, King of Prussia, is officially saluted and distinctly addressed as such in an official communication from a subordinate Lodge of Perfection. There is no documentary evidence that he was not.

 

It makes no difference whether there ever was a reply to this letter. The fact exists it was written to Frederick as the head of the Order to which they belonged and was entered in full on the minutes of a Lodge of Perfection, which minutes are now in existence and in the possession of the Scottish Rite bodies of Philadelphia. Pike in his Historical Inquiry, page 170, says, in regard to the Constitutions of 1786, something which may be again quoted as to these minutes:

 

In law, documents of great age, found in the possession of those interested under them, to whom they rightfully belong and with whom they might naturally be expected to be found, are admitted in evidence without proof, to establish title or facts. They prove themselves, and to be avoided must be disproved by evidence. There is no evidence against the genuineness of these Grand Constitutions.

 

In the same manner, there is no evidence that Frederick was not the head of the Rite of Perfection, changed into the Scottish Rite by the Constitutions of 1786, and there is written documentary evidence that he was the head. In the June issue of THE BUILDER, page 161, it is said in Lantoine's article, "Certain discords which unexpectedly arose in Germany in 1782 inspired him with fear lest Masonry become the prey of anarchy." This is a condensation of a statement in the Constitutions of 1786 itself. Pike, in his Historical Inquiry, page 158, quotes the preface to the Constitutions at some length, from which we may only take the following as from that document:

 

"Recent and urgent representations which of late have reached us from every quarter, have satisfied us of the urgent necessity of erecting a strong barrier against that spirit of intolerance, sectarianism, schism and anarchy, which late innovators are busily laboring to introduce among the brethren--which by changing the nature of the true art of Freemasonry, necessarily tend to lead it astray and thus may bring the Order into general contempt and lead to its extinction. And we, advised of WHAT IS NOW PASSING IN THE NEIGHBORING KINGDOMS, cannot but admit the existence of this urgent and pressing necessity." Certainly these passages faithfully describe the condition of things existing in Freemasonry in Germany in 1786, the perversion of its forms and ceremonies to the purposes of the Illuminati and the disturbances and troubles called by the latter Order in Bavaria and elsewhere; as well as the supposed and firmly believed, possession of the Rite of Strict Observance by the Jesuits. A forger after the French Revolution would never have thought of assigning these particular reasons.

 

The tremendous mystification and alleged swindling which took place in Germany, in addition to the suppression of these orders in Bavaria, and all the disturbances which Pikes relates in detail, thoroughly disgusted the Germans, and the French Revolution and Napoleon completed the work. They now look with shame on the higher degrees, as reminders of their former disgrace, and wish to deny that there was ever anything else in Germany but the three degrees. It is folly to stick one's head in the sand, ostrichlike, and deny historical facts. Gould had the assistance of good German scholars, and he says the "Premier Chapter of Clermont" was organized in Berlin, in 1758, and exists there to this day, as an adjunct "To the Three Globes" Grand Lodge. Perhaps Lantoine can explain this, as the Grand Orient attempted to explain the origin of the Nuremberg alleged Masonic Federation "To the Rising Sun," which was organized, with its approval. as a Grand Lodge in recent years by men who were not only not representing constituent lodges but some of whom were not even Masons.

 

In THE BUILDER for May, 1920, page 120, there is a quotation from Albert G. Mackey concerning the Royal and Select Masters Degrees in which he said:

 

The degrees belong of right to the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and the claim to them has never been abandoned by that body. At the establishment of the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem in Charleston, S. C., on the 20th February, 1788, by Joseph M. Myers, Barend M. Spitzer and A. Forst, Deputy Inspectors General of Frederick II of Prussia. Myers deposited in the archives of the Council certified copies of the said degrees from Berlin in Prussia. Copies of these degrees are still retained in the archives of the Supreme Council.

 

As Mackey was the Secretary of this Supreme Council, he should know. His honesty has never been questioned, so far as I know.

 

Rev. John Dove was an honored Protestant minister in Richmond who was for years Secretary of the Grand Lodge and of the Royal Arch Chapter. In the book, Jews and Masonry before 1810, by S.Oppenheim, page 50, it is stated that he was one of those who received the higher degrees from Joseph M. Myers. Dove says in his History of the Grand Lodge of Virginia:

 

"It was fortunate for Masonry that both Da Costa and Myers who had been appointed through Frederick the Second on the mission of Masonic propagandism in America, 'were Israelites and well-educated men'."

 

There is no need for further quotation. Books could be written with the hearsay evidence and tradition that Frederick II, King of Prussia, was the head of the Rite which became the Scottish Rite on May 1, 1786. We have given written documentary evidence that cannot be denied.

 

It seems to the writer that we will have to form in America our own school of research, unbiased by the prejudices and theories that sway the French, German and English writers. It is hard to understand those Masonic writers who only accept what they want to believe and try to belittle and get around official documents to the contrary. Our motto should be, "Follow the Truth," no matter where it leads. If we find, from the official records, that Frederick II was the head of the Rite, that is now the Scottish Rite, to which the bodies belonged, what of it? Why try to explain it; away? What is the motive?

 

We are slowly obtaining more information on all Masonic subjects, and much more is due to come out in the next few years if we approach these subjects in a spirit of impartiality, only seeking to know the facts and without desiring to bolster up some preconceived theories or prejudices. Above all, let us not denounce those facts as "Fables" which we do not want to believe or that are against us.

 

----o----

 

The 1745-1747 Rose Croix Chapter at Arras

 

By BRO. A. L. KRESS, Pennsylvania

 

FROM time to time reference is made to a legendary Rose Croix Chapter supposed to have been founded by Prince Charles Edward Stuart at Arras, France, about 1745-47. Exponents of the Jacobite legend in Freemasonry as well as writers upon the history of the "higher degrees" are particularly prone to cite the traditional account given by Thory. This appeared in THE BUILDER May, 1925, page 148.

 

It might be of interest to set down here what another French Masonic historian has to say about the thing. J. E. Daruty, in his excellent "Recherches sur le Rite Ecossais", 1879, page 174 (footnote) says, in referring to Thory's version of the charter:

 

"But this text presents several differences from that of the copy discovered by M. le Comte du Hamel, whose authenticity cannot be doubted since M. le Comte d'Hericourt - a distinguished archeologist who in a letter printed April 9, 1853, by the Athenaeum Francais, No. 15, has victoriously refuted the objections raised to his proposal - tells us 'some honorable people in the city of Arras have identified their fathers' signatures at the bottom of the paper and these signatures are identical with those found among the family papers preserved in the departmental archives.' The text reproduced by Thory bears the date Thursday, 15th day of the 2nd month 1747. . . . This date is erroneous; April 15, 1747, falls on Saturday; the date given by du Hamel, on the other hand, conforms with the calendar of 1745, the 15th of April, 1745, corresponding with the day given, Thursday. Two other established facts, moreover, prove Thory's date an error of the copyist: 1st, he says himself this Scottish Jacobite Chapter was formed in 1745; 2nd, May 28, 1845, the Chapter of Arras, Valley of Paris, celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the metropolitan chapter. Finally we know from Bro. Woodford that Charles Edward Stuart had been made a Knight Templar Sept. 24, 1745, at Holy Rood Palace, Edinburgh, and from 'A Winter with Robert Burns,' page 54, that the same day he was elected and installed Grand Master of the Royal Order. If the charter we reproduce was actually dated 1747, the prince would not have failed to add these titles to those he enumerated and to pose as installed Grand Master. He was content to say: 'We, Charles Edward Stuart, pretender king, etc., and in this quality S.G.M. of the Chapter, etc."'

 

Now here we have a case where two French historians do not agree. Each claims to have seen an authentic copy of the famous charter but the two copies are far from identical. The best advice we can give present day writers who are tempted to repeat one version or the other is to consider the legend as a sort of pious fraud, unless they themselves can produce facts to substantiate the story. As far as we are concerned, we should be satisfied with nothing less than a photostat copy of the original document if it is in existance. Thory said it was carefully guarded in the archives of the Lodge La Constance at Arras. Any document which purports to show such titles or degrees as Knight of the Eagle and Pelican were in use in 1745 or 1747 can be viewed with suspicion. We have a right to expect something more from our brothers who wish to write Masonic history today, than that they shall indiscriminately repeat, without substantiation, such 18th century tales as this.

 

----o----

 

Lord Stirling's Macaronis

 

By BRO. WILLIAM M. STUART, New York

 

 JAMES ALEXANDER, heir presumptive to the Scottish Earl of Stirling, participated in the Jacobite insurrection of 1716, and when the cause failed fled to the colony of New York, where he arrived in 1716. Here he married the widow of David Prevoost and became the father of a son, born in New York City in 1726.

 

This son, William Alexander, achieved fame in American history and was present at one of the most dramatic episodes in the bloody story of the Republic. He participated in the French and Indian War and later accompanied General Shirley to England, where he resorted to law in order to have the title Earl of Stirling restored to him. Though he was unsuccessful in this, it was generally conceded that it was his due, and he was almost invariably addressed as Lord Stirling.

 

He returned to America in 1761, married the daughter of Philip Livingston and built a mansion at Baskenridge, N. J. For several years he was a member of the Provincial Council of New Jersey, and in 1775 was appointed colonel of the first regiment of militia. When the revolution broke out he espoused the cause of America and was appointed by Congress, in March, 1776, a Brigadier-General of the Continental Line. He was at that time fifty years of age and a Master Mason.

 

When General William Howe made his descent on Long Island, in August, 1776, with sixteen thousand British troops, Lord Stirling was placed in command of the right wing of the American army, under General Putnam, which, from the heights of Brooklyn, endeavored to defend the approach to the city in that direction. Putnam's entire force did not exceed 5000 men.

 

Nearly all the leaders of the American army in and about New York City at this time were Masons. Washington's affiliation with the Craft is too well known to need further notice. General Nathanael Greene, who, until he was taken ill, commanded the division on Long Island, was a Mason. His successor, Israel Putnam, was of the Order. General John Sullivan, who commanded the left of the army on Brooklyn Heights, was later the first Grand Master of Masons in New Hampshire. General Hand, commanding the center, was a Mason. We have already noted that Lord Stirling, who led the American right wing, was a brother of the Mystic Tie. The regiment of picked men from Maryland, which bulks large in this story, was commanded by Colonel Smallwood, a Mason. One battalion of this organization was led by Major Mordecai Gist, later Master of a military lodge, and eventually Grand Master of Masons in South Carolina. Captain Nathan Hale, of the 19th Continental Foot, at about this time dispatched on the trip that was to earn for him immortality, had recently been made a Mason in St. John's Regimental Lodge, one of the ten military lodges in the American army. Truly, Masons were on guard at this time of national peril.

 

Early on the morning of Aug. 27 General Putnam was informed that the left wing of the British army, under the command of General Grant, was advancing up the road that led from the Narrows along the shore of the bay. Accordingly Old Put at once dispatched Lord Stirling with a force of 1500 men to oppose this offensive. Stirling's brigade consisted of three regiments from Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, commanded respectively by Colonels Atlee, Haslet and Bro. Smallwood. It was three o'clock when the column started and by daybreak it had crossed a creek which empties into Gowanus Bay, and to the west of what is now Greenwood Cemetery met Grant's advance defiling along the dusty road.

 

Bro. Stirling formed his line with Atlee on the left of Martense's lane, while the rest of his troops he placed at the right of the main road on the slope of a little hill. He stationed two fieldpieces in position to sweep the road and waited for Grant's attack.

 

The British leader advanced his troops to an orchard about one hundred and fifty yards from Stirling's line and began volley firing. His cannon also opened upon the Americans, and the mists of early morning were soon obscured by clouds of powder smoke.

 

Grant's advance parties were eventually driven back and he then formed his heavy columns on the slopes of the hills, about six hundred yards away, and continued the battle mainly by artillery. He did not display any great desire to close, and many of the inexperienced soldiers in the American army attributed his hesitancy to fear. An American officer afterward wrote concerning this part of the battle:

 

Our regiments stood upwards of four hours with a firm and determined countenance in close array, their colors flying, the enemy's artillery playing on them all the while not daring to advance and attack them, though six times their number and nearly surrounding them.

 

Little did this officer realize that Grant's mission was merely to amuse Stirling's men until such time as the British right should force the pass held by Bro. Sullivan's division, surround the entire American army and work ruin to the patriot cause. That the British were not entirely successful was owing to some other things over which they had no control.

 

As the young American soldiers stood there in their pride and looked scornfully upon the foe, the most conspicuous part of the line was the Maryland regiment commanded by Colonel Smallwood. This corps was garbed in smart uniforms of scarlet and buff, the men wore their hair long and twisted into a queue which they kept well powdered, they were better armed and better drilled than most of the ragged patriot force, and they shaved EVERY DAY. Hence this regiment, composed as it was of young men from the best families of Maryland, had been scornfully dubbed "The Macaronis." In the eighteenth century "Macaroni" was the equivalent for the modern term, "dude."

 

The Macaronis were the flower of Maryland, and though they well knew the contempt in which they were held by the yeomanry of New England, they stood this hot August morning on the slope of the little hill, their colors flapping in the breeze, their drums throbbing, and waited like gentlemen unafraid for the attack of the enemy.

 

Many of those men were Master Masons, and it is but anticipating a little to state that in the battle of Long Island, American Unity Regimental Lodge alone had two members killed and eight taken prisoner, including the Worshipful Master, while in the British invading army twenty military lodges were represented. Masonry was much in evidence on both sides during the war of the Revolution.

 

And so while the sun climbed toward meridian and the day grew hot the desultory battle between Stirling and Grant dragged along. Then about noon Stirling heard off toward his left a tremendous burst of cannonading and musketry. Heavy masses of smoke rolled up into the clear sky. The roar of battle came nearer, converging towards Gowanus Creek which was behind his line.

 

Stirling was not only being flanked, he was being surrounded.

 

If he were to lead his force from the trap in which it had been placed he must be quick about it. It was obvious that the American left had been rolled up and destroyed. Stirling's only course was now to march his brigade across the creek which was spanned by a bridge and a milldam, and which could be forded at low tide. The tide was now beginning to come in.

 

Detailing some detachments to skirmish with Grant and cover the retreat, Lord Stirling led his little force back along the road down which he had advanced that morning. As his columns started he heard toward the northeast two timed cannon shots--a signal. And as he came in sight of the old Cortelyou house, which was near the bridge at Bower's Mill, he saw the sheen of scarlet, a forest of bayonets. He was already cut off from the creek!

 

Lord Cornwallis, leading his division along a cross road, had attained Stirling's rear, fired the signal for Grant to advance, and himself was marching straight toward the American column. Stirling acted with promptness. He knew that the occasion demanded a sacrifice. If he could drive Cornwallis back up the road and clear the entrance to the bridge, most of the surrounded brigade could escape across the creek. Could mortal men roll back that overwhelming force in front ? If any were to escape, it must at least be tried. Already Grant's men were charging.

 

Rapidly Stirling gave his directions to the various colonels, then, turning to the first battalion of Smallwood's Maryland regiment, which battalion was commanded by Bro. Gist, he said, as he waved his sword toward the dense masses of Cornwallis' division. "Gentlemen, forward--charge !"

 

With a loud shout the despised Macaronis leveled their bayonets and advanced with firm tread close behind the horse of the dauntless brigadier. Their gaudy uniforms glistened in the fierce sunlight, some of the boyish faces were drawn and white, others smiled, but upon all was the look of resolution begotten of that indefinable something termed noblesse oblige.

 

The column of Cornwallis halted, deployed into line. Came a burst of fire and a cloud of eddying smoke that for a moment concealed the ranks of the King's Grenadiers. Many of the Macaronis crumpled and sprawled grotesquely in the dust. But "Forward !" shouted Lord Stirling. "Gentlemen, charge !"

 

And so along the road with trailed arms ran the flower of Maryland. They struck the British line. Bayonets crossed, gunbutts thudded, oaths, grunts, yells sounded everywhere. In the fog of dust and powder smoke men lunged, fell, retreated a pace, returned again to the attack. But the pressure of the heavy British line was too much. Back down the road the Marylanders were forced, disputing every inch. They rallied and charged again more fiercely than before. When they started their first attack they were 400 strong; but not now. Back on a hill within the American line His Excellency, General Washington, gazed anxiously through his glass. "Good God!" he murmured, "what brave men I must lose this day !"

 

Washington had noted Stirling's danger before the brigadier became aware that he was being surrounded, but could not warn him. The commander-in-chief had thought that Stirling would surrender his entire brigade when he saw there was no hope. But now that swirling cloud of dust, interspersed with points of gleaming steel, in the road that skirted Greenwood hill gave evidence what manner of men were those who were charging with the doughty brigadier to save the rest of the detachment.

 

The Delaware regiment and the Pennsylvanians, taking advantage of the fierce conflict, began to splash across the creek into which the tide was setting fast. The Delaware troops mostly attained the American line, covered with mud and slime, their flag in shreds, but bringing with them a few prisoners.

 

Back on the south side of Gowanus Creek the fight of the Macaronis still continued. While they strove with the troops of Cornwallis in front, the bullets of Grant's men were sweeping into their backs. Outnumbered ten to one, they still fought that their comrades might escape.

 

And now they succeeded in forcing Cornwallis back. The way to the bridgehead was clear. Along this avenue of escape surged more of the fugitive brigade. It began to look as though Cornwallis would be driven clear off the field. Around old Cortelyou house men lay in grisly heaps. The Marylanders were paying the price. But they paid it without regret. And they exacted full toll in return. Never had the regulars of the king met on the field of battle men like unto these youths known to their comrades as "The Macaronis."

 

To the hard pressed Lord Cornwallis came reinforcements. His incipient retreat was stayed. His men surged forward. Fierce, inflamed faces burst out of the smoke all about Major Gist's battalion. Lord Stirling, who had been encouraging his men with voice and action, now roared in tones heard above the turmoil that the soldiers should look to their own safety and effect their retreat if possible. The fierce little fight had been raging over twenty minutes. Most of the brigade had made their escape from the field. But now the entrance to the bridge was again closed by masses of scarlet.

 

Back down the road over which they had surged many times the remnant of Gist's battalion retreated toward a patch of woods that seemed to offer sanctuary. They attained the woods, dressed their line. The erstwhile brilliant uniforms were torn and covered with dust and blood, bayonets were bent or broken, youthful faces disfigured with cuts and bruises. They were few now, but still undismayed. Taking stock of themselves, they raised a cheer and again charged with the bayonet at the overwhelming masses of Grenadiers !

 

They were young, these American soldiers, full of enthusiasm and love of the cause. They came of the oldest and most honored families in Maryland--a proud state. They were overpowered, outnumbered many times, but they served the purpose for which their commander had called them. They could foresee their fate, but determined to make a fine end. Never again should the British say that Americans would not fight.

 

And so with resolution writ on their boyish faces and cheers on their lips, they charged again and again most gallantly into the ruck of scarlet and steel. Some were driven into a cornfield and there bayoneted, fighting desperately to the last. Back on the hill within the American lines Bro. Washington gazed sadly at them through his glass and marveled withal at their courage.

 

At last Lord Stirling, having done all that was humanly possible, sought out the British General De Heister and surrendered. Of the 400 men he had led on that forlorn hope, 259 lay dead on the field of honor. while every survivor was wounded!

 

And thus was the first battalion of "The Macaronis'' mustered out.

 

----o----

 

WHAT IS MASONRY DOING FOR INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS?

 

This is a question more frequently asked than Masons generally suppose, and in this age of vigorous thought and mental activity, when every association of men is engaged in the acquisition of knowledge, it becomes a question of great moment to our fraternity. There is something more needed than mere ceremony, venerable and imposing as it may be, to commend the Order to the favorable regard of the present investigating and utilitarian age. Cui bono, to what good? That is the question everywhere, and the social and intellectual progress of the age requires a response.

 

Suppose a school teacher were to sit all day, and every day, at his table, describing circles with his compasses, drawing right lines with rule, or building up geometrical figures with peculiarly shaped blocks of wood, without one word of explanation; or suppose he at the same time repeated a certain formula of words - always the same - as explanatory of his problems, what would be the result on the minds of his pupils? Would they not very soon conclude that their teacher was the fossilized remains of some ancient automaton, and of fully as much use as the green bird in the cage which echoes the words it hears other repeat?

 

One thing is certain, if Masonry does not keep pace with humanity, in its moral and intellectual achievements, it will be left behind in the general progress of our race, or stowed away in some collection of the curiosities of antiquity. We do not say it is necessary for Masonry to change its essential or distinctive features; this it need not – cannot - do, but it must adapt itself to the altered condition of the world around it, and make its power and influence felt in other ways than hewing stone and squaring timbers.

 

The question recurs, what shall we do? Shall we go on to confer degrees, open and close our lodges - traveling on the same perpetual round - maintaining the form but destitute of the spirit of the Order? Or shall we catch the inspiration of the age, and shaking off the incubus that has weighed us to the earth, start anew in the race for usefulness and improvement?

 

Shall we suffer the noble energies with which nature has gifted us to waste and decay in useless indolence, the tremendous power for weal that our brotherhood can exert to slumber in inactivity? No! Shall we not rather gather all the powers of our soul, all the strength and confidence that a noble fraternity can give, and with an earnest will and self-sacrificing devotion, bend them all to the great purpose of promoting intellectual progress and the moral improvement of our race? [The Masonic Review, 1855]

 

----o----

 

EDITORIAL

 

R. J. MEEKREN Editor‑in‑Charge

 

BOARD OF EDITORS

 

LOUIS BLOCK, Iowa

ROBERT L. CLEGG, Ohio

GILBERT W. DAYNES, England

RAY V. DENSLOW, Missouri

GEORGE H. DERN, Utah

N.W.J. HAYDON, Canada

R.V. Harris, Canada

C. C. HUNT, Iowa

CHARLES F. IRWIN. Ohio

A.L. KRESS, Pennsylvania

F.H. LITTKLEFIELD, Missouri

JOSEPH E. MORCOMBE, California

JOSEPH FORT NEWTON, New York

ARTHUR C. PARKER, New York

JESSE M. WHITED, California

DAVID E. W. WILLIAMSON, Nevada

 

THE PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED

 

ON a following page will be found a statement of the President of the N.M.T.S.A., repeating the purpose of the approaching meeting of the Board of Governors of the Association, and the questions that will have to be discussed and in some measure answered, before a definite policy can be adopted. It will be seen that they are many, and reed much careful thought in order to arrive at the best, that is, the most practical solution.

 

First of all arises the scope of the relief to be attempted. That decided the question of ways and means. Much is to be said in favor of local treatment and the use of existing agencies, one great advantage being that relief can begin at once without capital outlay. On the other hand there is the consensus of expert opinion that sanatarium treatment is more efficient and successful. In addition to which is the psychologic effect of having institutions of our own, which is always great and not by any means to be ignored.

 

It is very possible that a combination of the two is the better way. A point has been raised by a prominent Mason, who we hope will be at the meeting, which might cause difficulties later on if not foreseen and provided for, and that is the allocation of beds in any sanatoria to be erected (or the distribution of relief, if that method be employed) as between different jurisdictions. Of course the Craft should be as one in such a matter, as theoretically it is, but actually it is divided into many independent units, most of them officially very punctilious about their rights and privileges as such. What if one helped less than others and wanted more assistance for its own members? It would be only the present state of affairs spread over a wide area. Up till now the three jurisdictions who have fewest cases of their own have been trying to relieve those of the rest of the country. It would seem however that the only really fraternal way is for all to contribute pro rata, and to receive aid as it is needed, regarding Masonry in this matter as a solid unit functioning through the N. M. T. S. A.

 

Finally is the greatest problem of all, the finding the necessary means. Without that the whole thing must remain visionary, a scheme on paper. This question is doubtless the one that everybody concerned will have considered most carefully and therefore need not be touched on here. Only we feel that there is no doubt whatever that the great majority of Masons will gladly contribute each his share if they all be satisfied that it is well and economically applied to the end in view.

 

* * *

 

APOLOGIES

 

The following effort in the modern manner of writing poetry, generally and inconsistently called "free verse," appeared in the Northeast Corner for October, the publicity sheet of the N.M.T.S.A. Whatever judgment might be passed upon it as art, so far as the Craft in this country is concerned, it has a certain "kick":

 

I USED to laugh

AT YOU and make poor

JOKES AT your expense

WHEN YOU marched by

IN A PARADE, with your

TIN AXES on your

SHOULDERS, wearing

YOUR MODEST uniforms and

I FELT VERY superior and

SOMETHING LIKE that

PHARISEE OF o'd who

THOUGUT H'MSELF better

THAN OTHER men for you

WERE ONLY the

WOODMEN OF THE WORLD

AND I a Freemason and

I THOUGHT of you as

JUST a cheap imitation

OF THE greatest and

OLDEST FRATERNITY in the

WORLD, THE Ancient and

ACCEPTED ORDER of Free

MASONS, THE noblest

BROTHERHOOD of all.

BUT NOW I hang my head

IN SHAME and I want to

PUBLICLY apologize to

YOU AND TELL the world

HOW YOU ARE taking care

OF YOUR consumptive

BRETHREN IN a great

SANATORIUM in San Antonio,

SOME OF whom are also

MASONS AND our brethren

WHOM WE have neglected

AND YOU are restoring

SICK HUSBANDS and fathers

TO WIVES and Kiddies

WHILE WE Freemasons are

SPENDING MILLIONS of DOLLARS

TO BUILD marble palaces

IN WHICH we meet just

ONCE IN A while. . .

 

Some years ago the writer attended the funeral of a member of his lodge, an old and much respected Past Master. There was a large attendance though it was a cold and stormy winter day in Northern Vermont. The deceased was not only a Mason but a member of other fraternal organizations. There was in addition to the Masons a large turnout of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and with them a little handful of Woodmen of the World, who took the place of least honor in the procession. It was the first that many of us even knew that they were established in the vicinity; and the present writer's feelings were exactly those described in the quotation above. The lodge had ,sent a magnificent wreath and two other Masonic lodges had sent flowers also. So also had the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. If the Woodmen had sent any they were so insignificant they were not noticed.

 

Our dead brother was a well-to-do farmer who in his later years had retired to live in a little country village. The writer learned afterwards from a near relative that during his last illness it was Woodmen who arranged to come every day and do chores, shovel snow, get in wood, feed the horse and cow, go errands to the store; and at the last it was Woodmen who took turns to sit up at night with the dying man and give his wife some time to sleep. Not a single Mason went to see him; not one offered to help.

 

There was of course some reason for this. The Woodmen's organization was right in the village; the other bodies were all in the town some seven or eight miles away. The roads were bad and so on. Still we had little reason to feel superior and scorn the "tin axes" and blue overalls. We also apologize.

 

* * *

 

HELP WANTED

 

SOME time ago, it was last March to be precise, we suggested that one thing a brother interested in the tuberculosis campaign could do was to write to his Grand Master and other influential members of his Grand Lodge. Since then a good deal has been done, the question has entered, what in the profane world would be known as the field of "live politics." It is now realized apparently by the rulers and leaders of the Craft, both official and unofficial, that there is a crying need, a need that if not now a disgrace, will be certainly if it continues, and there appears now to be a well-grounded hope that something will be done. The Masonic press of the country has done its part, very few of our periodicals have ignored the matter altogether, even the smallest, while many have devoted considerable space to the subject.

 

Yet the battle is by no means won, the problems of finance, and perhaps still more of management, remain to be solved, and at every step there will be occasion for the faint‑hearted and the inert to say it is impossible to go on. On the meeting to be held on the nineteenth of this month a great deal depends. The Board of Governors of the Association is very largely, or almost entirely, an official organization, as reference to the list on a following page will show. Fourteen of the twenty‑five are present Grand Masters, six are Past Grand Masters, and three are Grand Wardens. Now it is obvious that men in official positions, and burdened by the responsibilities of office, cannot act with the freedom they might otherwise wish to do. They cannot agree to go further than they feel sure of the backing of their own Grand Lodge, and ultimately of the members of the subordinate lodges of their respective jurisdictions. Here is where the individual brother can do much to strengthen their hands. It needs no more than to write a letter expressing belief in the necessity of doing something, and promise of support. A member of the Board who goes to the meeting after receiving fifty or a hundred such letters cannot but feel differently about difficulties. Instead of having to pull those behind him, he will already feel them pushing towards the surmounting of the final obstacles.

 

* * *

 

DREAMS

 

DO they come true? Sometimes, perhaps. One much discussed school of psychology interprets them as fulfillments of wishes that the world of reality denies, and that when one comes to think of it is very much what we mean in common usage when we speak of dreams and dreamers.

 

But they are not all of one sort. The visions of poets and prophets are not to be lightly classed with the confused phantasies of the night, yet they too may be wishes, wishes for what might be if men and the world came nearer to the heart's desire; wishes that the Divine will might be done on earth as in Heaven.

 

From Arizona comes a strange story, one that raises wonder. Brief and bald as it is it sounds like the motif of a fairy story or a romance. One would like to know more about this man with a fantastic dream; but probably he was only a little insane. Number 128 be goes by in the lists of the N.M.T.S.A., and he hailed from the woods and streams of Maine. A contrast rather to the bare rocks and mountains and waterless valleys of the land of his search. Thus runs the record:

 

"Had lived in Arizona for 35 years, living in the open for the most part, prospecting, in hopes that some day he would strike it rich and be able to build a sanatorium to take care of afflicted Masons. Died destitute in a hospital in Phoenix in August, 1926. Arizona Lodge, No. 2, gave him a Masonic funeral, bearing all expenses.

 

The lonely prospector seeking gold and health, dying at last destitute. It might have been more in keeping had he died alone in the desert and that, like Moses, no man should have known his sepulchre.

 

Had he struck it rich his vision might have been made a reality, who knows? Wealth changes men often enough, and we all too easily forget. And if it had been so it would have brought a beautiful dream down to earth and clipped its wings, and enclosed it in a shell of bricks and mortar to be part of the commonplace every-day world, incomplete and imperfect.

 

Failure is often greater than success, it depends on the aim in view. The way to all truly great achievements has been paved with failure and defeat. This pilgrimage in the desert for thirty-five years has brought him to the Great Asylum ‑ and he has entered into silence. There are other sources of wealth than the gold of the sands and the silver in the rocks. Will the tale prove an "open Sesame" to the hearts of his brethren? If it were so then might his dream after all at last come true.

 

----o----

 

THE NORTHEAST CORNER

 

Bulletin of the

National Masonic Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association

Incorporated by Authority of the Grand Lodge of New Mexico, A.F. & A.M.

MASONIC TEMPLE, ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

 

OFFICERS AND BOARD OF GOVERNORS

 

HERBERT B. HOLT, Grand Master, President

JAFFA MILLER, Vice-President

RICHARD H. HANNA, Vice-President

ALPHEUS A. KEEN, Secretary

FRANCIS E LESTER, Executive Secretary, Las Cruces, New Mexico

JOHN W. TURNER, Treasurer

 

ARIZONA - Lloyd C. Henning, Holbrook.

ARKANSAS - Claude L. Hill, Grand Master, Booneville.

CONNECTICUT - Fred A. Borland, Past Grand Master, South Manchester.

FLORIDA - Cary B. Fish, Grand Master, Sarasota.

IDAHO - Will H. Gibson, Grand Master, Boise.

KENTUCKY - G. Allison Holland, Grand Master, Lexington.

MINNESOTA -  Albert F. Pray, Grand Master, Minneapolis,

MISSISSIPPI - John R. Tally, Grand Master, Hattiesburg.

MISSOURI - Wm. W. Martin, Grand Master, Daniphan

NEW JERSEY - Benjamin F. Havens, Junior Grand Warden, Trenton.

NEW MEXICO - Herbert B. Holt, Grand Master, Las Cruces.

NORTH CAROLINA - Dr. J. C. Braswell, Past Grand Master, Whitakers.

OKLAHOMA - Gilbert B. Bristow, Past Grand Master, Roosevelt.

RHODE ISLAND - Howard Knight, Past Grand Master, Providence.

SOUTH CAROLINA - Charlton DuRant, Grand Master, Manning

SOUTH DAKOTA - L. M. Simons, Grand Master, Bellefourche.

TENNESSEE - Andrew E. McCullagh, Grand Master, Maryville.

TEXAS - Dr. Felix P. Miller, El Paso.

UTAH - Fred M. Nye, Ogden.

VERMONT - Christie B. Crowell, Grand Master, Brattleboro.

NORTH DAKOTA - Dr. J. S. Lamont, Dunseith.

WASHINGTON - Morton Gregory, Grand Master, Masonic Temple, Tacoma.

WlSCONSIN - Fred L. Wright, Past Senior Grand Warden, Milwaukee.

WYOMING - Frank S. Knittle, Grand Master, Casper.

 

ORDER OF THE EASTERN STAR, GENERAL GRAND CHAPTER - Mrs. Clara Henrich, Most Worthy Grand Matron, Newport, Ky.

ROBERT J NEWTON Editor Publicity Director N. M, T. S. A. Las Cruces New Mexico.

 

THE CHICAGO MEETING

 

Grand Master Herbert B. Holt, of New Mexico, president of the National Masonic Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association, in reference to the meeting of the Board of Governors of the Association at the Hotel Sherman, Chicago, on Nov. 19, at 10 a. in., which is to determine the plans and policies of the Association in carrying on its work, makes the following statement:

 

We have called this meeting at this time and place in order to save time and expense for our Board members and others interested in this movement. The contemplated annual conference of Grand Masters, and the meeting of the Masonic Service Association, to be held in Chicago during the same week, will bring together the leaders of every Grand Jurisdiction. The problem of Masonic tubercular relief will doubtless be discussed in both of these gatherings and the members of the Sanatoria Association Board who are charged with the duty of planning for relief of our consumptive brethren on a national scale, and for the financing of that work, will have the benefit of the views and opinions of Masonic leaders from all parts of the country.

 

In order to determine the size of our problem, one of the first things we shall have to decide is just how far we shall go in the care of sick Masons and members of their families. Shall relief be limited to Master Masons only or shall we also aid a Master Mason in the care of his sick wife or a sick child? Shall we help him in the care of a sick relative who is dependent upon him for support?

 

What form shall this relief work take? Shall we give relief in the home, shall we hospitalize our sick in existing institutions, or shall we limit our work to the construction of Masonic Sanatoria and the care of our sick therein?

 

If we give home relief, how shall it be administered? Shall we, where necessary, pay weekly compensation to sick Masons and their families to add to the family income the few dollars needful to give the patient nourishing food, to help pay the rent and take care of other needs? Shall we arrange for him to secure medical attention by the physicians of tuberculosis clinics? Shall we secure for him the services of tuberculosis visiting nurses, employed by tuberculosis societies and health departments? Shall we also secure physical examination and medical attention for the members of his family, especially the children, to safeguard them against the development of the disease?

 

Shall we arrange with existing tuberculosis hospitals for his care and treatment and pay for same? Shall we also arrange for hospital and institutional care for members of his familyy to save them from tuberculosis ?

 

If we determine to build one or more Masonic Sanatoria, where shall they be built? What shall be the approximate size and cost of same? How much will it cost to operate them?

 

If we undertake all or part of the work as outlined above, how much will it cost, and how shall we raise the money to carry it on? How much will it cost each individual Mason, and what is the most economical way of securing his assistance for his sick brethren? How can the large sums needful for Masonic tubercular relief be gathered together from the 3,250,000 American Freemasons, living in forty‑nine Grand Jurisdictions at a minimum of expense for collection?

 

These are the principal questions to be answered by the members of our Board. They need and they ask the advice and assistance of their brethren in the solution of these problems. We invite our interested brethren to communicate their views on these subjects. All such correspondence should be addressed to Francis F. Lester, Executive Secretary.

 

ENDORSEMENT BY GEORGE W. GRAHAM

 

Congressman George W. Graham, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, and Past Grand Master of Pennsylvania, writes as follows:

 

You ask for an expression of opinion upon the plan which the Grand Lodge of New Mexico has inaugurated for the relief and hospitalization of consumptive Masons.

 

I think the need fox such aid is pressing. I regard the plan as most commendable and well worth the support of the Masonic fraternity throughout the country.

 

PHOENIX, ARIZ., HAS TUBERCULOUS MASONS

 

No. 137, Grand Lodge of Illinois.

 

Arizona Lodge, No. 2, recently made a report to the National Masonic Tuberculosis Sanatoria Association on the number of T B Masons and relatives of Masons in and about that city, and also gave a brief report on the condition of a Iimited number of them. We give a few of these. reports as follows:

 

She Died for Lack of Hospital Care

 

No. 105, Grand Lodge of Illinois.

 

Bro.  ____ wife was ordered to go to the hospital for an operation on her lungs to effect a cure. He was unable financially to send her and appealed to his home lodge, who refused him the help needed. Arizona Lodge, No. 2, Phoenix, came to his aid and furnished the necessary funds. She had the operation at St. Joseph's Hospital but never rallied. Proper hospitalization would have undoubtedly saved her for her husband and children.

 

No Masonic Help for Him

 

No. 107, Grand Lodge of Iowa.

 

Brought to Phoenix about Dec. 1, 1925, in a wheeled chair, being in the employ of the Railway Express service out of Omaha, Neb., he was able to secure R. R. passes for self and wife. Resources gave out Jan. 15, after wife became ill, and were aided financially by Arizona Lodge, No. 2, and after considerable wiring to his lodge and the Grand Charity Fund of Iowa, Arizona Lodge, No. 2, finally got them on a basis of $35 per month from the Grand Charity Fund of Iowa which, together with the employment obtained for Mrs. ____ at the local telephone office, made, it possible for them to live. The climatic conditions improved the brother's health considerably and they have now gone to Colorado where he expects to try to do his old work and retain his seniority rights. Recent word states that he will have to return to Phoenix in order to get the benefit derived from Arizona's dry climate and sunshine. Several months proper hospitalization would no doubt effect a cure.

 

T B Wife and T B Brother-in-Law

 

No. 108, Grand Lodge of Missouri.

 

Wife T B. Came about Jan. 1, 1926. Have a daughter 10 years old. Also accompanied by brother-in-law, his wife and two children. Brother-in-law not Masonic but a T B, Bro. ____ being main support of whole family. After using all his own resources, making great sacrifices by disposing of everything, relinquishing insurance (industrial) carried up n himself, wife and child, finally appealed to Arizona Lodge No. 2, who assisted and secured further assistance from his home lodge until Arizona, No. 2, finally was able to get employment for him.

 

Phoenix Lodge Supports Illinois Brother

 

No. 137, Grand Lodge of Illinois.

 

Came to Phoenix in the fall of 1922. Wife and two minor children, he suffering with T B and no resources. Appealed for Masonic charity through Arizona Lodge, No. 2, who in turn supplied immediate needs and took up matter with Maywood Lodge who failed to respond to the appeal. Arizona Lodge. No. 2, with the help of county assistance, procured through Masonic influence, supported family until June, 1926, expending $600 of Arizona Lodge funds even though Bro. ____  was a member of Illinois.

 

Repairing Temple, Could Not Help Mason's Daughter

 

No. 142 Grand Lodge of Tennessee.

 

She was a daughter of a Mason, who was a member of Lodge No. ____ Tenn. Appeal was made to this lodge for financial aid for her and was refused on account of repairs upon the building which has to be done and therefore did not have the money to send for her assistance. An appeal was made to the Grand Lodge of Tennessee hoping that she might be placed in the Orphan's Home which they maintain in that state. But the Grand Lodge replied that so long as she was over 21 years of age, she was not an orphan and therefore their Home, according to their laws, could not take her. Some one had to give her aid as she was destitute, and it fell to Arizona Lodge, No. 2, who spent over $600 on her case. None of this, of course, has ever been repaid.

 

Masonic World War Veteran in Need

 

No. 139, Grand Lodge of North Dakota.

 

Ex-service man Canadian forces. Had conducted shoe repair shop at Wickenburg, Ariz., past year or more before coming to Phoenix about Jan. 1, 1925. Resources gone. Through influence Arizona Lodge, No. 2, Masonic medical aid secured and financial assistance secured from Grand Lodge North Dakota. With the assistance of local lodge and several brothers who are lawyers, have been trying to secure hospitalization and pension from Canadian lodge but to date have been unable to secure definite results.

 

Hospital Care Saved Him No. 141, Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

 

This brother came to Phoenix in January, 1924, and was able financially to enter St. Luke's Sanatorium for treatment and rest. Improved enough so that in June, 1926, he went to work for the Southern Pacific R.R.Co. His case one of arrested T B, due undoubtedly to proper hospitalization. Has a wife and five children.

 

FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

 

The following letter needs neither introduction nor explanation. It is from a brother Mason who has been through the mill himself. He was aided and assisted in his battle for health, not by the fraternal organization to which he belongs, as might have been expected, but by his employers.

The movement now on foot to establish a National Masonic Tubercular Sanatoria Association in New Mexico is the most commendable and humanitarian undertaking ever attempted by the Masonic fraternity, and, incidentally, is in line with the teachings of our Craft.

 

I know from personal experience of the vital necessity of such an institution for our unfortunate brethren. Other organizations have long seen the necessity of having such institutions and have maintained them for a number of years, so why can't we do likewise?

 

Several years ago my health commenced to fail, and, after consulting one doctor after another, was finally told that I had T. B. From time immemorial, the word "tuberculosis" seemed to carry with it a "death sentence". It is needless to go into detail and explain how I and my family felt after the so-called "death sentence" was pronounced. The atmosphere immediately turned into one of gloom. When my employers with whom I had spent the best portion of my life heard of the trouble, they immediately advised me to go to a sanatorium with the assurance that my expenses would be taken care of by them. The mere assurance of this on their part was the means of encouragement to strive to get well in spite of all odds. It was a great relief to know this, especially in view of the fact that I was told that if I expected to make any sort of progress, I MUST NOT WORRY. It is this worry over money matters for the proper treatment of tuberculosis that has killed more T. B. patients than the disease itself. Sanatorium treatment, while long drawn out, has thus far proven to be the most successful method of combatting this disease. The old idea of roughing it in the desert or in the mountains has proven to be wrong. One needs just the other extreme‑rest, good food, good climate, pleasant environments, freedom from all cares and a happy frame of mind, such as is usually provided in sanatoriums.

 

There are thousands of brethren who come out to the great Southwest in search of health, and through lack of funds and the necessary comforts they should have, fight a losing battle. The majority of these lives can be saved by just such a procedure as is now contemplated, and with an organization like the Masons, the proposition should go over with a "bang".

 

There is no question in my mind but what it will be brought to a successful termination if the matter is brought to the attention of the Masonic brethren throughout the United States. No Mason can conscientiously call himself a Mason if he is not in sympathy with this noble undertaking. Let us, therefore, get together, brethren, and see this thing through, and lastly, let us also not lose sight of the fact that to aid and assist a distressed worthy brother is a duty incumbent upon all Masons.

 

H. A. W., California.

 

----o----

 

The Precious Jewels By BROS. A. L. KRESS AND R. J. MEEKREN (Continued)

 

IN view of the facts brought forward in the first part of this article [THE BUILDER, October, page 314], it begins to appear very probable that at the revival and reorganization of Masonry two hundred years or so ago there was a process of collection and compilation going on in different places analogous to that, which according to modern Biblical scholars, produced the many parallel passages found in Old Testament history, and the more expanded and composite accounts of ancient Hebrew legends. In our own particular case it would seem that different versions of what were sometimes called "jewels", and sometimes "furniture", were placed side by side, or rather in series; and that in order to obviate the appearance of mere duplication they were given different interpretations; and finally in the last stages called definitely by different names. There is no need to suppose that this was done all at once, or by any one person, or that it was done consciously. There is no need to suppose that anyone concerned had any other object in view than that of attempting to elucidate difficulties and to 'recover what they supposed to be the original meaning. To confirm this is the fact that Prichard in his "Master's Part" makes mention of another set of jewels, as follows:

 

What are the Master jewels? The Porch, Dormer and square pavement. Explain them.

 

The Porch the entering into the Sanctum Sanctorum, the dormer the windows or lights within, the square pavement the ground flooring.

 

In later English printed works a parallel and almost identical passage occurs, only prefaced by the demand:

 

Name the ornaments:

 

and in the explanation the pavement is said to he:

 

. . . for the High Priest to walk on.

 

The curious point in this is that we here have not only the "square pavement" which appears in all the lists of jewels now being discussed, excepting only Prichard's, but that the two words "Porch, Dormer" which appear in juxtaposition, resemble very closely in sound the unexplained "Broached Dornal." It is not in the least impossible, considering the extraordinary transmutations that occur in an oral tradition, that we have here another attempt at rationalization. If so, we might assume that mention of the ashlar was in time omitted under the influence of the idea that the jewels should be in threes. We have already seen in the case of the Examination version that there is reason to think that three things had been made into four through a misunderstanding, so that such a change would have a perfect parallel.

 

THE TRESTLE BOARD

 

With the assumption that Masonry Dissected is a compilation rather than an original document we see that Prichard appears to bear witness also that a "square pavement" was one of the jewels of Masonry. It is quite possible therefore that his first list was derived from a source in which appeared the square pavement instead of a "trasel board." What the exact derivation of "trasel" may be is not easy to determine, but it may very well be a form of "tressle," a common pronunciation of "trestle." The dictionaries give us the actual form "trestle board" as meaning a drawing board or table, which is the exact equivalent of the French planche d tracer, which appears as early as 1745. It is now quite generally held by the foremost Masonic students in England that early French printed works had a great influence on the evolution of the ritual of the Moderns, and it may be that the term "tracing board" is a translation of the French term. Although "trasel" and "tracing" have such a similarity in sound that it may be possible to thus account for its adoption. However this may be, while "trestle board" is actually a technical term of sufficient importance to be inserted in a standard dictionary of the English language, "tracing board," though clear enough in meaning, seems to be an artificial, and, so to speak, a purely "speculative" technical term; although it must be admitted that we have a very early and undoubtedly operative use of the phrase in the Fabric Rolls of York Minster, where in an inventory of the year 1399 ". . . ij tracyng bordes" are mentioned. From this it does not seem at all impossible that the term might have come down through certain lines of the Masonic tradition, and that the French "planche a tracer" of 1745 and later was really a literal translation of it, instead of being its origin as has been supposed. On the other hand the "trestle board" might in the first place have been simply the table in the lodge room round which the officers and brethren sat when there were no "makings", or even (as in some cases it would appear) when there were. It is very difficult to decide, only our contention that it was put in place of the to floor or square pavement seems probable in any case.

 

The Sloane and Chetwode Crawley MSS, give no explanation of the jewels, but as the Confession explicitly states that the pavement was used by the Master to draw his "ground draughts" or plans on, we will not be assuming too much in supposing that operative Freemasons would understand this to be its use. There is not a little evidence to show that details and plans of the different parts of a building were thus drawn by medieval Masons. One of the present writers has seen the same method employed by some country stonemasons when putting up an addition to an old stone church in Canada. The spring and plan of two arches were drawn with a chalked line and trammels on the floor of a nearby building; and from these drawings wooden templets were made for the angles of the different stones. There was here no tradition of course; it was a simple way of doing without architects' drawings--and fees. Being such an obvious device it has doubtless been invented and reinvented hundreds of times. But with the advent of the professional architect and his scale drawings on the one hand, and the dying out of the operative element in the lodges on the other, it may well have come about that what was quite simple and straightforward eventually came to be a difficulty, just as the term "oblong square" exercises many good brethren today. To the non-operative a pavement would be a "flooring" simply, a thing "to walk on," and so a drawing board was substituted in its stead. And this notwithstanding the fact that the diagram of the lodge with its emblems was still being drawn on the floor of the tiled chamber where they met. No longer by the Master, though, for in most cases this responsible task seems to have been passed on to the Tyler of the lodge.

 

In an earlier article [BUILDER, December, 1925, page 376] the question of the possible influence of symbolism on the proportions and plans of medieval buildings was touched upon, and reasons given for thinking that in general purely practical considerations were taken into account in making them. We have now to take up the question of the technique of the operative Freemasons in order if possible to see what significance the "square pavement" might have had for them. The issue has been to a very considerable extent clouded by ingenious attempts to base the plans of the buildings erected by them upon ideal geometrical constructions, as well as by an imaginary technique suggested by modern ritual statements and practices.

 

That some buildings were planned upon an ideal geometrical figure, such as the equilateral triangle or pentagon, is very possible, and even probable, and it is even possible that some more or less fit such schemes by pure coincidence; but on the whole it is the opinion of those, who by their special knowledge are best fitted to judge, that ancient buildings, and Gothic buildings in particular, were planned in this respect precisely as buildings are planned today, entirely with a view to the purposes of the structure and the conditions of the site.

 

When it comes to details, such as the designs of canopy work, panels, window tracery and the like, there is no doubt that they are in many cases evolved out of geometric figures, of which the equilateral triangle and the vesica piscis is the most frequently employed. Examples are given in Figs. 1 and 2. According to Caesarianus, (1) the facade of Milan cathedral fits into such a triangle whose sides are divided into twelve parts. The intersections made by lines joining these seem to give most of the principal points in the design. Yet even so there are so many discrepancies that it is hard to think that the architect regarded it as an absolute canon of design.

 

The late W. H. Rylands, in a paper written more than thirty years ago, quoted, apparently with approval, the attempts of Mr. Edward Cox to show that the plans of certain buildings in the north of England were based on the pentagon, or rather a peculiar form of pentagram. (2) The constructions shown to demonstrate this are very complex and do not strike one as being very convincing. Some reason can be seen in using a symbolic plan for a church, but why it should be applied to such a pre-eminently practical set of buildings as a castle is very difficult to appreciate.

 

Bro. Sydney Klein (3) believes that the vesica piscis was the unit of design in the best period of Gothic architecture, though he admits that the earlier Norman work and the later perpendicular style did not follow it. He points out that in the full construction of the third proposition of Euclid we get two equilateral triangles on opposite sides of the same base, which in the accompanying diagram (Fig. 3) are designated by the letters ABC and ABD. This gives a rhomb, or diamond, inside the vesica piscis formed by the two intersecting arcs, which are drawn from the centers B and A with the radius AB. If a rectangle be drawn about this figure it is found to have some remarkable properties. In the first place its diagonals are exactly twice the length of the shorter sides, and in the second, if it be divided in three parts by lines parallel to these, in the figure FG and HI, each of the three rectangles thus formed is similar to, and possesses all the properties of, the original one, while the length of the sides of the triangles inscribed within them is just two-thirds of the height of those first drawn. These secondary rectangles can of course be themselves divided in the same way, and so on indefinitely. The original rectangle is also divided into four by the intersecting axes AB and CD, and each of these four are also similar figures, and can be subdivided again into four, as shown in the upper half of the diagram, or they can be divided into three. And all these subdivisions can be carried on indefinitely without any further construction other than ruling lines through the intersections already made, as can be easily demonstrated by trial and a little experimentation.

 

Thus we have a basic figure that is characterized by the ratios of two and three, with all their multiples and combinations. If one side of the basic rectangle be taken as a unit, it cannot only be divided into two. three and four parts, but also into six and twelve; so that supposing it to be a foot in length it could thus be divided into inches. It must be acknowledged, however, that there are simpler ways of reaching the result.

 

Bro. Klein seems to suggest that plans were first sketched on paper or parchment that had thus been divided up into triangles and rectangles, in the same way that engineers use squared paper, and that these sketches were then enlarged to the full size by using a larger unit. In this way, if intersections were used for the principal points in the plan certain proportions would be automatically obtained which would be common to all buildings so designed. It must be admitted that it is an exceedingly attractive hypothesis, and there is a great temptation to accept it. It seems to offer us a clue to a real operative secret, and what is more, it would give us an interpretation of the "diamond" as one of the jewels of the lodge. For that being the basic figure from which all such designs were evolved it would serve as a compendious symbol for the technique.

 

As has been said above much Gothic detail is obviously based on the equilateral triangle, but to the supposition that it was the universal and exclusive rule there are insuperable objections. In the first place, though the shorter sides of the basic rectangle are in a numerical ratio to the diagonal they are incommensurable with the longer ones, being in the ratio of one to the square foot of three. This would cause no difficulty of course in making the full size drawings, for the intersecting points would be at proportional distances from each other, but when the actual work was begun upon the stone it would need either two units of measurement, a long and a short foot as it were, or else the abandonment of a standard of measurement altogether, every dimension being taken directly from the drawing ad hoc; for the reason that horizontal measurements could only be expressed in approximate fractions in respect to perpendiculars, or vice versa. Neither alternative would be very convenient in practice.

 

Another objection, though being purely aesthetic it may not seem perhaps of equal weight, is that to base all designs upon one set of geometrical proportions would inevitably produce a mechanical and monotonous effect, utterly and entirely foreign to the genius of Gothic architecture, which above all others is distinguished by spontaneity and freedom. For example, there are many cases where doors and windows and the arches of the interior of the building seem to be equilateral (there are of course many that obviously are not) which upon measurement turn out to be just a little more or less, but with enough difference to make it certain that it was so intended and not merely an error in setting out the work. Such variations show either that the builders deliberately sought to avoid monotony for artistic reasons or else that they did not have any rule at all and did things just as it happened; and either supposition is fatal to the hypothesis.

 

But these are not the only objections that call be raised. While in theory any set of co-ordinates will determine the position of a given point or line, yet in practice it is far more convenient to have them consist of straight lines perpendicular to each other, for then all angles made by their intersections will be equal; just as it is much more convenient to have them divided into equal parts so that one unit of measurement will serve. Further the main lines of a building are of necessity horizontal and perpendicular; which is true even of a pyramid though the fact is masked by the profile; and it is therefore in the nature of the case simpler to have the controlling lines of the drawings, the base and center lines, parallel to these directions. A method based on triangles must give spaces "neither oblong nor square," or if the horizontals and perpendiculars are put in, there will be four sets of lines instead of only two, an unnecessary complication. Rather reluctantly therefore we are forced to the conclusion that as an actual technical method this hypothesis is not practical, and most unlikely to have been employed by men, who whatever else they may have been, were first of all and all the time very skillful workmen.

 

In 1610 an order regarding rates of wages for different classes of men mentions "a freemason which can draw his plot, work and set accordingly." This does not tell us very much, but it is evidence that even so late as the seventeenth century a skilled mason was expected to be able to make his own working drawings. From Germany we get a little more light. Articles xii and xiii of the Steinmetz "Brother Book", speak of executing carved or proportioned work "from the ground plan" (aus dem grund) and of "making extracts from the ground plan." In the accompanying illustration (Fig. 4) which is taken from the tomb of Guillaume Letellier, Master Mason of the church at Caudebec, who died in 1484, we have the actual representation of the ground plan of a church. In December of last year the BUILDER reproduced an elevation of a design of one of the bays of Cambrai cathedral [page 367] from the sketch book of Villars de Honnecourt. The two parts of the drawing giving the exterior and interior respectively. In the former the buttresses have not been shown higher than the cornice of the aisle, in order apparently not to interfere with the representation of the clerestory window. Another design here reproduced (Fig. 5) appears to be that of the front of a large church. This last was drawn upon vellum that was used later for other purposes, the design being effaced.

 

Though the information is by no means as full as might be desired, yet it may be possible to deduce certain conclusions. First of all the last fact mentioned reminds us that drawing materials were neither plentiful nor easily obtained, and were economized as much as possible. Then it must be remembered that though in the course of centuries great developments took place in the style and methods of building, still from the point of view of the individual the change was so gradual as to be hardly observed. Everyone in the Craft was accustomed to the style in use, all were trained in a common tradition and skilled in a common technique. While this might vary a little from one place to another, and still more in different countries, yet so much would be common to all, would be taken for granted and understood, that the need for detail drawings such as are used today would not arise. A country carpenter even yet needs no plans to put up a barn or a shed. His employer tells him how long and how wide it is to be; he may make some sort of sketch on the back of an envelope or other odd piece of paper so as to keep them in mind, but for the rest he plans as he goes. In somewhat the same way, in spite of the much greater complexity of the work, we may suppose the master mason who contracted to put up a porch or a window by "task work" needed only to get the dimensions of the ground plan and to see the sketches of the elevation made by the Master of the Work to make whatever working drawings he might need to carry out his job. So long as it fitted into the rest of the structure it was sufficient, the details were left to him. Of course it would have been quite natural if the Master of the Work wanted to see them, and perhaps make suggestions, but it does not seem that he always did. For instance, at Westminster Abbey many of the arches seem to have been let out "to task" and different masters took contracts for them. In some the mouldings are continued right down to the capitals of the supporting columns, while in others a seating block is used from which the mouldings rise. Mr. W.R. Lethaby, in Westininster Abbey and the King's Craftsmen [p. 132], explains the difference as follows:

 

If we design an arch section having deeply indented hollows and bring two of these together, as they would be at the springing over a capital, then the bearing surface may at this point seem dangerously weakened.... Now a seating at the springing of the arches will swallow up the hollows of the mouldings until the arches have diverged far enough to be of any desired sectional strength. That this feature is not used throughout we may explain best by the fact that portions of the work (like so many arches) were done by task work. Some of the masters thought this seating desirable and others did not.

 

The King's Mason in charge of this work apparently did not care which way it was done. And this devolution of design doubtless often went further still. The journeymen working for the contracting master might be left to fill in the minor details of the work actually done by them.

 

A Gothic church was in a way very like a living organism. Given certain principal dimensions the rest of the design followed in its main lines by a sort of inner necessity. Not that it was done by any rule or formula, still it always kept within certain limits. It is quite possible that such a sketch as that reproduced in Fig. 5 was all that was required, even in the case of important buildings. Many craftsmen may well have been able to cut the stone for a pillar or an arch with nothing more to guide them than the chief measurements of height, width and thickness of the wall. An existing contracts seems to show that this was still true even so late as 1630. In it Thomas Bates agrees to build a "chapell in the Chirch Yarde of Ste Marie on the hill." It was really an addition to the church and built against the south side of the chancel. It was to be

 

. . . eighteen feet wide withenne the walls and as high as hit nedes resonably to be with V faire and clenely wroght windows at the Est end with iiii lightes, iii windows on the south side each one of three lightes, and on the west side in the best way to be devised and iiii botras [buttresses] on the south side with a great arch in the west end. And the chapell to be battlet [battlemented] above like to the little closet in the Castel of Chester with a corbyl table longying thereto and at eyther end iii honest fynials . . . and the aforesaid Thomass shall by ov'sight of Maester John Asser make the chapell and althings longen thereto in masoncraft honestly.

 

"Maester John Asser" evidently acted as supervising architect on behalf of the employer, but Thomas was to do the work with no more guidance apparently than the few specifications mentioned in the contract.

 

NOTES

 

(1) Quoted by Bro. S. Klein from Hawkins Gothic Architecture. A.Q.C. XXIII, 119.

 (2) A.Q.C. VIII, 91.

(3) A.Q.C. XXIII, 116 et seq.

(4) Gould, History of Freemasonry. Chap. III.

(5) Bro. J. Walter Hobbs in Transactions of the Merseyside Association for Masonic Research, 1923-24, page 36.

 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

 

1. In what ways has Masonic ritual phraseology led to misinterpretations of operative technique?

2. Supposing buildings to have been planned on some geometrical or symbolical figure, what may the purpose of the designer presumably have been?

3. To what extent did ancient buildings actually conform to an ideal plan, geometrical or symbolical?

 

----o----

 

THE LIBRARY

 

THE ENCIRCLED SERPENT. By M. Oldfield Howey. Published by Rider & Co., London. May be purchased through the Book Department of the National Masonic Research Society, 1950 Railway Exchange Building, St. Louis, Mo. Cloth, index , table of contents, illustrated, 406 pages. Price, postpaid, $7.50.

 

THE unenviable reputation of snakes in general would seem to preclude any possibility of their ever having enjoyed a popularity which might cause them to be worshipped. A present day contradiction of this statement is to be found in the enjoyment of children in the stories of mythical monsters belonging to the serpent category. The youngster who has not thrilled to the story of Perseus and the Medusa, or St. George and the Dragon has either not reached his teens or remains unborn. It is a commonplace of biological teaching that the embryo goes through all the stages of the evolution of its race, and it may with equal truth be said that the human child progresses through many stages of the mental evolution of man. The child's enjoyment of these serpent myths may be classed as that period in his existence which corresponds to the period in racial development when serpent worship was a dominant factor in the religious history of mankind.

 

That serpent worship was a widespread practice needs no proof. The ethnical religions offer ample evidence to remove any doubt on that score. There are serpent myths from China, India, Egypt and the Mediterranean world, not forgetting the New World and Northern Europe.

 

The most prominent of these fables are here collected in one volume and their connections pointed out. So far as the present reviewer is aware, this is the first effort that has been made in this direction. Frazer's Golden Bough has long been a source book for relig4ous myths, and Mr. Howey's work might have attained a similar position in the narrower field he has chosen. The value of his collection is hard to estimate, however. It would be undoubted except for one thing, either he was too modest to ever hope for such success, or his book was written for purely popular consumption. There is not a single documentation in his whole volume except for direct quotations, and not always in these cases. There is no special reason for doubting his integrity, as he does refer to the authors from whom he selects his material, and his bibliographies at the end of each chapter seem sufficiently complete, but while he was mentioning his sources it would have been a simple matter to have included book titles and page numbers, and the extra labor involved would have been very small compared with the added usefulness that would have been gained.

 

Aside from this very important point, there can be nothing but praise for the book. It is splendidly printed, the cuts are appropriate, and the style very readable. A book anyone interested in the subject could enjoy and from which he could learn much.

 

E.E.T.

 

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YOGA, A STUDY OF THE MYSTICAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE BRAHMINS AND BUDDHISTS. By J. F. C. Fuller. Published by William Rider & Son. May be purchased through the Book Department of the National Masonic Research Society, 1950 Railway Exchange, St. Louis, Mo. Cloth, table of contents, illustrated, 140 pages. Price, postpaid, $2.40.

 

IT is an illusion, common to most occidentals, that the Orient is peculiarly rich in mysticism, and various brands of "really and truly" occultism. An illusion, because knowledge of oriental peoples shows them to be, in the mass and in their daily lives, as pre-occupied in the same kind of things as are the inhabitants of western lands. They, too, are buying and selling, making, saving, spending-seeking riches or pleasure or power, according to their individual opportunities. The Chinese, for example, are as practical and matter-of-fact as the German or Anglo-Saxon, though it must be admitted they stand rather higher in their aesthetic appreciations. But so it is also with the Arab, the Persian and the various races inhabiting India. At bottom, when we get under the strange appearance of totally different social ideals, customs and religious beliefs, men are much alike everywhere, and exhibit much the same capabilities.

 

That such an illusion has arisen is very natural. The Orient was far away, even in these days it is separated by language and tradition. The unknown can always take on the forms and glamour of far‑off landscape. And then so many apostles of the occult, not trusting altogether, apparently, to the authority of their gospels in themselves, have sought it externally in claiming derivation from mysterious sages in far-off Tibet, or any other conveniently inaccessible locale. As a matter of fact, the occident has had its full share of genuine first hand mystics; and in this respect there is little to choose between east and west when all the facts are given due weight.

 

Nevertheless there is one great outstanding difference between the mysticism of Orient and Occident. The latter persists in ascribing reality and value to individuality, the former denies it altogether. But that perhaps is too sweeping a statement. India is the home of the doctrine of the unreality of personal identity, and it has spread from thence largely under the influence of Buddhism.

 

A first hand study of the mystics themselves shows two things that are common in various proportions to all, with almost no exception. One is the striving after, at times the vision of, unity with that Reality that lies at the back of things, which most men (and mystics too) call God; and the other is the way in which the mystical visions form themselves on the pattern of the beliefs and prepossessions of the individual seer. The visions of the western mediaeval mystics crystallize round the mysteries of the faith ‑ The Eucharist, the Person of Christ, or of His Virgin Mother. Those of the Jews and Mahommedans round the idea of a sovereign and solitary far withdrawn Deity, ministered to by hierarchies of angelic beings. Those of Protestant mystics depend on the Scriptures, especially the Apocalyptic passages. Swedenborg, one of the greatest, has a symbolism peculiarly his own, as solid and material and matter-of-fact as the details in a story by Defoe. Perhaps the fact that he had spent some fifty years actively and practically as a scientist and engineer before he began to see visions bad something to do with it.

 

As this seems to be in the nature of a law, that the experience which makes a man a mystic is fluid, and takes a form appropriate to his previous experience, as molten metal takes that of a mold, we may take it as a clue in seeking the reason for the peculiarities of "Oriental," that is Hindoo or Buddhist mystical philosophy. It will need some knowledge of the history of religion to make the point clear.

 

The western peoples might possibly have achieved a belief in one God had they not been hurried up by the advent of Christianity. As it is, the occidental belief must be traced back to the Hebrews. It is now generally granted by those. who have studied the subject that the conception of Jehovah as Creator of heaven and earth and Lord of Hosts, developed under the influence of prophetic teaching out of a tribal deity peculiar to the Semitic invaders of Palestine some thousand years before Christ. What influence Persian dualism may have had is uncertain, but doubtless there was some. Historically the monotheism of Christianity and Mahommedanism descends lineally from that of the Hebrews. The great prepossession of those among whom it originated, and their chief interest in developing it, was not speculative and metaphysical, but moral.

 

The process was quite different in Hindustan. There the Aryan invaders brought in a pantheon of deities of their own, that are supposed to be related to the "gods many" of Europe, and they picked up quite a number more from the aboriginal inhabitants. These were in time ranged in a hierarchy, and finally under the influence of philosophy were conceived as being but forms or agents of an all embracing divinity behind them. Something the same sort of process was in operation in Greece before the general mix‑up of religions brought about by Roman domination over Mediterranean countries. Occidental mystics therefore (this is of course only sketching it in with bold and approximate outlines) have always been limited by the conception of personality and individuality in God, so that whatever the degree of ecstatic union attained by the seer he always retained something of his own personality. But in India the underlying philosophy was Pantheism; as the Divine had no limits of personality there was nothing to hinder the entire submergence of the devotee's own personality in the Godhead. When the seer attained the highest levels of vision he became God himself. Mr. Fuller in his book says something very like this himself:

 

Thus Nibbana, the Non‑existent, is little removed, if at all, from the Christian heaven with its angelic Hosts. And the reason is, that the man who does attain to any of these states, on his return to consciousness at once attributes his attainment to the conscious representation of God. He attempts to rationalize about the super‑natural, and describe what is beyond description in the language of his own country.

 

However it does not really seem to be a process of rationalization, at least not in the sense of conscious thinking. The greatest mystics have always used symbols and figures‑it is all they could do‑and the greatest of them have all said with St. Paul that what they had seen and heard could not be uttered.

 

The Author, we gather, does not think much of Buddhism. He likens it to Luther's breaking away from the Roman Church. That it painfully tried to be something different from what we may perhaps call Brahmanism, but nevertheless, remained essentially the same thing. He criticizes Gautaina, or his disciples, for raising the question "whence came desire?"‑the equivalent of the occidental problem of the origin of evil. But though Buddhism has no satisfactory answer, as a philosophic system it has at least the credit of discerning the difficulty. To Mr. Fuller the question is meaningless‑all such metaphysical considerations are but a part of Maya, the great illusion of the Cosmos‑or Chaos‑whichever it be.

 

To those who wish to know something definite of Yoga, and its curious, and (to the occidental mind at least) rather repulsive symbolism based on a wholly mythical system of physiology, the book will be very useful. Though the Author takes something for granted in the way of acquaintance with other mystical systems, he can be easily followed. He is apparently a full believer in the efficacy of the "exercises," which work, it would seem, whether the would‑be Yogi believes or not; nevertheless he has made a competent study of the subject and his opinions merit respect even where they do not win assent.

 

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SHORT READINGS IN MASONIC HISTORY. By J. Hugo Tatsch, Curator and Associate Editor of the Iowa Masonic Library, and Associate Editor of "The Builder." Published by the Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. May be purchased through the Book Department of the National Masonic Research Society, 1950 Railway Exchange, St. Louis, Mo. 59 pages, table of contents, index. Price, boards, 85 cents; paper, 50 cents. Special prices quoted for twelve or more.

 

THE author in preparing this little work has had in mind the needs of the average Mason who is frightened by the very sight of the larger books written upon the subject. As he says in his Foreword, "With all the literature at the command of the Craft but little has been written in elementary form." This need it was that led to the preparation of a series of articles suitable for the neophyte, which were first published in the Bulletin of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. It was in the author's mind that thus collected they would serve as an elementary text book for a study circle.

 

Bro. Tatsch modestly disclaims any originality, calling himself a compiler only. But in such a condensed work compilation requires the exercise of a great deal of judgment and to some extent the compiler must choose according to the opinion he prefers in debated questions. On the whole we believe the work has been very fairly and accurately performed.

 

The plan of the book is not that of a consecutive narrative in chronological order, but certain topics are treated in the different chapters which to some extent overlap in point of the periods treated. The first chapter, for example, is a brief account of what is known, believed or claimed of the origin of Freemasonry.

 

The second and third attempt to give some account of the historical background of the Craft, beginning with the Dark Ages after the fall of the Roman Empire and ending with London in the 18th Century. . Naturally it is impossible to give any but the slightest sketch of such an extensive period in a matter of nine or ten pages. Equally naturally it would be easy to criticize details; but bearing in mind the purpose in view and the limits of the treatment there is really little to object to. Such a sketch is intended to excite a desire to know more, and further reading will correct any misapprehensions that may have arisen. London was a rough place in the early 18th century, but we doubt if there was more danger to life and limb and purse than in many large American cities today.

 

When the author comes to purely Masonic history he is wholly admirable, and seems to have extracted the very marrow of the matter in his brief outlines. One point might be touched on. Bro. A. F. Calvert is quoted as stating that "Where differences were detected" between Ancients and Moderns at the time of the union, "The Moderns" adopted the method of working in use by the "Antients." This opinion is quite generally held, but there are good reasons for thinking it inaccurate. In regard to the essentials supposed to have been deliberately altered in 1730 the Moderns completely capitulated, but in return the Ancients gave up their form of ritual and adopted that (modified by these essential changes) which had been used by the Moderns. The system of lectures in use in the United States represents the Ancient work very closely. The lectures now in use in England are quite different, and on comparison are obviously no more than modifications of those used by the Moderns.

 

When a Study Circle is being started in an entirely new field there would be no better text book to begin with than this; and a lodge could hardly do better than present a copy to the newly-raised Master Mason where it is desired to do something more for his instruction than the bare ritual explanations of the forms and ceremonies

 

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THE HIDDEN LIFE IN FREEMASONRY. By C. W. Leadbeater. Published by the Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Madras, India. Cloth, 6 by 8 1/2, 337 pp. and index. Illustrated. Obtainable from the Theosophical Press, Chicago, Ill. $4.00.

 

GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY. By C. W. Leadbeater. Published by the Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Madras, India. Cloth, 6 by 8 1/2, 362 pages and index. Illustrated. Obtainable from the Theosophical Press, Chicago, Ill. $3.25.

 

HERE we have two books which are rather startling to those unfamiliar with the Masonic pretensions of that group of Theosophists who hold forth at Adyar, Madras, India, under the leadership of Mrs. Annie Besant. This internationally known lady, whose picture in cap, baldric, toga and sword graces one of the volumes with the caption, "The V. Illustrious Bro. Annie Besant, 33d," has written an introduction naively recommending The Hidden Life in Freemasonry to Freemasons who wish to "add knowledge to their zeal."

 

The author, C. W. Leadbeater, who also poses as a Mason of the Thirty‑third Degree, tells us in his first chapter:

 

When I was initiated into Freemasonry in this life, my first sight of the lodge was a great and pleasant surprise, for I found that I was perfectly familiar with its arrangements, and that they were identical with those which I had known six thousand years ago in the Mysteries of Egypt.

 

Mr. Leadbeater naturally holds to the well known doctrine of reincarnation, but goes a bit farther than the average Theosophist by claiming to have accurate information of some of his previous existence on this mundane sphere. "The only one of these previous lives of mine with which we are here concerned," he says, "was lived some four thousand years before Christ in the country which we now call Egypt."

 

With this introduction - from which the critical Masonic student can draw his own conclusions‑we acquire some startling information. We are told that the present head of the Masonic Craft in the occult world is a personage often spoken of as the Comte de S. Germain; he is also known as the Prince Rakoczi. He was interested in Freemasonry in the third century, A. D., when he was called Albanus, residing at Verulam (now York) England. Initiation took place in Rome, while he was in military service; the Mithraic Mysteries were also known to him. Mr. Leadbeater connects this "Grand Master" with the St. Alban familiar to Masonic students who have read some of the Old Charges; in fact, we are referred to the Watson MS. of 1687 for details.

 

Albamis had an interesting career. In later years he took mortal form as Proclus, in Constantinople, 411 A. D.; in 1211, he was born as Roger Bacon; in 1375, he was Christian Rosenkreutz. Hunyadi Janos, the famous Hungarian, housed the immortal spirit of our Grand Master about 1425; still later he was a monk by the name of Robertus. The vivid imagination of Mr. Leadbeater does not cease here: even Franc's Bacon (1561) is claimed as the name and personage of our "Brother" Albamis.

 

Brethren who are opponents or proponents of Grand Lodge rule will find some hitherto unheralded information about such bodies in The Hidden Life in Freemasonry. "There was a Grand Lodge [which] convened at Memphis and worked a different ritual from those of the lower grades." Grand Lodge bureaucrats will rejoice to know that Pharaoh always took council with their prototypes in Ancient Egypt; "important steps were always discussed in Grand Lodge itself." There were really three Grand Lodges, and numerous other lodges, which resembled those of modern times; so we are told.

 

According to Mr. Leadbeater, our more conservative savant's of modern Freemasonry are on the right track when they attribute Masonic origins to the Roman Collegia and to the Comacines. In fact, all theories advanced by both conservative and fanciful students seem to have Mr. Leadbeater's endorsement; perhaps I am too carping a critic in pointing this out. But the coincidence is at least worthy of mention.

 

Succeeding chapters of the book will please such of our brethren who revel in mysteries, and who take keen delight in their pretensions to Masonic knowledge not given to the profane. I have in mind certain itinerant lecturers who will divulge the "secrets" in tyled meeting at so much per session; what was it Barnum said? (I discreetly forget!) Anyway, critical scholars who wish to enjoy some light reading - call it fiction if you will - can derive much amusement from this book; those who take the volume more seriously will not be injured by it, as the author's representations are not supported by proof such as our Quatuor Coronati members and their capable associates in other research organizations demand before they will give any decided consideration to such preposterous claims.

 

Let it be said, for fear I may be misunderstood, that I have no quarrel with brethren who believe the Theosophical teachings; I made my entrance into the Craft as a Theosophical student many years ago. However, I believe in mixing common sense with my studies; let us keep Theosophy and Freemasonry in their proper fields.

 

The second of these two works, Glimpses of Masonic History, is a companion volume to The Hidden Life in Freemasonry. Mr. Leadbeater tells us that there are four schools of Masonry: the authentic, the anthropological, the mystical and the occult. The authentic embraces the group which sprang up after 1860, and which comprise such able brethren as Gould, Hughan, Speth and others of Quatuor Coronati Lodge and their fellows; the anthropological is represented by Albert Churchward and J.S.M. Ward; the mystical school embraces A. E. Waite and W. L. Wilmshurst; the occult school "is represented by an evergrowing body of students in the Co‑Masonic Order, and is gradually attracting adherents in masculine Masonry also." This definition is elaborated with a liberal sprinkling of nebulous stardust.

 

Brethren who delight in "ancient mysteries” ‑ whatever they may mean to them ‑ will find the chapters of this book very alluring. The Egyptian, Cretan, Jewish, Greek and Mithraic mysteries are described in detail; unfortunately, I can not say whether the accounts are dependable or not. There is such an absence of recognized authorities, and such an atmosphere of self ‑ assurance that I hesitate to venture my own humble opinion. Apparently I am among those outside of the Temple of Masonic knowledge.

 

Coming down from medieval times to the present day, the author has made good use. of our recognized authorities of the authentic school; there are liberal references and quotations.

 

The greatest interest in the volume, and also its value insofar as students of the authentic school are concerned, lie in Chapter XII, "The Co-Masonic Order." It is a brief account, and one which I recommend for publication in the volumes of THE BUILDER for the information and edification of the Craft.

 

Brethren who are intrigued by the "mysteries" of Freemasonry will feast their souls upon this volume, for it condenses the essentials of this dubious subject in a masterly way. The information is entertaining, to say the least; its presentation on a night when labor is light may be a pleasant innovation, ever though it may have a soporific effect on the "average" Mason.

 

J H. T.

 

* * *

 

HIGH LIGHTS OF CRESCENT HISTORY. By J. Hugo Tatsch, P. M. Privately printed by Crescent Lodge, No. 25, A. F. & A. M., Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Edition limited to 1600 copies. Paper, illustrated, 63 pages.

 

BRO. TATSCH says in his preface, "That lodge histories are no longer the recital of events in chronological order, but rather a presentation of outstanding events," an opinion that evidently inspired the title of this little work. It is quite true, chronicle is not history, not in the modern sense of the word at any rate. The historian must first endeavor to see the course of events as a whole, and then to present them as a living drama, showing how the present always has roots in the past, and cannot be understood without reference to its past.

 

Crescent Lodge is certainly to be congratulated in having numbered in its recent membership two such able students and writers as Bro. I.E. Morcombe and Bro. Tatsch. Very curiously they seem to have exchanged places, Bro. Morcombe leaving Iowa and Crescent Lodge to go to California, and Bro. Tatsch leaving California for Cedar Rapids to take up the departed historian's task.

 

What will probably interest members of the N.M.R.S. is the part that the lodge played in the creation of the famous Masonic Library. The lodge certainly shares largely in the honor due to the Masonic bodies of Cedar Rapids, in what a Grand Lodge Report of 1883 calls the "noble and generous offer" of a free lot eligibly situated and a contribution of $1,000. Four other places had offered land, and three money as well, but the next highest offer was only $3,500. In a current phrase this action certainly put Cedar Rapids "on the map" for the whole Masonic World, and though doubtless a heavy burden at that time,, must ever remain a legitimate source of pride to the good brethren there.

 

Crescent Lodge has had members in three wars - the Civil War first. In this Bro. Benton, as Colonel of the 29th Iowa Infantry, was able to preserve the library of Albert Pike from the devastation of war in Arkansas. This collection is now part of the other great Masonic Library in this country, the Scottish Rite Library at Washington, D. C. Later members were in the Spanish American War and the War in the Philippines, while the honor roll of the lodge contains many names of those who fought in the World War.

 

The work is published principally for the members of the lodge, but students interested in Iowa history may, perhaps, if not too late in making application, be able to obtain a copy. Though only bound in paper covers, the little book is very well printed on a good quality of book stock. The printing leaves nothing to be desired, and the work as a whole does both author and printer great credit.

 

----o----

 

THE QUESTION BOX

and CORRESPONDENCE

 

THE SYMBOLISM OF SALT

 

This subject seems to have aroused a great deal of interest among readers of THE BUILDER, and we have received many letters on the subject since it was first mooted in the February number. The two here given seem to have special interest, if for no other reason than the distance that they have respectively come from east and west. One is from a brother in China, and the other from the Grand First Principal of the District Grand Chapter of County Down in Ireland.

 

The notes in THE BUILDER on the ritual use of salt have been most interesting, and particularly the one in the issue of last month [June, page 192]. 1 venture to send you a copy of the ritual used by our District Grand Royal Arch Chapter in the Constitution, consecration and dedication of our latest subordinate chapter. You will observe that in the fourth round of the consecration the ceremony used is almost precisely the same as that employed by the Craft Lodge in Sutton as described by Bro. L. F. Fowle.

 

Robert H. Wallace, Ireland.

 

In the ritual referred to, the three Grand Principals carry vessels of corn, wine and oil, while a Past Grand officer has one of salt. There are four processions and at the last the Grand Chaplain repeats the following passage from Leviticus:

 

"And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering; with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt."

 

And the Grand First Principal receiving the salt says:

 

"I scatter this salt upon the Chapter as an emblem of Hospitality and Friendship; and I pray that Prosperity and Happiness may attend this Chapter until Time shall be no more."

 

The other letter is as follows:

 

In the Question Box of the February number of THE BUILDER there is a query as to salt as a symbol at the laying of a foundation stone for a Masonic Temple at a place in England. You say that you have not any English formulary at hand, and in this connection I would like therefore to state that salt is not one of the substances added to the corn, wine and oil used at the laying of foundation stones according to the English Constitution.

 

However at the consecration ceremony of a new lodge salt is actually prescribed. Item 35 of this ceremony reads: The Consecrating Officer sprinkles salt, the symbol of Fidelity and Friendship, saying: "I scatter salt on this lodge, the emblem of hospitality and friendship, and may prosperity and happiness attend this lodge until time shall be no more."

 

I trust that this bit of information may be useful to you and the brethren at large.

 

C. Van der Klaauw, Harbin, China.

 

* * *

 

THE IMMOVEABLE JEWELS

 

The statement in the article "The Precious Jewels," in the October number of THE BUILDER, that in America the usage is to describe the Square, Level and Plumb-Rule as the immoveable Jewels is, I think, too wide. Here in Quebec, as you probably remember, they are called the moveable Jewels, "being worn by the W. M. and his W. S., and transferable to their successors in office on their installation," as our ritual puts it. The Rough and Perfect Ashlars and the Tracing Board are the immoveable Jewels. The reason is not given in our ritual, but in the London West End Working I find it is "because they lie open and immoveable in the lodge for the brethren to moralize upon."

 

I am in agreement with your statement that the description used in the United States is the original form, and I would suggest as an explanation that it came to you through the "Ancients" who were the great missionaries of Freemasonry, while we derive our form from the "Moderns." I do not think there is any question that the changes in the ritual by the "Moderns" were very extensive, and that when Dermott wrote of "the apron being worn upside down, so that the wearer tripped over the strings," he intended to call attention to their far-reaching character.

 

In the Lodge Boards used here to illustrate the lectures, the Plumb-Rule is associated with the Doric Column, emblematic of the S. W., and the Level with the Corinthian, emblematic of the J. W. The Boards axe, I believe, a modification of the Harris designs approved in 1846 by the Emulation Lodge of Improvement. As the Plumb‑Rule is now the Jewel appropriate to the J. W., and the Level to the S. W., it has occurred to me that possibly even the Jewels worn by the officers were transposed by the "Moderns." Perhaps you can inform me if such was the case.

 

I was delighted to find that you found my reference to my Jamaican visit sufficiently interesting to insert in this issue of your magazine, which I find gets more interesting with each issue.

 

A. J. B. MILBORNE, Quebec.

 

Bro. Milborne is catching us up on a colloquial usage, that though obviously inaccurate is so convenient that it now has world‑wide currency. Of course Canadians are as much entitled to the general term American as are the people of the United States of North America ‑ so also are Mexicans. But the people of these two countries have distinctive and euphonious designations proper to them, the people of the United States have not. So though logically as indefensible as to exclusively apply the term Europeans to Germans say, sheer convenience has forced its general adoption.

 

With respect to Quebec, our correspondent is right of course. With the exception of a handful of Lodges that follow the "American" type of ritual, the so‑called "York" or "Webb" work, Quebec, and Ontario, too, follow the English type, with some modifications. The explanation of the immovable Jewels be gives is found in nearly all the lectures in this group where such still exist.

 

We are inclined to think that the suggestion regarding an interchange of jewels between the Wardens is not borne out by facts. The very earliest known reference to insignia of office, which takes us back to 1730, allotted them as today, and in no ritual known to us has it been otherwise. It would seem that the arrangement in the "Chart" or "Lodge Board" spoken of was simply the artist's vagary.

 

One thing the authors of the article in question must apologize for, and that is the ambiguous form of statement regarding the original grouping. It was intended to say that the description peculiar to the United states was not the original one, and so far as can be discovered was invented by the Baltimore Convention. It is necessary also to apologize for the oversight in the final proof‑reading respecting the date of this convention, which was 1843.

 

* * *

 

JOSEPH SMITH

 

Having spent three months in the State of Utah I naturally came in contact with many Mormons and was told by several brethren whom I met that Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, was a Mason. Would you please enlighten me as to the truth of this statement.

 

W. R. D., Indiana.

 

Bro. Sam H. Goodwin gave a full account of the connection of Joseph Smith with the Masonic Order in his articles on Mormonism published in THE BUILDER, 1921, pp. 36 and 64, which was further discussed in the 1924 volume, pp. 323 and 363.

 

Briefly, among the founders of Mormonism four were Masons, Bennett, Kimball and Brigham Young and Hyrum Smith, Joseph'.s brother. They managed to secure a dispensation to form a lodge. In this Joseph was apparently made, passed and raised. A number of other lodges were formed, the membership apparently being composed entirely of members of the Mormon Church. From the first grave irregularities occurred, and as a result the charters and dispensations of these lodges were revoked. They seem, however, to have continued a clandestine existence for some time after this. There appears no doubt that the secret ceremonies of the Mormon body were largely and, one would say, unintelligently, borrowed from Freemasonry. After the revocation of Grand Lodge authority from these lodges, the Mormon leaders not unnaturally became bitter anti‑Masons.

 

* * *

 

A QUESTION OF AUTHORSHIP

 

In a recent number of the New York Masonic Outlook I quoted a poem said to have been written by Bro. Robert Burns on the Master's apron. I attach a capping giving a portion of this short poem. [The portion referred to is incIuded in the copy of the poem given below.]

 

Since the publication of this article the authorship of the poem has been questioned. I am told that it does not appear in any of the standard works supposed to contain the complete writings of Burns.

 

I have examined all the sets I can discover, and have taken the matter up with the New York State Library, and they are unable to find this poem in Burns' works. I do find it in the Little Masonic Library and Burns is given as the author.

 

I have not the slightest recollection of where I originally got this poem.

 

Our State Librarian suggests that the Grand Lodge Library at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, might throw some further light on the authorship of this poem. It sounds like Burns and I believe he wrote it.

 

A. D. Gibbs, New York.

 

This inquiry was referred to Bro. Tatsch, Associate Editor of THE BUILDER, and his reply is as follows:

 

The letter from Bro. Gibbs indicates that a very thorough search has been made regarding the authorship of the poem attributed to Burns. An examination of the "Complete Concordance to the Poems and Songs of Robert Burns," edited by J. B. Reid Glasgow, 1889, fails to reveal anything under thirteen dominating words in the extract sent to us. '

 

The poem was published in the Quarterly Bulletin of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, Vol V, No. 5, page 103.

 

Let me suggest that this inquiry be sent to Miscellarea Latomorum, as in that way it will reach the competent scholars of England and Scotland.

 

J. Hugo Tatsch, Iowa.

 

The extract from the Iowa Quarterly Bulletin is as follows:

 

The Mason's Apron

 

Robert Burns, "the poet‑laureate of Masonry," was perhaps prouder of that title than of all praise otherwise bestowed. As an example of his work, which also shows his sentiment of love for the fraternity, we append the following:

 

"There's mony a badge that'.s unco braw,

Wi' ribbon, lace and tape on,

Let Kings and Princes wear them a',

Gie me the Master's apron;

The honest Craftsman's apron,

The jolly Freemason's apron,

Bide he at home, or roam afar,

Before his touch fa's bolt an' bar,

The gates of fortune fly ajar,

'Gin he wears the apron!

For wealth an' honor, pride an' power

Are crumbling stones to base on;

Fraternity should rule the hour

And ilka worthy Mason!

Each Free Accepted Mason,

Each Ancient Crafted Mason.

Then, brithers, let a halesome song

Arise your friendly ranks along,

Gudewives and bairns blithely sing

Ti' the ancient badge wi' the apron string

That is worn by the Master Mason!"

 

[Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. V, Number 5, page 103.]

 

* * *

 

SCOTTISH RITE PASS-WORDS

 

Please answer the following questions regarding the Scottish Rite:

 

1. Are the pass-words of the Scottish Rite degrees taken from the Bible?

 

2. Please furnish me with a list of books on the Scottish Rite and Scottish Rite degrees.

 

E. E. G.

 

Most of the pass-words of the Scottish Rite degrees are intended to be derived from the Hebrew, but it is doubtful whether a Hebrew scholar would recognize them as such. A great many of them are corruptions of real words and others are made up of real Hebrew words but put together in a way that is foreign to the genus of the Hebrew language.

 

In regard to the second question, our catalog contains practically all the books that are in print respecting the Scottish Rite degrees. There are not very many of them.

 

* * *

 

THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA

 

Can you give any explanation of the following from the Boston Traveler under the caption, "Knights of Malta Honor Cardinal"?

 

"The Bali grand cross of honor and devotion has been conferred on Cardinal O'Connell by the order of the Knights of Malta, one of the most exclusive orders in the Catholic church, in recognition of the silver jubilee celebration in connection with the 25th anniversary tomorrow, of his consecration as a bishop."

 

I know of the Knights of Malta as a Knights Templar degree and as an independent and strictly Protestant fraternity but this is the first I have heard of an exclusive Catholic body of that name.

L. M., Massachusetts.

 

 

There is doubtless much confusion among the Craft in general concerning the various chivalric orders, and this question gives an opportunity to clarify much of the haze surrounding these organizations. There is a great wealth of material that could be quoted and one might well easily write a book on the subject. Directly answering this query it may be stated that there is a Catholic Order of the Knights of Malta. It is older, in fact very much older, than the "degree" in the Masonic Knight Templar system. It was originally the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, but when the Turks captured the Holy City the Knights moved to the Island of Rhodes, where they remained unmolested for a considerable period. It was here that the designation Knights of Rhodes was applied to the Order. The Turks at a later data occupied Rhodes and the Knights were forced to find a new domicile. Malta was the location selected and the Order became known as the Knights of Malta. Here they remained until Napoleon captured the island, at which time they journeyed to Rome and have since been under the protection of Catholic authorities.

 

How the Order of the Knights of Malta came to be incorporated in the Masonic Knight Templar system is difficult to understand. The Knights Templar and the Knights of Malta were hereditary enemies, and were as much, if not more, interested in fighting each other as they were in repelling the infidel.

 

For further information on this subject, those interested may be referred to the article on St. John of Jerusalem in the Encyclopedia Britannica; the article by Bro. Burton E. Bennett on the Rite of Strict Observance in the September number of THE BUILDER; and that of Bro. L. de Malczovich, Templaria et Hospitallaria beginning on page 204, vol. xvii, of A.Q.C. and continued through the following volumes.

 

E. E. T.

 

* * *

 

THE CHERUBIM

 

Can you inform me through the Question Box of THE BUILDER of what sex are the Cherubim? In Ezekiel 41:19 it would appear that they were of the male sex, yet in all illustrations and representations I have even seen of same, they appear to be decidedly female in form. If they are of the male sex, can you inform me when and why the female form was used to depict them in illustrations?

 

F. H. F., Sydney.

 

While a great deal could be written on the subject of the Cherubim, there seems to be no doubt, as you point out, that the Bible regards them as being of the male sex. It also appears to regard those beings which are usually called angels as also being of the male sex. The two were by no means the same.

 

It is a little difficult to say off-hand when the idea that angels were female first began to develop. The pictorial representations of angels during the middle ages never showed them as being of the female sex, but rather, as John Ruskin pointed out, as sexless.

 

I think that the representations that make them obviously female in form are quite modern and the tradition has no weight of authority behind it whatever.

 

 

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