Omaha daily bee., 1889-09-29
KNIGHTS 7EMPLAR CoNCLAvE.

KNIGHTS 7EMPLAR CONCLAVE.
The trieunial conclave of the grand
encampment of the knights Templar
of the United States will be held in
Washington city during the second
week of October. This Masonic order
has a membership of about one hundred
thousand, and the attendance of
knights at their conclaves numbers
from twenty to thirty thousand. These
t%riennial events also attract many
other members of tho Masonic fratern-
ity for whom they possess q peculiar
interest, as we'll as thousands who
find pleasure in the brilliant ~pageantry
which the parades and drills of the
knights afford. More than one hundred
Thousand strangers visited Chicago dur
ing the conclave in that city nine years
ago. and it is expected that q very
nearly equal number will go to Wash
ington during the coming conclave.
Composed largely of men who are
wealthy and liberal, the Knights Tenn
plar are among the most desirable
class of visitors, and there. is always
a sharp competition between cities to
secSre the next conclave.
One of the duties at Washington will
be the selection of a place for holding
the next c%onclave in the fall of 1892. 1t
is already apparent that there will be
the usual eager competition among the
cities of the country to secure the selec-
ton. Why should not Omaha enter the
lists? The state of Nebraska stands
high, particularly among the younger
states, in the numbers of it's Masonic
fraternity and in the interest and
zeal that have been shown
to @ad vance the order. There are
now twenty Communicates of Knights
Templar in the state, and doubtless be-
fore the c%onclave of 1892 the number
will not be less than thirty. In few
cities of the country having a popula-
ton no larger than Omaha is the Ma
sonic fraternity more largely repre-
scented char here. For all the purposes
of parades and drills Omaha, with its
| nearly forty miles OF as finely paved
streets as any in the country, could now
accommodate a procession of twenty
thousand knights, and three years
hence the city will be able to
make in this respect a still better SHOW
ing. In the meantime, also, we shall
have very materially increased our
ability to accommodate visitors, and
| otherwise added to the facilities and at
fractions of the city. In a word.
Omaha, by the fall of 1892, will be in a
position to entertain all the knights
who might come here in the event OF
this city being selected for the conclave
of that year, and to take care of all the
visitors whom their coming would at
tract. In the matters of location and ac-
cessibility.the claims of Omaha are cer-
tainly equal to those of any other city.
1t is to be remarked, however, that
considerations of this kind are not alone
sufficient to secure the selection Of q
city for the conclave. There must be q
financial inducement and u liberal one.
Probably no ciUv Offering to guarantee
less than from forty to fifty thousand
dollars for the onclave of three years
hence will receive any serious consider
alton, whatever may be the favorable
conditions otherwise which it may
present. The money expended to SO.
cure these conclaves in the past has al
way been found to be n profitable in
vestment. 1t was largely 81 in Glove
land, in Chicago, in San Francisco, and
undoubtedly will be in Washington.
There is every reason to suppose that
in future such expenditure will be even
more profitable to the communities
that make it. Having regard solely
for the business feature of the matter,
there can be no doubt that an invest
ment of fifty thousand dollars by Omaha
to secure the conclave of 1892 would
pay, and all other obvious advantages
to be derived would be clear profit
Omaha certainly ought not to permit
this opportunity to pass without al Of
fort, and the matter is commended tt
the earnest consideration of those whit
should take a hearty and active inter
est in it.
THE MI TIUTIJZI IA