The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1890-02-27

Ter had quarreled with make threats
against my life, and he had consequently
kept close watch upon him. He saw
him follow me this night, and therefore
joined In the chase. Before be could reach
me, though, he saw the fellow hit me on
the back Of the head with a club. He
fred shot from his revolver and hurried
to my side, but the would-he assassin had
escaped. On our way back to camp I
asked him why he had taken 90 much
interest in me. In reply he held out his
hand, and to my amazement gave me the
grip Of a master Mason. He was mem
Der Of the native lodge in Grahamstown,
and knew me to be q member Of the
craft by the gold watch charm l always
wear. ...... Z
have visited Parsee lodges in Bombay,
Persian lodges in Malaga and Bagdad,
English lodges in Great Britain, French
lodges in France, native lodges in Mex
leo, Dutch lodges in Java, Spanish lodges
in Cuba and South America. Ihave seen
the work in Arabia, Egypt, Australia and
south Africa, and it is needless to say
that I am acquainted with the lodgeroOms
Of the United States. mention the range
Of my experience to show you that am
prepared tos speak authoritativeIy upon the
subject, and when I say that the three
finest Masonic temples in the world, ac-
cording to my judgment, are in Philadel-
phia, Penn; Port Louis, Mauritius, and
Cape Town, south Africa, l expect this
statement to have some wdtght.
l have already described to you the
Port Louis temple. The one in Cape
Town rivals It in beauty, and in certain
particulars 1t excels. 1t is the property
Of Krap lodge. It is situated in the
center Of a large grove Of oak trees, and
its various chambers are fitted out for
their work in the most elaborate manner
imaginable. For instance, the blue
lodgerooms have subteFTanean apart
ments, with vaults, passages and tun-
nels, and the work is given more i'm
pressively than l have ever seen any
where in the world. The Invitations are
conducted very much as l imagine the
ancient rites Of the Egyptian priests to
have been.
Masonry is essentially the same the
world over, but its ceremonies are as
varied in form as the English lodges il
simple and depends more upon that fact
for Its impressiveness, while the work in
Latin lodges, in the tropics, in South
America and in the Orient is very dra.
matte, and the poor searcher after light
may forget his own name, the name Of
his children ande the face Of his wife's
mother, but his initiation never.
In 1885, when I was in China, went
from Hong Kong to Singapore, about
1900 miles down the south China sea.
Ny assistant and myself comprised the
entire party. 1t was only fourteen
days trip, but to me II was one Of the
most eventful trips Of my life in certain
respects. We had not been out Of the
port twenty-iour hours whom l missed all
my money, which l kept in wallet in my
inside waistcoat pocket, my watch, chain
and charm; but l also lost several Of my
most valuable properties. They had been
stolen while l was asleep. l was billed
to give q performance in Singapore the
evening Of my arrival and II would be
impossible for me to do 50 without the
lost utensils Of my craft. / was almost
in despair. l did not know whsk 10 do.
l laid my case before the captain, but he
was as powerless as l. Our crew con
sisted Of thirty Europeans and about 100
Cinnamon, and II was highly probable
that one Of the latter was my evil genius.
The third mate was Chinaman and the
captain put the.case into his hands. The
ship was searched as well as could be done
under the circumstances, and considering
the fact that my promised reward for the
recovery Of my property was not backed
up by any ready cash, the search was not
characterized by anything remarkable In
the line Of zeal.
When we reached Singapore 1 was lit
orally in despair. There were few tricks
l could perform without my working
tools, and those few tricks were by no
means new to the Singapore public. You
can, therefore, easily imagine that when
I reached my hotel was not in an en-
viable frame Of mind. dined that even
ing with my assistant in my room. We
had Just finished our meal when the SER
want came into the room and said man
wanted to speak to me alone. sent my
assistant out and waited for my visitor to
come. In q moment he was before me.
He was q stout, well dressed Chinaman.
II had ever seen him before I did not
remember the fact.
"Your name Klellar2 ?" he asked.
said 1t was.
"YOu lost your money, bloxes, lines,
watch, chr"
began To be interested.
"Can you tell me where they aref" !
said.
81 can," answered the heather.
"Where are they?"
"Here."
And from under bis jacket he drew
out the missing articles. Everything
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