Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-11-07
MASONIC TEMPLE.
Chicago Ma sons Lay a Corner.
Stone.
A GREAT BUILDING WELL BEGUN.

with Brnnan, Masonic Pomp and Cere-
mony the work Il Insugursted-A Pa
rade OF 1000 Memb-rs-som- D-scrip-
tion at struclar- That VIII &c
Eighteen >t"ries nigh, and the Great
est building of the Kind In the World
CHICAGO, Nov .--N esterdsy was red
letter day for the Masonic fraternity Of
this city, and. it might also he said of the
whole northwest. For some weeks work
men have been tearing down the build
ings occupying the quarter Of block at
the nor beast coraer of State and Ran
dolph stree $ AMI digging for the founia.
tons of the great Masonic temple which
Is to occupy tue whole spscs on the
ground, ani an uncommon amount of
space In the upper regions of the a, mos
phere. Yesterday all was ready for the
laying of the cornerstone, and that is
what made the day such a great one for
MaSons.
Brilliant Parade.
There We're numerous Masonic b Ddies
from the region round about Chicago in
town to take par in the ceremonies. A feat
ure Of the parade which preceded the
corner--ton laying were Sublime Princes
or the Oriental eonsistory and the MEM
bers OF The Scottish Rite la full regsIia.
The procession. which marched throush
several OF the priucipli business streets,
were an imposing exhibition Gen Fitz-
simmons, marsha'-ln-chie, rode at the
head and WAS followed by the Second reg
iment band, the Oriental consistory,
Montjoie commandery, Apollo command
cry, and II large number of local aud
other lodges, including the grand lolge
The Laying of the Stone.
The column reached the site of the tenn
pie abou, 8 p. m. and the grand officers
Immediately proceeded with the impress
sive ritual of the order prescribed for oc-
casions of the kind The copper box de-
posted in the corner stone contained the
following articles: A copy of the pro-
ceedings of the grand lodge OF Illinois for
1899 and of the grand commandery, h
T.; the grand chapter, r. A NJ; grand
council, K and :. N: roster of the mem.
bership Of all the Masonic bodies in Cook
county; list of the city and state Of
hcials; specimens of American coins:
copies Of all the daily newspapers, sew
erai Masonic medals, Including that
struck on the fifteenth anniversary of the
grand lodge of Illinois and few Others.
Description of the building
The procession numbered about /. coo
persons. At night an elaborate banquet
was served at the Sherman house. with
200 covers The temple will cost about
81, 600, 600 besides sl,l000O paid for
ground and leases. IL will be eighteen
stories and 254 feet high, will be perfect
ly hre-proof, supplied wi h the most i'm
proved and efficient sanitary aud ventila-
ton apparatus In the center of the
building will be rotunda As by 90 feet.
and reaching To the roof The principal
entrance will be an arch ~ feet hign and
Is feet wide. All the materials will be of
the finest kind-among them being onyx,
marble and granite. The stories will
named a. streets, instead of being num-
bered. The seventeenth aud eighteenth
stories will be occupied by Masonic halls.
drill rooms, etc, aud on the roof will be
a garden. 1t will lie the greatest building
of the kind in the word