Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-02-28
MASONIC COMMENT
On Recent Statements Made BY
Mrs. N. e. Lease.
HOT TRULY GALLANT, BUT oAusr1o.

- sss~Oss O0clm Me0nlDcP Of the CralH
"ssssee" ssoe wsshiugtsa ssstesmea
s"a Lets Fly the lie Dirert-A Few Res-
s""s why ehe ksnsss Feusinine Cyclone
!" Alleged To he ''raIking Throagh Her
Hss." - II Were.
CHICAGO. Feb. 2s.-Mrs Mary Elizabeth
lease, who has been here lecturing and
VINO spoke Of the Christians Lord as
that iong-haircd tramp Jesus Christ" in
one Of her lectures, il she is correctly re-
ported, has also come into note with rcla.
ton to her claim to being Mason and
Knight Templar. and the manner in which
she became the first. Regarding this mat
ter Secretary Gil Barnard, Of the grand
lodge of Mnsons Of this state. has made
some remarks that are nearly il not quito
MS salty as those so frequently credited
70 tue kansas female politician herself.
what do ] think of Mrs Lease now."
said the secretary. II think that Mrs.
Lease is n deliberate liar.r
Il shocked at thc Kansas Lady.
Continuing. Mr.. Barnard said: $50
Mrs. Lease says she saw the three degrees
of the Blue lodge conferred through the
panel Of u door at I.ockport, \. Y. She
says she was taken into the adjoining
room-for this purpose-by prominent
Mason. when she was 10 years old She
ought to he ashamed to tell il! ! should
Ia very sorry To learn that a l6-year-old
daughter of mine or one of more maturity
accompanied man to a room. either to
acquire the secrets of Masonry or any
other Kind OF knowledge. I don't think
that story reflects credit on Mrs. Lease, do
your The trouble with Mrs. Lease is that
she Is afflicted with the strong Jaw Her
story u so manifcstly absurd that the
whole concoction. To "a Mason. bears the
unmistakable insignia Of falsehocd.
Points Out u Few Ais>ursiitics.
II will point out few things in her
fairy tale for the benefit of those who are
Dt Masons. In the first place. she says
oic saw all three degrees of the Blue Lodge
eonfcrred in one night. The absur,iity Of
this statement lies In the fact that it is
against the Masonic law in every state to
confer the three degrees in the came night,
except in very rare and urgent cases. when
N special dispcnsation would have to he
obtained from the grand lodge. To confer
these three degrees would take from five
and one-half to seven hours. The third
degree alone is generally one nights work.
4 Confession of Ignoruncc. -'
Again. Mrs. lease says: Twas consid-
A,iy shocked Mt some portions Of it, (the
!tniefationl. This Is n pnlpablc confession
of Ignorance. bat Is intended to convey the
|iupHesiqDfo - tha6plliisle public that thsre
Is souHNhla4 the rites of a salacious or
immodes; q hrter which a woman can
not discuss. Tl,0eis only touch OF char
latanism on Mrs. Leases part. There is
nothing in the ceremony of n lewd, vulgar,
immodcst or obscene nature"
Ea.y so Get Masonic secrets.
'Iiow do you account for Mrs. Leases
possession of the Masonic grip. and also
Tor her claim to know the ritual and Sc
crct words o: the ORDER"
That is the simplest thing in the world;
you or anybody else can actfokrc the same
knowledge II you will spend dollar or
two on booss that are exposes of the order.
There arc several such publications and
they are quite accurate. Norgan's cS
was Published fifty years ago and wapal-
most perfect, so much so that after it ar
pared the grand lodge OF th, state OF New
York changed its ritual
Hut They Do Not Fool NIaSons.
''Thcn there Is "a regular publication
whose only purpose in existing j. the ex-
Ew,,0rc of the rites. grips, Passwords etc,
Of secret orders. It, editor is Mason who
lsus lap-ed. but his exposure was accurate
rs far Us IL went. 30 you see, by these
means, Mrs. Lease might have acquired
considerable superficial knowledge of Ma
sonry. while in reality knowing nothing,
because in all these exposes there has been
En essential element lacking. II 1t were
not 50 anybody might become n Mason by
reading. bat no Mason was ever fooled by
one OF these book Masons' There i nj
ways test which they cannot pass