The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-15
REUHl0NS0F MAS0HS
THE MEMBERS OF THE THREE
OLDEST LODGES IN THE
sTAfN
SPEND A ;;:'AARI'PY EVENING.
ST. PAUL, NO-3, ENTERTAINs ST.
RACT, OF MINNEAPOLIS.


RACT, Of MINNEAPOLIS.
EARLY MINkpsorA MASONRY.
History Of the order Back in the
Fifties-P.rtoI II aas Played In /
Many Ways.
It was right royal reunion that the
three oldest masonic lodges In the
state Of Minnesota enjoyed at Masonic
hall asst night. Over 300 Masons gath
cred about the festive board, and. at
ter partaking of an inviting collation..
listened to the addresses Of the old
guard Of Minnesota Masonry. And
vastly entertaining were some Of these
addresses. and all Of them were inter
sting.
The trio of lodges, so to speak. COM
prises st. Johns lodge No. !, of Still
water; Cataract lodge No. 2, Of Min
neapolis, and St. Paul Lodge No. 3.
Over 125 mebers Of Cataract lodge No.
came down from Minneapolis, and
some thirty members of the Saltwater
veteran lodge were in attendance.
The banquet. was preceded by lodge
meeting, which opened with the recep-
ton of the grand master and past
grand masters. Worshipful Master Ed
ward McStay, of st. Paul Lodge No. 3,
delivered an address of welcome, which
was responded to by w. M. II. J.
Putnam, Of Cataract Lodge No. 2. and
w NJ F. A. Lenox, of ST. Johns Lodge
No. 1. The lodge then closed, and the
members adjourned to the banquet
hall.
Grand Masters James M. Lawless pre-
sided. the speakers of the evening sit
ting at either side. Rev. e. +. niger
soil offerd the invocation. AS soon as
300 inner men had been well attended
to, the feast of reason was inaugural
ed. The addresses that followed We're
all more or less commemorative OF
early Masonry. particularly in this state
and jurisdiction. -
Grand Master Lawless was the first
speaker. His subject was '"The Grand
LODGE" The address was brief. review
ing in general way the organization
and the achievements Of the grand
lodge. Past Grand Master e. w. Dur
rant, of ST. Paul Lodge No. /. pointed
out ''The Benefits of Fraternity. So
cial and Otherwise"
early Masonry in St Anthony and
Minneapolis" was the subject Of an
address by Scion Armstrong, past mas
ter Of Cataract Lodge No. 2. Mr. Arm
strong reviewed the history of the
lodge from it's organization on Feb. II.
1852, with Alfred e. Ames as master.
The lodge worked under a dispensation
until October, 1852, when it applied to
the Grand Lodge of Illinois for a char
ter and obtained one. It was then
known as Cataract Lodge No. 121. On
the 23rd of February, 1853, the three
the grand lodge, of which Alfred E.
Ames was elected grand master.
Among the members Of the. lodge in
those days were many Of the famous
pioneers, of Minnesota. MrsiArmstrong
traced the history of the lodge from
1853. until it moved into it's present
quarters at No. 20 and % University
and all. Mr.. Armstrong referred to
the growth Of Masonry throughout the
state Instead Of three lodges. the
state now contains 206 lodges with a
membership of over $4,000.
Past Master w. f. Grant, of st.
Paul Lodge No. 8. discussed the SUBJ
ject Of Free Masonry in the building
sence patriotic, had necessarily played
an important part in state building.
Fifty of the fifty-six signers of the
Declaration of Independence were
Masons Thirteen of the presidents Of
the United States belonged to the
Masonic fraternity. Coming down to
later years Mr. Grant paid tribute
to the invaluable services Of Henry
M. Rice, Of Minnesota, and Stephen A.
Douglas, of Illinois, in securing the
admission of the territory of Minnesota
to statehood against the opposition Of
John Sherman and other influential
men. In conclusion the speaker men
toned the names of prominent Masons
in ST. Paul who had rendered great
service to this city and state.
At this point the programme was
varied by the Temple quartette, of
Minneapolis, who well merited the dou-
BILE encore that greeted their singing.
The spiciest and wittiest speech Of
the evening was delivered by Rev. Rob-
ert Forbes. D. D., of Cataract Lodge
No. 2. DR.. Forbes subject was chic
Relation of Masonry to Society,"" DR..
Forbes began by defining what he con-
ceived society 70 be from the stand
point of his discussion. The word did
not refer to any particular class or
set of people, but to mankind, men anu
women in general
81 think" said DR.. Forbes, "that
mankind as it is, in the last decade Of
the nineteenth century, is a pretty
hard crowd. I don't mean that the
people here are a hard crowd. daugh-
teri I simply want to average the
people from the archbishop on the hi!
down to the thug. When you strike
the average. you nave pretty haru
citizen. / think we are a little above
the average. At least, hope so. am
afraid the average man is not to be
trusted with your purse. l believe
there is hardly man here who could
borrow 500 without an indorser. me
average man will lie. daughtero The
average preacher will lie more than he
will admit. George Washington, WITH
his Ratchet in his hand, would have
lied If he could have got out OF 1t any
other way. Gaughter9 How many OF
Won men. deacons and vestrymen,
ni1lars of your churches, if you had
Some stock and heard it was going to
slump. wouldn't unload it, even on
your preacher, If you could? Qaugh-
ter) I don't say you would. merely
MT the question to start you to think
ing"
stronghold Of masonry was it's belief
in Cod A man who didn't believe in
God wasn't 1tT to. be a Mason. DR..
Forbes then defined an agnostic. An
agnostic was a man going out into the
World and out into eternity after swal-
lowing his. tag, He only knows that
he didn't knoW anything. Masonry
was a great help, an uplifting. elevat-
ing force in the community. It's reia-
ton to the home should De remembered.