The San Francisco call., 1897-04-24
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
AND LADIES
Brilliant Gathering at the
Drill in Mechanics In
stitute Pavilion.
California Commandery Covered
With Glory Calamity Won
by Its Drill Corps.
Oak and Lad eS Assisted the Knights
in Making the P.cturesqu,
F, ature of the Affair.

courteous knights gayly uppareied In
velvet and silken cloaks, doublet and
hose; Of fair ladies for whose smiles twere
sweet 10 die were awakened last night by
the exhibition drill and ball in Mechanics
Pavilion by the Grand Commandery.
Knights T emp plar, of California, in aid of
the Masonic Widows and Orphans Home
! fund.
The Pavilion, though over-roomv and
trying, except for the largest gathering,
was just comfortable, every chair on the
ground floor having been sold, and it was
none too roomy for the Knights, who gave
the finest exhibition drill ever Witnessed
in this City, a2d at the same time the
! most closely contes ed.
The ladies in large mum bers graced the
occasion, arrayed in their most winsome
summer toileItes. Beauty beamed and
smiled upon the Sir Knights from under
roses, carnations, Violets, camelias and
peonies, and frightened the auditorium
with brilliant coIors of pink and mauve
and crimson and turquoise and gold in
suisse and lace and sh mmering silks.
First in order on the programme and
first in merit came the drill corps of Cali
| fornia Commandery No. l. commanded
by Sir Reuben P. Hurlbut, assisted by
Senior Warden Sir James A Christie and
L y
The corps uniform was smart" and
neat. The white waistbelt and the shoul-
der belt and the white banded skull cap
formed conspicuous lines to show any
breaks or Irregularities in the formation
or the march and made the drill all the
more trying, for, should a mem Der of the
corps get out OF line, be 1t ever so slightly,
the white belts and the cap band would
show the gap at once.
Commander Hurlbut handled his men
with the ease of veteran of the regular
army and kept them at work without
break. The twenty-four ceased to be men
and became autometons, moving like
parts of machine. They formed crosses
triangles, squares and circles and wheeled
and countermarched and swung into line
so easily and so gracefully, and kept their
! distances so well that the spectators
palms were red with clapping, while the
| floor quivered with applauding feet and
| the thum ping OF walking sticks.
The general criticism was that the drill
could not have been done better by any
corps in or outside of the State, and Com
mander Hurlbut was congratulated on all
sides for the excellent results of his train
| ing.
| Oakland Commandery No. II followed,
mingling female loveliness and feminine
grace with the sturdy masculinity of the
knight errant. Upon the arm of each Sir
| Knight hung lady in summer costume,
and those costumes were so varied that
when the calcium lights played upon them
they resembed procession Of flowers.
Not handicapped, but aided by the
"fayre ladyes," the knights went through
all the difficult evolutions of the fancy
drill, forming stars, crosses, squares, trl-
angles and circles, that expanded and
! contracted the march went on. 1t was
! the really pretty feature of the occasion,
and the spectators were more than liberal
| with their applause. SIR Alfred ". Bur-
rell was the commandant, and he did
| well.
The drill corps of Golden Gate Com
! mandery No. 16 followed with splendid
exhibition OF drilling, the corps being par
! iicularlv precise in coming 10 halt and
marching with iull front. The corps
will find few equals outside of this State,
and to Sir William Edwards, the captain,
belongs the praise for the excellent dis
| cipline and thoroughness of instruction
! that were evidenced last night in the
work of the corps.
The drill closed with the appearance of
| the corps battalion, Right Eminent
| Sir Frank w. Sumner. commandant, as
! sisted by the following:
Sir Jonathan N. Peel adjutant; Sir e ce
| Kay Townsend, seTgeantmajor.
First company-Eminent Sir William Ed
wards captain; Sir John r. Aitken, senior
warden; Sir Rooert Mcmillan, junior warden.
Second company-Eminent Sir Charles L..
| Field, captain; Eminent Sir Joseph K. Firth
senior warden; Eminent Sir George D. Clark,
! junior warden.
sword bearer; Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick stand
ard bearer; Sir Joseph C. Campoell, warder.
The battalion was reviewed by the Emil
nent commander of Golden Gate Com
mandefy, Eminent Sir Charles H.
Murphy.
in the grand march, but its drill corps
! did not take part in evolutions because
it had been cut down to nineteen m en-
| bers, owing to the absence of several de-
tanned by sickness in their families.
The entertainment concluded with a
bali.
The mem bers of the Grand Commandery
of the Knights Tempiar at their meeting
yesterday occupied their lime by hearing
the reports of committees and acting on
them. The following officers were then
appointed:
Grand standard bearer, William D.
Knights of Sacramento; grand sword
| bearer, George S1nsabaugh of Los An
geies; grand warden, John Burris de
Iarnatt of Colusa; grand organlst, Samuel
ID. Mayer of San Francisco; grand guard,
James Oglesby OF San Francisco.
The appointed officers and the follow
| ing. which were elected yesterday, were
then duly instal lied:
Grand commander, Right Eminent Sir
George Dickson Meicalf, Oakland; deputy
grand com mander, Very Eminent Sir Robert
Morris Powers, San Diego; grand generals
simo, Eminent Sir John Francis Merrill, San
Francisco; grand captaIn-general, Eminent
Sir Frederick Marvin Miller, Fresno; grand
senior warden, Eminent Sir George Butterfield
Mckee, San Jose; grand junior warden, Emf
nent Sir William Frank Pierce. Oakland; grand
treasurer, Eminent Sir Edward Coleman, San
Francisco grand recorder Eminent Sir
Thomas Hubbard Caswell San Francisco.
Past Grand Commander Ward was the
leading officer of the installation. These
committees were appointed during the
day:
Jurisprudence-Niles Searls, chief Justice;
Frank W. Sumner, E. S Lppitt
Finance-Joseph Miller Litchfeld Trow-
bridge Hyer Wood, Franklin Dalion.
Correspondence-Wiliam Abraham Davies,
Joseph Wheeler Cook ana Nehemiah Black
stock.
MnsicaI Ed;t;or