The San Francisco call., 1898-04-08
The Building Now Being Erected Deo Masn
talk about it to every brother. Mason

talk about it to every brother Mason he meets.
 For twenty years the question of properly caring for the indigent widows and orphans of Masons, and also aged and infirm Masons. has been agitated at every meeting of the Grand Lodge. Now, when the project is so near completion, e,nd only the funds which are sure to come from the festi- val are needed to open the doors, the enthusiasm of all those years seems to have found a vent, and that the affair will be memorable success is as sure as sunrise.
 The project first took definite form when the grand lodge of 1891 appointed a board of nine trustees, with Past Grand Master Edward Meyers Preston as chairman, to select a site and pre- pare plans for the home so long talked of. Out of about twenty offered the board selected a site at Decoto-a tract of 26S acres, three miles this side of Niles, for which was paid S34,000. Plans for building to accommodate one hun dred inmates were agreed upon and during the session of the grand lodge in 1896 the corner stone was laid.
 Since then over $50 has been spent on the site and there is money enough on hand to complete the home as orig inally planned. But more Is needed, it has been found, than a building to ac- commodate one hundred, and it is for this reason and to assist in keeping 1t going that the festival has been planned.
 The principles upon which the home will be run have been tested and found successful beyond expectations in nine States. One of the tenets of the Ma sonic creed is an injunction to care for the widows and children of deceased members, and in this State it is being done by the various lodges. It has been found, however, that the best way is to establish just such home as is being erected at Decoto. The home will be run by a board of trustees appoint ed by the Grand Lodge, and candidates for admission must be approved by the board before being installed. The only general restriction is that they must be relatives of Masons in full standing.
 In preparing for the co; ling celebra- tion out of town lodges are taking more than an active part, and their activity is shown in applications for space on the Pavilion floor for booths and in do- nations of cash. Here in San Francisco, since the tickets have been issued, a good Mason may be known by his bulging pockets, for every one of them
  boards, and the sales are no more ac- tive than the salesmen. Before two more days are past the tickets will be on sale by all the prominent merchants.
 Judge Carroll Cook is among those with a scheme to help the festival and in this he represents Excelsior Lodge Mo- 156, of which he is worshipful mas ter. The scheme Is to have an Ameri- can booth,v where the ladies in charge will all be dressed in the national colors and where everything American will be seen and some things will be sold There will be a picture of George Washington, for which the fa- ther of his country sat himself; a lock of Andrew Jackson's hair and letters he wrote; some of Washingtons letters; battle flags; clock which belonged to John Hancock; speeches by President McKinley-by phonograph if he can not be there himself. and a host of other things. The executive committee in charge of the plans of Excelsior Lodge is as follows: s. H.. Dan iels, chairman; Frank W. Sumner, c. P. Overton. The present com mittee consists of A. F. Buckingham, Dr. E. R. Bryant, c. H. Bryan, Will liam Cuff, John G. Conrad. B. B. Cut ter, F. F. Deering, l.. l.. Dorr, w. A. Balstead, J. K. c. Hobbs, Arthur w. Morse, Dr. John F. Morse, s. M. Short ridge, Theodore F. Smith, H. J. Owen, F. H. Titus, A. H. Vail, Willis T. Per kins, J. H. Suydam and Aaron Dowd
 Mrs. w. Frank Pierce, in charge of renting floor space, says she has re- ceived so many applications that 1t is probable the entire Pavilion must be usSd, instead of only the lower floor, as was at first intended.
 So far the citv merchants have do- mated nearly $12000 worth of goods, to be sold at the festival and the lodges are ordering tickets in a way to make second issue seem probable. Floor space is at a premium. and when May arrives the Masons will have nothing to do but celebrate. This will be their first public entertainment, and they are determined to make it worthy of the order.