The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-09-09

Lodge, of Minneapolis, Are Pres
ent-The Oldest Living Member of
st. Paul Lodge Comes Up From,
. FIoridH't to Participate.
The semi-centenntal celebration of the
introduction Of sFreemasonry In Mime
sofa and the organization Of st. Paul
Lodge No. was participated in by over
800 members OF the order last evening at
Masonic hail.
The gathering was q notable one, repre-
sentatives from st. Johns lodge, Of Still
water. and Cataract lodge, Of Minneapo-
lis. being present. Grand Master Steb-
bins. Of the grand lodge Of the state, was
one of the distinguished guests. and Oil
yer H Kelly, the oldest living initiate
Of the lodge, 1ourneyed from Florida to be
participant in the exercises. which COM
menced at 7:3O o'clock with reception
to the grand master and members Of the
grand lodge Of the state. ]. j. Early
master of the lodge, followed in an ad-
dress of welcome, speaking in part as fol-
lows:
Fifty years ago tonight there met In
the village of st. Paul, then g. frontier
town in the infancy Of its existence,
a small body of men who organized a
lodge of Masons. The lodge has met to-
sary. The profusion of gray and bald
heads in this splendid audience proves
that interest in Masonry has not passed
away; that the institution III all its vi
rility, its principles it's history and ritual
are still alive. We should not only pre-
serve and cherish the records pertaining
to the glorious ancestry of the order, but
should always remember that we at this
time are building for posterity.
'In it's past fifty years this lodge has
had but twenty-four masters. One past
master filled the office eight years, two
others here tonight filled the chair five
years. Our Oldest living past master is
also with US tonight. He was master or
this lodge thirteen years before your
present master was born. L Wapt you
veteran past masters, past members ana
present members on the shady side or
life to feel that this evening is essentially
yours; that the entire lodge and all Its
appurtenances are at your disposal, and II
you see anything you want but canont
reach, just order some craftsman In his
swaddling clothes to get 1t for you, ana
see that he gets it quick.
.'You have assembled here tonight to
celebrate the golden anniversary OF your
mother lodge. And this Is the mother
lodge of Masonry in Minnesota. AT each
session of the grand lodge we meet dele
gates from country lodges, pillars OF the
order in their locality, who were brought
to light in ST. Paul lodge l wish to ad-
dress a. word of welcome particularly to
the members present from st. John
lodge, of Saltwater, and Cataract lodge,
of Minneapolis. They share with us the
glory Of being pioneers. Two and hall
wears ago this lodge had the honr or en-
PERTAINING these lodges in what we called
q reunion Of the old guard. We then IN
vited YOUR entire lodges, and Cataract
came over lis strong. That meeting was
intended by US as curtaln-raiser LOT the
affair tonight. 1t is matter OF regret
that we find ourselevs unable, owing TO
the limited capacity of the banquet hail.
TO include more of your members In our
invitation list, but those of you who are
here tonight. as we'll as visiting brothers.
are indeed welcome.
HISTORY OF ST. PAUL LODGES.
Responses were made to tfae address OF
welcome by T. c. Clark, past master of
ST Johns lodge, and j.. Haynes, mas
ter of Cataract lodge
George r. MetcaIf Followed with a his
tory Of the lodge from the date OF Its
organization, with twe.ve 'members, sept.
g. 1S49 to the present time. The history
was replete with data, secured after
months of labor, and showed that the
lodge had in its fifty years made over
600 Masons, and at the present time hao
an active membership OF 320. Among lis
members had been two United States SEN
ators, members Of congress. distinguish
ed members of the bar and prominent
professional men.
William H. Grant, past master OF the
lodge. gave a brief sketch of the lodge
from 1856 to date. Following the remarks
of Mr. Grant the members and mv1teo
guests adjourned to the banquet room
where a collation. was served George II:
Metcalf presided as toast master, ana sa
that fifty years ago Minnesota had put
three lodges, with a membership OF less
than one hundred, while today there were
213 lodges in the state. With a MEMBER
ship Of $1,000 and twenty past masters
Grand Master A. T., Stebbins, Of Roches-
ter. responded to the toast The Grand
Lodge Of Minnesota" He said In part:
'.The first grand lodge was formed in
9O6. Kings and princes were it's grand Of
ficers The first modern grand lodge was
organized in 1717, when four lodges met
in England and formed grand lodge.
The first American grand lodge was or
ganized in 1873 by authority OF the grand
master Of England. The Minnesota grand
lodge was organized in St. Paul, Feb. %.
1858. The high standing and enV1able po-
sition of the Minnesota grand lodge was
due to the high standing of the members
of the subordinate lodges. No organlza-
ton boosted of better class of men
and to st. Paul Lodge No. the grand
lodge owed a debt of gratitude
BISHOP GILBERT'S TRIBUTE.
Bishop M N Gilbert had no stated sub
ject, but paid high tribute to masonry
The celebration was in the nature of
golden wedding which welded the past to
the present. It was the beginning OF q
new era and as masons the vows should
be renewed not only by words but In the
heart. Three things were to be remem-
bers by very mason. The first the rev.
erence for Deity. The second love or
country and the third love for the
brotherhood of man. Masonry stood for
patriotism and no mason had ever been
unpatriotic or a traitor to his country.
When a country was in danger 1t was a
mason who stood by his country. They
stood for a kind of patriotism, which
entered into the spirit of humanity, and
he could not understand how any church
could antagonize the order.
Ambrose Tighe read an original poem
with an explanation to the effect that
there had undoubtedly been better poems
written, but none ever written more
ul1iclxIv