The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-02
SECOND REUNION
 OF SCOTTISH RITE
MaSons of High Degree Will
 Meet Here Tomorrow
RITE IS FULLY EXPLAINED
Large Class of Candidates Will Be Invested With the High Grades In the Ancient Fraternity.
 Banquet Thursday.

The second reunion of the Birmingham bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Scot tish Rite of Freemasonry will begin to- morrow morning at o'clock in the Ma sonic hall at the corner of First avenue and Twentieth street. and will conclude with a banquet at the Metropolitan Thursday night. A large class of eandi- dates will receive the high degrees.
 The reunion committee has issued complete programme in booklet form, and 1t is got up in eloquent style. It Is con- talned within covers of purple and gilt.
 Extracts from the booklet, explaining the Scottish Rite system, follow;
 There arc two branches from the great Masonic trunk, starting us 1t was from and after the third or master Mason de- gree The York, or perhaps more intelii- gently speaking, the American Rite, in- cludes the degrees of the chapter and of | eommandery and there ends. The Scottish Rite comprises in all thirty-three degrees. The first three degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry are the entered apprentice, fellowcraft and master Mason.
 In countries where this rite exclusively prevails these, as well as the succeeding eleven degrees, are given in the lodge Of perfection; in the United states the su- preme councils require that the first thrs degrees be exclusively administered by the sympolic lodges, under the jurisdic- In1a ba 1I- thentic power, and deem it proper, also. that the whole of symbolic Masonry should unite in the representative system of grand lodges Then follow the his- torical degrees, consisting of two, and the philosophical degrees, of which there are also two, all four of which are con ferred in the Chapter Rose Croix. After these come the areopagus of twelve chiv- alric degrees, conferred in the council of kadosh. Then the judicial and consis- torial degrees, thirty-frst and thirty-sec- ond, conferred in the conslstory.
 The last degree In the consistory, to- sether with the three blue lodge degrees, it will be observed make thirty-two de- grees in all; the thirty-third or last of all being given for merit only by the su- preme council at Washington, D. c. The supreme council of the thirty-third degree consists of not exceeding thirty-three ac- tive members; also of emeritus, active and honorary members
 Scottish Rite Masonry is most universa and general 1t is found in every cline and in every land where the sun of civ ilization shines. In America the territory is divided into two jurisdictions, called the northern and the southern The northern comprises the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont Massachu- setts, Connecticut Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela- ware, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. The southern jurisdiction extends over all the rest of the United States of America, also the army and navy, which, it will be observed, Is by far the larger part of this country The see of the southern jurisdiction is now at Washington, in the District of Colum- | bia.