Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-22
ECHOES OF THE ANTE ROOM

VIVA NANAAAHN9 " w n US kaN VIA
the Scottish Rite Masons OF the orient of
Omaha, for the annual reunion will take
place beginning Tuesday morning and clos
ing with a banquet Friday night. The Sec
Rotary has received from all parts Of the
state a large number OF petitions and the
class will be one Of the largest ones In the
history Of the rite in Nebraska. The pro-
gram for the week is as follows:
Mount Moriah lodge OF Perfection will
assemble at $3.50 O'Clock Tuesday morning,
and beginning at 10 o'clock will confer or
communicate the degrees from the fourth
to the fourteenth inclusive. This will take
until late at night.
Wednesday morning the chapter Of Rose
Croix will meet and during the day will
confer the degrees from the fifteenth to the
eighteenth inclusive.
Thursday the degrees from the nineteenth
to the thirtieth inclusive will be conferred
or communicated by St. Andrews council,
knights Of Kadosh. while on Friday the
thtrty-hrst and thlrty-second degrees will
be conferred by the Nebraska consistory.
Friday evening the banquet will be
spread. This will be one of the most enter
tanning gatherings of Masons in
the state. The arrangements have been In
charge Of L. P. Funkhouser, who will pre-
side. The first part Of the speaking will OF
necessity be extemporaneous, as the first
toast will be THE Novitiates-our impress"
sions.' There are q number Of silver
tongued orators who are to pass through
the wells which cover the mysteries of the
Scottish Rite degrees this week for the
FIRST time and 1t is expected that, as a num-
Der OF these self confessed orators are of
a very sensitive disposition. that their i'm
pressions will be told with more than aver
age ability, after being received with much
more than average intensity.
Following these impressions w. S. Sum-
mers will essay to tell Of Our Duties as
Masons." l.. M. Kuhn will speak Of THE
Sacrifices OF a Mason, " and C. s. Lobingier
will tell Of 1.-THE Antiquity Of Masonry"
Nebraska lodge, No. I, knights Of
Pythias, last Monday evening held one OF
the most interesting conventions in its his
tory. A very large number Of knights we're
In attendance and the amplined third rank
was conferred on seven esquires-W. +.
Pringle, George A. Anderson, L. Aldorisi,
r. H. Denton, r. Boltze, George Seaman
and Joseph Wolfe. The latter was an es-
quire from John Hus, No. 5, and knighted
by No. 1 by request. The work was most
interesting and the tests OF the staying
qualities Of the initiates were carried to
climaxes which they will not soon forget,
and over which they later expressed them
selves in most admiring terms. 1t is un-
usual that so many are knighted at one
time, except at the installation of a lodge.
Nebraska No. /, however, has its coat on
and will reach the 300 mark in its June
grand lodge report
Next Monday night no degree work will
be had, but a general social and g%ood-of-
the-order session is to be held. II has been
decided to accept the urgent invitation OF
Garfield lodge, No 6, Of Blair to visit them
on Monday night, March 30, and tomorrow
evening final arrangements will be made.
Indications are that a large number will go
as the other lodges Of the city are invited
to Join No. / In this fraternal visit, and an
effort is being made to obtain special rail-
road facilities as an inducement for a large
party.
The photo committee reported that 1t was
ready to install the membership photo cab
met in the lodge room, which is to be a fix
ture in No. 1 hereafter. A resolution was
offered to change the bylaws to the extent
that when the lodge reached the member
ship of 500 the fee of admission shall be
$50. 1t Is now SIS, a fee prevailing all over
the state. While several enthusiastic mem
bers advocate this rate, many feel that I'M
less the other city lodges Join this move
ment the double fee would be injudicious.
Clan Gordon, No. SO, order of Scottish
Clans, held regular meeting Tuesday even
ing In Continental building. One new man
was ballotted for and a pleasant evening
spent, Clansman John McBeth Of Chicago
being there with his pipes. The clan has
been struck with a spell Of sickness Of late,
the most severe cases being that Of Past
Chief George Anderson, who Is Just recov-
ering from an operation at Emmanuel hos
pital, and William Rapper, who is rep
resenting the clan in st. Joseph on account
Of a badly burned foot.
Degree OF Honor members are very busy
these days writing up new members for the
: order. A contest is on among the lodges
throughout the state, each striving to Guido
the others in an attempt to win one Of the
: prizes offered by the grand chief OF honor
o for an increase In membership. Nebraska
is the banner state Of the jurisdiction Of
r the United States and Canada, but 1t takes
r work TO keep in the lead, as others are
e after the honors. Grand Chief of Honor
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