The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1904-06-01
Masonry IN Meridian.

4 :
tory Of the Scottish Rite Masons
for this State, which convened in
Meridian on the 23rd 26th Of
May, and for the benefit of the
many readers of The Leader who
are members of the great, Masonic
family and fraternity, / will give
a brief outline of the meeting in
hopes it will prove of interest to
them. On the train from jack
son, besides myself were Hon. e.
j. Martin, prominent citizen of
Meridian, well-known to a great
many Brookhayenites for his zeal
in the Shrine, who was returning
from Little Rock where he had
been attending the great Masonic
meeting in that city, which had
just closed, and Judge Frederick
Speed of Vicksburg, the beloved
and venerable Grand Secretary of
1.-THE State Blue Lodge, and who in
addition to this honored office is
the Deputy Inspector General for
the Southern Jurisdiction of the
Supreme Council $50 and who by
virtue of this title, presides over
i all the annual meetings of the
Consistory. On our arrival at
Meridian we were met at the de-
pot by General B. V. White, the
Recorder of all the Masonic
bodies of that city, who escorted
us to our quarters.
At s p. m. Monday. night the
session of the Condsistory was
opened in the handsome and cost
| " Masonic Temple and continued
with brief intermissions until
Wednesday night, when the body
finished it's Iabors, having confer
red from the 18th to the 32nd De-
grees on the class composed of
the following gentlemen: Judge
E. L. Sykes, Aberdeen; V. +.
Byrd, Brookhaven; B. L. Semel-
man, West Point; j. H. Potts,
John w. Moore, /. A. Rosenbaum
and J. w. Dowdle, all of Meri-
dian.
Bro. E. J. Martin was advanced
and made a member of Meridian
Lodge of Perfection No. and
will take his remaining degrees
at the November meeting.
These degrees were conferred
on the class by Judge Speed, with
the assistance of Rabbi W. Well
ner, a learned Jewish Divine, and
DIR. Oliver A. Harrison, who is
also 50 dergee Bro, with all the
scenic and electrical effect so nec-
essary to impress the class with
their beauty, and an elaborate de-
gree of thought and execution for
which this Consistory is famous
throughout the State. Judge
Speed delivered a beautiful ad-
dress to the class at the close of
the meeting, which for its lofty
tone and purity of sentiment far
surpassed any effort / have ever
heard made anywhere. Bro. Speed
not only sustained his reputation
as an orator, but added new lau-
rels to the bright ones already |
won. | wish it were the good for
tune of every Mason in Brookha-
ven to have heard his remarks,
and | hope we of Lodge 241
will have the pleasure Of listen
ing to him and the honor of his
paying us visit.
In conclusion ] cannot refrain
from mentioning all of the kind
ness and courtesies shown myself
and the rest of the visitors to the
Consistory, by not only the Ma
sonic brethren, but the citizens in
general, irrespective of religion
or creed. The event will always
be most pleasantly remembered
by me; in fact, it was the red
letter day of my life, and | shall
always in my heart cherish a
warm feeling for the Meridian
ties, whom | have every reason to
believe return the sentiment.
Meridian is the center of free
masonry in Mississippi, and emf
nently proper it is that it should
be; a beautiful city, noted for its
handsome buildings, large rail-
road shops, oil mill, congresses
and various other industries. 1t
is one of the cleanest cities in the
South, therefore is one of the
healthiest, and it will well repay
any one to visit it and see real
live city, where there is so much
enterprise and energy shown by
its philosophical and wide-awake
business men, and our people
should be proud that there is with
in our commonwealth a city of
such possibilities for the business
investor and capitalist. Its men
are noted fal and wide for their
genelo sity and manly qualities
and the ladies for their beauty
and many accomplishments so
necessary to make true daughters
of our beloved Southland.
V. r. B.
In connection with the above
meeting it is a praiseworthy and
notable fact to mention that this,
the highest body Of Masons in the
State, do not allow intoxicating
liquors in their sacred asylum and
to their everlasting credit that not
q drunken man, OF man under the
Influence of liquor was seen in
Meridian during the meeting, so
we are informed by Mr.. Byrd.
| Miss Daisy Schwem, of Brook
/ haven. has been ann0intad nipht