The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-05-16
WASHINGTON LETTER
Especial Correspondence

c1nnati attended stated communica.
ton of Temple lodge. No. so, of this
jurisdiction at the new Masonic tenn
pie the other evening. Mr. Taft ar
rived about o'clock, remained about
an hour and saw the third degree con-
/ ferred.
President Visits Masonic Lodge.
| Mr.. Taft is the first president of the
| United States to sit in a Masonic lodge
| IN the national capital since Garfield s
| time. Theodore Roosevelt is a Mason.
but he did not attend here during his
term of office. He had planned to do
So on one occasion. but such crowd
| of the brethren turned out in advance
that he gave it up Mr.. Roosevelt's
| home lodge is In Oyster Bay
The fact that Mr.. Taft was to visit
Temple lodge the other evening was
kept secret even from the members
Of the lodge. who. however, were no
/ tined to be on hand, as something of
Yore than ordinary interest and i'm
| portance was on the program Conse-
quently, while there was an excellent
| attendance of members of the lodge
and grand officers and other high Ma
sonic dignitaries, the lodge room was
| not overcrowded Several hundred
Masons were turned away at the door,
however, after it became known
throughout the building that Brother
Taft was in attendance at the stated
communication of Temple lodge.
Taft Gets Gold Telegraph Key.
Secretary Ballinger OF the interior
department recently presented to Pres
fdent Taft the famous gold nugget tel
egraph key to be used by him In open
ling the Alaska Yukon Pacific exposi-
ton at 10 a. m. June |.
The telegraph key is studded with
twenty-four gold nuggets. the first
| ever taken out Of the klondike.
The instrument is OF solid gold, and
| 1t Is set OF base of Alaska marble.
Nuggets make the bearings Of the key.
and other nuggets are set in the mar
BILE base. 1t is the first telegraph key
ever, presented to a president for a
similar purpose and of such great
value. It is worth several thousand
| dollars
First Gold From Alaska.
The gold nuggets In addition to
serving as a unique design, will 60
down in history as the first gold taken
ont of the great Alaska district. Mr..
George w Carmack discovered them
on Aug. Is. 1896 and has since priced
them for their historic value. Mr.
Carmack literally caused the stampede
TO the Klondike region ID the summer
OF 1896. The nuggets were found i'm
bedded Id frozen gravel on the bed
rock of the Klondike river.
President Taft viii present the key
with the gold nuggets to the govern
ment Immediately following the open
ing Of the exposition.
Historic ., a. r. Furniture
There is one feature OF the D. A. R
Memorial Continental hall which de-
lights the visitors and brings to mind
one of these far away victories which
the American patriots scored against
King George and his men. The fea-
ture is ..the New Jersey room. fur
nished by the New JERSEY chapters OF
the D. A. r.. ard the wood from
which the chairs, Wafnscoting, beams
and other gifts have been carved is
taken from the British frigate Angus
ia. which ran aground Oct %. TIT.
while fighting a swarm OF American
galleys and floating batteries on the.
Delaware Since then the frigate has
rested ignobly upon New Jersey sand
Mecca for tourists and mine for
the memento seeker.
Carved From British Oak.
The Augusta was OF s,450 toms bur-
den. carried sixty-four guns and was
no second rate ship. In fact, she was
rated as one OF EngIand's best when
she set sail to take part I'll what the.
British admiralty Thought would be
the complete subsection of the bother
some Yankees. Yet for l30 years the
white oak hull lay half under water
after having vainIy tried to stem the
tide OF battle by broadsides or 1.2O0
pounds each The white oak became
as hard as marble in that long period
and much more difficult TO carve. and
the New Jersey society had great diff
Guilty in finding WoodWorkers and saw.
mills which would undertake to fash
ion the great beams Of the decks and
hull into chairs. tables and other fur
niture.
Style of the Jaoobean Period.
The idea OF taking enough wood
from the Augusta to furnish a New
Jersey room originated with Miss FL
len Matlock of the Ann. Whitali chap
ter Of New Jersey She and Miss Ell
len Mecum. for four years state re-
gent of New Jersey. worked hard to
make the New Jersey room a success.
Miss Mecum found that to get the
wood from the ship would cost $500
and Immediately set about to get it
Not only did the New Jersey daugh-
tiers raise the $500, but they raised ST.
$50 more and spent every cent of It on
their room.