The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-02-22
MasOns Meet inWashingtOn's Old
Home Town
To Start Movement for a Per-
manent Memorial.
TO SPEND A MILLION.
Building Will Include a Masonic
Hall of Fame.
The Lodge Members Go in a Body
to Mount Vernon.

Alexandria. Va, Feb. 22-The move
rnent to erect a permanent Masonic
memorial to George Washington took
its first definite form today when Cen
eral J. NJ. Dickinson. secretary of war.
and grand masters of many Masonic
grand lodges met here with other dis
tinguished men of the fraternity to
form a National Masonic Memorial as
ISOLATION. Perhaps no Masonic celebra-
tion ever held anywhere in America has
been more elaborate.
In this quaint old town of ivy covered
walls and rambling gardens, upon a
street laid out by the young surveyor,
near the spot where in 1854 Braddock's
young colonel quartered his troops be-
fore the fateful march to the Ohio; near
the historic old lodge where he was a
master and in the midst of a field rich
in the events of his life and memory, it
will be the purpose of this association
to erect a temple to George Washing
ton. a Mason, Set apart in the structure
will be Z. hall of fame in which space
will be allotted to all the grand juris-
dictions in the country to place tablets
to the memories of their distinguished
sons.
The memorial would stand on Wash
ington street. Close by is the old Christ
church where. i'm his mature years,
Washington served as vestryman. On
a field not far off he held his last mil
ttary review. Across a shaded green in
the stately old court house he cast his
last vote and there his will is filed.
His Home Town.
Alexandria, by undisputed consent, is
the natural site for the memorial.
Washington moved to Mount Vernon
when he was 16 with his half brother
T.axU and until the chill daV
of his death it was his home and Alex
andria was his home town. He became
a member of it's council, represented it
in the house of Burgesses, endowed it's
schools, established it's fire department
and was master of its lodge.
The men who will form the associa-
ton met today in the same Alexandria
Washington lodge room where WASH
ington occupied the masters chair
While no fixed plan could be an
nounced prior to the assembly of all
the grand masters. it is in short the
purpose of the lodge to raise $1,000
600 to build and endow the memorial.
The institution will be unique among
the memorials of the world and will
permit every grand jurisdiction to
honor every Mason it eSteemS to be
deserving with leaf in its hall of
fame, a photograph and a biography.
The gathering of such men of prom
inence in the old lodge was impress
sive. AlexandriaW Washington lodge
No % made Washington its worship
full grand master in 1888. At his re-
quest, in 1871. it laid the corner stone
of the District of Columbia and two
years later assisted in laying the cor
ner stone of the national capitol. In
1893 It performed the Masonic cere-
monies at his funeral.
Precious Mementoes.
In its halls. crowded with precious
mementoes, his memorial was organ
fzp6 lodi TInTa hor he oil 6ar r.
ter granted by Edmund Randolph,
grand master of Masons in Virginia, in
1888. Close by, it's pendulum cord cut
and its hands pointing to twenty min
utes after 10 in the evening-the hour
and the minute of his death-stands
the old bed chamber clock. No money
could buy this silent old tale bearer.
Nearby in a case is the little trowel
he used at laying the capitol corner
stone. In another are his wedding
gloves. his pocket compass. farm
spurs, a piece of his tent used at
Yorktown, his old fashioned medicine
scales and an eloquent token of his
reverence for his mother-little knife
she gave him as a reward for his ODE
dience and which he treasured for Sc
years.
The Williams picture. as painted
from life in 1894. hangs on another
wall. 1t can not escape the eye, for it
Is much unlike the accepted likeneSSes
of Washington. 1t shows the man in
his extreme old age and is the only
original life picture extant in Ma
sonic regalia. His Masonic apron, en-
broidered in gold with French and
American flags entwined, presented to
the lodge in 1912 by his nephew, Law
renee Lewis hangs nearby. The only
original painting of Lord Fairfax
Washington's early patron and friend
- also there.
Chair 1872 Years Old.
The masters chair occupied by Gen
Washington in presiding over the lodge
stands in glass case, from which Il
Is removed only on extraordinary occa-
sions- 1t is 122 years old and was il
constant uEe for III years. Scores O.
other things of his day, the old chairs
and benches of the lodge still in use
the front door key of the bastile. pre-
scented in 1925 by Lafayette, which hav'
come from relatives and friends, ar,
valued beyond estimate.
There. has been a sentiment agains
choosing a new site for the memorial
hut for a great many reasons the on
proposed on Washington street is bet
ter fitted to the purposes of a nationa
undertaking and the necessities hav
outweighed the patriotic sentiment an,
site.
Today's first meeting, held in tn
lodge room, adjourned at noon and a.
ussnt to Noun. Vernon by a specia
lain. The party of distinguished me-
walked along the bluff that overlook
the majestic river and laid a wreatl
upon the tomb. They then returned t
the lodge at Alexandria for conferrin
OF degrees.
Tonight, at the annual banquet of tn
old lodge, Secretary of War Dickinson
James D. Richardson. sovereign gran
commander. Scottish Rite Masons, Rep
resentatives Charles c. CARING an
Champ Clark. and the Rev. John Yves
ley Hill. D. D., of New York, will speal
Machines Take Places of Men,
Washington. Feb. 22.-The service
of nearly 200 employees of the treasur
department will be dispensed wit
July 1. Reforms in the methods @
the department with a view towar
ncOnaYnx- and efficiency will result in