Arizona republican., 1910-02-23
A MASONIC
 MEMORIAL: 'N Same Time a Monument To George Washington THE MOVEMENT TOOK FORM
At Alexandria, Va, Rich in Memories of the Father of His Country - Incident
 Yesterday of Celebration
 of Washington's Birthday

movement to erect a permanent Ma sonic memorial to George Washington took it's first definite form today when General J. NJ. Dickinson, secre- tary of var. and the grand masters of many Masonic grand lodges met here with other distinguished men of the fraternity to form National Masonic Memorial association. Per haps no Masonic celebration ever held anywhere in America has been more elaborate.
 In this quaint old town of ivy-cov- cred walls and rambling gardens. upon a street laid out by the young surveyor, near the spot where in tered his troops before 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 win be the purpose of this association to erect temple to George Washing ton, a Mason. Set apart in the struc- ture will be hall of fame, in which space will be allotted to all the grand jurisdictions in the country to place tablets to the memories of their dis tinguished sons. f a
 The memorial would stand on Washington street Close by is the old Christ church. where. in his ma ture years, Washington served as a -vestryman. On a field not far off he held his last military review Across a shaded green in the stately old courthouse he cast his last vote, and there his will is filed.
 Alexandria, by undisputed consent. is the natural site for the memorial Washington moved to Mount Vernon when he was Is with his half broth CT Lawrence, and until the chill, raw day of his death. it was his home and Alexandria was his home town. He became a member of it's council. represented it in the house of burgesses. endowed its schools. estab- lished its fire department and was master of its lodge.
 The men who will form the asso- citation met today in the same Alex andria Washington lodge room where Washington occupied the masters chair. While no fixed plan could be announced prior to the assembly of all the grand masters. it is in short the purpose of the lodge to raise s1.000.000 to build and endow the me- morial. The institution will be unique ainong the memorials of the world and will permit every grand jurisdic- ton to honor every Mason it esteems to be deserving with a leaf in it's hall of fame. d photograph and a biog- raphy.
 The gathering of such men of prominence in the old lodge was inn pressive. Alexandria Washington lodge No. 22 made Washington its worshipful grand master in i7ss. At his request in 1791 it laid the corner stone of the District of Columbia. and two years later assisted in laying the cornerstone of the national capi- tol. In f799 it performed the Ma sonic ceremonies at his funeral
 In it's halls. crowded with precious mementoes. his memorial was organ ized today There hangs the old charter granted by Edmund Randolph. grand master of Masons in Virginia in l7SS. Close by. it's pendulum cord cut and it's hands pointing to twenty minutes after ten in the evening" the hour and the minute of his death stands the old bedchamber clock A No money could buy this silent old tale bearer. Near by. in a case. is the little trowel he used at laying the capitol cornerstone. In another are his wedding gloves. his pocket compasses, farm spurs. piece of his tent used at Yorktown, his ld-fash- toned medicine scales and an elo- quent token of his reverence for his mother-a little knife she gave to him as a reward for his obedience and which he treasured for fifty-six years
 The Williams picture. painted from life in 1794. hands on another wall. It cannot escape the eye. for it is much unlike the accepted likenesses of Washington. It shows the man in his extreme old age. and is the only original life picture extant in Ma sonic regalia. His Masonic apron embroidered in gold, with French and American flags entwined. presented to the lodge in 1872 by his nephew. only original painting of Lord Fair fax. Washington's early patron and friend, is also there.
 The masters chair. occupied by General Washington in presiding over the lodge. stands in glass case from which it is removed only on extraor- diary occasions. It is 122 years old and was in constant use for IF years Scores of other things of his day the