Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1921-01-20
MASONS HELs
A BIG BIZ. TT
GRAND MASTER WEST AND<
ERS ON PROGRAM AS AFTER
DINNER SPEAKERS

About 100 Masons and their wives,
members of Veritas Lodge No. 1872,
A. f. & A. NJ, attended BANQUET in
the parlors of the Methodist church
last Friday evening. A number of
the brethren from Extra, Gray, Man
ming and other points were in at
tendance.
The object of the gathering was 60
present the matter OF erecting new
Masonic temple in Audubon and CIV
/, ing the members of the order an OPP
portunity of inspecting the blue
prints and viewing the architects
drawing of the proposed building.
Promptly at $3.50 the members
gathered in the auditorium of the
church. When all had arrived the
officers of the lodge and Grand Mas
ter West, of Des Moines, led the pro-
cession to the basemenf of the
church where the banquet was served
in the large dining room. The ban
quet was served by the ladies of the
church and ii was pronounced by all
as being one of the best spreads"
ever served in the city.
Following the banquet the Masons
and their wives returned to the
church auditorium where Grand Mas
ter West gave a most pleasing talk.
Mr.. West said he did not claim to be
an orator, but after he had finished,
the brethren were convinced that Mr..
West had greatly underestimated his
own ability.
Worshipful Master w. ]. Kness
presided and made a few pleasing
remarks as he introduced Mr.. West
and the other speakers of the even
ing. Following Mr.. West came Revs.
ID. j. Shenton, VIM. Mack and G. r.
Cook, of Gray. Each of them had a
message for the Masons and spoke
highly in favor of the new temple,
pointing out the necessity of erect
ing a building that would do justice
to the principles for which the order
stands.
Miss Harriet Bilharz was the only
lady speaker of the evening. She
spok~ from the viewpoint of the
Masof's letter Half" and the great
interest thai the wives, daughters
aad sisters of Masons had in the Or
der. In speaking for the women,
Miss Bilharz said she knew they were
all interested in the success of the
new temple, and If any sacrifices had
to be made in order to accompI.s.4 the
much desired result, she knew all
of them were willing to Join hands
with the men in bringing about a
condition under which the temple
could be made reality.
Some few months ago the Masons
purchased the old Park Hotel build
ft,e ri hrrfl N q
was somewhat remodeled in order to
meet the requirements of the postal
department for the housing OF the
post office which has been located in
the building since the rst of July.
The department has ten-year lease
on the building,
The Masons now propose to re-
model the building completely. The
plans call for full three-story build
ing. The post office will remain
where it is, but the west half on the
ground floor is to be converted into
a store room. The second floor is
to contain various rooms, including
a dining room, club rooms, as we'll
as office rooms and a room for the
lodge secretary. The third floor is
20 be the lodge room proper.
II is estimated that the cost of re-
modelling the building will be from
$4,000 to 100000. the present
building is partly two-story, with a
small portion in front three-story.
The new plans call for a complete
three-story building.
An organization has been formed
to be known as the Audubon Masonic
Association, which is governed by
two trustees from each OF the three
branches of the order. 1t Is propos-
ed 60 sell bonds to the members in
a sufficnent sum to erect the tenn
pie. The three orders have a neat
sum in the treasury, which will be