At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar

So far as Freemasonry is concerned , the Vice-President is energetically qualifying for the support of the initiated . He became a Mason soon after he was chosen for his present office , and he has taken the three symbolic blue lodge Degrees at Indianapolis recently , under a dispensation from the Grand

Ma _ ter of Indiana , in one day . Since the adjournment of the Senate , over which it is his chief duty to preside , he has similarly taken the chapter Degrees , and is going rapidly on to the highest mysteries , as during the present year he intends , it is said , to take the remaining Degrees of the York

Rite , ending with that of Knight Templar , and then to take the Scottish Kite Degrees , up to and including the thirtysecond . He will thus easily outstrip President Roosevelt , who became a member of an Oyster Bay Lodge soon after his election in 1900 , but owing to the pressure of public business has been unable to proceed to the Degrees of the Royal Arch Chapter for which he has been qualified .

- & < s > & Nearly all the Presidents , with the notable exception of President Cleveland , have been Masons . In the days of John Quincy Adams , the prejudice against the fraternity was very strong , and that Chief of the State denounced the secrecy of

the Order under Republican institutions both in speech and with pen . But the animosity has long since died away , and fraternities of every kind are to-day a power in the land . To be a Mason is for a presidential candidate an advantage similar to that of being a member of the Grand Army of the

Republic , like Garlield and McKinley , or a prominent member of the Methodist Church , like McKinley , Hayes and Grant , as are Fairbanks and Shaw themselves in the next Presidential campaign . Moreover Washington is a great Masonic centre . There are twenty-seven blue lodges in the

capital , fourteen Royal Arch Chapters , and live Commanderies of Knights Templar ; and the Scottish Rite bodies are also especially strong , as Washington is the head quarters of the southern jurisdiction of the Order . More than 8 7 per cent , of the House of Representatives and 80 per cent , of the

Senate are Masons , and it will be seen that the inlluence that may be indirectly exerted in Congress is not to be despised .

« __ < s > o Members of the Craft have some reason to complain of the constant misuse in the public press of the word Freemasonry . Whenever malpractices have to be exposed

involving a charge of collusion or conspiracy lo defraud it is described as '' Freemasonry" among this or that class of criminal . The latest specimen of this kind of thing appears in a provincial paper under the heading , " Three Tons of Coal Stolen ; Freemasonry among Boatmen . " If the reporters

vocabularly is so limited that lie can find no other word in the English language so ready to hand he might , we think , draw the line at something a little more heroic than " three tons of coal . "

> 3 » © < £ » A correspondent sends us the following from an American newspaper , which he thinks may be of interest to Masonic readers : — " Mason in Captivity . —Lawlon , Ok ., March 13 th .- — Frank Stratton of Mangum has discovered a small , flat stone ,

triangular in shape , the sides of which are about four inches in length . On one side are carved Masonic emblems—a gavel , an apron , a coffin , and three steps , with the letters

F . H . C . upon them . On the other side is the inscription , 'In Captive by Indians , J . Yanchue , London , Eng ., 1764 . ' The stone was found iu Greer Country , near the south source of Deer Creek , lying beside an old trail that passes through the brakes that cover the divide between Deer Creek and

Haystack Creek . ij > £ a ¦& Bro . Dr . W . F . Kuhn , Past Grand Master of Missouri tells , in his entertaining manner how Marcus Lodge , No . no , of Fredericktown , Mo ., suffered the loss of its charter and how it regained it . The incident is sufficiently amusing to be

reproduced in Bro . Kuhn's own language : — "It appears that this lodge kept its charter in at least a sacred spot , if not a secure one , between the leaves of the Bible . It happened , as it frequently does , that one of the brethren died , and while on the way to the cemetery the bearer of the Great Lights

fell down and unceremoniously spilled the Great Lights all over the county . A strong wind was blowing , and many of the leaves of the Bible being loose , as is very common in lodge Bibles , the wind spread the Gospel , and along with it

the charter , to the four quarters of the earth . I could not understand why the charter should be taken to the funeral , unless the dogma of the ' visible presence' of the charter had , like an ancient landmark , such a linn hold upon the members that thev believed that the deceased would not rest well without a strict constitutional interment . I was informed

that it was customary to keep the charter in the Bible , and if the brother had not fallen all would have been well . The Secretary volunteered the timely information that the bearer of the Great Lights was not intoxicated when he fell , as hewas a minister of the Gospel . I ordered strict search ( o be

made in and about Fredericktown to see if the charter might not be hidden in the recesses of the rocks . Search was made , the charter found , brought up and placed in a frame , no more to wander awav . "—American Tyler .

® o THE BRITISH HOMES ASSURANCE CORPORATION , LIMITED . We have again the pleasure of congratulating the Corporation upon the excellent results obtained in 1904 . On going through the Annual Report we iind that the new proposals received during the past year

amount to . £ 2 , 484 , 10 7 , being the largest ever recorded . Another very satisfactory feature is the steady growth of the premium income and the funds , the latter ( exclusive of the paid-up capital ) having increased in six years £ 181 , 032 , while the premium income has increased £ 8034 8 . The total

, income for the year was £ 127 , 661 , being an increase over that for 1903 of £ 20 , 783 . The claims which arose during the year in the various departments amounted in the aggregate to the sum of £ 19 , 156 4 s . 3 d . divided as

follows : —Life Department , £ 3 , 161 18 s . yd . ; Endowment Certilicate , including claims by death and Matured Certificates , £ 6 , 6 39 I 5 - 1 IC ' - '< Endowment Certilicate Premiums , credited in reduction of mortgage loans in accordance with the regulations of the Corporation £ 9 , 334 9 s . 1 id . The dividend declared was at the rate of 5 per cent , per annum .

We feel sure that Mr . M . Gregory , the Managing Director , and all concerned in the operations of the Corporation will be very satisfied to iind their efforts rewarded with such success . The annual meeting of shareholders was held under the presidency of Mr . N . W . Hubbard , J . P .,

L . C . C . The report and accounts were unanimously adopted , and the declaration of a reversonary bonus to the participating policy and certificate holder , equal to 10 per cent ., was also unanimously agreed to .

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