THE PENNSYLVANIA FREEMASON Issued Every Three Months By The Right Worshipful Grand Lodge o f The Mast Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free ond Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania and Masonic Jurisdiction Thereunto Belonging, through its COMMITTEE O N MASONIC CULTURE - W illiam E. Yeager, Past Grand Master, Chairma n; William E. Montgomery, G. Edwa rd Elwell, Jr., Frank R. Leech, W illi am A. Carpenter, Charles A. Young and Ashby B. Paul. APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED TO BE PRINTED BY
CHARLES H. NITSCH Right Worshipful G rand Master W ILLIAM A. CARPENTER, Editor
Mailing Address: P.O. BOX 688, WARREN, PA.
Vol. IV
November, 1957
No.4
Freemasonry in England By R.W. WARD K.
sr: CLAIR
Chairman o.f Museum and Library Committee R.W. Grand Lodge of New York The United Grand Lodge of England h as exclu sive jurisdiction over the Craft Degrees of Freemasonry in England and Wales . In th e provinces and dependencies of th e Br itish Crown the jurisdiction is div ided among th e Grand Lodges of England, Sco tland and Ireland . The Craft Degrees in clude those of En te red Apprenti ce, Fell owcraft and Mas te r Mason . There is no degree of P as t Master. H owever , there is an in s tallation cerem ony for Mas te r's elect in wh ich they are inves ted with the "Secret s of th e Chair." ']'his ceremony is known as that of I n stalled Mas ter. En glan d and Wales are divided into Masonic Provin ces . Each is ru led by a Provincial Grand Lodge. The dependen cies are divided into D is tricts and are ruled by Di s tric t Grand Lodges . Both the Provincial a nd the Dist ric t Gran d Lodges have a complete compl eme nt of officers and hold quarterly communica tions . They have cer tain judicial and administrative powe rs all otted to th em by Gran d Lodge. All Lodges within a ten mile radiu s of F reem ason 's hal l in London are classed as London Lodges. These Lodges are not f ormed into a Province b u t come under the Grand Lodge direc t. A special se t of fees and r egulation s govern these Lodges. The gen eral cu s tom has bee n to elect to th e office of Grand Mas ter a qualified membe r o f the Royal Fam il y and when so elec ted the office is u sually held for the life of the occ upant. Ann ual elec tion s a re h eld but these are only a matter of form to compl y wi th th e r equ iremen ts of the Cons ti tution . Past Grand Ran k is author ized to be con ferred upon a ny Brother of abi lity wh o is a member of Grand Lodge . This prov ides a
method of awarding disti nc tion to m e n who have pe r fo rmed o uts tanding servi ce for the Craft. Individual Lodges are des ig na ted as " Private Lodges" and may be charte red upon the applica ti on o f not less than seve n Mas ter Maso ns . As in the United S tates to serve as Mas te r o f a Pri vate Lodge the Mason mu s t h ave ser ved one year as Warden . No res tri c tion is placed upon the number of Lodges to which a n English Mason may belong a t an y one time. It is a per sonal matte r confined t o the individual. The on ly res tri ction is that a Maso n may not be Mas te r o f m ore tha n one Lodge at t he same time. ft is n o t unu sual to find an English Mason wh o has pres ided ove r several Lodges or who is a membe r of several Lodges . English Lodges are small in members hip and p robably would average be tween 25 and 50 membe rs per Lodge . English Lodges conduct their busi ness on the degree of Entered Apprentice. Opening of a Lodge in the Fell owcraft or Mas ter Mason Degree is limi ted to the pu r pose of initia ti on of ca ndidates a nJ 1he ins tallation of office rs. However, a Mason is not a member of the Lodge in the full sense of the wo rd until h e has received h is Master Mason Degree. Onl y Master Masons may hold office. The mode of work diffe rs in form fr om that used in th is country, al th ough the essent ials are the same. The m eans of recognition , excepl for the pass-words diffe r. T his d iffe re n ce is not suffi cien t to cau se an Amer ica n Mas on who desires to visit an y e mbarrassme nt or d iffic ulty . Th e information impa rted in the Englis h Lodge is no more than is impa rted in an Ame rican Lodge. The Grand Lodge of England has adop ted no standard mode of Wor k or Ritual. There a re several types in u se . In a nd around London the favori te is the " Emulation Working." Elsewhere will be found local work ings .
Did You Remember the Christmas and Entertainnzent Fund for The Homes? The Chris tmas a nd Entertainment Fund, for Th e .Masonic H omes a t E lizabethtown , provides gifts, not onl y a t Ch ris tmas time, but throughout th e e ntire year it provides entertainment, a littl e s pending money and numer ous othe r e vide n ces of our love and affection. You r s upport of this Fund not on ly be nefits our Gu es ts at T he H omes bu t als o the boys at the Thomas Ranke n Pa tton Masonic Ins ti tu tion fo r Boys, loca ted n ear The Homes. The Fund also helps to make things j us t a little more brighter fo r those receiving Home Assis tance.
Your contribution , in addition to your n ame, address a nd Lodge num ber, should be forwarded to: Brothe r· Ar·thur E. 1\<Iyers Supel"intend c nt, T h e 1\'lasonic llon~ cs E li zab e thtown, Penn sy lva ni a
Your gene rosity wil l be greatl y rewarded by th e grateful appreciation of the children and our aged gu es ts .
FREEMASON
Masonic Law in Pennsylvania By GEORGE A. A VERY R ight Worshipful Grand Secretary
SECOND, THIRD AND FOURTH PETITIONS At or· after the expira ti o n of s ix m o nth s f1·om th e date of his final r·cj cction o n the first petition, the r eject e d petitioner may prcscn t a second petition fo r initiati o n and mcmher·ship in t h e Lod ge t h at r e jecte d him. S uch flel-ition s h a ll he su hjcct to the same pr·occcdin gs by the Lodge as i n t h e case of the first petition, except t ha t it cannot he witlulr·awn until a ballot has hcc n t a l<cn and the p e tition er appr·oved. A second ballot c annot h e take n on a seco nd or s uhscq ucnt petition. At or· afte r the expir·ation of one year from the r·cjcc tion on a second peti Lion , the p e ti t ione r· ma y apply in wl"iting to the s am e Lodge that r·cjcctcd him to p e r·mit him t.o present a thinl petition for· initiation and mcrnher·ship. On r·ece ipt of this application , t h e Lodge s hall o rd e r· s a me to li e ove r· for· one month , and n o ti ce s hall be g iven to all m e mher·s, that at th e next s t ated m eeting the L"'lgc wi ll a c t on s aid appli cation. A t th e next sta ted mee ting the Wor·shipful Master s hall direct the Secr·e t>u·y to r·cad the appli c ation , anti when th e sa me is rea d , the 'Vors hipful Mas t e r· s hall dir·ec t a ballot to h e tal<en thcr·eon. If the ballot i s n ot unanimo u s, it c nrls a ll action h y the Lodge in the case for· one year·, aft er· wh ich t h e p e titione r· may again appl y, when the application s h a ll h e s ubj ec t t o the sa me proceedings . If the ballot i s unan imou s, the petitioner may pr·esen t a th ir·d petition, s ubject t o the sam e R ules and R egul a tions governing th e pr·occcrlings in cases of the fir· st and secorHI petitions for initiation and rnemher·shi p. If the petitioner· is again r·ejeetcd , thi s •·ejection e nds all action b y the Lodge in the ease. T h e Ahiman Rezon makes no pr·ovisions fo r· t h e pt·cscntatio n of four·th petitions fo r initia tion and mcrnhe r·s hip. Requests fo r permiss i o n t o r·ecch•c s u c h petitions mus t he made of t h e G t·mul Lod g e by t·eso luti on of the Lod ge. This request is t o b e acc ompanied h y l e tte r s, setting f or th t h e facts, and g iving good and s uflicient reasons and assurances w h y i t is beli eved t hat the obj ec tion d oes not no w ex is t. " ' i thou t s u ch exp lanation th e G r·and 1\'lastet· will n o t · pe n n i t the r·et(UCSt to go hcfor·c the Gra nd Lod ge . When a petition for initia tion and mcmh c r·s hip i s r·ecc ived hy a Lod ge fr·om o n e who has b ee n !"ej ected in this .Tur·isdietion at least ten year s pr·io r t o the pr·es entation of s u c h peti Lion , all a c tion upon the same s hall he s uhjcet to the dir·ection of the G mnd Mastct·.
AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF PENNSYLVANIA
VOLUME
IV
NUMBER 4
NOVEMBER • 1957
A Message from Our Grand Master I can hardl y believe that this is the las t time I shall have the privilege of address ing you as Grand Mas ter in the Pe nns ylvania F reemason. I trus t therefore that I may be pardoned if I look back to Dece m. her 27, 1955 when I was ins tall ed as your Grand Mas ter and trace briefl y some o f my activit ies s in ce that time. Several yea rs before my ins tallation I had decided that if it wo uld be poss ible, a nd my heal th permi Ltecl, I wo uld like to vis it Lodges that h ad not too freq ue ntly been vis ited by a Grand Mas ter.
I s incerel y h ope that my Brethren thro ugho u t o ur great Ju r isdiction wi ll fee l that T have s o far as poss ible, carried out this pla n. I h ave v isited many Lodges rem otely dis tan t fr om m y home in Philadelphia a nd the experien ce has been m os t reward in!!. In all those places that J ha ve visited, I h a ve bee n recei ved wit h the grea test co urtesy and hos pitality. My good wife, Ge r trude, in prac ti cally all cases accompanied me and the ladies ha ve bee n mos t graciou s in e ntertaining her and making her v is its mos t delightful, during a nd after our meetings. We both feel that we ha ve made ma n y new fri ends . I t is a most deligh tfu l th ough t and des ire that whe n my te rm of office expires on December 27th n ext a nd we should be travelling through our State perhaps at a more leisurely pace than is poss ible when serving as Grand Mas ter , that we ca n call on so many fri e nds . T he e ngagements of the Grand Mas ter come so th ic k and fas t that there is hardl y ti me to dream over eac h visit but we hope that when we gather all our programs, nice le tters, ph otographs and other m aterial we shall ha ve time to realize what a p leasa nt expe rie n ce we have had.
I have laid corne r s tones, dedi cated Lodge Rooms , co ns tituted Lodges an d in all cases I was ins pired wi th the e nthusiasm and devotion of ou r fine Bre thren. No Grand J\ITas ter cou ld have received finer coopera tio n fr om h is Grand Officers, Dis trict De puty Grand Mas te rs a nd Officers of s ubordinate Lodges . The Dis tri c t Deputies ha ve bee n of invaluable assis ta nce to the Grand Mas ter. W ithout their loyal s upport the Grand Mas ter wou ld indeed have a cl iff1 c ult road to travel.
It is mos t unfortu nate that it was not possible for me to accept all the in vitations to vis it Lodges, but when we realize that we have 588 Lodges, it is huma nly impossible fo r th e Gra nd Master to vis it so man y in two years . Ye t I ha ve tried to get to mos t of the remote parts of our Jurisdi c tion. M y m ind goes bac k to Al bion in th e Northwes t, U nion town in the Southwes t, Scranton in the N orth eas t and Ches te r in th e Southeas t.
I am h a ppy to have had the honor of being invited to attend Annual Sessions of other Grand Bodies in our Ju risdic tion. I atte nded the Grand Chapter, Grand Council, Grand Cornmander y and Reel Cross of Cons tan tine. I was honored in havi ng classes named for me by H arrisburg Consis tor y a nd Al toona Consistory. At all these visitations the Grand Mas ter was received with all the dign ity of h is office . One of the ou ts ta nding events duri ng 1957 was the dedica ti on of the Hos pital Exte ns ion at the Masonic Ho mes on May 25. I t was of special in terest to me as a Philadelph ian , since the original h ospital was a Philadelphia projec t. I am mos t grateful indeed to the Philadelphia Masons who personally contributed $550,000 toward this projec t. Not only individual Masons, but many o the r branches of Freemasonry contributed. Be njamin Franklin Cons istor y, which I h ave the honor of being a Past Commancler.in .Chief, contributed 3 16,300, a nd Lodge No. 9, Philadelphia, contrib uted 8 12 ,000 toward a dis pensary . Many other groups and clubs con tributed sums, all of whi ch were greatfull y received. It was mos t gratifying to th e Gr and Maste r and the m embers of the Committee on Masonic Homes to see so man y of our Bre thre n a nd th eir families a t the dedication se r vice. Some 6 ,000 were in the aud ience. It s peaks well for the inte res t of our Bre thren in our greates t ch a rity, The Masonic H omes a t E lizabe thtown . I s incerely hope that the work clone by the Phi ladelphia Masons m ay be a n inspira tion fo r Masons in other parts of ou r Ju risd ic tion , where I kno 1~ projects for The Homes are being planned. It was my hope that the new Recrea tional H all and Mason ic Temple at E liza be thtown would be dedicated befo re the e nd of this year. Unfortunately unavoidable delays caused by the s teel s trike and the ceme nt strike makes th is almos t impossible. Howe ver, I may say th a t the Recreation Hall is finished and ver y little remains to be do ne at the Masonic T emple. It will not be long before these beau tiful edifices will be put in to operation. T he two years pas t will always remain in my memor y as the h igh poin t in m y life. If I have in a s mall meas u re brought our breth ren a little closer togethe r , then I am indeed happy. For my su ccessor, Brother San ford M. Chil co te, I wish the best of ever ything. Res t assured my Bre thre n , the Grand Lodge wi ll be in good hands and all will be well.
(b~3/~ CHARLES H. NrrsCH, Grand Master