Page 299 - Cornelius Hedges Story

For This And Succeeding Generations Gardiner 286

Bro. Henry Allen, a Past Master of Helena Lodge, died during the
year, and the tribute paid his memory showed that the esteem in
which he was held was well deserved. The next Annual Commu-
nication was voted to be held in Helena without controversy. The
Correspondence Report of Bro. Hosmer did credit to the writer and
extended the fame of our Grand Lodge.
The Eighth Annual Communication was held in Helena, October 7,
1872, and met in the Odd Fellows’ Hall, our former hall having been
burned and our new one, corner of Main and Wall streets, being in
course of construction. Grand Master Weston, who is still living at
Townsend, Montana, presided. His administration was most credit-
able, and Masonry was fairly prosperous. All but one of the Lodges
had made returns and paid dues. During the year the Grand Master
had laid the corner-stone of the Masonic Temple in Helena, the first
instance of the kind in the Territory.
It was on June 24th, 1872, and all the Masonic bodies of the city
turned out in grand procession. Past Grand Master Sanders delivered
an address of great eloquence appropriate to the occasion.
Bro. Weston made a personal visit to Bozeman and persuaded
Gallatin Lodge to recommend a petition for a second Lodge at that
place, and it was organized Under Dispensation with thirty members,
as Bozeman, No. 18. This new remedy was not only partially a
success, nor is the embers of discord growing out of the arrest of the
charter of Gallatin Lodge yet entirely extinct, though a generation
has passed. The mischievous custom of Lodge members appealing
to the Grand Master for decisions when dissatisfied withthe rulings
of the Worshipful Master received a sharp rebuke from the Grand
Master.
Our Grand Lodge suffered a great loss during the year by the
removal of Grand Secretary Hosmer to San Francisco. Bro. Weston
appointed me to serve out the term. Bro. Hosmer had prepared the
Correspondence and drawn the salary for the year, and I was very
glad to do what was needed as a personal favor to him. When later
I was elected to the station, I still had little thought of retaining the
position for so long a term of years. The brethren have been so kind
and considerate towards me that, though I have often resolved to
resign, my resolution failed at the last moment. Twice they have
raised my salary without solicitation or expectation. My relations
with successive Grand Masters and with the increasing membership
have been uniformly pleasant. And for my part, I have tried to serve
them faith-fully, and deserve their confidence.