The Master, officers and brethren of Masters Lodge are to be congratulated on the record-breaking turnout for the exemplification of the Third Degree at the last meeting. I think it was Brother Kipling who said:
“It's not the individual, Nor members as a whole, But the everlasting' team work, Of every bloomin' soul.”
That has been the spirit of Masters Lodge for the past years; a span which parallels the existence of these United States of America. During all those years, the Master's order: “We will now be called from labor to refreshment” has always struck a responsive chord in the hearts of those attending the meetings. The last meeting was no exception, particularly with regard to the “refreshment” which was not only appetizing, but created an excellent opportunity for members to meet and greet each other away from the formality of the lodge room. As we look back into the history of Masters Lodge, the word “refreshment” had “a higher and more significant meaning” than that which it has at the present time.

At a communication held May 24, 1874, the subject of “refreshments” came up for discussion. A motion was made by Brother Gerrit Lansing to the effect that non-attendance fines at meetings should be appropriated to the use of liquor for the good of the lodge when called from labor to refreshment. It passed and immediately, Brother Bleecker was fined 4 shillings for leaving the lodge room without permission.

Another example that a desire for refreshment was evident in the minds of the members of Masters Lodge who followed righteously in the paths of their English forefathers, was that on Nov. 21, 1786, this important resolution is found in the minutes of the Lodge: “That the Treasurer take order to procure for the use of the Lodge, one quarter cask of Lisbon, or sherry wine; five gallons spirits, two loaves sugar and two dozen glasses.”

This was followed on January 15, 1787, by a motion introduced by Brother Lansing and seconded by Brother Beekman, “that no brother be allowed to drink more then a half pint of wine each lodge night.” Further on in the minutes it was “ordered that the steward pay strict attention to the above” which was carried in the affirmative.

It also appears that the brothers of Masters Lodge were imbued with the spirit of occasionally taking a chance on the affairs of the world as managed by man. We find that the treasurer reported on May 2, 1791, “that he had purchased, pursuant to an order of the lodge, a New York City Lottery Ticket No. 21,186, which is deposited in his hands.”

This apparent straying from the norm, at least according to today’s standards, was not unusual. Lotteries were popular in those days and countenanced by the authorities. Many large lottery promoters had offices in various cities of the New World. It is a matter of record that Union College in Schenectady, during the administration of Dr. Eliphalet Nott, (when he was not busy perfecting the stove which bore his name), was quite successful in improving the financial status of the college by taking a chance with one or more of the various lotteries then in favor. Word is that this activity allowed him to raise a very substantial endowment which helped put the Schenectady seat of learning on a solid financial footing. At the end of his term in office, he even asked for an auditing committee, whose final clean report was a tribute to the integrity of President Nott.