On October 26th of this year, the “new” Masonic Temple will be just 50 years old. It was dedicated in 1896, but the cornerstone was laid June 24th, 1895. On a plaque in the vestibule, rarely seen in the haste to get into the lodge room at 7:30 o'clock, may be read the following:
“On the site, purchased Oct. 17, 1766 by Brother Samuel Stringer, the first Lodge House in America was erected in 1768, and remained the property of Masters Lodge No 5 until presented to the Masonic Hall Association in 1895.”
On the opposite wall is another plaque listing the members of the Masonic Hall Association whose president in 1895 was Worshipful Brother James Ten Eyck, master of Masters Lodge and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York.
Many of this city's buildings were dedicated using Masonic ceremonies. The one which is most interesting is the second edifice of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. In Howell and Tenny's History of Albany and Schenectady Counties on page 752 can be found the following: “It is a singular fact, and one that indicates a very abnormal state of affairs, that the cornerstone of this second St. Mary's Church was laid by Freemasons with their peculiar rites on October 12, 1829. In consequence of this, the Pastor, with a minority of the Trustees, refused to be present at the ceremony…The Reverend Charles Smith had previously been a Methodist Minister. He was pastor from 1826 to 1836, and had a stormy time of it. The trustees ruled the church and Freemasonry ruled the Board of Trustees.”

Reverend Smith had been born in Ireland and baptized according to the rites of the Church of England to which his parents belonged. He was a member of Masters Lodge No. 5 and in 1806 was its Senior Warden. He became a Catholic in 1818. Later, he was active in establishing churches and schools in Buffalo, Brooklyn, and Boston. He died of tuberculosis in 1851 and is buried in Cambridge, Mass.

While we were preparing the copy for this week's pamphlet, a short snowstorm descended upon Albany; this after a week of pre-summer weather. We were thinking of how many present and former members of Masters Lodge are 33rd degree Masons. This is not unusual when considering the close alliance between the formations of Masters Lodge and the Ineffable and Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection. Members of our Lodge have always been closely identified with the Scottish Rite Bodies. Somewhere, we came across a bit of doggerel which has to do with this august body of gentlemen who “wear the purple of the fraternity”. It is titled: “33 Degrees”, and reads as follows:
“No fear has Uncle Nason
That he will ever freeze
He can't, for he's a Mason
Of Thirty-three Degrees.”

You will remember that water freezes at 32 degrees, and we fellows who have not attained that “high and exalted station” had better not put our topcoats in the moth-proof closet just yet.