CHAPTER XVIII The Post-War Years.
Prosperity and Growth. Administrations of Carroll W. Keene (1946 and 1947), Granville C. Gray (1948 and 1949), Ervin E. J. Lander (1950 and 1951), and Benjamin W. Ela (1952 and 1953).
The Grand Lodge History was written in the administration of M. W. Charles E. Crossland, and covered most of the events in that busy and prosperous administration. However, one important change in the Grand Lodge organization took place shortly after that history was completed. On the orders of his physician, M. W. and Rev. Ashley A. Smith resigned as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Correspondence and writer of the Maine Correspondence Report, a post in which he had served with the greatest distinction for twenty-four years. He was succeeded by R. W. Ralph J. Pollard, Past Deputy Grand Master, who submitted his first report in 1946. Bro. Pollard pledged himself to a continuation of the conservative foreign policy traditional with the Grand Lodge of Maine, a policy established by M. W. Josiah H. Drummond and loyally carried on by his successors.
The period covered by this chapter witnessed a return of the conditions which had prevailed during the years immediately following the first World War. It was a period of great prosperity and rapid growth, as thousands of applicants sought admission into our lodges. The great numerical losses sustained during the depression years were soon wiped out. Our previous all-time high in membership, 44,002, was surpassed in 1950, after which each successive year recorded a new membership high. The lodges tried to be careful in their selection of candidates, as is shown by the large number of rejections reported, 454 in 1947 alone. Yet, inevitably, some mistakes were made and some individuals were admitted to our ranks who were incapable of appreciating the beauties of Freemasonry, of understanding its philosophy, or of profiting from its teachings.
Throughout this period, continued attention was paid to ritualistic instruction, always a matter of great importance to us in Maine. R. W. Ervin E. J. Lander continued to serve as Grand Lecturer until 1949, when he was succeeded by R. W. Aubrey L. Burbank. R. W. Frederick C. Lounder became Grand Lecturer in 1953. The special Committee on Ritual completed its labors, and an official cipher ritual, the first in the history of our Grand Lodge, was published in 1948. The actual work of compiling and publishing this cipher was done by Grand Lecturer Ervin E. J. Lander.
Carroll W. Keene Sixty-second Grand Master
M. W. Carroll W. Keene, an executive with the Central Maine Power Company, became Grand Master in 1946. His administration was one of the busiest and most prosperous in our history. The returns in 1947 showed that 2,733 candidates had been raised during the past year, giving us a net gain of 2,207. In 1948, 2,181 raisings were reported, with a net gain of 1,491. With wartime travel restrictions a thing of the past, inter-visitation among the lodges again became common, and attendance was highly satisfactory.
The Grand Master assisted Penobscot Lodge, No. 39, Dexter, and Lygonia Lodge, No. 40, Ellsworth, in celebrating their 125th anniversaries, and Whitney Lodge, No. 167, Canton, in observing its 75th birthday.
M. W. Bro. Keene attended the funeral of Past Grand Master Gyrus N. Blanchard, who died on February 3, 1947. His funeral services were conducted by M. W. David L. Wilson, who also presented his memorial in Grand Lodge.
Under the will of Emma V. Bodge, the widow of our late Past Grand Master Thomas H. Bodge, a bequest amounting to $24,901 was made to the Charity Fund of the Grand Lodge of Maine. This trust was designated as the Thomas H. Bodge Memorial Fund.
The Hon. Owen Brewster, United States Senator from Maine, was the banquet speaker at the Grand Masters' Conference in Washington, D. C. Bro. Brewster was a member of Penobscot Lodge, No. 39, Dexter.
The social Service Centers for servicemen, conducted by the Masonic Service Association during World War II, were now replaced by a program of hospital visitation in Army, Navy and Veterans Hospitals throughout the Country. Wor. Delos A. Frederick, of Michigan, who had managed the Portland Service Center during the war, was now assigned to duty as the M.S.A. hospital visitor at the Veterans Hospital at Togus. The writer of this history, who was then a patient at Togus, can testify to the value and effectiveness of this program. M. W. Carl H. Claudy, Executive Secretary of the M.S.A., visited our Grand Lodge in 1947, and showed the film "To Aid and Assist", which dealt with the hospital program. The Grand Lodge of Maine became a consistent financial supporter of this project.
M. W. Ray V. Denslow, the distinguished Foreign Correspondent of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, was the principal speaker at our Grand Lodge communication in 1947, and received our Drummond Medal at the hands of Grand Master Keene.
M. W. Bro. Keene ruled that an affiliated group could not hold beano games in a lodge dining room, since all games of chance are strictly prohibited by Maine Masonic law. He also ruled that lodge funds could not be used for any non-Masonic project.
Devastating forest fires swept many sections of our State in the Fall of 1947. Damage was particularly heavy in York, Hancock and Oxford Counties. Many Masons were among those suffering from this disaster. In addition to assistance granted by local lodges, the Trustees of our Grand Lodge Charity Fund disbursed $22,150 in forest fire relief. During this emergency, some of our lodges volunteered their services as a group to the authorities, while Chapters of the O.E.S. provided food and coffee for the fire fighters.
A request from the clandestine and unmasonic Grand Orient of Belgium for a resumption of fraternal relations with the Grand Lodge of Maine was summarily denied. So was a request for recognition coming from the so-called Grand Lodge of France, a dubious body which permitted its subordinates to use a "White Book" of blank paper in lieu of the Holy Bible if they so desired. Many other applications for recognition were held over for further study.
In 1947, an Inter-American Masonic Conference was held in Montevideo, Uruguay. This was attended by forty-four Grand Lodges from all parts of Latin America, representing every shade of Masonic regularity and irregularity. This conference officially adopted the following unmasonic formula of belief:
"Freemasonry admits the possibility of a never-ending development of man and mankind, in a superior ideal principle which is called the Great Architect of the Universe. Such acknowledgement of an originator principle and of a first cause leaves speculations as to its nature up to every Mason, abstaining from all confessional act. Therefore, it neither prohibits nor prescribes a religious conviction to its members, rejecting all dogmatic affirmation and fanaticism."
Maine's Foreign Correspondent was the first Masonic writer in the United States to denounce this folly. In the Foreword to his 1948 report, he said:
"Masonry is truly non-sectarian, but it is not irreligious! The Masonic Altar is a common place of worship for all servants of the Most High God; but the doors of Masonry are not open either to atheists or to irreligious libertines. Masonry most certainly does prescribe a religious conviction for its members, and it most certainly does require a positive and definite affirmation of that belief. The Landmark enjoining belief in God has subsisted from time immemorial, and cannot be explained away by any formula of empty words.
"The strength of Freemasonry lies in the immutability of its fundamental principles. In a world of turmoil and change, it stands as the changeless exemplar of unchanging truths. Only those who cleave to these truths with unflinching tenacity are worthy of recognition as members of the goodly Masonic fellowship. Only on the platform of the Ancient Landmarks can Freemasonry be united, for only on the platform of the Ancient Landmarks can Freemasonry exist."
On January 28, 1947, Grand Master Keene granted a dispensation for the establishment of a new lodge - Ralph J. Pollard Lodge, U.D., located in the Town of Orrington. This was the first new lodge to be formed in Maine in twenty years. In 1948, on the invitation of Grand Lecturer Ervin E. J. Lander, the officers of this lodge, headed by Wor. John C. Condon, presented the work of the Master Mason degree before the Grand Lodge in a most accurate, dignified and impressive manner. The lodge received its charter at this time, and was also given concurrent jurisdiction with the two Bangor lodges over the City of Brewer and other territory on the east bank of the Penobscot River.
In the closing days of his administration, M. W. Bro. Keene had the great pleasure of raising his oldest son, Paul, in Sebasticook Lodge, No. 146, Clinton, stations and places being filled by Grand Lodge officers.
Granville C. Gray Sixty-third Grand Master
M. W. Granville C. Gray succeeded to the Grand Mastership in 1948. A distinguished lawyer, he was soon elevated to the Bench, becoming one of the Honorable Justices of the Maine Superior Court. In this post of honor, trust and responsibility, he rendered outstanding service to the people of Maine.
On September 2, 1948, a special communication of Grand Lodge was held at Orrington. On the invitation of Grand Master Gray, R. W. Ralph J. Pollard presided over the constitution and consecration of Ralph J. Pollard Lodge, No. 217, and addressed the brethren. Officers were installed by M. W. Carroll W. Keene, who had granted the original dispensation for this lodge. More than 200 brethren witnessed this impressive ceremony.
In this administration, several of our lodges marked important milestones in their existence. Piscataquis Lodge, No. 44, Milo, observed its 125th anniversary; Star in the East Lodge, No. 60, Old Town, King Solomon's Lodge, No. 61, Waldoboro, and King David's Lodge, No. 62, Lincolnville, celebrated their centennials; and Mt. Bigelow Lodge, No. 202, Flagstaff, commemorated fifty years of Masonic life. The Grand Master participated in all of these events.
Our Grand Lodge made a contribution of $500.00 to earthquake relief in Ecuador.
In his annual address in 1949, Grand Master Gray took a strong stand against such improper methods of raising money as lotteries, games of chance, and gift enterprises. He made an extensive quotation from the strong ruling on this subject found in the 1883 Proceedings of our Grand Lodge. In concluding this fine address, M. W. Bro. Gray stated:
"We are living in a time of change and stress; when groups, factions, minorities, blocs and nations strive to gain advantage to themselves by a constant flow of propaganda, charge and counter charge, against their opponents. These conditions have resulted in world wide confusion, nervous tension and distrust.
"In these surroundings Masonry has thus far stood unfalteringly by the traditions upon which it was founded. These traditions distinguish us from the uninitiated. We must not deviate in the least from our old customs, usages and teachings. To do so is to invite into our Order the same state of confusion and uncertainty which exists around us."
A report of our Committee on Jurisprudence, signed by M. W. Bros. David E. Moulton and Clark D. Chapman, contained this admonition:
"If there ever was a time in its long and glorious history when the Landmarks and principles of Masonry should be guarded and strictly observed, it is in these days of changing ideas and ideals. We as trustees of those Landmarks, temporarily intrusted therewith, under a solemn duty to preserve and transmit them unimpaired to posterity, should redouble our efforts to see that Masonry in the future as in the past shall work in harmony with the laws and Divine Plans of the Supreme Architect of the Universe."
Our senior Past Grand Master and senior Grand Chaplain, M. W. and Rev. Ashley A. Smith, D.D., was called to the Grand Lodge Above on August 29, 1949, after a lifetime of devoted service to God, to his Church, to Freemasonry, and to his fellow-man. In Grand Lodge, his Memorial was presented by his friend and colleague, M. W. and Rev. David L. Wilson, L.H.D., Grand Chaplain, who had also assisted in conducting his funeral services.
M. W. Bro. Gray had the great pleasure of raising his only son, Everett, in Trinity Lodge, No. 130, Presque Isle. It also gave him a great deal of pleasure to present fifty-year Veterans Medals to two of Maine's most distinguished Craftsmen. The presentation to M. W. David E. Moulton was made in Hiram Lodge, No. 180, South Portland; that to M. W. Edward W. Wheeler in United Lodge, No. 8, Brunswick.
Bro. Gray had the honor of serving as Chairman of the Conference Committee at the Grand Masters' Conference in 1950. The banquet speaker was the Hon. Sumner T. Pike, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, a member of Maine's Washington Lodge, No. 37, Lubec. At the Washington Memorial, our Grand Master witnessed the unveiling of the great bronze statute of George Washington by M. W. Harry S. Truman, President of the United States and Past Grand Master of Masons in Missouri.
A request for recognition was received from the so-called Grand Lodge of Uruguay, a body which had incorporated an atheistic formula of belief into its constitution, which had ceased to require the presence of the Holy Bible upon the Altar, and which had, in consequence, ceased to be a Masonic body. Its request for recognition was, of course, denied.
Ervin E. J. Lander Sixty-fourth Grand Master
M. W. Ervin E. J. Lander, an official stenographer and reporter for the Superior and Supreme Judicial Courts of Maine, was first installed as Grand Master in 1950. He was an extremely active and energetic Grand Master, making an unusually large number of visitations, both within and without the State. His longest Masonic journey was made to attend the centennial celebration of the Grand Lodge of California. At the National Conferences in Washington, he was elected Chairman of the annual meeting of the Masonic Service Association.
Four special communications of Grand Lodge were held during Bro. Lander's administration. The new Temples of Mt. Bigelow Lodge, No. 202, at Stratton, St. John's Lodge, No. 51, at South Berwick, and Pine Tree Lodge, No. 172, at Mattawamkeag, were solemnly dedicated to Masonic use. The hall of Richmond Lodge, No. 63, Richmond, was re-dedicated as part of that lodge's centennial observance.
Significant anniversaries were celebrated by several of our lodges. Amity Lodge, No. 6, Camden, Eastern Lodge, No. 7, Eastport, and United Lodge, No. 8, Brunswick, celebrated 150 years of Masonic life; Meridian Splendor Lodge, No. 49, Newport, observed its 125th anniversary; Richmond Lodge, No. 63, Richmond, Pacific Lodge, No. 64, Exeter, Mystic Lodge, No. 65, Hampden, Mechanics Lodge, No. 66, Orono, and Mariner's Lodge, No. 68, Searsport, held centennial celebrations; while Nollesemic Lodge, No. 205, Millinocket, celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The Grand Master presented a Maine Veterans Medal, indicating fifty years of devoted service to the Graft, to M. W. and Rev. David L. Wilson, Past Grand Master and beloved Grand Chaplain of our Grand Lodge.
Many outstanding lodge meetings were held at this time. Waterville Lodge, No. 33, Waterville, held a "Josiah H. Drummond Night". Drummond's grandson, M. W. Clark D. Chapman, and Grand Master Lander honored this event by their presence. An address telling of the life and work of Maine's greatest Mason was delivered by R. W. Ralph J. Pollard. By special dispensation from the Grand Master, six blood brothers were raised on the same evening in Marsh River Lodge, No. 102, Brooks. This was one of the largest attended meetings of the year. Our Portland Lodge, No. 1, the oldest lodge in the State of Maine, received a fraternal visitation from St. John's Lodge of Boston, Massachusetts, the oldest lodge in America. Ralph J. Pollard Lodge, No. 217, Orrington, inaugurated the custom of holding an annual "Ralph J. Pollard Night". Grand Master Lander was present at the first of these events.
The Grand Master had the pleasure of raising his own brother-in-law in Dirigo Lodge, No. 104, Weeks Mills. Bethlehem Lodge, No. 35, Augusta, observed Past Masters Night. M. W. Bro. Lander was in the East and conferred the Master Mason degree in a most impressive manner. Some 300 brethren attended this meeting. St. George Lodge, No. 12, on the New Brunswick Register, paid a fraternal visit to our Cumberland Lodge, No. 12, New Gloucester.
The Grand Lodge mourned the passing of another of its outstanding leaders. M. W. David E. Moulton died on April 21, 1951. His funeral was held in the Scottish Rite auditorium in the Portland Masonic Temple and was conducted by M. W. and Rev. David L. Wilson, Grand Chaplain.
Our Grand Lodge contributed $500.00 to Manitoba flood relief.
Our annual communication in 1951 was honored by the presence of Most Puissant John M. Littlefield, General Grand Master of the General Grand Council, R. and S. M. R. W. Bro. Littlefield was the first Maine Mason since Josiah H. Drummond to serve at the head of one of our National Masonic Bodies.
Grand Master Lander's address contained the following thought-provoking paragraphs:
"Today our system of government is being used by traitors to destroy those privileges which we so highly prize. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly are being used by forces which allow no such freedom.
"While I do not undertake to recommend a panacea, I do believe that we, as Masons, should consider our obligation and duty to help combat this situation. Loyalty and fidelity to our principles is needed today as never before.
"If the men who make up Masonry in this State do not have the conviction that the priceless heritage of freedom which we have had handed down to us is worthwhile, and if we do not have the courage to stand for what we believe, then ultimately we face the same fate which our brethren in other countries have suffered."
At this communication, by an unanimous standing vote of the Grand Lodge, R. W. Ralph J. Pollard, Past Deputy Grand Master, was created and constituted an Honorary Past Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Maine, this being the first time in the history of our Grand Lodge that the rank and title of Past Grand Master had been so conferred. M. W. Bro. Pollard was immediately invested with his Past Grand Master's apron and jewel by M. W. Benjamin L. Hadley, the Grand Master under whom he had served as Deputy Grand Master, and whom, in the natural course of events, he would have succeeded as Grand Master.
At this session, an official twenty-five year service button was adopted, to be presented by their home lodges to twenty-five year veterans having at least ten years of their Masonic service in Maine. This was a most popular action. The Grand Lodge produced the buttons, more than 10,000 of which were distributed during the next year.
In 1951, the Maine District Deputies Association held the first in its long series of family picnics, attended by members and their ladies from all parts of the State. For several years, these picnics were held at Killdeer Lodge on China Lake. Following the social get-together, a brief meeting was held, with devotions and an address on some Masonic subject. Grand Master Lander attended the first of these delightful outings.
Several outstanding District Meetings were held. One of the best was that in the 17th Masonic District, with Portland Lodge, No. 1, as host. This was arranged by R. W. Norman W. Lindquist, D.D.G.M., and the Masters and Wardens Association of the 17th District. Corinthian Hall was filled to capacity. The Grand Master addressed the brethren, and M. W. Ralph J. Pollard spoke on "Freemasonry Around the World."
The Korean Conflict broke out in June of 1950, and our Country was again at war. As always, Masons played a leading part. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Conmmander-in-Chief, and Lieutenant Generals Walton H. Walker and Matthew B. Ridgway, successive commanders of the Eighth Army, were all members of the Craft. Or course, Maine Masons were among those who served. Major Alfred O. Ellis, the son of Grand Pursuivant Otis W. Ellis, was captured by the enemy and spent many months in a Communist prison camp, during which time his parents did not know whether he was alive or dead. He was a member of King Solomon's Lodge, No. 61, Waldoboro. At the formal opening of our Grand Lodge session in 1952, the National Colors were borne by Lieutenant Stewart M. L. Pollard, United States Army, a career soldier who had just returned from Korea, where he had been commissioned on the battlefield, wounded, and decorated with "The Silver Star" for gallantry in action. He was then a member of Columbia Lodge, No. 200, Greenville.
Grand Master Lander expressed his strong disapproval of the superstitious chain-letter craze which was then sweeping the State.
Fraternal recognition was extended to the French National Grand Lodge in 1951, to the National Grand Lodge of Iceland in 1952. A request for recognition was also received from the Grand Lodge of Chile. This body was technically regular but had not lived under the tongue of good report. Its Grand Master and Grand Secretary had offered official interpretations of the Ancient Landmarks which would have made possible the admission of atheists into the Fraternity and which would have denied to the Holy Bible its proper status as the rule and guide of Masonic faith and practice. Such interpretations, utterly at variance with the teachings and beliefs of the Grand Lodge of Maine, made recognition impossible. The application was denied.
At this time, Wor. Paul L. Powers was rendering outstanding service as Chairman of the Committee on Grievances and Appeals.
Benjamin W. Ela Sixty-fifth Grand Master
M. W. Benjamin W. Ela, utility executive, City and Town Manager, and Executive Secretary of the Maine Municipal Association, succeeded to the Grand East in 1952. Probably no Grand Master in our entire history ever visited more subordinate lodges than did M. W. Bro. Ela. He was everywhere. No lodge, no matter how small or how remote, could be sure that it would not receive an unheralded visit by the Grand Master at its next meeting. Bro. Ela was equally active in visiting sister Grand Lodges and other Masonic bodies. In his first year in office, he made 127 visitations; in his second year, 251. He had the honor of addressing the Grand Masters' Conference in Washington.
The outstanding Masonic event of this administration was the sesquicentennial celebration of Rising Virtue Lodge, No. 10, Bangor. This two day observance culminated in a great meeting held in the Bangor Municipal Auditorium, at which a uniformed degree team from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment at Ottawa presented the work of the Master Mason degree. Nearly 3,000 Masons, representing 210 lodges from twenty Jurisdictions, attended this memorable affair.
Saco Lodge, No. 9, Saco, and Cumberland Lodge, No. 12, New Gloucester, also observed their 150th anniversaries; Unity Lodge, No. 58, Thorndike, its 125th; Howard Lodge, No. 69, Winterport, Standish Lodge, No. 70, Standish, Rising Sun Lodge, No. 71, Orland, and Tyrian Lodge, No. 73, Mechanic Falls, their centennials; and Deering Lodge, No. 183, Portland, its 75th anniversary. The Grand Master was present at all of these events.
The year 1952-53 marked the bi-centennial of George Washington's initiation, passing and raising in Fredericksburg Lodge, now No. 4, of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Grand Master proclaimed the observance of this anniversary in Maine. A special committee, headed by M. W. Henry R. Gillis, Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of Virginia near the Grand Lodge of Maine, supervised this observance. A portfolio published by the M. S. A. was distributed to all lodges, to assist them in the preparation of local programs. Reports indicated that 118 lodges participated in this observance, and that thirty speakers delivered addresses on the life and work of Wor. Bro. Washington.
The Grand Lodge suffered a great loss when R. W. Frank J. Cole died on October 31, 1952. Since 1931, Bro. Cole had rendered outstanding service as Chairman of the Committee on Distribution, under the Trustees of the Grand Lodge Charity Fund. It was he who conducted the necessary investigations and who supervised the actual distribution of fraternal relief in Maine. He was also a valued member of the Committee on Foreign Correspondence.
One of Maine's most distinguished sons, M. W. and Hon. Harold H. Murchie, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, passed away on March 7, 1953. An outstanding Jurist, Bro. Murchie had also served as President of the Maine Senate, President of the Maine State Bar Association, and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Maine. At the time of his death, he was a member of our Committee on Jurisprudence.
Augusta Lodge, No. 141, Augusta, held another outstanding "Legislative Night", at which stations and places were filled by Masonic members of the Maine Legislature, then in session.
Wor. Delos A. Frederick, the M.S.A. Hospital Visitor at Togus, suffered a heart attack and was forced to resign as such. After some delay, he was succeeded by Bro. Alec Speck, of Augusta. In the interval between Bro. Frederick's resignation and Bro. Speck's reporting for duty, Mrs. Millwee W. Pollard, the wife of M. W. Bro. Pollard, served as interim Hospital Visitor.
The Grand Lodge also mourned the death of Wor. and Rev. J. Homer Nelson, Grand Chaplain, and that of Grand Tyler Perley S. Hamilton, who had for so long guarded the outer door of our Grand Lodge. Bro. Hamilton's funeral was held in the Portland Masonic Temple.
At our Grand Lodge communication in 1953, a stone from the original walls of the White House, bearing a Mason's mark, was officially presented to our Grand Lodge by Wor. John D. Cunningham of the Masonic Service Association, acting as the personal representative of M. W. Harry S. Truman and of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. These stones had been recovered during the recent extensive repairs to the White House, and had been made available for distribution to the Grand Lodges of the United States through the interest and thoughtfulness of M. W. Harry S. Truman, then President of the United States. A letter from M. W. Bro. Truman accompanied our stone. Wor. Bro. Cunningham also spoke to our Grand Lodge on the hospital visitation program of the M.S.A.
M. W. Bro. Ela was present in Sebasticook Lodge, No. 146, Clinton, on the evening when M. W. Carroll W. Keene raised his younger son, Gordon, to the sublime degree of Master Mason. Many past and present Grand Lodge officers assisted M. W. Bro. Keene in conferring this degree.
The Grand Master caused a check to be made upon the whereabouts and condition of all lodge charters. A few had been misplaced, but, after strict search under constant pressure from the Grand Master had been made, all were eventually located.
Our supply of the "Maine Masonic Text Book" was nearly exhausted. Accordingly, a new printing was authorized.
Two special communications of Grand Lodge were held in Bro. Ela's administration. On September 12, 1953, the new Temple of Davis Lodge, No. 191, Strong, was dedicated in the presence of nearly 200 brethren. This building was a former Church and one of the historic landmarks of the town. On April 24, 1954, the cornerstone of the new Masonic Temple in Orrington was laid according to the ancient usages and customs of the Fraternity. This was the first time since 1939 that a cornerstone had been laid in Maine with Masonic rites. Preceded by a band, a Masonic procession moved from the I.O.O.F. Hall, the present meeting place of Ralph J. Pollard Lodge, No. 217, to the site of the new Temple, where the formal exercises were held.
In both of his annual addresses, Bro. Ela found it necessary to mention the chain-letter nuisance, and to warn the brethren against encouraging this silly nonsense. In 1954, he recommended the establishment of a Masonic Blood Bank in Maine, similar to those which were doing good work in other Jurisdictions, a recommendation which was to bear fruit under his successors.
In 1954, as we bring this chapter to a close, the Grand Lodge of Maine had 207 lodges on its roll, with a total membership of 46,954. This was then the highest membership ever recorded. The largest lodge was now Hiram Lodge, No. 180, South Portland, with 1,118 members. The smallest lodge was Mt. Tir'em Lodge, No. 132, Waterford, which had 52 members. Average lodge membership was now 225. The Grand Lodge Charity Fund, together with its associated trusts, now amounted to $563,073.06.
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