216 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
216 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.IV April, 1926 No.4
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SEEING
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by: Unknown
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Of the five senses, the first three; hearing, seeing and feeling "are
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deemed most essential by Masons" for reasons which all Master Masons
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understand.
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Masonry teaches more by hearing than by seeing. "The attentive ear "
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we are told "receives the word (sound) from the instructive tongue."
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But no blind man may be made a Mason. Vision, even if not used as
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much as audition, is employed by Masonry in educating her sons in
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knowledge of her light.
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There are certain things in education which seeing can accomplish
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with much less difficulty than hearing. Words are at best symbols,
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and all symbols have many interpretations. It is not possible for
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one Masons to describe a scene to another so that both have the same
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mental picture; one cannot describe a perfume so that another may
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smell it, nor a pain or joy that another may feel it. But one can
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show in a picture a scene which another can thus see eye to eye with
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the instructor. Because both see the same thing, one can obtain from
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the other a better understanding of its meaning.
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With this idea, Masonry has long taught to some extent by pictures;
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the familiar chart used in many lodges to show pictures of the
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various emblems is an example. In other lodges, stereopticons
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showing pictures from glass lantern slides take the place of the
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chart. Both have their objectionable features; the chart, if
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inexpensive, is also inefficient; the lantern, if efficient, is
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expensive and hard to operate, and the glass slides are breakable,
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subject to disarrangement as to their order, and are usually more or
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less monstrosities at to the art work; they have little of the Pillar
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of Beauty about them.
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The stereopticon in lodge work is seldom or never developed to its
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full power, because of the difficulty of obtaining slides for
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lectures, talks and expositions of Masonic subjects. It is a great
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illustrations plant with a tremendous overhead, because of its small
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and limited amount of use.
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Masons of today are hungry for education. But they want their
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education in an attractive form; in a form easy to understand and
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pleasant to absorb. Masons will flock to an illustrated lecture on
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Freemasonry, when they'll leave the benches empty before the average
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speaker.
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With all of these facts in mind, The Masonicscope, subject of this
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Bulletin, has been developed by The Masonic Service association, and
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is now offered to the Craft at a price far below that at which
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similar instruments can be bought in the commercial market.
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The Masoniscope is a small, compact, well made and efficient
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projection lantern. It uses any sort of electrical current;
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alternating, direct, Delco, storage battery, even an automobile
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battery current. It projects pictures as large as eight by ten feet
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from non-flammable motion picture film, each foot of film having
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sixteen separate pictures. It has and requires no rheostat or other
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current control device. It uses a special glass bulb lamp, not an
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open arc. It has condensers, reflector, projection lens, like any
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other projector, but differs from most of them in that it requires no
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special knowledge to operate. Films are threaded into the machine in
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an instant, and changed, from one picture to another by the touch of
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a thumb screw.
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It projects all the emblems for all three of the lectures of the
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Three Degrees, so that the chart, the stereopticon and expensive
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glass slides are no longer needed. It can be used by the lecturer
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while delivering the lecture, or operated by a brother. It makes the
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lectures more readily understood, and longer remembered, than the
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same lecture with just a chart.
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In addition to this it provides a constant source of education and
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entertainment. The Masonic Service Association will issue a minimum
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of four, and probably six, illustrated lectures on some Masonic or
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Patriotic topic, every year. These lectures will be printed in
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booklet form, and accompanied by a strip of film containing the
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illustrations. With the printed lecture and the film, any brother
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can deliver one of these lectures for the benefit of his brethren.
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All he need do is to read from the booklet and turn the screw at the
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points indicated in the text.
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These educational lectures will cover a wide range of Masonic,
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patriotic and civic subjects. The first of them, titled, "What Seest
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Thou?" is now ready. It is a lecture on three of the great symbols
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of the Fellowcraft Degree; the Plumbline, the two Pillars and the
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Winding stairs. Thirty-three illustrations make the text
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interesting, and the whole is highly instructive to Masons on some of
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the hidden meanings of these important symbols.
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Other lectures , with illustrations, on symbols of the First and
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Third Degrees will follow shortly.
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These lectures are not intended as substitutes for the ritual
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lectures; they are to be given, not during the a degree, but
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afterwards, or before; for the benefit and entertainment of the
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brethren. Being printed, it is obvious that there is nothing secret
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in any of these lectures, and they may, therefore, be given elsewhere
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than an in a tiled lodge.
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An illustrated lecture on the George Washington National Memorial as
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well as one upon The Masonic Service Association, and the films for
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the emblems of the Three Degrees, accompany each Masoniscope as part
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of its equipment.
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Lectures upon "Civilian Patriots of the American Revolution" and
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"Military Patriots of the American Revolution," with text and
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pictures, are also now ready.
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These supplementary lectures - booklets and film - are sold to
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Masoniscope owners at the nominal price of two dollars each. There
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is practically no "wear out" to the film at all, so, it may be used
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over and over again.
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The Masonic Service Association is prepared to render a special
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service to Grand Lodges or individuals desiring special lectures of
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their own. Several Grand Lodges have already ordered films made in
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qualities to show to their subordinate lodges the work being done in
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their Masonic Homes. The Masonic Service Association takes the
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original photographs supplied by such Grand Lodges, Lodges or
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individuals; does the necessary re-touching, makes the negatives and
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as many prints on strips of non-inflammable film as may be needed;
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edits, prepares for the printer and prints the lecture to go with
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them; and supplies the whole at a most modest fee, which covers the
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cost of handling only. The amount will vary, of course, with the
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number of pictures to be filmed, and the amount of re-touching
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necessary to make the photographs give brilliant reproductions.
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It is probably not wise to prophesy just what Masoniscope and this
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extra service will mean to Grand Lodges. but it at least opens a long
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sought way by which Grand Lodges may place before the membership of
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their subordinate lodges the pictorial as well as the verbal story of
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their practical achievements in homes, orphanages, schools, colleges
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and hospitals.
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The Masoniscope comes as a complete outfit:
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Masoniscope Lens Lamp Cord (fifteen feet)
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Switch
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Extra Lamp
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Carrying Case
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Roll of film with emblems of the Three degrees.
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Roll of film to accompany printed lecture on George Washington
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Masonic National Memorial.
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Roll of film to accompany printed lecture on The Masonic service
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Association of the united States.
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"Cricket" or signal, to use when one brother reads and another
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operates the Masoniscope.
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Inside Case for accessories.
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Printed Lectures (2)
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The price is $57.50 net, carriage extra, no discount for qualities.
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It is to emphasized that the Masoniscope and all its accessories are
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of the highest grade, built to last and to wear. The instrument is
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made by one of the leading optical firms of the nation, and must not
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be confused with some of the cheaper "tin" projectors which can be
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bought.
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Beyond its use as a projector of pictures of the emblems in the
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ritual lectures of the Three Degrees; its employment to illustrate
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talks upon Masonic and patriotic subjects, and to show forth the
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accomplishments of the Craft; the Masoniscope has a power of
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entertainment which is of great value. There are large libraries of
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films available, at a minimum cost, from which Entertainment
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Committees may select. These films cover almost every imaginable
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subject; Travel, biography, history, science, etc., etc. As the
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Masoniscope uses standard motion picture film, any subject from any
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of these libraries may be obtained and used.
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It should be understood that the Masoniscope is not a motion picture
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projector, and does not use reels of films, such as are used in
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moving picture machines. But these libraries of lecture subjects of
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which mention is made, are printed on stripes of standard film, on
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which are from twenty-five to seventy-five pictures to be used as
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illustrations for talks on a thousand and one subjects.
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The Masonic Service Association believes that the use of the
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Masoniscope in lodges, with the supplementary lecture and film
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service it will provide, will add greatly not only to the education
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and information of the brethren, but to their entertainment and
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interest in the lodge.
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We all like pictures of one sort or another; none of us ever grow too
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old to enjoy looking at them. The illustrated lectures, both
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historical and Masonic, which The Association is offering are well
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illustrated. Pictures for the lecture "What Seest Thou?" for
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instance, were secured from several ancient books, from a Dore Bible,
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from works on Masonry, from collections of pictures in the library of
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Congress; found, one by one, as a result of painstaking research, and
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fitted into a lecture on symbolism of which glowing words of praise
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are coming from lodges which have heard and seen it.
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It is intended to present in these lectures all sides of Masonic
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study which lend themselves to illustration. Lodges which get the
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whole series, one after another; in a short time will have a library
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of lectures and films which will enable them to entertain visiting
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lodges, or to stage evening of fraternal intercourse with other
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lodges, in a most appropriate manner.
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It is suggested that, while individual ownership of the Masoniscope
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is advisable, it is not necessary. Two or more lodges on one
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locality may purchase a Masoniscope between them, and each have the
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benefit of its use at half the price.
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Correspondence is invited regarding this instrument.
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If your lodge is interested in education; if your lodge likes
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illustrated lectures; if your entertainment committee can use an aid
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to lodge refreshment which can be employed over and over again at
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scarcely any cost and still be ever new; if your lodge desires to
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improve presentation of the emblems to the candidates; if your lodge
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has a study club or literary circle; if your lodge wants to hear the
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latest word from well informed Masonic teachers on matters of
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interest and value to the Craft, and see pictures which explain and
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make more vivid those words at the same time, your lodge needs a
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Masoniscope!
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