The Masons were victims |
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Sec'yBob
Quarryman Joined: April/23/2015 Location: Missouri Status: Offline Points: 468 |
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Posted: December/24/2015 at 9:10am |
Within the last week, three Temples were broken into in the St. Louis area, and the little scum bags, stole aprons, jewels, swords etc. Several nearby churches were hit also, but I don't have any details about those.
While inside, they chose to steal from the OES, damage their property, and generally reek havoc, not even counting the damage they did to get into each building.
It seems the local Police have caught the bad guys as several are in jail, and they recovered a mountain of stolen property, so hopefully most of our stuff will come home.
My point of all this. Many Lodges have jewels, and aprons of relatively little value, and that is what thieves want and need is money. However, many Lodges have old artifacts, old historical aprons and Bibles etc. that go back many, many years. Those my brothers are irreplaceable and their loss cannot be compensated with money. Many Lodges in my distirct alone have charters [original copies] from before the civil war, one of my Lodges has a Bible that is several hundred years old.
Please take some time, and survey your Temple, make sure your doors are sturdy and well attached. Make sure windows [if you have them] are barred. And if at all possible, buy a safe, and put away your "good" stuff, so the mindless thieves, can't run off with your heart and soul.
It is Christmas, and that's when the cheap thieves come out, some this will probably pass, but I think it is a wake up call, and we should all be on our toes.
Take care of your Lodges and all within. Edited by Sec'yBob - December/24/2015 at 9:12am |
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Raised 2001
PM Crestwood-Anchor #443 PM Meramec #313 X3 Past DDGM Dist #24 Lodge Education Officer Missouri Lodge of Research O.E.S. Chapter 129 WP X3 Legion of Honor recipient |
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WBScott
Quarryman Joined: October/18/2014 Location: Wright City, MO Status: Offline Points: 265 |
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Sorry to hear that Bob. I didn't see any of this on the news.
Hopefully the justice system will take care of them. If not, they will have to face their ultimate judge one day! Merry Christmas!
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Wentzville (MO) Lodge #46 - PM
Pride of the West (MO) Lodge #179 - PM (twice) Pauldingville (MO) Lodge #11 - Secretary Warrenton (MO) Lodge #609 - Secretary Past DDGM - 25th Masonic District |
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windrider
Quarryman Joined: May/02/2011 Location: NChelmsford, MA Status: Offline Points: 363 |
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We have found people in our building seeking shelter from the cold. They simply walk in during meetings when we are all in the lodge room but the door is open. Our building is one of the largest in the Jurisdiction and has plenty of places to hunker down and not be seen. With the doors on the first floor and the tyler on the second, it can be a simple matter to gain access and just hide until the brothers leave. Nobody is going to make strict search in and about the several apartments of the temple.
I guess these people are truly just seeking shelter because when their presence has been discovered there was nothing missing. We do lock up everything, however. Most of us wish they would just ask for help.
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Master, Webmaster, Lodge Ambassador
Ancient York Lodge AF&AM Lowell, MA God never sends us anything we can't handle. Sometimes I wish He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa |
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Sec'yBob
Quarryman Joined: April/23/2015 Location: Missouri Status: Offline Points: 468 |
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Well, we took a hit again.
Our gutters must have stopped up during the torrential rain last week, and our basement flooded with 3 inches of water. We spent all last week bailing out, drying the carpet etc. No loss of any equipment, but it was a mess to be sure. It took 5 of us all week to get it where we could use it again. It turns out that Columbia Lodge in Pacific MO. got backed up sewage from the flooding also, ruined their basement and kitchen. This year is not off to a good start. |
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Raised 2001
PM Crestwood-Anchor #443 PM Meramec #313 X3 Past DDGM Dist #24 Lodge Education Officer Missouri Lodge of Research O.E.S. Chapter 129 WP X3 Legion of Honor recipient |
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WBScott
Quarryman Joined: October/18/2014 Location: Wright City, MO Status: Offline Points: 265 |
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What a shame. These 500 year floods seem to come a lot more frequently!
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Wentzville (MO) Lodge #46 - PM
Pride of the West (MO) Lodge #179 - PM (twice) Pauldingville (MO) Lodge #11 - Secretary Warrenton (MO) Lodge #609 - Secretary Past DDGM - 25th Masonic District |
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edwmax
Administrator Joined: November/06/2007 Location: Georgia, USA Status: Offline Points: 7098 |
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You need to get this fixed. ... I'm not sure how the stopped up gutters would cause the basement to flood. The water should have just over-flowed the gutter and ran down the outside of the wall. ... I think the basement may have 'window wells' or exterior door well which allowed water in. ... Did the yard flood or have standing water against the building? |
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"He who would assume to govern others must first learn to govern himself."
Thomasville 369 |
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Sec'yBob
Quarryman Joined: April/23/2015 Location: Missouri Status: Offline Points: 468 |
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Don't know if you heard, but we had over 11 inches of rain in three days.
The south side of the Lodge sets on the high side of the property. That side has two gutter downspouts that drain into pvc pipe that we believe has holes in it like a french drain. The pvc pipe goes directly under the ground vertically against the foundation. The water was overflowing out of the downspouts and lying against the foundation. The water came into the first floor at the seam of the wall and the floor. So we feel that either WAY TOO MUCH water, or the drains are stopped up. Either way, we redirected the drains away from the building, [while it was still raining] and the water stopped. |
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Raised 2001
PM Crestwood-Anchor #443 PM Meramec #313 X3 Past DDGM Dist #24 Lodge Education Officer Missouri Lodge of Research O.E.S. Chapter 129 WP X3 Legion of Honor recipient |
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edwmax
Administrator Joined: November/06/2007 Location: Georgia, USA Status: Offline Points: 7098 |
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11 inches is a lot of water. But the ground around the Lodge should have drained the water away from the building. Yes, I think the downspout capacity was exceeded and the water overflowed. But I question the 'french drains as described. This should not be since the building has a basement. The drains would put water against the basement wall, which is wrong. ... I think the underground pipe (french drain???) is a collector pipe carrying water to a storm-drain or ditch. It's too small and likely about stopped up.
Corrective action, might be (without more info and study): 1. Trench along the building laying in a heavy poly barrier in the bottom and french drain pipe on top with solid pipe to a storm drain, ditch or runoff pond. Then backfill with pea gravel. This is to collect water at the building wall and carry it away; and to help prevent a wet basement wall. 2. While the trench is open, water proof the foundation wall to above the first floor/wall seam. 3. Regrade/ build up the the first 5 to 8 ft from the building to direct surface water away from the building and not allow water to run along the wall & foundation. 4. Investigate the existing downspout drains and correct any problems. Good luck on fixing this. |
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"He who would assume to govern others must first learn to govern himself."
Thomasville 369 |
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