Category: Scottish Rite Scenery

Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett

On November 17, 1930, Thomas G. Moses was credited with the scenic art for the Scottish Rite Temple in McAlester, Oklahoma.  In  section entitled “Giant Stage Equipment is Feature of New Temple,” the following was written about Moses’ scenic contribution to the project:

“Outstanding among the features of the new Scottish Rite temple are the size of the big stage provided and its equipment. The scenery will long be remembered by the persons who see it in use. This very important part of the equipment was designed and painted by Thomas G. Moses, representing the Wm. Lemle Studios and the National Theatre Supply company, of Chicago.”

The work was contracted two years earlier, with Moses presenting models to the McAlester Scottish Rite representatives. Although it was Moses who landed the project, the McAlester Scottish Rite contracted the National Theatre Supply Co. for the work. The National Theatre Supply Co. then subcontracted the work to the William Lemle studios, who in turn hired Moses, as was the understanding in the contract.

This project did not go according to plan and in the end the McAlester Scottish Rite Masons refused to pay the full amount owed, citing that some of the pieces of scenery were damaged during shipment, even though Moses repaired each of the damaged pieces cited by the Valley. The drawn-out collection process directly affected Moses. As the official supplier and client bickered about who should file a claim with the railroad for damaged goods, Moses was left in a dire financial situation at the onset of the Great Depression, begging to be paid for his work.  

Due to the size of the drops and scope of the project, there were several shipments of scenery in 1929, yet only one was partially damaged. Problems between the theatrical suppliers and McAlester Scottish Rite began well before any damage was cited. The first issues were in the form of delayed payments. On Aug. 2, 1929, Moses wrote directly to the McAlester Scottish Rite Secretary, W. P. Freeman, noting that they had not received the $1,000 July 1^st advance payment, although the project was well underway. Freeman explained that the check had been sent, but it never arrived that fall. By Dec. 3, 1929, McAlester was behind two payments, totaling $2,000. This time, P. Lester Landis of the National Theatre Supply Co. wrote a letter to Freeman at the McAlester Scottish Rite, notifying him of the deficiency. The $2,000 was paid two weeks later.

And then there was a damaged shipment from a leaky rail car. The initial letter citing the damage, sent from the McAlester Scottish Rite representatives to the National Supply Co., was purportedly returned as “undeliverable.” This is after continued correspondence for a year. The McAlester Scottish Rite then sent a second letter, this time directly to Moses at William Lemle’s studio.  Moses immediately responded on Nov. 12, 1929, writing, “We called the representative of the C & E I, who took the shipment, and he assured us that he would communicate immediately with the representative in Tulsa, and that he would come to McAlester, where you can show him the damaged pieces. If this is possible, and I trust it is, and he in turn will notify us and I am sure we can establish the cost of repairing. This of course, will not be done until I come to McAlester next summer, to touch up and match the pieces which you found un-painted…it is almost impossible to do this work without being set up on the stage, which is the same reason some of them were not finished. So whatever damage there has been done to the drops or set pieces in this shipment, will be taken care of at that time, so please do not worry about it.”

Keep in mind that many final touches to scenery occurred after stage machinery was added to each drop for various scenic effects.

Moses also explained, “As long as you have the drops in a dry place that is all that is necessary. I have never known one of the shipments to go out that did not require more or less touching-up when they were installed.” 

I personally think that the damage occurred somewhere between the railway depot and the temple, not necessarily in transit from Illinois to Oklahoma.  All it would take is a rainstorm with a work crew who decided to transport the scenery from the depot to the temple regardless of the weather conditions.

In the meantime, Moses completed the McAlester Scottish Rite scenery and repaired all of the damaged goods. It was not until Nov. 30, 1930, that the damage and completed work, however, was inspected by Louis “Lou” E. Lounsbery.  After his visit, the McAlester Scottish Rite wrote to Moses noting that Lounsbery looked over his work and stated, “he is greatly pleased with your work and had many good and nice things to say about you.” There was no mention about any dissatisfaction with Moses’ repair of the damaged scenes – at all.  

Interestingly, two weeks prior to the letter, Lounsbery was mentioned in an article about the new stage. The article reported, “The scenic equipment was given to Lou Lounsbery, former McAlester resident and prominent worker in the Scottish Rite for years, to plan, as he had some big effects in mind and had investigated several large temples, the last two which were at Fort Scott, Kansas, and Oakland, California [both Moses installations]. Constantly getting closer to his idea of big effects, Thomas Moses was called to Los Angeles to consult with Lounsbery. After several meetings and the showing of a number of miniature sets, Mr. Moses was instructed to proceed with models and these were brought to McAlester.” If there were any deficiencies with the repaired scenery by November 1930, it was not mentioned in their letter to Moses. That being said, the dissatisfaction may have originated from a new source. From the beginning of the project to the final payment, there was a changing of the guard at the McAlester Scottish Rite in the form of a new secretary.  When a new secretary of SGIG becomes involved with an existing project, it can change everything, including fair dealings; I know, as I have encountered this a few times.

On September 11, 1930, Moses wrote to the McAlester Scottish Rite Bodies, “I trust that you realize that we have a great deal more in this contract than has been advanced to us. Of course, we expected this to a certain extent, but work has been much more expensive than we estimated and we are cramped for ready means.” Part of the problem was size; you can only store so much scenery that measures 40’ high by 56’ wide while waiting for a payment. Moses tried to remedy these continued delays for the collection of the final payment.  By this time, Moses had implemented a practice of not leaving a Masonic job until final payment was collected.

The final amount for the scenery was to be paid directly to Moses upon his arrival to McAlester for the final installation. On September 26, the National Supply Co. even sent a letter to the new McAlester Scottish Rite Secretary, Lawton Beasley, confirming that final payment should be handed to Moses on site and not mailed to the company. Again, this step was requested by Moses, and likely because the McAlester Scottish Rite had established a pattern of delayed payments to the National Theatre Supply Co. The McAlester Scottish Rite did issue a final payment before Moses’ departure, one that was handed to Moses directly. Unfortunately, it was for less for than the amount owed.

In the end, the McAlester Scottish Rite decided to not file for damaged goods with the railroad company and decided to just deduct that amount from their final payment, citing, “Under the contract these curtains were to be installed by your company in perfect condition.” They acknowledge that the National Theatre Supply Co. paid Moses $120 to repair the damage as well as possible, and then simply deducted the $120 fee for Moses from the final damage estimate. This meant that they chose not to pay the remaining $807.00 of the contractual agreement. In effect they breached the contract. That is today’s equivalent of $12,640.52 – no small amount.

The McAlester Scottish Rite even took the time to draw up an agreement justifying this reduced amount and stated that the National theatre Supply Co. would collect the remaining funds from the railway for damaged goods.  The McAlester Scottish Rite then took the time to write a second letter to Moses, sending it via. William Lemle studio. They reiterated that Moses did the best he could with all of the repairs, but the scenery was still not in “perfect condition,” and therefore, they should not have to pay full price. In the end, it was the William Lemle Co., that took the time to file the claim with the railroad and collect the payment for scenery damage in caused during transit.

In regard to the McAlester Scottish Rite’s citing that Moses’ repairs left the Valley with scenery in less than “perfect condition,” I have a few comments. When considering the caliber of Moses’ work and his experience, leaving any scene in a bad state directly reflected in HIS reputation.  As Moses had several more upcoming Scottish Rite projects, leaving any example of poor work would jeopardize future Masonic projects.

Furthermore, I evaluated the McAlester Scottish Rite scenery collection in 2010 and  encountered no existing damage that would have substantiated their claim and decision for a reduced payment. It was in far better shape than most Scottish Rite scenery collections and absent of areas indicating massive water-damage. The painting was still beautiful and in great shape. If anything, the biggest issue was some dusting, repairs from constant used and failed netting; a standard deterioration after eighty years of use. Here are a few of the McAlester Scottish Rite Scenes.

For more information about Scottish Rite degree productions, scenery and stage machinery, visit www.drypigment.net and keyword search “Scottish Rite.”