Gila Valley No. 9 F & AM Masonic Lodge
The Tiler at Cariboo Lodge #469 in Barkerville, British Columbia, Canada, required neither sword nor trowel to perform his job. Cariboo had a “Silent Tyler” that was designed to keep out “wild men and some equally wild women”.
Barkerville must have been an interesting town in the 1860s. When Cariboo was constructed in 1869, the brethren designed and installed an outdoor stairway that was the only avenue of egress into the second story Lodge Room. This stairway was hinged at one end, allowing it to be raised once the brethren were assembled on the upper floor. With the Silent Tyler raised, access into the Lodge was effectively cut off, thus thwarting any eavesdroppers and prying eyes.
This safeguard acted in a manner one might liken to a drawbridge. The stairway on the left side of the building was raised and lowered by means of an operating wheel and pulley system installed in the Tiler’s room. A latecomer could petition for entrance by tugging a cord that ran to an upstairs bell. Due to the security of this arrangement, the Lodge’s Tiler served as both the Inner Guard and Tiler. In 1936, Cariboo Lodge and their Silent Tyler were destroyed by fire