A graduate of the United States Naval Academy in 1868, Mason was a distinguished linguist with an inquisitive mind, qualities that gave him respect and recognition in the Navy.

He recognized that in order for the Navy to compete with its European counterparts, research in naval science and technology should be encouraged; as part of this objective, a unified intelligence agency was needed to gather information on foreign developments for proper dissemination and coordination with the different Bureaus.

[2] He died in Saugerties on 15 October 1899[1] and was interred in the Mason family mausoleum at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.

[2][3] In The War of the Pacific Coast of South America Between Chile and the Allied Republics of Peru and Bolivia,[4] Mason wrote one such account in which he described the belligerents of the Atacama border dispute.

As stated above, he was resourceful and reports that the material used for the paper was derived from personal observation, from apparently authentic publications, and from other Naval officers within the region at the time of the conflict.