District Grand Lodge, Punjab.

years ) , and stated that he considered the satisfactory statf of D . G . L . Funds was entirely duo to tho energy of the Secretary , W . Bro . Davies and W . Bro . Mellor . The D . G . S . then read the reports of the Board of General Purposes , and of the Fund of Benevolence , and W . Bro . Charles Harry Chetham having been unanimously elected D . G . Treasurer , the Lodge was closed .

Odds And Ends.

ODDS AND ENDS .

By Walter Spencer , F . RG . S ., SfC . IN Tuesday ' s daily papers I find the following telegram " Berlin , March 4 . Tho Imperial Gazette states that Count Minister , German Ambassador in London , expressed the thanks of his Government to Commander Rodney M .

Lloyd , of the ' Bullfinch , ' for services rendered on the West India Station on behalf of German subjects in Columbia , during tho late insurrection in Bolivar . " It is not generally known nor has the Almanack de Gotha recorded , that the officer referred to is a monarch , but it is

nevertheless a fact . In January 18 C 7 he was first Lieutenant , of H . M . S . " Pelorus " then at tho Pelew Islands for tho purpose of enquiring into the murder of a British subject , Captain Cheyne . A long Investigation ended in the guilt being brought home to H . M . the King of the

Pelews , whereupon the native notables formed themselves into a Court , and executed the offender . Lieutenant Lloyd was then elected by the Islanders to fill the vacant throne , which was intimated to him in due form by the ci-devant heir apparent . The first and only act of

sovereignty of King Rodney I . was to impress upon his people the duty of supplying his vessel with fruits and vegetables , and soon afterwards the " Pelorus" sailed away . In an old desk I find tho following document pencilled on cardboard , addressed " O . H . M . S ., Captain

Stevens , R . N ., and dated "Head Quarters , 9 o clock . Deai Sir , —Herewith I send Gibbons , who appears willing to impart what ho knows , or pretends to know , about the murder . With him , also , go four or five natives , amongst them Arrokoko , aud tho supposed murderer , who was

brought m last night , and has been staying in one of the Club Houses , but I have taken no notice , except posting sentries to watch and report . Even now I understand the supposed murderer goes oft" with the rest of his Club , not as a prisoner but merely to parley with you—tho' I fancy

they will offer to give him up when they get on board . They say nothing can be got out of tho old King , who is hiding in the bush on North Island . The place is filling with natives , but the women and nobility remain away .

If you want the boats to come off soon , will you hoist letter Q , as the tide is falling , and to get away I must haul them out very far , before they ground . I think they will lay at the end of the long pier , if taken out before low water . Sincerely yours , Rodney M . Lloyd . "

In the same old desk I find other curious odds and ends of notanda . In 18 G 41 was in Java , and was struck b y the appearance of some of the barn-door fowls , not apparently a distinct breed , but promiscuously mixed up with everybody ' s poultry . Their feathers , instead of lying flat one

over the other , stood straight out from the skin ; when one of them was before the wind , of course the feathers blew right over the wrong way , and had a very grotesque appearance . A more extraordinary breed of fowls is in Japan ; they aro the size of bantams , and their legs are

so short they seem to walk about on their bellies . Europeans , both in China and the Eastern Archipelagos , are often shocked at the dinner table by finding the bones of fowls

] et black . Ihis does not arise from disease , the fowls thus distinguished are as eatable and succulent as any ; whether they are of a different breed to others in the same places , I forget , but the outward appearance of all is similar .

lhe most beautiful animal I have seen is among the fauna of Java . It is called the " mouse deer ; " a perfectly formed deer , with delicate legs thin as matches , soft eyes ,

tiny hoofs , and miniature horns ; it stands about a foot high . I bought two , which became tame , and would eat out of the hand : notwithstanding my care , change of climate killed them .

The cats of China are peculiar . They are born either without tails , with short tails , or with one or more joints in ilie lail . The latter are bent at each joint , or else seem knotied . Sailors describe the tai's as "kinked . " I saw

Odds And Ends.

very few cats in China with tails like our cats , and those few might have been crossed with the European breed , I commend this fact to Mr . Darwin . Tho prettiest dogs in the East are the Pekin dog and tho Japanese pug-spaniel . The latter have great globular eyes

and flat faces , the nose seeming to have been flattened m as if by a heavy blow . A curiosity in its way is the common hairless dog of China , with shiny slate-colonred skin ; the hairless tail is

especially repulsive . Theso are the favourite pets of the Chinese ladies . They are also common in Lima and other South American cities , whither , I presume , the breed has been introduced by the Coolie immigration .

The most beautiful bird in the Philippine Isles is the " Paloma de Monte . " It is a lavender tinted dove , with what looks exactly like a bleeding wound upon the breast , to which tho feathers seem stained in exact imitation . Tho

first sight of one is quite painful , and onlv contact can convince one that the bird is unharmed . They are rare , and , of course , tho Spanish priests have attached to them a religions legend .

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

THE Committee of this Institution held its regular meeting on Wednesday , Lieut . Col . Creaton in the chair . Secretary Bro . Terry reported that at the recent Festival there wero 214 Stewards , whose efforts resulted in a subscription list of £ 9 , 174 10 s Gd , with eight lists

outstanding ; six of these had since come in , and raised the total to £ 9 , 274 18 s Gd . Ho had also communicated to Lord Skolmersdalo the vote of thanks accorded him for having presided at the Festival , but as yet he had received

no acknowledgment . Bro . Terry also reported the death of Bro . Farnfield , upon which Bro . Raynham W . Stewart proposed , and Bro . W . Hale seconded , a vote of sympathy with the family of our deceased Brother . The motion was

declared to be unanimously accepted . Bro . Terry then reported the deaths of three annuitants . A motion by Bro . Stewart , seconded by Bro . S . Rawson , to tho effect that

the Stewards visit of last year be repeated this , was carried . Other business was then transacted , and tho Committee adjourned .

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

A GENERAL Committee was held on Saturday list , Bro . W . Roebuck in the chair . Additions of £ 10 and £ 5 to the salaries of thefonrthand fifthMasters respectively , as recommended by the House Committee , were confirmed , as also was the recommendation to purchase Kent House

for £ 2 , 000 , subject of course to the authorization of the Quarterly Court in April . A letter from the East and West India Dock Company , offering to receive boys educated in this Institution , was read and accepted , a letter of

thanks being directed to be sent . A third gift of 14 volumes , by Bro . Head , was acknowledged , with thanks . The number of boys to be admitted at the April Election is 1 G . After some discussion the Committee adjourned .

Exhibition Of Costumes At The Alexandra Palace.

EXHIBITION OF COSTUMES AT THE ALEXANDRA PALACE .

AN Exhibition of a very novel and interesting character will be held at the Alexandra Palace , under distinguished patronage , immediately after Easter . Prizes of considerable value will be awarded by the Alexandra Palace Company , and a Committee appointed to carry out the Exhibition , for tho best designs in ladiea costumes , tbe decisions being based upon the originality , elegance , and

economy of the dresses displayed . Several hundred varieties , including morning , evening , ball , aud bridal costumes , & c , will be included in this competitive exhibition , and valuable opportunities of comparison will thus be afforded to costumiers and others , whereby it may bo hoped that greater economy and elegance in dress may be attained than is afforded by the extravagant eccentricities which too frequently

characterise tho fashions of the present day . As buyers from all parts of tho country visit London at the above-mentioned period , this exhibition will afford them facilities for inspection hitherto unprecedented . That it will attract an immense concourse of ladies cannot be doubted , inasmuch as the attractions of the shops and show-rooms of Regent-street and the West End will , for the time being , be transferred to Muswell Hill .