Reports Of Meetings.

REPORTS OF MEETINGS .

We shall be pleased to receive particulars of Masonic meetings for insertion in our columns , and where desired will endeavour to send a representative to report Lodge or other proceedings .

CKAET : METBOPOLITAN

BARNET LODGE , No . 2509 . THE annual meeting was held on Thursday oE last week , at the Assembly Booms , New Barnet , under the presidency of Bro . J . A . Witthaus W . M ; , who was well supported by Officers and other members , together with several visitors .

The preliminary business having been disposed of , the Report of the General Purposes Committee was received , and then the W . M . proceeded to instal Bro . John Falconer S . W . as his successor in the chair of the Lodge , which he did in a most impressive and perfect manner . The W . M . appointed the following as his assistant Officers for the year :

Bros . F . E . Witthaus S . W ., W . Baddeley J . W ., Bev . G . E . Gardner , M . A ., Chaplain , Bobert Cranston P . M . Treasurer , F . S . Plowright P . M . 193 Secretary , H . T . Matthews W . M . 1910 S . D ., William Fitch J . D ., Harold Imray P . M . 3 D . C , Ralph Norris Organist , Frank Attree I . G ., Harry de Couves Matthews Steward , J . McLeod Bainsford Assistant . Steward , B . W . Goddard P . M . Tyler .

The Installing Master delivered the addresses , and then the new ruler proceeded to close his Lodge , after which the company sat down to banquet together , the dinner being served in good style by Mr . Seward , who provided an ample and excellent repast . The Loyal toasts having been disposed of , the W . M . submitted that of the Grand Officers , associating with this latter the names of Bro . J . M . McLeod P . G . Sw . B . ( first Master of the Lodge ) , Bro . Geo . Read P . G . Sd . B . ( one of the Consecrating Officers ) , and Bro . Chandler ( a visitor ) , of whom the two latter were asked to reply .

Bro . George Read expressed the pleasure it afforded him to respond to the toast of the Grand Officers of England . The ever recurring toast was proposed ! with such kindly feeling and so heartily responded to by the Brethren throughout England that it was a source of gratification to be associated with it . He had the pleasure of being one of the Consecrating Officers of the Lodge three years backhand had been exceedingly pleased with

the work he had witnessed in the Lodge that day . The way in which the Worshipful Master invested' his Officers gave evidence of ability on the part of the present ruler , and he could but hope that he would have plenty of Initiates during his year of office , that he might show his ability in the chair of the Lodge . He was very pleased to meet there some dear old friends in Masonry and hoped to have the opportunity of attending again on some future

.. Bro . Chandler considered it was very kind of the W . M . to couple his name with the toast . He had not had the opportunity to do such work as had been done by Bro . McLeod and the other Brother associated with him in the toast , but he hoped that in his small way he might do something to merit the approbation of the Craft .

Bro . J . A . Witthaus I . P . M . now assumed the gavel , for the purpose of submitting what he deemed the most important toast of the day . The present ruler of the Lodge was every inch an ideal man and Mason . The members of the Lodge were only too thankful to see such a Mason as Bro . Falconer going on in the Lodge . When he looked back and remembered what' he had done in the junior Offices he felt Bro . Falconer would do credit

to the Lodge , and add to its reputation—he anticipated he would make a perfect Master in their Lodge . The members had to thank Bro . Falconer for his gift of firing glasses , in order to make their accessories more complete —these were intended by the donor not only to mark his advent into the chair of the Lodge , but also as a means of marking the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen ' s reign . The toast was heartily received .

In acknowledgment the Worshipful Master said that if he could come up to one half of the ideals that had just been put before the Brethren as his qualifications , in conducting the affairs of the Lodge , he should be more than satisfied , but the members of the Lodge , as well as the majority of the visitors , knew the very high standard of work set up by his predecessors in the chair of that Lodge , and must recognise the difficulty of even equalling what had gone before . Bro . McLeod , Bro . Cranston , and Bro . Witthaus had

each been patterns of excellence in the chair , and if he only did the work one half as well as they had done he should be more than satisfied . As he had promised on previous occasions he would do his best in the high office to which the Brethren had advanced him . He thanked'them most heartily for the kind reception accorded him that night , and should endeavour to be present and do the work of the chair to the satisfaction of the members one and all .

The next toast , said the W . M ., was an important one—that of the Installing Master Bro . I . P . M . Witthaus . The Brethren had seen for themselves the excellent way in which Bro . Witthaus had done the work that day , while the members also knew how well he had worked during his year of Mastership . On more than one occasion during the year the three ceremonies had been performed the same night , and the work had always been done as well as anyone could possibly desire . He had carried out every

duty of his office in the very best way , and the least the members felt they could do was to recognise the services he had rendered to the Lodge during his year of office in a tangible form . They could always look to Bro , Witthaus as a Master who had done very much for the Barnet Lodge , and in presenting him with the Past Master ' s jewel voted by the Brethren he recognised it was but a very small mark of what the Lodge felt towards him , for his services in the chair during the past year .

The I . P . M . acknowledged the toast . He could not claim to be at all deserving of the flattering terms in which the Worshipful Master had chosen to speak of his services . What he had done he had undertaken for the love and the good of the work , and for the benefit of the Barnet Lodge , and he could but thank the members for the hearty way in which they had supported him during the year . He could only say he had striven to the best of his

ability . For the handsome jewel and collar they had been pleased to present him he thanked them most heartily . Although the W . M . had spoken of the jewel only , the members had been good enough to also present the collar he then wore . He not only thanked the members for what had gone on during the year , but also for their great kindness on the present occasion .

Reports Of Meetings.

The toast of the Past Masters was next given . They were a . young Lodge , said the Worshipful Master , and consequently they had no " long array of Past Masters , but they had the satisfaction of having all present on that occasion , and they had the further satisfaction of knowing they were such Past Masters as any Lodge might be proud of . Their first Master—¦ Bro . McLeod—in spite of his many other engagements in Freemasonry was often among them , while generally it could be said the Past Masters , of the Lodge were Masons who could readily be approached and applied to for advice in Freemasonry .

Bro . McLeod said the chief regret he had that day was that business in the North of England at a Provincial Grand Lodge vaeoting had pwre , nte , his earlier attendance , but his presence there was an earnest that the first W . M . of the Lodge had not forgotten the honour the Brethren paid him in making him their first ruler . The present W . M ., as his first Deacon , did his work remarkably well , and he felt sure that in his new office he would prove a worthy successor in the chair . On the other side of the water the Deacons

were called Experts ; without doubt Bro . Falconer was an expert m that office , and he felt he would carry out the three great principles of the . Craft now that he had risen to that of W . M . He regretted the toast of the charities was omitted from the . list , because its inclusion would have , given him the opportunity of enlarging upon the subject of Benevolence . Their

Lodge had set a splendid example in this direction , alike at the time of [ its consecration , and during the whole period of its existence—s total of 350 guineas having been sent from the Lodge to the Institutions during the past three years . He , as its first Master , was indeed proud of the record of its work in this way . The Lodge was dedicated at its start to the' great principles of the Craft , notable among them being that of Charity .

Bro . Cranston followed on . He said if there was one fact more than another that had lately been rubbed into him it was that he had the honour of being a Past Master of the Barnet Lodge . Not a meeting of the past year but he had been called upon to respond for the Past Masters of the Lodge , for the reason that he had usually been the only Past Master present . He could not help feeling how tired and disgusted the members must feel to hear the toast responded to time after time by the same old petrified specimen

of humanity , nor could he tell them how heartily he congratulated the Lodge on the addition that night to the number of its Past Masters , for they would now have a chance of some little variety . The Past Masters had been variously described as " the salt of the Lodge " — "the sheet anchor on which the Lodge depended , " and he was very pleased indeed to see Bro . Witthaus now enrolled among the body . Who could say what , was in store for the Lodge now that ; the mystic number—three—was associated with its Past Masters ?

The W . M . announced that the result of passing the Charity box round among the members was a total of £ 1 I 5 S 6 d ; which he , proposed to . send to the Barnet Cottage Hospital , a suggestion that was received with unanimous approval . The toast of the Visitors was now given from the chair . The Master was pleased to see so goodly an array of guests , and feltthe members were much obliged to them for their attendance and support at the meeting . In

a small suburb like New Barnet they could not cater for visitors entirely as they wished , but the members endeavoured to make up for any deficiency under that head by the heartiness of their reception . He . should like to call on each visitor to respond , but time would not permit , that ; he therefore specially referred to Bro . Cooper , who had initiated him into Masonry , in

the Fidelity Lodge , No . 3 ; Bro . F . Mason W . M . of the neighbouring Gladsmuir Lodge ; Bro . Woodrow P . M . of the Plucknett Lodge at North Finchley ; and Dr . Lovett , of No . 3 , who was not only a personal friend , but also a friend of the Barnet Lodge , for the reason that he and , his fellow members in the Fidelity , had recommended their petition to Grand Lodge when they were applying for their Warrant .

Bro . Cooper : responded in a hearty and most humorous speech , his remarks and strong northern brogue at once upsetting the theory that there is no appreciation of a joke among the Scotch . He and his fellow members of the Fidelity Lodge had known the Worshipful Master of the Barnet Lodge for many years , and they , had come to give him a good send off as Worshipful Master . Their presence was explained much in the same way as in the case of the bridegroom who said to the bride on their honeymoon—if I

had not have liked you I should not have been here . Knowing there were many senior to himself among the visitors he had felt very much like Daniel in the lion ' s den , who was reported to have said : thank God there will be no after-dinner speaking at this banquet , but he had been disappointed . As a visitor on many occasions he had seen something , yet he was able to say he had never seen work better done than had been the case that day in the Barnet Lodge . They of No . 3 had a fancy they

knew how to work , but they would have to look to their laurels . It was something to say that although many of those present had heard the work on numerous occasions there was not one who had shown the slightest weariness—and surely that was a high compliment . As regarded the reception given the visitors , the W . M . might talk of being in an outlandish place , but they could not have been better treated had they been in the centre of London .

Bro . Frank Mason tendered his thanks for the toast and for the extreme pleasure of meeting a great number of very dear old friends . Bro . Cooper had spoken of the good work in the Lodge , and he felt he could add every encomium in regard to the working of Bro . Witthaus . There was more in the ritual of Freemasonry than appeared on the surface . The Charges alone

should make them feel better men , especially when they had such W . M . s to endorse them as those who had ruled in the Barnet Lodge . They now had a Master who would be perfect in his work—and he spoke from experience in another quarter—and one who would strive to make the Barnet Lodge continue in the successful path it had already followed .

Bro . Woodrow said he had never seen so unique a display of Brotherhood as he had witnessed in that Lodge . He felt it augured well for its prosperity . Bro . Lovett also responded , speaking of the enjoyable time he had spent on that and previous occasions when he had visited the Lodge . In proposing the health of the Treasurer and Secretary the W . M . spoke

of the former being a new and untried man in the office , but he was an old Mason , and a tried worker in their Lodge , and it might truly be said that when he undertook to do anything he always strove to carry it out successfully . He was sure that in placing the funds in Bro . Cranston ' s hands the Lodge was doing well . The Secretary of the Lodge had proved his ability in the position , and he felt particularly pleased in having Bro . Plowright continuing in office .

Bro . Cranston responded , explaining the circumstances that led to his being elected , and expressing his willingness to do anything in his power to advance the time when he would see his predecessor Bro . Matthews installed as Worshipful Master . Bro . Plowright expressed thanks for the honour done him by re-appoint-