Quips And Cranks Of A Quizzical Craftsman.

finality , and when about the 300 th had bowed himself before the august presence , and the said presence \ va 9 well-nigh bowed down with prostration , the processional " hims " came to an end .

Feeling that a duty was imposed upon me , and that the credit of the S . A . Masonic press was at stake , I could nofc allow a distinguished member of our Fraternity to leavo us without waiting upon him as the self-constituted

representative from your office . I say , I felt it incumbent on me to put the noble Mason through the usual and inevitable process of " interviewing , " according to the rules of the ordeal made and provided for such occasions .

It is unnecessary to say he received me graciously , but an expression of pain flitted across his face when I explained my mission . But he expressed himself resigned , only stipulating I should not probe his knowledge or opinions too

deeply , as he was only provided at the moment with Bro . Sansom ' s " Masonic Guide . " And although he felt assured that if a Mason kept himself well within the circumscribed limits of that invaluable book he could nofc err , I might

trench on points even more profound than were contained therein , which he might find it difficult to answer off-hand . I assured him I would only touch lightly on topics , and would make no deep scrutiny into his mental Masonic

stores . Seating myself , I " held him with my glittering eye , " and thus began : — " Brother , do you seriously dec— . Ahem ! Ah ! Yes ; of course—thought myself in another place . " Recovering my self-possession , I again addressed him .

Questioned as to whether in his experience in these latitudes he had found the sun very much more at its meridian with respect to Freemasonry and everybody and everything else than in other places ? he replied , " Yes :

certainly the grand luminary shone here with all its might , before which the blazing star ' paled its uneffeetual fire . ' " I may say that the Australian sun takes the shine out of most of us , and at times appears to play ifc down rather

rough on this sublunary abode . But I have always been Masonically taught that its function was to rule the day , and I am prepared to say , without fear of contradiction , it makes ifc the rule aud nofc the exception .

" Do I consider S . A . Freemasons all and sun-dried to be regular bricks ? I have not the least doubt that they are so , though I am assured that my visit here has transmuted their feelings for me to the concrete . " Being asked his opinion on the benevolent aspect of

Freemasonry , and urged to advance some practical proof of his sympathy in that particular by the loan of a shilling , he said he had a very high estimate of the giving power of the Craft in general , and as to making ifc personally a test

question on this occasion , he would carefully study the propriety of the demand , and endeavour to find out whether by complying with it he could do so without detriment to himself or connections .

In reply to the question , whether he had anything to suggest for the good of Masons collectively , or ourselves especially , and if in his extensive experience of "knobs "superfluous or otherwise—he had also extended his

researches into the hidden mysteries of a colonial nobbier ? " the illustrious visitor replied— " Up to this moment I have not found the desirable opportunity of arriving at a definite solution of that mystery , but I hail this as a fitting occasion

for doing so , and shall gladly join you in an investigation of the nature and properties of a ' nobbier , ' to enable me to ascertain and determine the limits and proportions of its several parts . " Having essayed , and proved it to

demonstration , he , with a sigh of relief , bowed me out of his presence , assuring me , without the least reserve , he had had enough of me . Thus ended an interview which cannot but be regarded by every well-wisher of the Fraternity as a valuable addition to our records .

Bro . J . G . Jenkins , M . P ., P . M . —our quaint and genial Jenks—the life and soul of our gatherings—who is wont to set the table in a roar , and discourse most excellent humour—has been elected unopposed Mayor of TJnley . More honours ! more distinctions ! more titles for the

V . W . S . G . W . More offices in which to display his versatility and genius . All hail ! proud possessor of innumerable affixes , brave militiaman , Semaphore ' s worthy Town Councillor and Mayor that shalt be hereafter !

Great yearning after municipal honours just now among S . A . Freemasons of high degree . Proceedings of the " old Friendship " said to be voted " slow" by some of its misguided members . We don't know the " fastest" time in which the ceremonies have

Quips And Cranks Of A Quizzical Craftsman.

been run through , but perhaps some gay and festive brother might supply the "tip , " and enable the W . M . to try and break the record . Our Ebenezer—the old Fbenezer ! not the young Ebenezer!—has made out a sfcrong case in favour of

further additions to our building in Flinders-street , and of great reforms in the general arrangements of the establishment . May he drive at ifc until he gets our urgent wants supplied .

The United Service Lodge rests for a while on its laurels . Ifc has called a truce , and retires with all its munition of war ( vide summons ) into summer quarters . As the campaign must have been a trying one , we can only wish its members bon repos , and more successes when they once more reuevv the attack . —South Australian Freemason .

Hints To Literary Pirates.

HINTS TO LITERARY PIRATES .

WE copy the following from the American magazine The Century ( February 1888 ) . — NO SUCCESSFUL SUBSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE .

" It is somewhat surprising that the agitation in favour of abolish , ing , by means of just laws , the disgrace of American literary piracy should have been until lately carried on almost exclusively by those supposed to be directly interested—namely , writers and publishers . Only lately have there been signs that the clergy take any vital

interest in the subject , or that the people at large are aroused to the national dishonour . But the stolen books with which the country is delnged are read by tho country . How many among our citizens aro alive to the shameful fact that American pirates and the American pnblic have for generations been living upou stolen

literature . Congress has been blamed for its indifference , but who among us can escape reproach—who among us has done his whole duty in attempting to right this gigantic wroDg ; to wipe out this unendurable national disgrace ? Mr . Lowell , in presiding over the successful Authors' Eeadings

in New York , last November , added to the number of his admirable sayings in favour of international copyright . He repeated two most fortunate phrases of his own on the subject ; phrases used by him in his first notable address to a Committee of Congress : ' There 13 one thing better than a cheap book , and that is , a book honestly come

by . ' ' Onr authors are the only workers among us who aro forced to compete with men who receive no wages at all . ' In the course of his Chickering Hall address , in which the above words were again given out , Mr . Lowell said : ' To Bteal a book I have bonght is theft ; to steal a book I have made—what is that ?'

In refering to the effect of the absence of international copyright upon the country at large , he puts the question , ' Whether it is prudent in a nation to allow its literature to be made for it by another nation ; in other words , to allow the shaping of its thought , and therefore its character , to be done by that other ? ' But the deepest word of all was this : 'I prefer that the argument should

rest not upon interest and expediency , but upon honesty and justice . No successful substitute for justice has ever been discoverednothing with a lasting quality of justice . ' These are golden words , the keynote of a great nationnl reform ; or , to take another figure , shafts of light heralding the dawn of a new era of justice—a new era of literature of the Eoglish-speaking race . "

Efforts are being made in the Masonic world to obtain votes for the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , on behalf of Mrs . Mary Cooke . The appeal possesses especial interest to the Freemasons of Kent , Mrs . Cooke beinp ; the widow of the late Bro . C . J . Cooke , who , thirty-five years

ago , was connected with the Maidstone Journal , and in 1853 joined the Belvidere Lodge at Maidstone , of which Lodge he was afterwards Secretary and Worhipful Master . He joined the staff of the Standard in London , and died about

eight years ago . In 1856 be was Senior Grand Warden of the Province of Kent . His widow , in whose behalf the appeal is being made , is sixty-four years of age , and the case is strongly recommended by many leading Masons of the metropolis and elsewhere , among the latter being Bro .

F . Hall W . M . Invicta Lodge , Folkestone , aud Bro . John Brothers ( P . M . of the same Lodge ) of Ashford .

Bro . Charles Skipp , of the Sfc . Michael ' s Lodge , No . 211 , of the firm Messrs . Skipp and Harper , Dental Surgeons ,

announces that , owing to the great and rapid increase ot practice , the firm have removed from 31 Sfc . Martin ' s Lane to more extensive premises , 2 . 0 Regent Street , W ., where Messrs . Skipp and Harper may be consulted from 10 till 4 ,

Ad00303

FUNERALS properly carried out and personally attended in London and Country , by Bro . Q . A . SUTTON , 17 Newcastle Street , Strand , "W . C . Monuments erected . Valuations made .