Freemasonry And Promotion In The Army.

animus of the bandmaster , the quartermaster and the others in becoming members of our Society , the Avholo of his statement is utterly without value . We ask him for the proof of all this , for as yet he has vouchsafed us nothing but assertion . This , however , is far from being the Avholeof the

case , as stated by JUSTITIA . Having given us this delectable illustration of his Avisdom , he proceeds to announce his belief ' that it is " the intention of thoso who have authority in the corps to establish a Regimental Masonic Lodge . " This , of course , is only further evidence of J USTITIA '

lamentable ignorance of what he is Avriting about . A regiment is not ruled by a Commission or a Board of Guardians , but by its commanding officer , who is the highest in rank present with the corps . Again , it cannot be the intention of those in authority to establish a

Regimental Masonic Lodge . Masonic Lodges are not thus established . A certain procedure must be observed . App lication must be made in the proper quarter ; the reasons for such application must be given , aud must be such as Avill satisfy the Masonic authorities ; the petition

must be duly recommended , and then it is that , all things being deemed satisfactory , a Avarrant is issued for the Constitution of the Lodge . Thus J USTITIA ' S belief that it is the intention of the regimental authorities to establish a Lodge is simply an absurdity . They may intend

petitioning for a Warrant of Constitution , but they cannot intend doing what it is out of their power to do . Thus the Avhole of JUSTITIA ' case falls to the ground . He has come forward publicly , and made a serious accusation against the officers of a certain regiment" at present stationed in India . " This

charge is , that the Commanding officer , and the officers under him being Freemasons , those in the regiment Avho belong to the same society are favoured at the expense of those who are not . The proof he adduces of the truth of this is merely a statement of his own , which , being entirely unsupported ,

has not the slightest degree of value . A further abortion that men join the ranks of Freemasonry solely to gain some advantage is , if possible , more worthless still . We do not believe that a number of respectable men , wearing the uniform of an honourable service , Avould deliberately commit

perjury , and then be such fools as to let a man of tbe moral and mental calibre of JUSTITIA into the secret of their perjury . As to the announcement " there is no Freemason in the regiment under the rank of sergeant , " this ought not to have excited any suspicion in the mind of JUSTITIA bad he known

anything of the laws affecting Military Lodges . There is only one grade beneath that of sergeant which is eligible for admission to the rights and privileges of Regimental Masonic membership . The Master of a Military Lodge is " prohibited

from initiating any person Avhatever into Masonry under the rank of corporal , except as a serving brother , or by dispensation from the Grand Master , or Provincial Grand Master . " It is not stated Avhether the Masonio officers

and non-commissioned officers of this regiment are members of the same or different Lodges . It is not , however , very strange that , Avith the exception of the corporals—who may number some thirty , more or less—the privates in the regiment , Avho are not eligible for admission into a military Lodge , should not be Freemasons .

Were the public a little better informed as to the Constitutions of Freemasonry , Ave should not condescend to notice such paltry attacks as this of " JUSTITIA . " Under present circumstances , Ave consider it our duty to repel any and all charges that may be levelled against us .

Odds And Ends.

ODDS AND ENDS .

B Y W ALTER S PENCER , F . R . G . S ., & c . MR . FAIRHOLT , in " Tobacco ; its History and Associations " ( London 1876 ) says he once kneAV a man who smoked tea leaves . I remember doing so , in New-Zealand , for want of the genuine article , and found it not altogether disagreeable . Many a settler in the interior ,

when hard-up for the " nigger-bead ' or " nail-rod with Avhich his pipe Avas Avont to be replenished , has smoked the leaves of the "Mannkau , " a shrub which covers whole tracts of the country , ancl some got quite used to it . This same plant Avas used not infrequently instead of tea , its ; flavour is pleasant , but its strong diuretic property

embarrassing . I tried opium smoking in China , by medical advice , as a remedy for dysentery , but it failed to have any effect upon

Odds And Ends.

me whatever . I do not know even that it induced any extra sleep ; though on board of steamers laden with the drug , I have lived half stupified and sickened as though under a course of morphia . Description of a Chinese opium saloon has been too often given to bear repetition ,

ancl is certainly a revolting spectacle . The habit becomes a vice from abuse . I am quite prepared to believe that in some places and for some occupations , it may be only a pleasant sedative for an overworked Chinaman , necessary as ale and other sli ght stimulants are to our OAVU people in

this humid climate . Ifc should not be forgotten that the Chinese work every day Sunday included , and from dawn tdl night without cessation , except to snatch a hasty and frugal meal . They are by far the most laborious race in the world . For one class , however , opium smoking is

without doubt pernicious ; for domestic servants . The idle time on their hands gets more and more devoted to tbe pipe , which becoming more and more necessary to their comfort , causes a craving that ends in being insatiable , and in utterly wrecking the health and happiness of the victim .

Chewing tobacco is a means of staying hunger which I have also practically experienced , lt probably deadens the lining of the intestines , and though it cannot supply the waste of tissue , lessens the unpleasant cravings of the

patient . When in this condition , I used to indulge in delicious reveries of the dishes I would feast upon should I ever be so fortunate as to return to civilisation , and the recollection of it even now often doubles the zest with which I relish a good dinner .

I have a specimen of snuff of which the late Emperor of China was inordinately fond . It was said to be of Russian importation , and cost £ 5 an ounce in Pekin . I have tried in vain to get it manufactured in this country ,

with the , idea of starting a good speculation . It seems that the peculiar flavours of peculiar snuffs are most difficult to make up to the satisfaction of connoisseurs , who Avould at once detect an imitation .

Many travellers have remarked upon the strangeness experienced when first domiciled in rooms without windows . The old houses in Spanish America , as in Morocco and Syria , are constructed on this principle , the room doors either opening one into the other or into a central

courtyard . The latter , when planted or having trees or fountains , is a pleasant sight to which one soon gets accustomed : but I was once housed in what had formerly been a convent . It had no inner courtyard , and the room doors opened into dark , dreary corridors , lighted only by

skylights at each end . The rooms in this case , however , had narrow barred windows or rather apertures , but they were placed hi ^ h up in the wall , close under a lofty ceiling . They did serve to admit light and air , but their broad sills

( in walls four feet thick ) harboured scorpions , as I found to my cost . My bed Avas against the wall uuder one of these windows , ancl I found every night two or three small alacranes in the fold of the sheet , f Avas for some time

puzzled to account for their appearance , until I procured a ladder , by which to mount to the Aviudow . There , on the sill , I found Papa and Mamma with a numerous brood , which I immediately swept off to the outside . The little ones , in their infant gambols , had previously been used to

fall iuside on to my bed . Bats used to enter at night by the same aperture and flap round the room , with an unearthly noise . For several nights I awoke at intervals ,

to throw slippers and other articles at them , but finally gob used to their intrusions ; after which I generally found one or two in the morning snugly nestled amongst my clothes on a chair .

I have remarked that wherever snakes abounded , it was considered a good omen to have one domiciled in the roof . They exterminate all rats and mice , and resent the intrusion of cats on their preserves . Those thus domesticated , in the East , are a small species of boa , quite harmless to

the human inmates . When the ceilings are of canvas , their contortions and adventures can be plainly tracked by the undulations of that material . They probably descend occasionally at night-time , for chickens and puppies are sometimes unaccountably missing .

The Philippine Indians have a disgusting penchant for bad eggs—Avith the half-formed chick inside . It is well known from the higher price of those comestibles , but

I discovered it for myself . Every morning , at early breakfast , my " boy " placed on the table an egg , Avhich . invariably was sent away as a bad one , to be replaced , sometimes , by a second and third in the same condition . I marvelled and submitted , until one day when I rose suddenly and