Reminiscences Of A Secretary.

REMINISCENCES OF A SECRETARY .

FROM THE NEW YORK DISPATCH . ONE evening while a degree was being conferred in the Lodge , I retired to an ante-room to look over some old account books , and while thus busily engaged , the old Tyler came in , and tapping mo on the shoulder , pointed to a lady in deep black who was sitting there waiting to see the Secretary . I laid my books aside , and , taking a chair , sat down beside the visitor and asked her wish .

She said that she desired to see the Seoretary of tbe Lodge , and npon assuring her that I was that functionary , she removed her heavy English crape , displaying a marvellously sweet face , adorned by a sad , resigned smile ; she was a very pretty blonde of perhaps thirty summers , her hair modestly combed down in wavy folds close to her temples , and as she gazed at me I looked into a pair of blue

eyes of the purest deep azure and expressive of intelligence . She was rather stout , and somewhat voluptuous looking , and though she was dressed in deep mourning , and a sad smile constantly hovered about her lips , her face and figure did not indicate muoh suffering , or else she did not lake her troubles much to heart ; in fact , she seemed to attract interest rather than excite sympathy .

She told me that her late husband was a member of a Lodge in St . Louis ( she showed me a diploma duly signed ) , and she came to New York to collect an insurance policy whioh was issued by a company in this city , and wbioh the insurance people seemed inclined to protest . She came to our Lodge first , to ask inst for

a little aid to keep her until she could collect her money from the company , and second , to see if we conld not help her in obtaining justice at the hands of her rich adversaries , the insurance people . And why did she apply to our Lodge in particular ? Beoause her husband had been a decorator and we had several members who also

followed that vocation . This was a very far-fetched reason ; still I thonghtjit possible that Borne of our boys might at some time have worked together with ber husband , or had some connection in some way through their business . I obtained her name and address , and also found out , by way of conversation , that tbe "little aid" she required was to pay some board bills she already owedand also to

, protect her from the rapacious and insulting demands of exacting boarding-mistresees and hungry landlords , and conld I , without reporting it to the Lodge , just help her a little this evening until l had called on her and satisfied myself as to her honesty and respectabilit y-twenty or twenty-five dollars would do . But I informed her that it would answer her purpose much better to have her

case reported in open Lodge , and if she would wait a while longer I would come again and report the result to her . Upon re-entering the Lodge , I found the Brethren waiting for me , ana j . at once reported the case of Mrs . Cregier , a widow from tot . Louis , also mentioning her reasons for applying to us in prelerence to any other Lod . Some of onr Brethrenespeciallthose

ge , y who were decorators , felt highly flattered by this distinction , and at once began to make motions to take Mrs . Cregier in hand , and take charge of her insurance case , & c . The Master appointed . a special committee , with limited power , to investigate , and , as I was not on T ^ TTA ? , \ 1 merely " ave the members thereof Mrs . Cregier's address and all the particulars she had riven me . and *« •„ Jt ?« ri

, ^ T f 7 i 0 ld the ladv of the aotion tokm by the Lodge , Havin * Zv f * ^ a committe e wonld shortly call on her . froni ™* " ¥ rthe / d 0 with thi 3 case > X d ^ missed the matter tn « X ID ^ ° asto await the report of the committee at favmS pS ^ nie 8 t « B' ™ 8 came ' t 0 mv snr P rise ' ™ ° ™ ° re in tavour of Madame Cregier than I had anticipated . Thev had ^ ' ven

but Jw if 2 , * i hereby ejrceecliD S tfleir authority by ten dollars , find n „ i u tT l * P amon S ^ selves , so the members could tinnnr f V *« hm fche committee asked for an additional dona . vZ , A W ™ , d 0 ,, ars ' there was a pener » l "Whew ! " audit was oommfir 7 V ° ted d ° ' t 0 the discoinforfc ° tt » enthusiastic

Mn *™ f „ w , thiB * visited a sister Lo ( tee > then meeting at the ™ t » ™ P . ' COrner of Broorae and Crosbv sfcreet 8 > and in the K 5 £ Kw \ pretty . bIond 0 agaiD ' aI , d ' after a ™ " * < inquired about her success in regard to her insurance policy , and nfc , . P r , se the stout and handsome widow was very reticent aoont b er affairs , and this seemed especially so to me as I remem .

uerea how very voluble she was on her visit to our Lodge , whioh " en inet on the lower Bowery . When I entered the Lodge the brethren were discussing the merits of an application of ir 8 . Higgins , a Widow from Newark , and finally agreed to give ™ applicant five dollars . This case being disposed of , and tbe ^ reasnrer having been sent out to give the woman the money . waited

to hear the name of my former applicant announced ; out other business being brought np nothing was said about -wra . Cregier , and the Lodge closed in dne time , after wktoh J- inquired of the Secretary about the blne-eyed dame , but he knew nothing of her , in fact the only widow we had to-night , said he orusquel y , was that Mrs . Hi ggins , and we gave her five dollars and sent her home .

It seemed strange to me that Mrs Cregier shonld come as far as the ante-room of a Lodge and then go away without making any application ; still I thought it possible that seeing me go in , she might have been ashamed to ask this Lodge for help , and went awny without sending in her name . Again some weeks passed , and one evening as I entered the Lodge earlier than the rest , in order to

pret my books and minutes in order , no one being present except the Tyler , who sat in the corner , reading his paper , we both heard an audible ahem in the ante-room ; the old man went out , and shortly after retnrned to my desk and handed me a certificate of membership , duly signed and countersigned , of Mr . Thomas Cregier , a Brother in good , & c . I at once repaired to the anteroom , expecting to find my sad , blue-eyed Mrs . C . ; bnt , to my great surprise , there sat a dark , gaunt-looking woman , of full forty

Reminiscences Of A Secretary.

years , with eyes as black as coal and foxy-looking . I concealed my surprise as best I could , and asked her if she was Mrs . Cregier ? She answered , " Yes . " " And was thi 3 your husband ? "—pointing to the name on the diploma . Another " Yes , " partly smothered iu a long-drawn sigh . At this the thought occurred to mo that possibly Bro . Cregier was a Mormon elder , and had had an assorted

menagerie of wives , including blondes and others of all shades ; however , I said nothinr about this , bnt began to " pump" the lady about ber wants , & o . I distinctly connected this diploma , in my mind , with a blonde , blae-eyed woman , an insurance story , and a visit to Blank Lodge , Masonic Temple : and here we had a dark woman , who only wanted

money enough to return to St . Louis , and said nothing about any insurance policy—nothing about her husband being a decorator ; in fact , recited an altogether different tale of woe , and yet tho diploma was there , a sort of mute witness to something wrong , very probably a fraud , so I requested Mrs . Cregier No . 2 to wait until the Lodge assembled and I wonld report her case to the Brethren .

I retained the diploma . Unfortunately our enthnsiaatio decorator of the former committee did not attend Lodge that night , so the case was referred to a new set , myself among the number this time , and we retired to investigate . Upon reaching the ante-room the dark Mrs . Cregier had disappeared . The rooms were so situated that ; any one could go and come without being seen by the Tyler , and Mrs . Cregier had taken advantage of this and left , leaving the

diploma in my hands as a trophy . I hunted np the Secretary of Blank Lodge , and together with a Brother of a third Lodgo , wbioh had also contributed to the maintenance of Mrs . Cregier aud Mrs . Higgins , wo started out in pursuit of light and knowledge . The addresses of both were tbe same . They lived in a very stylish boarding-house in Macdougal street .

We rang the bell and inquired for Mrs . C , and that lady desired to know our names before allowing us to come up stairs . But we did not wait for any such ceremony . With a rather rude determination we ascended the stairs and just caught Mrs . Higgins getting ready to come downstairs to investigate us , but we politely forced her back into her room , and there had the satisfaction of facing both ladies .

I told the dark one that she had forgotten her diploma ; she held out her hands , but I did not return it to her . In the meantime the other Brethren mentally compared notes and came to the conclusion that we had been dexterously swindled by these two clever widows . The brunette was inclined to be indignant and showed fight , but the ' blonde took the exposS very easily and good-naturedly j she lay back

in her easy-ohair , laughed at us , and said : "I told Jane , here , that we must stop this thing soon , any how , as yon fellows would find us out and be after us ; and , ha ! ha ! ha ! when she came home the other night without the greasy old paper , she was just as mad as she could be ; but I consoled her by con . fessing that mine had also been taken away from me , and , ha ! ha !

ha ! we had made enough any way to last us for a while . Don't be in a hurry , gentlemen ; sit down ; we will not call on you any more , so you may as well stay a while aud be sociable . Yon see , we changed off with our papers ; first one would go to a Lodge , then the other , and we put all the Lodges down and the amounts from each , and we then divided , share and share alike ,

you know—honesty is a jewel ; but we lost the paper , and that confused us somewhat . Well , it is all over now . Any way , yon are not riled , are you ? Do sit down ! " and she rattled on with a cool nonchalance which was greatly at variance with her former sad and subdned smile of grieving widowhood . Bro . G ., my colleague , was inclined to be morose over the swindlers ; bnt the thing was done , and we certainly could not recover any of

the money donated them , and the situation seemed rather comical to me . Having hunted the widows down to their lair and exposed them , and especially as their fangs had been extracted by us in keeping the diploma , I could see no occasion to grieve over spilled milk ; so I rather imitated the pretty " widow " in taking things coolly and philosophically , only scoring one for past experience and future caution and guidance .

The Fifteen Sections

THE FIFTEEN SECTIONS

WILL BE AVOEKED at the Tredegar Lodge of Instruction , No . 1625 , Royal Hotel , Mile End Road , on Monday evening , 31 st March , at seven o ' clock p . m . precisely . Bro . T . J . Barnes P . M . No . 554 and 933 will preside . Bros . W . Musto

P . M . 1349 S . W ., B . CnndickP . M . No . 1421 J . W ., D . Moss J . W . 1275 I . P . M . First Lecture—Bros . Loane , Dale , Hubbert , Richardson , Musto Jan ., D . Moss , McCarthy . Second Lecture—Bros . R . Brittain , Bull , R . F . E . Hopkins , Cundick , G . H . Stephens . Third Lecture—Bros . Musto , I . T . K . Job , J . West . Bro . B . Stewart I . G . 1278 Secretary .

The first meeting of Stewards for the approaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls was held on Tuesday last , at Freemasons' Hall , Bro . Robert Grey Past Grand Deacon presiding . Bros . Philbrick , Q . O ., Deputy Provincial Grand Master for Essex was elected

President of the Board of Stewards , Bnrdefct-Coutts Treasurer , Charles Hammerton Chairman of Ladies ' Stewards , and F . R . W . Hedges Hon Secretary . Stewards for the Festival are much needed , and brethren are earnestly solicited to send in their names .

The Baroness Burdefct-Coutts will distribute the prizes at tbe Royal Masonic Institution for Girls in May next , on the occasion of the regular visit of the Stewards .