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Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

SATURDAY , J ANUARY I , 18 9 S .

We tender our heartiest greetings to all our readers on the commencement of a New Year , and trust that those who have fared prosperously during the past 12 months may fare still more so during the 12 upon which we are now entering . and that those to whom Fortune has

been more or less unkind will experience a change for the belter . The year 18 97 has proved onc of the most memorable in the annals of lhe Craft , and in respect of the number of red-letter days it has known will take a good deal of beating ; but we are looking forward

hopefully to its successor , and it is by no means unlikely that those who live to see the end of its course will have almost as good reason as we have at the present time for congratulating themselves on thc success of the year ' s proceedings .

# ? We have been requested to annoinca thit the Annual Festival of the Grand Master ' s LoJge o f Instruction for Mark Master Alasons will this year be celebrated much earlier than usual the date arranged

or the 14 th of these useful and agreeable annivirsary gatlu rings bein ^ Wednesday , the I Gth February , at Maik Masons' Hall . The banquet , which customarily

follows , will be held in the Grand Saloon of the Ho ' - born Restaurant , under the auspices of Bro . A'dermin Sir J . C . Dm-dale , J . G VV ., who has very kindly con . sented to preside as Chairman on thc occasion .

The next regular meeting of the Quatuor Coronati L dge , No . 2076 , will be held at Freemasons' Hall on F iday , the 7 th ir . ttant , when Bro . W . J . Chetwode Crawley , Past G . Deacon Ireland , will read , 1 paper

on the " Rawlinson Manuscripts , after which , 111 the event of time . ermitting , the VV . M . ( Bro . Sydney T . Klein ) , in accordance with an arrangement he proposes to adopt during his year ol office , will procc e 1

Masonic Notes.

to demonstrate one of the Hidden Mysteries of Nature and Science , the example he will give on this occasion being , "The Power of Fraternal Love as

illustrated by the Mystery of Physical Work being accomplished by Sympathy on the Material Plane . " The brethren will afterwards dine together , as usual , at the Holborn Restaurant .

Atthe meeting there will be presented the Report of the Audit Committee , from which we learn that financially the lodge stands on a firm foundation . There are 31 members of the Inner Circle and 2436 members of the Outer , or Correspondence , Circle . The General Cash

Account to the 31 st November , 1 S 97 , which opened with a balance at bank and in hand amounting to upwards of £ 179 , closed with one of close upon ^ 294 . The Lodge Account , Abstract A , carries forward a balance to the new year amounting to £$ 2 ; and it

appears from the Statement of the Financial Position on the 30 th November that , estimating the outstanding subscriptions and other moneys due to the Iodge at exactly one-half of their total nominal value , there is

an excess of Assets over Liabilities of ^ 29 . Moreover , not included in the said statement as available assets , are the sets of Transactions , Reprints , & c , & c , in stock , together with the Library and Museum .

We note with pleasure that the VV . Master has i sued an appeal to the Craft general'y with a vi ; w to bringing about such an augmentation in the membership of the Correspondence Circle as will enable the lodge to establish itself in its own domicile , with rooms

for its new valuable library where students may work and consult , where members may read and write , its meetings be held , its museum properly displayed and cared for , its ofiices located , and its Secretary more accesible

to all than at present . VVe trust the appeal in behalf of so worthy an object will meet with such a response as will permit of thc lodge carrying its purpose into effect . # * »

An emergent meeting of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal was held on the 7 th August last , for the purpose of receiving the rcpott of the Legal Committee to which the ejuestioii of purchasing a certain p lot of land on which to erect a Masonic Hall , and to

determine a question of the expulsion of a certain brother from Freemasonry . As regards the first of these matters , a very long discussion ensued , but upon points of detail , rather than upon the main question , whether the report should or should not be accepted and

the purchase completer ! . But , though the discussion was long , the dissentients were only two in number , and ultimately the report of the Legal Committee was accepted and it was agreed to complete the purchase of the land in question upon the terms provisionally arranged with the vendor .

As regards the other item on the Agenda , the expulsion of a brother from Freemasoury—the whole of the circumstances were described in detail and Dist . G . Lodge adopted unanimously the motion of expulsion as proposed by the District Grand Master . We

do not sec how it could have done otherwise . The brother was slated to be " a mason of some years ' standing " and one of the founders and first J . W . of Lodge Nirvana , No . 2590 . He had taken forcible possession of the lodge warrant and the Secretary ' s

books , and on formal application being made to him for their return , he refused . They summoned him to attend this emergent meeting and show cause why he should not be expelled , but he entered no appearance ,

and in fact appears to have set the Dist . Grand Lodge authorities at defiance throughout the whole proceedings . Under these circumstances , the s ntence , though the heaviest that could be passed , is fully justified .

In the course of the brief discussion that followed the description of the particulars of the cajc , the question arose as to "the sanity of the offending brjthtr . " " I would like to inq-i ' ro , " said the querist , " if this Brother is non compos mentis , " to which Dist .

( I . M 3 ster answered that judging by his actions in this particular " one would naturally suppose that he is , ' though it rests with him , not with Dist . ( I . Lodge , to prove this . To this the Dist . G . Master added the expression of his opinion " that any one who does not

become a Mason is non compos mentis . Doubtless this is a very high compliment to the members of our Fraternity , but we question if thc non-Masonic portion of thc community will receive it with the same degree of favour as the Masonic .

Masonic Notes.

The Indian Masonie Review contains a report of the consecration of the Excelsior Conclave , No . XXX . ( E . C ) , by Sir Knight D . G . McLeod , lntendant General for Burma , of the Order of Rome and the Red Cross of Constantine . The ceremony was performed at the Masonic Hall , Jfaulmain , on the 23 rd

September last , the lntendant General having granted his provisional warrant for the consecration until the regular charter should arrive from England . When the conclave had been constituted , Sir Knight J . C . Moyle was installed as M . P . S ., and Sir Knight Elliot-Hill took his place as Eusebius . The new conclave has our best wishes for its success .

» * The Australasian Keystone ior last October contains the report of the consecration of a new lodge a ** Snowtown , on the South Australian Constitution , namely , the Borunga Lodge , No . 43 , the ceremony being performed by the Deputy Grand Master , Bro . J

G . Jenkins , M . P . ( acting Premier ) , who , with the Grand Officers who assisted him , travelled all the way from Adelaide to Snowtown in order to perform the ceremony , and afterwards installed Bro . the Rev . S . Clark Mugford as the first W . M . The proceedings of

the day concluded with the usual banquet , the Deputy Grand Master expressing a hope that the new lodge would prove itself a worthy addition to the Register of the Grand Lodge of South Australia . We cordially echo the wish .

* * * We remark with pleasure that our Australasian contemporary is now a bi-monthly instead of a monthly periodical , the number from which we have gleaned the particulars for the preceding " Note " containing a

notice that in future it would be issued fortni ghtly . This , we take it , is a sign that the Keystone and its efforts for the welfare of Freemasonry are appreciated , and we take the liberty of congratulating it accordingly .

Masonic Ball.

MASONIC BALL .

I he second annual bill under the auspices of the Llanelly Masonic Society was held on Tuesday , the 21 st ult ., at the Athen . eum Hall , Llanelly . The arrangements were satisfactorily carrisd out by the Hon . Secretary of the Hospital Committee ( Mr . F . L . Rees ) , and the decorations were entrusted to Mr . John Randell ( London House ) . Amongst those present

were Sir John and Lady Jenkins , Swansea ; Mr . and Mrs . Trubshaw , Air . and Airs . Gwilym Evans , Miss Thornton Andrews , Swansea ; Mr . and Mrs . David Evans , Llangennech ; Mr . and Mrs . Buc'jley , Penyfai ; Mr . and Mrs . Buckley Roderick , Mr . and Mrs . Frank Nevill , Mr . and Mrs . Jeremiah Williams , Mr . and Mrs , Valentin , and Mr . and Mrs . W . Y . Nevill . A juvenile ball vvas held on the following evening .

Lifeboat Services In 1897.

LIFEBOAT SERVICES IN 1897 .

Although the past year cinnot be said to have been so remarkably free from continued stormy weather as its predecessor , it was by no means a tempestuous one . The stormy seasons , except in one instance , were not marked by any great gale which could be considered as out of the common , and the launches of lifeboats on service were fairly evenly distributed

throughout the year . The heaviest gales of 18 97 , rom a lifeboat point of view , occurred on the 2 nd and 3 rd March and the 28 th and 29 th November . In the first case 19 lifeboats were launched on service , with the result that the lives of 38 persons were saved and 10 other persons were landed from vessels in perilous positions , and in the second case therewere 29

lifeboats launched , resulting in the saving of 10 S lives . This gale was a very severe one and did much damage to property , more particularly on the east and southeast coasts . During the month of June there were 31 launches of lifeboats on service , resulting in the saving of 85 lives . fn no previous June , since the establishment of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in

1824 , have there been so many lifeboats launched on service or so many lives saved as the result of the launches . * The services rendered by the lifeboats during the year included the rescue of 534 lives , besides much valuable property , 30 vessels having been saved from total or partial loss . Great assistance was also given

in very many cases to fishing boats returning from the fleets or fishing grounds , but unable to make a harbour without help from a lifeboat , owing to the badness of the weather . During the year the lifeboats were launched 375 times on services , beides which thecrews were assembled on 55 other occasions , when it was thought that their services might probably be required .

Rewards were also granted by the Institution tor the saving of 125 lives by shore-boats and other means during the year , bringing up the total number of lives for the saving which the Society granted rewards in 1 S 97 to 650 , and to 40 , 474 since 1824 . The cost of

maintaining the Institution ' s fleet of 295 lifeboats in thorough elliciency is increasingly heavy , and the amount received in annual subscriptions and accruing from assured income is insufficient for the purpose . Further financial help is therefore much necd .-d by the Institution .