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¦ pIELD LANE INSTITUTIONS . REFUGES , RAGGED and INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS , CRECHE , YOUTHS' INSTITUTE , CHRISTIAN MISSION , & c . FUNDS URGENTLY NEEDED . FINANCIAL Y EAR ENDS 31 st MARCH . £ 1 , 500 REOUIRED to ENABLE the COMMITTEE to CLOSE the ACCOUNTS FREE OF DEBT . Bankers , Barclay & Co . ( Limited ) . Treasurer—W . A . BEVAN , Esq ., 54 , Lombard-st ., E . C . Secretary—PEREGRINE PLATT , The Institution , Vine-street , Clerkenwell , E . C .

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OPIERS AND pOND ' S OTORES ( NO TICKETS REQUIRED ) . . QUEEN VICTORIA STREET , E . C . Opposite Blackfriars Station ( Dist . Ry . ) and St . Paul ' s Station ( L . C . and D . Ry . ) PRICE BOOK ( 1000 pages , illustrated ) , free on application . FREE DELIVERY in Suburbs by our own Vans . LIBERAL TERMS FOR COUNTRY ORDERS . For full-details see Price Book .

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

P . JJ . —We cannot do better than refer you to Article 152 , Book of Constitutions , which provides as follows : " No Brother who has ceased to be a subscribing member of a Lodge shall be permitted to visit any one Lodge more than once until he again becomes a subscribing member of some Lodge . "

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W ^ rm \^^^ i \ m ^ 6 ^ LW-- ^^^^» m \^^^ r ^ W ^ pW Wm jmmWmli ^ mW ^ r *^ , gftre^asoriS hrrfffff^^^WW(! ^r^_% SATURDAY , MARCH 3 , 1900 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge will be held at Freemasons' Hall , at the usual hour , on Wednesday , the 7 th instant , when a lengthy and interesting programme of business will be dealt with . As Bro . Harry Manfield is the only nominee for the office of Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year , there will be no contested election , and , therefore , none

of the excitement and turmoil which characterised last year ' s and previous elections for that office . The principal item among the Agenda will be the consideration of a message from his Royal Highness the M . W . Grand Master , and certain motions arising therefrom , which have reference to the brethren in the several Districts into which South Africa is Masonicall y divided , who have suffered by the war there raging .

Masonic Notes.

For some time past our R . W . Bro . George Richards , Dist . G . Master of the Transvaal , has been appealing firstly by circular to the lodges on the English Register and then through the medium of our columns for aid for those members of the lodges forming his District who , being of English nationality , have been under the

necessity of abandoning their homes and occupations in the Transvaal and seeking safety in Natal or Cape Colony . These brethren and their families were among the thousands of refugees who fled south when war was declared , and it is easier to imagine than describe the sufferings they have since been compelled

to undergo . At thc outset they were loyally assisted by the Natal brethren , but the latter must now have enough on their hands in helping their own members who have suffered from the same cause , and in addition there must be a large proportion of the brethren in the other Districts who are in a similar plight .

* * * Thus , leaving for the moment the Transvaal lodges out of our consideration , we find that , as regards those in the other four Districts generally which either have suffered by the operations of the war or have had their meaps for rendering help by this time pretty well

exhausted , there must be quite a number of them that have been directly affected , and are probably well nigh hors d'existence . Among these we include the lodges at Barkly West , Kimberley ( three ) , Mafeking and Vryburg , in the Central Division ; and those at Aliwal North , Barkly East , Bloemfontein , Dordrecht , Indwe ,

Molteno , Queenstown , and Umtata , in the Eastern . In the District of Natal are the lodges at Dundee , Greytown , Kokstad , Ladysmith , Newcastle , and Richmond ; while of those which are not included in any District , those at Eshowe in Zululand , Harrysmith and Philippolis , in the Orange Free State , and

Umtali , in Rhodesia , may be mentioned . The Western Division will , no doubt , have suffered the least ; but the demands upon its lodges for help will have been proportionately greater . In short , all our lodges in South Africa have suffered , but some of them only indirectly .

* * * Under these circumstances , his Royal Highness the Grand Master recommends ( 1 ) that a Fund be raised to assist the District Grand Lodges in South Africa in their task of relieving the distresses occasioned directly by the war to their loyal members ; ( 2 )

that the management of the Fund be entrusted to the Board of General Purposes ; ( 3 ) that a grant of money be made from the funds of Grand Lodge towards the Fund ; and ( 4 ) that the Provincial and District Grand Lodges and the private lodges under

the jurisdiction of United Grand Lodge be invited to contribute . Motions on these and the other recommendations of the Grand Master will be made from the Chair , and then it will be proposed—also from the Chair—that a grant of 1000 guineas be made to this " South African Masonic Relief Fund . "

•* * The question naturally arises—What in these circumstances should be done in respect of the " Transvaal Brethren Relief Fund " as already opened in our columns by R . W . Bro . Richards . Our own opinion is that , if it can be managed , it should be merged in the

general Fund now proposed to be raised for the relief of all the loyal brethren in South Africa , to whatever Districts they may happen to belong . Our principal reasons are ( 1 ) that as the war is the cause of the calamities from which all the English brethren are suffering in common , the Fund raised for their relief ^^ S ^'

should be applied to them all in common ; and ( 2 ) that anything like a clashing of appeals should be avoided . There is a community of suffering among the English brethren in South Africa ; let there be a corresponding community in the measures adopted for their relief . * •*

As for the rest of the Agenda , we vvould call the attention of our readers to the letter of Bro . Sir Albert W . Woods , P . G . W ., G . D . C , in the Report of the Board of General Purposes . The point is a very proper one to have raised , and we doubt not the course adopted by the Board in causing copies of Sir Albert ' s

letter to be circulated among the lodges " with a request that the strictest regard be paid to the contents , " will have the desired effect , We notice , also , with satisfaction , that the Board has made a new departure by expressing its " very deep and sincere regret" at the losses sustained last year by death , the

names of the brethren " who had filled high office in the Craft as oflicers of Grand Lodge " being included in the Report . We trust this course may continue to be followed in future years , lt is also good news to hear that the room intended for the Library and Museum belonging to Grand Lodge will shortly be

Masonic Notes.

completed . Let us hope that with the increased accommodation there will be a corresponding increase in the thirst for knowledge experienced by the brethren . * * * As regards the recognition of the " Grand Lodge of Western Australia recently formed by lodges under

the District Grand Lodge , " it seems to us that , unless there are sufficiently strong reasons of which we have heard nothing , the motion in favour of the proposal is , to say the least , premature , at all events until the course that may be adopted by the 28 or 30 Scottish lodges and the two Irish lodges already

established in the Colony has been ascertained . In the event of the motion , which will be made from the Chair , being adopted , and the Grand Lodges of Scotland and Ireland continuing the opposition we understand they have hitherto offered to the movement , the position will be a somewhat difficult one . It is

quite possible that , as mentioned by the District G . Master ( E . C . ) at the meeting referred to in our recent article , the members of the Scottish and Irish lodges may sympathise with their English brethren in the steps they have taken for the formation of a Grand

Lodge of Western Australia ; but we consider it would be better to wait until the views of their Grand Lodges have been ascertained . There can be no doubt about our English brethren being practically unanimous in favour of the proposal , but these are only about one half of the whole Masonic body in the Colony .

* W * Warrants for the constitution of 10 new lodges have been granted by his Royal Highness the M . W . Grand Master since the December Communication . Of these two—the Commercial Travellers Lodge , No . 2795 , and the L'Entente Cordiale Lodge , No . 2706—will be

located in London ; and two in the Provinces , namely , the John Brunner Lodge , No . 2799 , Over Wensford , in Cheshire ; and the Alston , No . 2794 , Alston , in Cumberland . Of the remaining six four are for the District of Western Australia , the Lathom and Aus

tralia Lodges , Nos . 2797 and 2801 respectively , being located in Perth ; the John Hutt , No . 2802 , Guildford ; and the Toodyay , No . 2803 , Newcastle . The Rokill Lodge , No . 279 8 , will have its quarters at Freetown , in Sierra Leone , and the Rajputana Lodge , No . 2800 , at the town of the same name , in the District of Bombay .

* < * » The Quarterly Communication ' of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales , & c , will be held at Mark Masons' Hall , Great Queen-street , on Tuesday , the 6 th inst . The paper of Agenda is not heavy , the principal business having reference to

the Report . of the General Board , which is , generally , of a satisfactory character . Since the last report warrants have been granted for the constitution of five Mark lodges , of which the Empress , No . 533 , is located in London ; the Wythenshawe , 531 , Northenden , Cheshire ; the Rose , No . 534 ,

Camberwell , Surrey ; and the Bronte , No . 535 , Haworth , West Yorkshire , in the Provinces ; and the Orient , No . 531 Howrah , Bengal , in one of the Districts Abroad . The number of Mark certificates issued during the quarter to 31 st December last was 304 . One warrant—that of the Moira , No . 412—has been returned to Grand Lodge through the District Grand Master of Victoria .

* * * As regards the Degree ot Royal Ark Mariners , warrants have been granted for three new lodges , all of them being located in the Provinces , namely , the Elmete , attached to the Copley Lodge , No . 211 ,

Leeds , in West Yorkshire ; the ^ Wilbraham , to be attached to the Mark lodge of the same name , No . 523 , Widnes , in Lancashire ; and the Courtenay Luck , to be attached to No . 526 of the same name . The number of R . A . M . Certificates is 70 , raising the otal number of registered R . A . Ms , to 6126 .

Sundry changes are also mentioned as having been made by his Royal Highness the M . W . G . Mark Master among the District G . Masters in India , Bro . Col . J . Graves | Kelly , C . B ., A . D . C ., having been appointed District G . Mark Master of the Punjab , in succession to Bro . Col . C . F . Massy , whose term of office has expired ; and Bro . the Hon . Sir Lawrence H . Jenkins ,

Chief Justice , Bombay , District G . Mark Master of Bombay , vice Bto . Lord Sandhurst , returned to England . It is also formally announced that the Annual Festival in behalf of the Mark Benevolent Fund will be held at Freemasons' Tavern on Wednesday , the nth July , under the presidency of the Earl of Euston M . W . Pro G . Mark Master . * * »

We have been requested to correct a mistake in Bro . W . F . Lamonby's letter on the Grand Lodge of Western Australia in our last week ' s issue . The first word in the sixth line of the third paragraph should read " none , " not " more" as printed .