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§^ lirliii * P 0 inri si QtfifiJftS SATURDAY , APRIL 3 , 18 97 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

We have just learned , on the eve of going to press , that the he pes we expressed in our Note of last week for the recovery of Bro . Lord Plunket , Archbishop of Dublin , Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , from the very serious illness from which he has been suffering for more than a month past have not been realised , and that his Grace died at the Palace ,

Masonic Notes.

St . Stephen's Green , on Thursday , the 1 st inst . We shall give such particulars as are possible of his Masonic career in our next issue , but in the meantime we tender our most respectful sympathy to the surviving members of his Grace ' s family .

* * * Webeg to remind our readers that the Spring School elections will be held at Freemasons' Tavern next week , that for the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls being held at the Quarterly General Court of Governors and Subscribers , on Thursday , the 8 th instant ,

when the chair will be taken at the hour of 12 noon , and the ballot for candidates will be opened as soon as the ordinary business has been transacted or , at the latest , at 1 p . m . For this election there is an array of 29 girls , the number of vacancies to be filled being

20 , so that under any circumstance there will be rather more than two-thirds of the whole number removed from the list , while , in the event of any of the four last cases failing to receive admission , this small remainder will be still further diminished .

* * * The Quarterly General Court of Governors and Subscribers of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys will be held on Friday , the 9 th inst ., when as soon as the ordinary business is ended , or at 1 p . m ., a ballot will be opened for the election of 21 from a list of 60 boys—since reduced by five withdrawals to 55 . In

this case the chances of securing a vacancy are less favourable , the proportion of vacancies to candidates being as 3 to 8 , while for the Girls' School it is , as we have said , about 2 to 3 . Thus less favourable prospects will render the contest more keen , and those who are bent on carrying their cases will have to exert all their influence in order to accomplish their purpose .

* * * At both elections there will be found a certain number of children who have but this solitary chance of obtaining admission . In the case of the Girls ' School election , there are four such candidates , namely , those who are placed at Nos . 1 , 4 , 20 , and 27 ,

respectively , while in that of the Boys School election , there are likewise four , who are numbered 15 , 25 , 43 , and SSi respectively . If these , or any of these , fail , their names will be struck off the lists . Hence , as usual , we appeal most earnestly to all who have votes and influence , which are not already promised to

other cases , to do what they can in order to prevent them being deprived of the opportunity of receiving the benefits of which they have been adjudged worthy . Others who may fail next week will have at least one chance more , but if the four girls and four boys we have indicated do not obtain admission this time , they fail altogether .

* * * We have much pleasure in announcing that it has been decided to hold a Masonic Service at the Collegiate Church of St . Saviour , Southwark , in beh alf of the debt of , £ 7000 on the Res toration Fund , on Ascension Day—Thursday , the 27 th May . Bro . the Right Hon .

the Earl of Lathom , G . C . B ., Pro G . Master , has signified his intention of being present accompanied by a number of Grand Officers , while a committee of brethren has been chosen with power to add to their number , for the purpose of making the necessary arrangements . Of this committee Bro . Lord

Llangattock , Prov . G . Master of South Wales , Eastern Division , has been appointed chairman , and the Chapter Clerk—Bro . Henry Langston—will act as Hon . Secretary . Tickets of admission to Masons will be issued in due course , and Secretaries of lodges , whether in London or the Provinces , who may be desirous of

obtaining further information are requested to lose no time in communicating with the Honorary Secretary at 32 , Borough High-street , Southwark . We sincerely trust that the attendance of brethren will be worthy of the occasion and will prove of benefit to the special

object for which the service will be held , more particularly as his Royal Highness the M . W . G . Master has taken the greatest interest in the project for restoring this , one of the oldest and at the same time one of the finest of our Metropolitan Churches .

* We are sorry to find that the Report of the Committee of the North Wales Charitable Association for 1896 is the reverse of satisfactory , while , at the same time , we commend the action of the Committee in drawing attention so conspicuously to the steady

diminution during the last few years of the contributions from the lodges and brethren throughout the Province . Now that this diminution has been made patent to every one by the yearly returns which the Committee have been at the pains of compiling , we trust their appeal for the further support which is necessary will not have been made in vain , and that . the

Masonic Notes.

brethren throughout North Wales will , to quote the words of the Report , " endeavour to so alter things , that Masonic Charity shall become the leading principle of every lodge , chapter , and brother" in the Province .

It is indeed desirable that no time should be lost in making such an effort . The diminution is the more serious because it has been steadily maintained during the years referred to . Thus in 1892 , we are told , the total subscriptions amounted to , £ 551 9 s . 6 d ., of which £ 495 12 s , was raised for the Central Charities , and

£ 55 17 s . 6 d . for the local or B Fund . In 18 93 the total was £ 529 18 s ., the Central Charities being benefited to the extent of . 6474 iSs ., and the B Fund receiving £ 55 . In 1894 there was a further diminution to £ 466 7 s ., the Central Charities receiving , £ 400 17 s . 6 d ., and the B Fund £ 65 9 s . 6 d . In 18 95

the position was still more lamentable , the Central Charities being successful in raising only £ 302 8 s ., while the subscriptions to the B Fund , dropped to . £ 56 9 s . ; the two Returns amounting together to , £ 358 17 s . Last year , there was , we are pleased to

say , a recovery , the subscriptions to the Central Charities reaching £ 328 15 s . 6 d ., and to the B Fund £ 68 Ss . 5 d . But even here the total for the two Funds , amounting to £ 397 os . nd ., is less by £ 154 8 s . 7 d ., than that of the year 1892 .

* ? » We feel sure that our South Wales brethren , when they realise the full extent of the steady decrease in the totals from 1892 to 1895 and the very modest re

covery m 1896 , will respond loyally to this earnest appeal of the Committee of their Charitable Association and do what lies in their power to raise their contributions to the level of 18 92 , and , if possible , to a still higher figure .

* * We regret that the name of Bro . the Rev . C . E . L . Wright , P . G . Chaplain of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters , was omitted from the report of the annual meeting of that body , which appeared in our issue of the 20 th ult . We have every confidence in

the members of our reporting staff , who are not only men of ability in their profession , but are likewise , from long experience , acquainted with the little difficulties , especially in obtaining names , which beset the reporter of a Masonic meeting . Attendance books are not always at hand for inspection , and even the most

experienced reporter can hardly be expected to furnish , of his own knowledge , the names of all who attend a meeting . In the case of those reports which are kindly transmitted from outside sources , the utmost we can do is to publish them in the state in which they reach us .

* •» We have been requested to call attention to the claims of the " Maternity Charity and District Nurses' Home , " Plaistow , E ., upon the support of a generous public . From the particulars that have been sent to us it is clear that this institution must be doing a vast amount

of good in one of the largest and , at the same time , one of the poorest parts of our huge Me ' . ropolis , where there are very few well-to-do people and scarcely any general hospitals , the population being composed for the most part of dock labourers , factory operatives , and

people without regular employment . Subscriptions and donations are , therefore , earnestly invited , and may be sent either to the Honorary Treasurer of the Charity , Howard ' s-road , Plaistow , E ., or to the Bankers , Messrs . Williams , Deacon , and Co ., 20 , Birchin-lane , E . C .

# * * The Grand Lodge of California , though it has not yet been in existence for half a century—its 47 th annual communication was held in San Francisco in October last—has already 262 lodges on its roll with an aggregate subscribing membership of 18 , 208 , or

nearly 800 more than at the corresponding date in 1895 . There are several local Boards of Relief and a Masonic Home Fund , the principal among the former being that of San Francisco , which during the years 1856-1896 has received 352 , 115 dollars and disbursed 350 , 924 dollars .

* * * The sad intelligence that Bro . Jacob Norton , of Boston , Massachusetts , has recently died will be everywhere received with the utmost regret , more particularly among the literary members of the Fraternity , to most of whom he was known personally , while there were many of them with whom he kept up a frequent

and always an interesting correspondence . He was , in all probability , one of the best read Masons of his time , and the many and able criticisms he was in the habit of writing will be sorely missed . Bro . Norton had attained the ripe age of 83 years , and was , we believe , initiated in our Joppa Lodge , No . 188 , some 60 years ago . We sincerely sympathise with the family and many friends of our late respected brother .