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THE pREEMASON pHRISTMAS VTUMBER , PRICE ONE SHILLING . It will contain Contributions by - G . BL 17 . ARD ABBOTT , 'P . P . G . D . Herts ; W . J . HUGHAN , P . G . D . ; PROI-ESSOK F . W . DRIVER , M . A . ; MAJOR T . C . WALLS , P . G . Std . Br ., and others .

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PROVINCIAL GRAND CHAPTER OF MIDDLESEX . THE RIGHT HONOUKAHLE LORD GEORGE FRANCIS HAMILTON , M . P ., His Majesty ' s Secretary of State for India , M . E . GRAND SUPERINTENDENT . A MEETING of the PROVINCIAL GRAND CHAPTER will be held at the TOWN H ALL , STAINES , on SATURDAY , 14 th December , UJOI , at 4 . 30 p . m . The attendance of Companions is also invited at the Consecration of the London Stone Chapter No . 253 6 , at 3 . 30 p . m . By Command , WILLIAM W . LEI :, Asst . Prov . Grand Scribe E . N , 11 . —DINNER will be provided ( in conjunction with the Members of the London Stone Chapter ) at the PACK HORSE HOTEL , STAINES , for those only who have taken tickets ( price One Guinea , inclusive of wine ) . Application must be made to the Asst . Prov . G . Scribe IC , Comp . WILLIAM W . LEE , 2 , Southampton-street , Strand , W . C .

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WANTED by an Elderly Couple , SITUATION as Lodge or Gate Keepers ; Man formerly Butler and Valet ; make himself useful in house . Can be well recommended . —Apply , W . E ., 51 , Upper Baker-street , N . W .

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THE ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION 01-"THE FREEMASON " is— Uniteil KinK'lom . Abroail . Twelve Months 13 / 6 ... 16 / 6 Six Mouths 6 , 9 ... 7 / 9 Subscriptions may bo paid in stamps , but Money Orders or Cheques are preferred .

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SATURDAY , DECEMBER 7 , 1901 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge was held at Freemasons' Hall , on Wednesday , under ' . the presidency of Bro . George Richards , Dist . Grand Master of the Transvaal , as Grand Master . A full report of the proceedings will be found elsewhere ,

and from this it will be seen that H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught and Strathtarn was nominated for the office of M . W . G . Master , and Bro . Capt . John Barlow for that of Grand Treasurer for 1002-3 . The other

business on the Agenda was also dealt with , but from a letter we have received and to which it miybe necessary to call attention , some brethren appear to take exception to the manner in which the business relating to a Warden's service was dealt with .

* * The Earl of Euston , M . W . Pro G . M . M ., presided at the Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons which was held at Mark Masons ' Hall on Tuesday , when the paper of Agenda , as

published last week , was dealt with . H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn , K . G ., was nominated as M . W . G . M . Master for the ensuing year , and Bro . V . G . Ivey as G . Treasurer . The report of the General Board , and the resolutions arising thereout , were adopted , and the brethren afterwards dispersed .

We must remind our readers that the half-yearly Chapter of the Great Priory of the Temple will be held at Mark Masons' Hall 011 Friday , the ijth instant , and that afterwards a Piiory of the Order of . Malta

Masonic Notes.

will be held for the admission of such Knights Templar as have previously signified their desire to be admitted . When business is ended , the customary banquet—tickets 21 s . each—will be served at the Freemasons' Tavern adjoining .

Our readers will have heard with regret of the death , in his 66 th year , of the eminent surgeon , Bro . Sir W . ' McCormac , Bart . The deceased was a member of our Society , and was present as a visitor at the consecration of the Cheselden Lodge , No . 2 S 70 , being one of those invited to return thanks for the toast of " The Visitors . "

The Prov . Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons ( Scottish Constitution ) of New South Wales was inaugurated on Wednesday , 30 th October , in Sydney . The Prov . Depute Grand M . M ., in the absence , and by authority from the R . W . Prov . Grand Master , Bro .

Major Z . C . Rennie , performed the ceremony , and , after the election , invested the various officers , proxies being . invested . A Committee of chrec was appointed to decide on the design for the Prov . Grand Lodge certificates . The inauguration of this Prov . Grand Lodge will give a further incentive to the members of

the New South Wales Scottish Mark lodges , which are progressing favourably , to continue their interest in the Degree work , and go on to higher office in the Order , besides finding work and instruction for them that they were unable to attain to in ihe absence of a Provincial authority .

* » » The more we examine the communicatior . s respecting the " Masonic Vagrant , " which we receive from time to time from lodge Almoners and others who have had experience of his predatory ways , the more

are we convinced that if the evil is to be put down , or at all events reduced to a minimum , something in the nature of a central directing organisation mint be established , not to supersede the local organisations or arrangements already existing , but to work in harmony

with them , and render the ' eirele of their influence more complete . Different localities have different ways of dealing with the vagrant , nor do we suggest that these . should be seriously altered or modified , as they have doubtless been adopted as being the most

suitable in the localities in which they are operative . What is needed is that communication shoqld . be established among the different organisations , so that the experience obtained in each may be made available for

all . This , it seems to us , can best be dune by forming a sott of Head Centre . It would not be very difficult to do this , and the local Centres would benefit by the information circulated by the Head Centre . # * #

Bro . John Taylor , of Torquay , in his letter of last week , says " several whom I have stopped appear to make a wide circuit , taking them about three years to complete , and from my records their tale is the same on each occasion . " But it would be difficult for the

vagiant to carry on his little game successfully for any length of time if a register of all Masonic applicants for relief were formed and circulated at frequent intervals by the Head Centre among local Centres . It would take time to form such an organisation , but

once formed , there would be little difficulty in w orking it , and , as is shown by the success of the Association which already exists in the United States , the very considerable sum of money which is annually wasted in relieving unworthy applicants would be saved .

We fully appreciate Bro . Taylor's unwillingness to handover the knewn vagrant to the police and the reasons which prompt it . But , with all due respect to him , it is unwise to show any consideration to these people , and for this reason that it is the Craft which is

brought into disrepute by them , and the worthy Mason who is really in want of help who suffers . These are entitled to our sympathy and in order that they may benefit by that sympathy the evildoer should be brought to book whenever possible .

. By the death of Bro . Henry Sutherland , P . G . D ., the English Craft have lost a most respected member and one who , in his profession and in the various pursuits to which he devoted his leisure , had won the

hig hest distinction . His career as a Freemason dates from tome 40 years ago , when he was initiated in the Apollo University Lodge , No . 357 , Oxford , and it may be said to have culminated in 18 9 6 in his appointment to the brevet rank of Past Grand Deacon . At the

time of his death he occupied the Master's chair in the Old Westminsters' Lodge , No . 2233 , which he had helped to found in 1 SS 7 , and was Secretary ol the Grand Stewards' Lodge . We tender our most

Masonic Notes.

respectful sympathy to the wife who is now mourning his loss , and . also to the brethren of the lodges and other Masonic bodies of which he was a member .

* The consecration of a new lodge is not an event of every day occurrence , but every now and then there appears to be—if we may be permitted to use the

expression—a run on consecrations . About two months since the Grand Secretary performed the ceremony in the case of some five or six lodges in the London District within the space of about 10 days

or a fortnight , while last week and the week before it was our privilege to report the consecration of about the same number in different parts of the country . * *

On the nth instant Bro . S . S . Partridge , P . A . G . D . of C , Deputy P . G . M . Leicestershire and Rutland , had the . pleasure of consecrating the East Goscote Lodge , No . 2 S 65 , in the Village Hall at Syston , near Leicester , no such ceremony having been performed in this

Province since 1892 , when the Gracedieu Lodge , No . 2428 , Coalville , and the Lodge of Research , No . 2429 , Leicester , were constituted . On the 13 th and 26 th ult . two lodges were started on their career namely , on the first date , the Bridge Trust Lodge ,

No . 28 7 S , Handsworth , by the Earl of Dartmouth , Prov . G . Master Staffordshire , and , on the latter , the Ceres Lodge , No . 2 S 79 , Swaffham , by Bro . Hamon le Strange , Prov . G . Master Norfolk . To these must be added the lodges meeting in Cheshire , namely , the

Iigremont , No . 2872 , Liscard , which was consecrated the day the toundation-stone of St . Mary ' s Church in ' thesame town was laid ; and theTemperance Lodge , No . 2 S 76 , which was consecrated at the Masonic Chambers , Birkenhead , on the 21 st ult ., the ceremony in both

cases being perlormed b y the Hon . Alan de Tatton Egerton , M . P ., the Prov . G . Master . We trust these lodges may realise the most sanguine hopes of their founders , and that they , one and all , have before them long and successful careers .

As will be seen from the report which will be found in another column , the Prov . Grand Lodge of Cambridgeshire held its annual meeting under ' the auspices of the Alma Mater Lodge , No . 1492 , at the Masonic Hall , Cambridge , on Friday , the 29 th ult .

Bro . Colonel R . Townley Caldwell , Prov . G . Master , occupied the chair , and was well supported by his Prov . G , Officers , Present and Past , and the representatives of the lodges , there being also a fair sprinkling of visitors . As usual , the Report of the

Cnanty Association was the chief item on the Agenda , and the Province is to be congratulated on the work of the past year . Cambridgeshire has only seven lodges on its roll , but in all things it acquits itself well . The lodges discharge their duties admirmirably , while , by means of its Association , it is able

to support the Charitablt Institutions regularly , and with a goodwill , as evidenced by the librality of its contributions , that would be a credit even to a much stronger Province . We are always pleased to note such facts , and to congratulate the brethren and their ruler on their successful accomplishment .

Among the many lodges of instruction which have been formed in London few occupy a more distin - guished position than the Kirb y , formerly the Clarence , which works under a warrant granted by the Bank of England Lodge , No . 263 . Its teaching ,

which is modelled on that of the . Emulation Lodge of Improvement , is perfect , and its annually recurring Festival has latterly become one of the most popular functions of the year . There is invariably a large muster of the brethren , the services of a brother who

is a strong ritualist and eminent in the higher ranks of the Craft , are secured for the chair ; the manner in which the work in lod ge is carried out leaves nothing to be desirtd , and the proceedings at the social board are incomplete harmony with what has gone before .

» » » The tenth of this series of annual reunions was recently held under the presidency of Sir John B . Monckton , P . G . W ., and the manner in which the sections of the Second Lecture were worked by

brethren who , we arc told , had never done anything of the kind before , and the general arrangements for the meeting , reflected the highest credit on the Preceptor and lodge officers . The usual silent tribute of respect was paid to the memory of the late Bro . Kirby , after

whom the lodge is named , while the services of Bro , Baker , who had discharged the duties of Secretary for the last 10 years , were suitably recognised , and gracefully , if briefly , acknowledged . In short , the Festival was a great success , and we trust will be followed by others still more successful .