Boscombe Hospital.

there was an hospital near , he could be immediately carried to it , and have his ills speedily and skilfully attended to , They knew that in London great efforts were made in the direction of hospital accommodation , and in that county they were desirous of emulating those in London by having splendid hospitals in every part of their county . One time they considered the County Hospital nearly enough , but that was not so at the present time .

When they considered how much the county had increased in population , how much Boscombe particularly had increased , and how particularly desirous Boscombe was of having a hospital to meet the wants o \ the poorer inhabitants , they hoped the work would speedily be done . He and all the other Mascns wished the undertaking God-speed , and he trusted the amount

rf quired would be obtained . He doubted not that at the next meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge some donation would be offered by the brethren , and that they would concur with him in helping to support the hospital which had been so happily inaugurated that day . ( Applause . ) In conclusion , he again wished great success to the enterprise being undertaken that day . ( Applause . )

The next toast , ''Success to the Boscombe Hospital , " was in the care of Bro . E . GOBLE , Dep . Prov . G . M . He said he was perfectly sure it had given the Provincial Grand Master , who was esteemed and beloved by all Masons in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , very great pleasure to come down and lay the foundation-stone of the Boscombe Hospital . ( Applause . ) The toast he had to propose was one which he was sure would be received

with the greatest amount of acclamation . He had the pleasure that morning of seeing the plans for the new hospital , and he congratulated the President and the Committee on the handsome building they were going to erect . He understood they would only be able to build the two principal wings , but he hoped , if occasion arose , and that it would be found necessary to enlarge the accommodation , that the third wing would be speedily prepared . In looking

round and seeing how Boscombe was growing , he felt they had placed the hospital in the very part it should be placed—amongst the homes of the poor . ( Applause . ) He said he would second any resolution which might be made at the meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge for giving a small donation or large donation towards the cost of the Institution . ( Applause . ) In conclusion , he wished all prosperity and God speed to the Boscombe Hospital .

Mr . BELLAIRS , in responding , said he did not intend to enter into an elaborate statement , or give them figures to prove the necessity which existed for inaugurating the building of a hospital at Boscombe , but he mentioned that for the last eight or io years they had had many difficulties to contend with in their utterly too small hospital . As Englishmen they were all proud of their splendid hospitals . They all knew that Dr . Nunn

was in a great measure responsible , and deserved credit for the satisfactory position which Bournemouth held from a sanitary point of view , and they also wished to see Bournemouth occupying a foremost position from a hospital point of view . ( Applause . ) He brielly referred to the support they had received , which had enabled them to lay the foundation-stone that day of the handsome hospital they meant to have at Boscombe . He hoped they would receive the same support all through , so that they might be able

to pay their debts . They would have to borrow money for the first part of the building , and he pointed out that the large guarantee would have to be borne by the Committee . He hoped that the Boscombe people would not allow this to run on for a long time , " but it depended on them to say how long . He felt certain if they all made one long pull that at the end of twelve months the debt would be reduced to such dimensions as would cease to be alarming at all . ( Applause . ) Before sitting down the speaker spoke of the brilliant success which the ceremony had been that day .

Dr . NUNN also responded , and said that was one of the proudest moments of his life . In 1876 some of the citizens of Boscombe held a meeting for the promotion of a hospital . That meeting was held in the old skating rink , and it was the first beginning of the Boscombe Hospital . They began in a small way . There was a great demand in those days for more accessible hospital accommodation and medical assistance for the poor

of the district . If it was wanted then , surely it was needed more now . They first of all hired a room in the Christchurch-road , and had a dispensary there , and then they went a step further . The committee of the Bournemoth Dispensary made a very praiseworthy effort for establishing a hospital for fever cases . They collected a great deal of money , and they spent it in the Boscombe Hospital , which was started for a fever hospital . They then

went to the governing body of the town—the Bournemouth Commissioners —and asked them to take it over as a public body . They refused because they were far-seeing men , and could see that it was not in any way a proper hospital for the reception of infectious cases . The hospital was then left for anyone to come along and buy , The Boscombe Dispensary made an offer for it of £ 1000 , which was accepted . They mortgaged the building for the

full amount , and in 20 years that debt was paid off . ( Applause . ) I hey had now laid the foundation stone of a hospital which , if he might judge fiom the designs , he believed would be , for its size , one of the most perfect hospitals—perhaps the most perfect—in Hampshire , and one of the best in the kingdom . ( Applause . ) He thanked all for the way in which the toast was received . They had had a great deal of uphill work to contend with ,

but it had done them all good , because it was only by striving and struggling that they could grow strong . ( Hear , hear . ) He commended the earnest work of the committee in respect to the hospital . They had a great amount of trials and difficulties , but fortunately they had succeeded in carrying the Boscombe Hospital on to the present . ( Applause . ) That day would be a red letter day in his life .

Dr . HOSKER said he had been asked to do what he was sure everyone would wish should be done on that occasion , namely , to accord to their president and chairman that day , Sir John Thursby , Bart ., their very hearty thanks . ( Applause . ) He and the other members of the committee knew that their president had given up a very important appointment in order to be present that afternoon . This was but an evidence of what he had

been doing ever since he accepted the post of President of the Boscombe Hospital . They were very grateful to him for the interest he took in this worthy institution . They had an institution that was very much needed in the neighbourhood , and those who knew the work it was doing as he did , far he had lived in the neighbourhood for 17 ycars , having come down as house surgeon lo the hospital , must be aware that the work it was doing was

absolutely indispensable . ( Applause . ) It was an institution which was well worthy of their support , and they were very grateful for the help they had received in the past . They were very grateful to the generosity of Sir Frederick Wills —( applause)—who had given ^ 1000 down , and promised another £ 1000 when they had collected a certain sum . They were also very gratelul to Mrs . Maberly for the very great support she had given to

Boscombe Hospital.

the institution . ( Applause . ) He hoped in a very short time they would be again assembled in that neighbourhood to open their fine hospital . ( Applause . ) Sir J THURSBY , Bart ., in responding , said that all were aware that the debt on the hospital was very great , but he mentioned that in addition to the splendid donations just mentioned they had received during the past

week or two some very handsome sums indeed . They had sent out papers asking ladies and gentlemen if they would subscribe , and they had received in answer to those letters the sum of £ 440 , and that day they had received the very handsome sum in the other marquee of £ 350 . ( Applause . ) He thought all would feel with him that under the circumstances and receiving so much money , that they were perfectly right to have incurred the great responsibility they had . He felt so grateful that everything had gone off so

well that day . They had had the greatest anxiety and worry in trying to make everything answer well , and he thought all would agree with him that everything had gone off as well as it possibly could . ( Applause . ) He thanked them most cordially for the kind way in which they had received him , and he would do in the future all he could to further the intersts of the hospital , and try to make it one of the best hospitals in this part of the country . ( Applause . )

Cheshire Masonic Charities.

CHESHIRE MASONIC CHARITIES .

A meeting of the Committee of Benevolence of the Province of Cheshire was held at Crewe on the 28 th ult ., Bro . Colonel Dean presiding . Several petitions for relief were considered , and grants made in necessitous cases . Bro . ARMSTRONG thought the time had come when the Committee might enlarge their work in this direction . Hitherto they had only made

grants out of their interest on invested capital ; but their income now was something like £ 300 or £ 400 a year , and he thought that to limit their grants to £ 120 a year was only stultifying the Charity Institution . In London the Masonic Institution yielded an income of . about ^ 2000 a year , but the grants made in " needy " cases were five or six times that amount .

Bro . F . BROADSMITH emphasised this , remarking that as far as possible any uninvested capital should be applied to relief cases . Bro . H . J ACKSON ( Vice-Chairman ) expressed his sympathy with the opinions of Bros . Armstrong and Broadsmith , and said the question for them to consider was whether they had sufficient now invested in the funds of the Institution , and whether it would be wise to trench upon their income from the lodges .

Bro . BRYOM asked whether anything had been done in the direction of appealing to the lodges in the province for an annual subscription of two guineas to supplement the fund for the relief of necessitous cases . The CHAIRMAN said the Charity Council had had the subject under

consideration , and were quite unanimous in their opinion that it was one of the best things that had ever been proposed in the province . An appeal had been made to the Iod pes , and several had already responded to it . The question of enlarging the number of relief cases by four was deferred to the next meeting for consideration .

The CHAIRMAN announced that Bro . the Earl of Egerton had exercised his power , as Prov . G . Master , to present F . W . Potter on the foundation of the Boys' Institute ; and the meeting resolved to accept a boy and girl for election on the Royal Masonic Institutions for Boys and Girls .

Consecration Of The St. Michael Lodge, No. 2747.

CONSECRATION OF THE ST . MICHAEL LODGE , No . 2747 .

One of the most imposing ceremonies in the annals of Freemasonry in Newquay , and perhaps in the Province of Cornwall , was enjoyed on Saturday , the ist instant , when Bro . Letchworth , G . Sec , consecrated and constituted the above new lodge . The ceremony was held in the Oddfellows '

Hall by a special dispensation , the Iodge room not being sufficiently large to hold the numerous company present . The Grand Secretary was assisted by Bros . P . Colville Smith , S . G . D . Eng ., as S . W . ; E . M . Milford , P . P . S . G . W ., as J . W . ; B . F . Edyvean , P . A . G . D . C . Eng ., Prov . G . Sec , as D . C ; and Rev . C- F . Mermagen , P . G . Chap ., as Chap . The visitors

included—Bros . J . Stocker , P . G . Sec . Devon ; James R . W . Quinn , P . P . G . W . Devon ; F B . Westlake , P . D . G . D . C . Eng . ; Simon Kinsman , P . P . G . S . of W . ; R . A Courtney , P . P . S . G . W . ; E . Venning , P . P . G . Treas . Thomas Gatley , P . P . A . G , D . C . ; William Ellis , P . P . G . B . ; J . Beswetherick , P . P . G . S . of W . ; John W

Higman , P . P . J . G . W . ; Gilbert B . Pearce , P . P . S . G . W . ; William Lucy , P . A . G . S . ; Robert Edyvean , P . P . G . R . ; J . C . R . Crewes , P . P . S . G . D . ; R . Pearce Couch , P . S . G . D . ; W . J . Johns , P . P . J . G . W . ; W . W . Grossman , W . M . 1529 ; John James , P . M . 1529 ; W . H . Knight , P . M . 131 ; C . J . Eary , P . M . 174 . H . J . Rows ' e , P . M . 1529 ; and others .

The founders of the lodge present were—Ilros . H . F . Whitefield , P . M . ; George G . Bullmer , P . P . G . Treas , ; Col . George J . Parkyn , G . S . B . En « . ; Charles Webber , P . M . ; Samuel Walter , P . M . ; Samuel Lobb , P . M . ; T . Trethewey , Arthur W . King , W . H . Henwood , W . F . James , Frederick J . Rickard , C . C . Viguis , W . II . Strong , W . Huxtable , Arthur Hardwick , Silas Rickeard , John Willis , C . J . Lakey , W . S . Parkyn , and Alfred Butler .

It was the first time in the annals of Cornish Freemasonry that the Grand Secretary conducted the ceremony of consecrating a new lodge in this province . A telegram was read from the Prov . G . M ., the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe , regretting his inability to attend , and wishing every prosperity and success to the Lodge St . Michael . Letters were also read regietling absence from Bros . Sir Graves-Sawle , D . Prov . G . M , ; W . J . Hughan , Past Grand Deacon England ( P . P . S . G . W . Cornwall );

Colonel Prideaux Brune , Forbes Whitley , Carus Wilson , and Dr . R . Adams . The ceremony , conducted so very ably by the Grand Secretary , must have left a lasting impression on the minds of those privileged to witness it , and the eloquent oration by Bro . Rev . C . 1-. Mermagen on " The Principles of Freemasonry " was attentively listened to and appreciated by lhe brethren , and was especially noticed by the Grand Secretary at a subsequent stage of the proceedings . The onerous position of D . C . was occupied by Bro . B . F . Edyvean , Prov . G . Sec . Cornwall , who carried out the duties in a most able and efficient manner .