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T 7 IELD LANE INSTITUTIONS . REFUGES , RAGGED and INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS , CRECHE , YOUTHS' INSTITUTE , CHRISTIAN MISSION , & c . FUNDS URGENTLY NEEDED . FINANCIAL YEAR ENDS 31 st MARCH . /• i , oo REQUIRED 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 , Clerkenweli , E . C .

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OPIERS AND pOND'S CTORES ( 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 DELI V ERY in Suburbs by our own Vans . LIBERAL TERMS FOR COUNTRY ORDERS . For full details see Price Book .

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^roSagca^ SATURDAY , MARCH IO , IQOO

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Quarterly Communication of the Mark Grand Lodge , which was held at Mark Masons' Hall , on Tuesday , the Gth instant , under the presidency of the Earl of Euston , Pro G . M ., was numerously attended . There was , however , nothing of a contentious character in the business on the Agenda and the proceedings passed

oil quietly . H . R . H . the Prince of wales was unanimously re-elected M . W . Mark Grand Master for the ensuing year , whilst for the office of Grand Mark Treasurer , the only nominre was Bro . John Dimsdale , who was accordingly declared elected and whom we heartily congratulate on his election . * *

It was a foregone conclusion that the annual Festival of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement , which isone of the most popular , as it undoubtedly is one of the most instructive , of our annual gatherings , should prove

a success . There was a feeling of disappointment at the enforced absence , through illness , of the Earl of Warwick , D . G . M ., Prov . G . M . of Essex , who had very kindl y promised to preside ; but his place was worthil y filled by his lordship '? respected Deputy Prov . G . M .,

Masonic Notes.

Bro . Col . " Lockwood , M . P ., P . G . D ., who at short njtice discharged the duties of Chairman in a manner that left nothing to be desired on the score either of efficiency or geniality . The work in lodge was pronounced by one who speaks on such matters with the

most approved authority was simply perfect , and probably the one feeling which the 600 brethren who attended experienced on quitting Freemasons' Tavern was one of regret that such intellectual Masonic treats come , like Christmas , but once a year . * * *

Among the many Educational Institutions which have been established from time to time in sundry of our Provinces , there is none in a more prosperous state , or that confers its benefits on a greater number of children , than the West Lancashire Masonic Educational Institution , which was founded in the year 18 ^ 01

and , thanks in great measure to the deep interest taken in its welfare by the late Earl of Lathom , is warmly supported by the lodges and brethren of the Province . The Report of the General Committee for the year 1800 has just reached us , and , though in respect of the

Donations and Subscriptions received during the year there is a substantial falling off as compared with the receipts under the same head during the preceding 12 months , we think the Committee have just grounds for believing that the falling off is merely temporary .

* The Treasurer ' s Audited Statement of Account shows a total Income , including a balance of over £ 1030 brought forward from the previous year , of nearly £ 2674 , the principal items being ( 1 ) ^ 771 , composed of Proceeds of Annual Bail ( £ 343 ios . ) and

Donations and Subscriptions ; and ( 2 ) . £ 760 , being interest on various Stocks . The Donations and Subscriptions are less by . £ 427 than in 1898 , but the Committee are of opinion that this " must not be taken as an indication of any want of interest in our Institution by the brethren of the Province , but is due to the

fact that most lodges have sent their contributions through the medium of the ' Lord Lathom Memorial Fund , ' and the amount so collected will , no doubt , reach us early in the coming year . " In fact , they believe the sum so received " will be considerably in excess of that usually collected , and will be a lasting testimony of the love of the * brethren for their late

Provincial Grand Alaster . " We assume that the Committee would not have ventured to express this anticipation if they had not good reason to believe it would be realised . There is no one more worthy of such a Memorial Fund than the late Lord Lathom , and none to whom such a tribute of affection and respect is more likely to be paid .

# * * The expenditure on all counts , including , £ 500 paid for a Swansea Harbour Trust Bond , amounted to over £ 1983 , of which nearly £ 1397 was disbursed for the education , clothing , maintenance , and advancement of the children , and only £ ja for expenses of administration , being nearly £ 16 less than in 189 S . The number

of children benefited during the year was 211 , and the total expended on them , including the year's proportion of cost of eight presentations , was / 1517 . The invested funds of the Institution amount to £ 23 , 428 , to which must bs added the balance of £ 690 remaining to the good on the account , and a further sum of about £ 1094 , being the present value of the eight presentations above mentioned .

» * » It will be seen from the facts we havs quoted that this Educational Institution , which is the oldest of the four Institutions formed by the Province o ( West Lancashire , is , as regards its invested capital , very firmly placed , while in the matter of support from the lodges and brethren it receives a large income year by

year . There are , however , quite a number of lodges which do not appear to contribute , and we trust these will become fewer and still fewer , so that ultimately the whole of those on the register will participate in the work of maintaining this Institution in a . state of efficiency , and even enable it to extend still further the the benefits it has been conferring for the last 50 years .

* * The Cambridgeshire Masonic Charity Association , which is one of those organisations formed for the purpose of enabling brethren to become Life Subscribers and Life Governors of our Central Institutions without too great a demand bsing made on their

purses , has done some excellent work , and enabled the Province to figure prominently—for its size—among the supporters of our Charities . It started operations in 1883 , and from that year , inclusive to the 31 st October , 18 9 8 , was instrumental in contributing over £ 53 6 9 among our Benevolent and Scholastic Institutions , giving an average per year of about £ 33 $ .

Masonic Notes.

During the year to 31 st October , 18 99 , a further sum of £ 367 was raised , making the total from the beginning £ S 737- By the votes thus obtained the Province has secured the election of its candidates—there being now three children in the Boys' School and two

in the Girls' School , as well as one annuitant on thc Male Fund of the Benevolent Institution , while the widow of another annuitant is in receipt of half her late husband ' s annuity . This is good work indeed , and in every way creditable to the Province , which has but seven lodges on the register .

* » It must also be a satisfaction to the Committee of the Association and more especially to the indefatig able Hon . Secretary , Bro . Major O . Papworth , P . Prov . G . W ., the Prov . G . Secretary , to be able to report an increase in the number of subscribing brethren , every

lodge in the Province being more or less represented , while contributions voted by Provincial Grand Lodge and Provincial Grand Chapter , four of the seven lodges , and two of the four chapters amounted during the past year to £ 149 , and we trust that with each succeeding year the Committee will be able to report that

still further progress has been made , or at the very least that there has been no diminution in the number of subscriptions or in the total of the grants voted by the Provincial and Private Lodges and Chapters . In such case future annual reports will be as pleasant reading as that for the year to 31 st October , 1 899 , to which we are indebted for the foregoing particulars .

+ * * We have received copy of the Proceedings at the regular Convocation of the Prov . Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Freemasonry in India under the Scottish Constitution , which was held under the presidency of Comp . K . R . Cama , Grand Superintendent , at Freemasons' Hall , Bombay , on the 4 th September , 1899 .

A few matters of interest appear to have been referred to by the Grand Superintendent , the most noticeable being that the Prov . Grand Chapter had been able , without strain upon its funds , to make a further donation of 200 Rupees to the New Hdll Building Fund , and , that if things continued to b . 5 as satisfactory , a still further donation might be forthcoming .

» * * We also notice with pleasure that on a suggestion thrown out at the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Chapter in April of last year , the companions had raised a fund—the subscription to which was strictly limited to one rupee per member—which enabled them to present Comp . Capt . C . D . Wise , Prov . G . Scribe

E ., on his departure for home , with a dressing case as a mark of the esteem in which he was held by the companions . Comp . Capt . Wise has done good service to Scottish Freemasonry in India in his dual capacity of Provincial Grand Secretary and Provincial Grand Scribe E ,, and well deserves to have received this kindly recognition of his worth .

» The Australian Keystone ol the [ 24 th January last contains a most interesting account of Bro . John James , Past D . G . M . of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria , who died on the 6 th ot the same month at his residence in Armadale , at the ripe age of 82 years .

The deceased , who was a member of a Masonic family , was not only a Past Dep . G . M . of Victoria , but was also . ' representative of the Grand Lodge of England at the Grand Lodge of Victoria , Past G . Principal of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Victoria ,

and Past Prov . Prior of the Order of the Temple ( E . G . ) . The late Bro . James was bcrn at Walsall in 1818 , and migrated to Victoria in the early fifties . He was a staunch Mason , and was looked up to and respected by the whole Craft in the Colony .

• * He was also a great lover of hunting , cricket , and all kinds of genuine sport , and one of \ vhom his biographer in our contemporary writes as follows : " Mr . James lived and died a ' good old English gentleman . ' He was absolutely without guile , with a heart as

tender as a woman ' s , and a courage equal at all times to death . Those who knew him best mourn him most , for as the world is constituted there are not many men who live to enjoy so full a measure of respect from all classes as was enjoyed by our late deceased brother . "

* * » We are always sorry to hear of errors either of omission or commission in our articles or reports , especially those relating to the Festivals of our Institutions . But ihe time at our disposal is too short to admit of guaranteeing eomplete accuracy in ail the

minute details of a list of 600 names , with sums of money entered against between 400 and 500 of them , and in the report and analysis which accompany them . Perhaps the one of our three correspondents who writes— " How your staff could have made such a miserable blunder passes my comprehendsion ''

( sic ) will kindly realise that netvspaper people are not the only persons in the world who make mistakes , and should , therefore , be dealt \ yith gently . As for the corrections requested by our correspondents , they will be made in the Reprint of the Report and Analysis which is already in course of preparation .