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SATURDAY , DECEMBER 14 , 1901 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Committee of Management of tho Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution held their regular meeting for the current month at Frci . m isons' Hall on Wednesday . Bro . J . A . Farnfield , P . A . G . D . C Treasurer of the Institution , occupied the chair and

there was a fairly good attendance of members . Most of the sitting was taken up with the consideration of the 15 petitions ( 9 men and 6 widows ) , the result being that 1 . 1 ( 7 men and 5 widows ) were approved and the names urdered to be plaeej on

Masonic Notes.

the lists for the election at the Annual General Meeting of the Governors and Subscribers , which will be held on the third Tuesday in May of next year . The petitions of two men and one widow were refused . We take the opportunity of adding that all petitions received at the offices of the

Institution—4 , Freemasons Hall , W . C . —between now and the end of the year will be considered at the January Committee of Manigcmcnt , and if they arc approved , the applicants will have their names included in the lists of candidates for next ycar ' election . * * *

Wo arc indeed gratified to hear that the Board of Stewards for the Anniversary Festival which will be held on Wednesday , the : 26 th February , 1902—not 28 th as stated in our article of last week—under the presidency of Sir A . F . Godson , M . P ., Prov . G . Master

of Wore cstcrshirc—already musters upwards of 220 ladies a nd brethren . Last week we mentioned in our leading article that some 1 S 0 had so far volunteered their services , so that the latest efforts of Bro . Secretary Terry in organising the Board have been most

successful . We hope that before the year is out the number will be very considerably augmented , and that when the Board holds its first meeting in January for the purpose of appointing officers and making the necessary arrangements for the

celebration , Bro . Terry will be able to announce that , making due allowance for the difference in the circumstances , he has had pretty nearly as great success in enlisting the services of brethren as at the first meeting of the 1901 Board . .

* # * We have received copy of the printed Report of the Procedings ol the District Grand Lodge of Northern China at its regular Communication at the Masonic Hall , Shanghai , on the 23 rd September last . Bro . Lewis Muore , Dist . G . Master , presided , and there

appears to have been a full attendance of members and visitors , among tho latter being several brethren of the Cosmopolitan Lodge , No . 428 , Scottish Constitution , and the Ancient Landmark Lodge , Massachusetts Constitution . a *

The District Grand Master , after proclaiming the new Grand Mailer , H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught and Strathcari , K . G ., delivered an admirable address , in which he passed in review the principal events that had occurred in the District since the previous meeting ,

making special ai . d most sympathetic reference to the assassination of Bro . William McKinley , President of the United States , and to the fact that the District Grand Lodge and members of the English lodges had only a few nights previously attended the Lodge of

Sorrow , held by the Ancient Landmark Lodge , Mass . Const ., in memory of the deceased President . He also referred to the Special Communications that had been held—one as a mirk of respect for and to celebrate a memorial service in honour of the late Queen Victoria , and the other to wish God-speed to Bro .

Cornelius Thorne , the first District Grand Master of Northern China , on his return to England . He also announced that the warrant for the new lodge—the " Far Cathay , " No . 2855 , Hankow—had been received , and in doing so paid a just compliment to Bro . W . C . Howard , to whose zeal and assiduity the formation of the lodge is to be ascribed .

The addition of this iodgctothe muster roll ol lodges in the District increases the num'icr to seven , and the District Grand Master mentioned that it hid reached his ears that there was a possibility of a still further addition being made lo the list . Indeed , the District

appears to be in a condition of great prosperity . I he table of the Returns in the Appendix showing the membership of the private lodges during the live years from 1 S 9 O to iyoo , both inclusive , 111 ikes this particularly prominent . In 18 9 6 , when there were only

five lodges in the District , the aggregate membership was 162 . In 1897 , when the Northern Star of China Lodge , No . 2673 , Newcwhang , was added-to the list , it was 179 ; in 18 9 8 , it reached 227 ; in 1839 , 256 ; and last year it totalled up 310 , the increase in this brief

period being 142 , and the average membership per lodge in the whole of the five years 51 . The strongest evidence of progress is furnished by Lodge No . 21 ) 73 , which at the clo ; e of four years' work mustered 70 members . We trust that Far Cathay Lodge will prove equally successful .

The recent annual meeting of the Prov . G . Lodge of Cambridgeshire , under the auspices of the Alma Mater Lodge , No . 1492 , would appear to have been

Masonic Notes.

about the most successful we have known for several years past . We all realise that since the appointment , in 1891 , of Bro . Col . Caldwell as Prov . G . Master the Craft in this Province has gone on prospering , but the reports that were presented on this occasion show

that that prosperity has greatly increased , and is increasing . The Prov . G . Master , in acknowledging the toast of his health at the banquet which followed the proceedings in lodge , spoke of the possibility of

further lodges being added to the roll , the towns in which such lodges might be placed being March and Chatteris . In the event of these anticipations being realised , there would be nine lodges in Cambridgeshire as compared with the seven now existing .

Certainly the success which has attended the St . Audrey Lodge , No . 2727 , Ely , justifies the belief that , given the necessary facilities for extending the inllucnce of Masonry to other places in the Province , an ample measure of support would be forthcoming

such as would place beyond doubt the stability of any lodges that might be formed at Chatteris and March or elsewhere . The St . Audrey Lodge , though warranted only three years since , has already 49 members on its register , and as , in the terms of the old familiar saying , ' " nothing succeeds like success , " there is

reason to hope that half a dozen years hence this lodge will be stronger still , and we trust it will be so , provided always the quality of the recruits is on a level with their number . Candidates of indifferent surroundings are a source of weakness rather than a source of strength .

We have said that the reports that were submitted ; il this meeting were ol a satisfactory character . The Prov . G . Treasurer was in u position to show an improved balance at the close of his year ' s account , and Bro . Major Oliver Papworlh , Prov . G . Secretary ,

and Secretary of the Cambridgeshire Masonic Charity Association , had the pleasure of congratulating the Province on the increased number of subscribers , the receipts for the year amounting to , £ 254 . But the report which is most likely to have impressed our

readers is that of the Prov . G . Registrar , whose return of the membership of the seven lodges gives a total of 565 , being an average of 80 per lodge . It was pointed out that there were some duplicates included in this Return , but after making allowance for these the average is extraordinaril y high for so

small a Province . 1 he strongest lodge is the Isaac Newton University Lodge , No . 859 , which has 197 members on its roster , the next highest being the Scientific Lodge , No . S 8 , Cambridge , which musters 88 members . We heartily congratulate this Province and its respected chief on the success of the past year . # # *

Our report of the proceedings at the recent annuil meeting of tbe Provincial Grand Lodge of Derbyshire is exceedingly pleasant reading , disclosing , as it does , that during the past year—and wc may add for very

many preceding years -Freemasonry in this Province has greatly prospered . The number of its lodges is greater than formerly ; but it is not so much the progress that has been made in this respect that wc look to for confirmation of our statement as to the

excellence of the work that is done in the lodges , and the very generous support which , both severally and collectively , they give to ourgreat Charitable Institutions . The sum distributed among these during the past year wis about £ 900 , which sum , though it may have been

exceeded in the past , is , nevertheless , worthy in all respects of the traditions of the Province . It must be gratifying to the Duke of Devonshire , who has been for so long a time the Grand Master ol the Province , and whose absence on this occasion may easily be

accounted for by the large demands upon Ins time as a Cabinet Minister , to hear how admirably his Derbyshire brethren are fulfilling their duties , and also how worthily he is represented at these gatherings by his respected Deputy , Bro . H . C . Okeover , P . G . W .

* * It seems to have become a custom with the authorities of the Province of Northumberland to give greater eclat to the consecration of a new lodge by inaugurating it at the annual mecling of its Piovincial Grand Lodge . We have noticed this in the

case of previous gatherings , and at the recent meeting which was held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne , the Ashington Lodge , No . 2868 , which will meet at Hirst , was consecrated by Viscount Ridley . P . G . M ., Bro . Ralph Crawford being subsequently installed a 3 the first VV . Master . We wish the new lodge all possible success and the Province a long continuance of its present prosperity .