Ar00100

CONTENTS . LEADERS— PAGE The Western Division of South Africa ... ... ... ... 207 The Grand Lodge of Tasmania ... ... ... ... 207 Special Great Priory ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 S Order of Malta ... ... ... ... ... ... 209 Devon Masonic Educational Fund ... ... ... ... 209

First Annual Ball of the St . John s Lodge of Instruction , No . 16 7 ., 209 Consecration of the Dennistoun Chapter , No . 266 , Scotland ... ... 210 Craft Masonry . „ ... ... ... ... ... 210 Mark Masonry ... ... ... - ... ... ... 210 Ancient and Accepted Rite ... ... ... ... ... 211 MASONIC NOTESFestival of United Grand Lodge ... ... ... ... 213

Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... ... ... 213 Devon Masonic Educational Fund ... ... ... ... 213 Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Tasmania .,, ... 213 Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana ... ... 213 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 214 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ,,. ... 214

Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 214 Lodges of Instruction ... .,, ... ... ... ... 215 Royal Arch ... ... .,, ... ... ... ... 215 Knights Templar ... ... ... ... ... ... 215 Obituary ... ... ... ... . .,. ... ... 215 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 216

The Western Division Of South Africa.

THE WESTERN DIVISION OF SOUTH AFRICA .

We have been favoured , as usual , with the several reports which were presented at the annual meeting last month , of the District Grand Lodge of South Africa ( Western Division ) , which , though it is exceeded in point of numerical strength by all but

one of the other South African District Grand Lodges , is evidently in a prosperous condition . There were last year , according to the G . Lodge Calendar for the current year , and Table of Membership appended to the reports , 12 lodges in this district ,

but towards the close of 1896 , the District Grand Master—Bro . the Very Rev . G . W . BARNETT CLARKE—granted a provisional warrant , which has since been confirmed by his Royal Highness the M . W . the Grand Master , for the constitution of a new lodge

for Stellenbosch and its vicinity , which was duly consecrated by the Dep . Dist . Grand Master , on the 9 th January . But irrespective of this , the returns show a total membership of 757 on the Ist January , as compared with 6 92 on the corresponding day of

18 56 , the only drawback being that there is a slight increase from 57 to 78 in the number' of brethren returned as being in arrears . Still , as the foot note to the Table points out , there has been an increase in the members in good standing , the average

per lodge , being only a fraction less than 57 . From the report of the District Board of General Purposes it appears that for the first time since the District was formed—that is , since 1877—every lodge on the roll has been visited by the District Grand Master ,

his Deputy , or one or more of his officers , and from the reports of these visitations it is made manifest that the lod ges generally are in good working order and fulfil their duties to the satisfaction of the authorities . On one of these occasions

the then President of the Board of General Purposes and one of his colleagues , by command of the District Grand Master , visited the Cango Lodge , No . 2088 , for the purpose of dedicating a new hall , and the brethren reported that they had met with a

most cordial welcome , that in the performance of their allotted task , they had been very ably assisted by the W . M ., P . Ms ., and officers of the lodge in question , and that they had found it to he in a condition " altogether creditable alike to the Craft

generally and particularly to tho Cango Lodge . " Oth-ir outlying lod ges are also described as being " careful in their work and eager to render the various ceremonies in perfect order . "

Such testimony as this , relating , as it does , to lodges located in out-of-the-way places , of which we at home have hardly heard the names , must be extremely gratifying , not only to the Very Rev , the District Grand Master , who during the half dozen

The Western Division Of South Africa.

years he has presided over this section of the Craft has shown so much zeal and ability in the discharge of his duties , but also to the authorities of Grand Lodge . Among other matters recorded with satisfaction are the adoption of the plan

adopted in our Provincial Grand Lodges at home and by sundry District Grand Lodges of holding the periodical meetings of the District Grand Lodge under the banner —to use the familiar phrase—of some private lodge . The

plan is reported to have been adopted last year at the annual meeting at Woodstock and at the half-yearly meeting in Cape Town , when the Metropolitan Lodge , No . 2538 , had the honour of receiving the District Grand Lodge , and on both occasions to

has been found to work admirably . It is also stated that 26 boys and 21 girls are being educated at the cost of the Masonic Educational Fund and that relief had been administered during the year to a number of worthy applicants from all parts ,

though at the same time regret is expressed that a larger measure of support is not forthcoming to this Fund . Mention is also made of the visit in August last of Bro . R . W . SHEKLETON , Deputy Grand Master of Ireland—a report of which

subsequently appeared in these columns—and of Bro . W . E . CHAPMAN , Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies , in January , and of the hearty welcome he received from the lodges he visited . Unhappily , these pleasant announcements are

accompanied by a notification that Bro . C . J . STEPHENS , Past District Grand Warden , and some 13 or more other brethren belonging to different lodges in the District were lost on board the ill-fated Drummond Castle , but by

way of perpetuating the memories of these brethren a Memorial Fund , amounting to close on . £ 126 , has been raised , and the Committee in charge have decided that the memorial shall take the form of an Eagle Lectern and Volume of the

Sacred Law to be placed in St . George ' s Cathedral , Cape Town , with a suitable inscription and Masonic emblems engraved thereon . But the most interesting among the reports furnished to us is that which concerns the establishment of a " District

Masonic Pension Fund for Aged Freemasons and Widows . " This Fund the Board of General Purposes recommended should be vested in District G . Lodge and administered by them , and that it should be derived from ( 1 ) Half the yearly receipts of the

Benevolent Fund of Dislrict G . Lodge , and ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) from the contributions of lodges and brethren and from other sources . It was further recommended that this Fund should be established as a * ' Memorial in the District of the Diamond Year of the

reign of our beloved Queen , " and we are pleased to add that the recommendation was accepted at the Annual Meeting of the District G . Lodge . We congratulate the District G . Master ,

his officers , and the lodges under his administration , on the success which appears to have attended their proceedings during the past year .

The Grand Lodge Of Tasmania.

THE GRAND LODGE OF TASMANIA .

The report of the Proceedings at the sixth annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Tasmania , which was held at Freemasons' Hall , Launceston , on the 28 th January , is pleasant reading . The Grand Lodge is the smallest of the four which

have been established of late years in Australasia , there being only 23 lodges on its roll , and one of these is returned as " not working . " But , notwithstanding this , we judge from the address

delivered by the M . VV . Grand Master , the several reports and returns which were submitted and approved at the meeting , and also from the very hearty congratulations of Bro . the Right Hoi \ .