Ad00703

ARMFIELD'S SOUTH PLACE HOTEL , FINSBURY , LONDON , E . G ., This new and 1 * indsomely-furnished Hotel is now FULLY LICENCED . Its position is central , and charges are moderate , * the sanitation is perfect . Passenger lift to each floor . SPECIAL CONVENIENCE FOR MASONIC LODGES , DINNERS AND CINDERELLAS .

Ad00704

PAIETY RESTAURANT , STRAND . LUNCHEONS ( HOT AND COLD ) , At Popular Prices , in BUFFET and RESTAURANT ( on First Floor ) , also Chops , Steaks , Joints , Entrees , & c , in the GRILL ROOM AFTERNOON TEA , Consisting of Tea or Coffee , Cut Bread and Butter , Jam , Cake , Pastry , ad lib ., at Is . per head , served from 4 till 6 in RESTAURANT ( First Floor ) . DINNERS IN RESTAURANT , From 5 . 30 till 9 , at fixed prices ( 3 s . 6 d . and Ss . ) and k la Carte . In this room THE VIENNESE BAND performs from 6 till 3 . Smoking after 7 . 45 . AMERICAN BAR . THE GRILL ROOM is open till 12 . 30 . PRIVATE DINING ROOMS for large and small Parties . SPIERS & POND , Ltd ., PROPRIETORS .

Ar00705

WW ^ fjM ^^ oA MireeniasoM Hvffi * i * - ? Sl— 1 . urrJtS ^^^^ ' ^ clu &^^ S &^ StfEs ^/^ ufm SATURDAY , MAY 29 , 18 97 . - **

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

The Masonic Service at the Collegiate Church of St . Saviour ' s , Southwark , on Ascension Day ( Thursday , lhe 27 th instant ) , which was held to commemorate her Majesty ' s reign of 60 years , was very numerously attended , there being a large gathering of the

dignitaries of the Order , headed by the Right Hon . the Earl of Lathom , G . C . B ., M . W . Pro Grand Master , and the reader will have no difficulty in picturing to himsell that a scene which is so rarely witnessed in London drew together an exceptionally large concourse of spectators . Thanks to the admirable arrangements which had been made by the Freemasons' Hall staff

and the Committee of Stewards , under the experienced direction of Bro . Fenn , P . G . W ., the proceedings passed off in the most admirable order . The sermon by the Very Rev . Bro . S . R . Hole , D . D ., Dean of Rochester , Grand Chaplain , was most impressive , and the offertory which will be handed over to the Church Restoration Fund amounted to , £ 2140 .

* * The number of new lodges for which his Royal Hi ghness , the M . W . Grand Master , has been pleased to grant warrants since the last Quarterly Communica - tion of Grand Lodge in March is 12 , of which live are located in London , five in the Provinces—two in Cheshire and one each in Devonshire , Kent , and

Masonic Notes.

Northumberland—and two Abroad—one in Ceylon and one in Western Australia . The highest number now on the Grand Lodge Register is 2667 . * * # The Quarterly Communication of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons for England and Wales will

be held at Mark Masons' Hall on Tuesday , the ist prox ., at 5 for 6 p . m . The most attractive business will be the appointment and investiture of the Giand Officers for the ensuing 12 months , There will also be an election of five members on the General Board

but , as only five have been nominated , the proceedings will be merely formal . When Grand Lodge is closed the Grand Festival will be held at the Freemasons ' Tavern , under the presidency of the M . W . Pro Grand Master ; tickets , price 2 ts . each , to be had of the Grand Stewards .

* From the Report of the General Board , which will be submitted for the consideration of G . Lodge , we learn that a warrant for the formation of the Oxford and Cambridge Lodge , No . 504 , in the Province of Middlesex , has been granted and that 567 Mark certificates were

issued during the quarter ended 31 st March last . There has also been granted a ' warrant for the Constitution of the Gordon Royal Ark Mariners Lodge to be attached to the Gordon Lodge , No . 364 , while 8 9 Royal Ark Mariners' certificates were issued during the quarter ended 31 st March . The Board also recommend that

in the case of a brother who has been advanced to the Mark Degree in a regular lodge not under the constitution of England and Wales , & c , he shall , previous to his election as a member of a lodge under such Constitution , declare in open lodge his adhesion to the

Book of Constitutions and promise due obedience to the Grand Master and the rules and regulations of Grand Lodge ; and that the fact of such declaration having been made shall be recorded in the Iodge minutes .

* F * * We have been requested to state that Thursday the 3 rd June , is the latest day by which petitions for the October Election of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls must reach the offices , Si Freemasons' Hall , W . C . We must point out , however , that it is very desirable that all such petitions should be received as early as possible .

* * * We remind our readers that the annual Athletic Sports of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys will take place at the Institution , Wood Green , tomorrow ( Saturday ) , at 3 p . m . The Boys' Band of the Strand Union Schools will play from 2 . 30 p . m ., and tea

will be served in the Hall between the hours of 4 and 6 p . m . Tickets to be had on application to the Secretary , 6 , Freemasons' Hall , W . C . Frequent train service from King ' s Cross to Wood Green ( Great Northern ) , and from Liverpool-street to Green Lanes ( Great Eastern ) through the afternoon and evening .

» * » A new lodge , which will be known as the Royal George , No . 2643 , was consecrated on Wednesday , the 21 st April , at Krugersdorp , in the Transvaal , but the founders appear to have met with considerable difficulties in making the necessary arrangements .

Even the still earlier stage of settling the name to be conferred upon the lodge and who we re to be designated as the principal officers appears to have been attended with sundry vexatious delays . However , the charter arrived in due cour . se , and Bro . Da Silva , the District Grand Secretary , finally settled that

the lodge s hould be constituted on the day above mentioned . Unfortunately , at the last moment , Bro . Da Silva was prevented by the dangerous illness of his wife from fulfilling his engagement to attend and consecrate the lodge . A substitute was found in the person of Bro . Boyes , who acted as District Grand Master , with a full complement of officers .

* The lodge was , therefore , consecrated in accordance with the rites and ceremonies proper to the occasion , and Bro . Wallis was installed as W . 3 L But the appointment and investiture of officers had to be deferred till a later meeting , and the Consecrating

Officers having to leave promptly to return to Johannesburg , to the great disappointment of the Royal George Lodge and its friends , nothing remained but for those who were able to stay to celebrate the event in the usual manner among Masons with a banquet , toasts , and harmony , the evening passing off t most enjoyably .

* * * But notwithstanding these little contretemps which we have noted and which must already be forgotten , there seems to be every prospect of the new lodge being a great success . We hope next week to publish an account of the proceedings , but in the meantime we

Masonic Notes.

have much pleasure in announcing that when the W . M . had been installed and officers pro tent , appointed , upwards of 30 brethren were proposed as Joining members and some half-a-dozen gentlemen as candidates for initiation . Thus ere long the Roya George , which started with only 10 founders—there

might have been more but for a misunderstandingin the latter half of last month , will be firmly established with a membership of about 50 . This is a most promising commencement , and it looks very much as if the wish uttered by one of the speakers during the after-dinner proceedings that the new Iodge may

shortly become one of the strongest in the Transvaal already stands a very fair chance of being realised . The District , too , which was only formed in 1 S 95 and had 15 lodges on the roll when Grand Lod ge Calendar for the present year was issued , is growing rapidly in strength , this and another—No . 2640—having been consecrated since .

* * * We have received a copy of the proceedings of the Quarterly Communication of the District Grand Lodge of Bengal , which was held at the Freemasons' Hall , Calcutta , on Monday , the 22 nd March , when there appears to have been a full attendance of District

Grand Officers , Present and Past , representatives of lodges , and visitors , and everything passed off most satisfactorily under the presidency of Bro . Brig .-Gen . A . G . Yeatman-Biggs , C . B ., who a short while since was installed as District G . Master in succession to Bro . the Right Hon . Sir H . Thoby Prinsep , resigned . In the address which he delivered the District Grand Master

found himself in a position to congratulate the brethren on the prosperous condition of the District and the promptitude with which the lodges had sent in their returns , there being only four out of a total of 41 which had not done so by the 28 th February , and both returns and dues have since been received from the whole of the four .

» * The lodges too , seem to be attentive to their duties , the Dist . Grand Officers who are mentioned as having visited sundry of them having in nearly every case been able to report favourably . A comparative statement for the last year shows that , whereas , at the end of 1892 , there were 915 subscribing members , there were at

the end of last year 1213 , the number of lodges having in the same period increased from 32 to 41 . The funds , too , seem to be in good order , and at this meeting Dist . G . Lodge voted 1000 rupees to the Indian Famine Fund , and 2000 rupees ' to the funds of the Bengal Masonic Association . We heartily congratulate our Bengal brethren on the fortunate circumstances in which they are placed .

* * * The annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodg of Middlesex will be held at Harrow , on Saturday , the 17 th July , under the presidency of Bro . the Right

Hon . Lord George Hamilton , M . P ., Secretary of State for India , Prov . G . Master . Any brethren who may not receive information as to the time , business , banquet , & c , are requested to apply to the Prov . Grand Secretary , Bro . H , H , Room , 19 , John-street , Adelphi , W . C .

# •* * Bro . H . H . Thiele , W , M . of Lodge Rewa of Viti , N 3 . 2238 , located at Nausori in the Fiji Islands , has favoured us with a communication , in which he propounds what is certainly a nice question . As he very Justly remarks , Masonry "is a progressive science ,

which above all seeks to promote truth and knowledge , and incorrect statements must therefore be entirely against its principles , " nor , as with equal justice he states further on in his letter , " is it satisfactory to have an Unexplainable anomaly in the working of your lodge . " * # #

The knotty point as to which he is desirous of obtaining information is the following * . Should the J . W . occupy the position assigned to him in the lodge in the case of a lodge which meets in the Southern hemisphere ? This officer " is assigned a certain place for a certain reason" and " if the latter no

longer applies to the place , a place to which it does apply must evidently be preferable . " He concludes by saying : " Had Masonry originated in the S . hemisphere , no doubt this officer would at once have had his position in the N . " It follows necessarily

that the point which is N . in lodges located in the Northern hemisphere will be S . in those meeting in the S . hemisphere . The point is one on which we shall be pleased to receive the opinions of any of our readers who may care to interest themselves in a question of this kind .