Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

The General Committee and subscribers to this Institution met on Thursday , at the Free-masons' HaU . Colonel Creaton , V . P ., in the chair . There were also present Bros . H . Browse . Thos . W . White , I-I . A . Dubois , S . Rawson . Grifliios Smith , Herbert Dicketts . John Bovrf , H . Venn ,

R . B . Webster , H . Massey ( Freemason ) , Peter De L . Long , H . PotUr , R . W . Little ( Secretary ) , and F . W . Hedges . _ The brethren accepted five candidates for election in April and deferred one case for belter reading , and one for further information . The Committee declared vacancies for eighteen children at April election , for which there arc 23 candidates .

Bre > . Joshua Nunn ' s motion was adopted for increasing the salaries at the School as follows : —Miss Jarwood , ( matron ) , from i " ioo to £ 125 ; Miss Davis , ( head governess ) , Irom £ 140 to £ 160 ; Miss Curt , ( teacher ) , Irom £ 63 to £ 75 ; Miss Redgrave , ( teacher ) , from £ 45 to £ 30 ; Miss Triggs , ( teacher ) , from £ 30 to £ 40 ; Miss Buck , ( teacher ) , from £ 30 tei £ 40 ; Miss Shepherd ,

( assistant matron ) , from J . 30 to . _ 40 ; Miss Hutchinson , ( teacher ) , freim £ 20 to £ 25 ; Miss Flintoff , ( teacher ) , from £ 6 to £ 20 ; Miss Groves , ( pupil teacher ) , fre m £ 2 to £ 4 ; and Miss Barrow , £ 2 and clothing ; making a total increase in the salaries of £ 112 from January 1 st , 1 S 7 S . Notice of motion for next Quarterly Court was given for thc purchase of a slip of land adjoining the school ,

and for building a wall from the new laundry down to the piece of ground just purchased . Notice of motion from the Quarterly Court was also g iven by Bro . Raynham W . Stewart " That a committee be appointed to c insider the system of education which is pursue I in the school , with a view to ascertaining whether any improvement can hc effected . " The Committee then adjourned .

POST OFI-ICE FACILITIES . — Mr . J . Mcintosh , M . S . A ., F . R . H . S ., writ-. s tothe 'limes fi"m 3 8 , Langhamstrcet : — " Having lately been over thee General Post Offices of London , New York , anel several large cities , it struck me , it would very greatly facilitate the sorting of letters in all post oflijes if each large town had a different coloured envelop .- , which could be- picked emt by the sorters

immediately without examining the addresses ; lor instance —London , red ; Edinburgh , yellow ; Dublin , green ; Paris , blue , and soon until the pris . n was exhauste-d . Envelopes mig ht also be striped with one , two , or three broad or narrow lines . Envelapes of foreign countries with the national flag on the left-hand corner , or any bold oevice which would at once catch the s „ rte r's eye , would he of

great use . GEOGRAPHY MADE EASY .--Some time ago the Lyons Geographical Society suggtsteel an original means e > f vu garsing geographical knowledge It preipa-e I that the French railway , companies should add to thc names ol the ir stations certain inloriuation of a geographical or statical nature-. A traveller pissing along a

line would thus le-irn something about the geographical position , the elevation abave the sea level , the population , leading industries , and so on of the towns he passed . This suggestion has abeaely been acted upon by the Southern and Eastern Railway Companies . The same society has propo eel that a geographic *! pillar—pierre gcograph'ique—shoulel be erected in eveiy commune

throughout France . The idea has met with the approbation of the French Academy , and a model pillar is to be erected at Lyons . We remember hae ing seen a similar structure at Frankfort-on-the-Main , close to thc Schiller statue . Thc inf . . million il supplied \ v _ sof the most miscellaneous cnaracter . There wei = barometers , aneroids , theronietcrs , and other nutoroWical instruments ; maps

of the town an I environs ; the bc _ nngs and distances of the capitals 01 Europe and the places of interest in the neighbourhood were given , as likewise information of special iuicr . sl to visitors . This pillar we un Urstnid , was set up by a k . c il improvement society . —Athenamm .

l _ l-cirical apparatus for lighting churches and either public buildings are becoming general in the United States . Recently this method has been adopted for the street lamps . In Rhode Island 220 lamps , stretching ovei nine miles of streets , arc now lighted in about 15 seconds .

BRAZILIAN BUTTER . —The Me & kal Examiner observes that there are- four native modes of making butter iu 1 lie Empire of Brazil . The first is by putting the milk in a common bowl and beating it with a spoon , as you .. ould an egg . The second by pouring thc milk into a bottle and shaking it till thc butter appears , when it is removed by breaking off the top of the bottle , as bottles are

valueless in thai part of South America on account of the vast number imported with foreign fruits and liquids . The third , when the dairy is more c-xt . nsive , is perlormed by filling a hide with the milk , which is lustily shaken by an athletic native at each end until butter is produced . The fourth , which is considered to indicate vast progress over any of the preceding methods , consists in dragging the

hide or leathern vessel , filled with milk , on the ground after a galloping horse , until it is supposed the butter is formed . Thc milk is never strained ar . d the buiter never washed . H"e . i . env _ v ' s OI . VIME vl AMI Pica . ; . . —A (' miliar Abscesses , Piles , Fisleil ., s , ami Soics . — ' 1 lie : many satisfactory cures resnlrinej ftom the- u * e ot llns i ., va iiabie : Ointment in cases where patients have been sutleinne ; iremi llicse coiniil tints . Iiuve ineliiceel many medical

pracliti jijcrs t ,, hv . ro nee * tlicm into tbe hosuitals ami ihcir piivate rir _ cuce : ; ami in many ini-tanccs where ihe sntlercr was con--uh-reel inciuab . e , llollnway ' s Ointa . ent , in conjunction wilh his rills , has lie _ leel the most ek-sp-i'nt- woeuiels . TtieS- meelicaments are muipi _ li . _ | ur tlie cu e of scrolula a .-. d diseases ol thc skin . In all cuui . eouu aii . ctiins incidental to children , from the simple * - _ grim to the complicatedscorhuric disease , Holloway's Ointment exercises a remarkably beneficial inlluencc , coolinginllammation , relieving Irritation , and giving ease to the impatient little sufferer , —ADVT .

Masonic And General Tidings.

Masonic and General Tidings .

We are happy to announce that H . R . H . the Duke of Connaught , K . G ., Senior Grand Warden , has graciously consented to preside at thc Soth Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . The installation of Bro . T . E . S . Jelley as W . M . of the Royal Clarance Lodge , Bruton , took place on Thursday week . The ceremony was performed by W .

Bro . R . C . Else , V . W . D . P . G . M ., of Somerset . " There was a large attendanee of Brethren . Mr . Shaw , the manager of the South-Eastern Railway Company , has written to several of the local governing bodies , stating that the new line from Woolwich

to London , via Greenwich , will be opened on Jan . 1 . In Scotland it seems that Christmas Oay was observed with more than usual geniality . It is noted that year by year the tendency to keep the religious festival rather than New Year ' s Day shows an increase . We learn with sincere sorrow of the death of

B > -o Richard Woe . f , of Worcester . We hope to furnish our readers with an obituary of this distinguished Mason in our next . The London Freemason has been enlarged ftom sixteen pages to twenty . This is a sign of prosperity which its publisher well deserves , for he makes an admirable Masonic paper . — Masonic Review ( U . S . A . ) , Dec . 18 77 .

Her Majesty ' s Christmas bounty to the poor ofthe metropolis and its environs was distributed on Friday anti Saturday week and on Monday , at the Almonry Uffice , Scotland-yard , Whitehall . On Monday afternoon the Prince of Wales anil his sons were present at the annual distribution of beef to the poor peeiple e . n the Sandringham estate . The recipients were nearly 200 in number .

Ihe Queen has been graciously pleased to signify her Mije . ty ' s intention ot conferring on Lord Lyttun , her Majesty ' s Viceroy and Governor-General of India , the honour of the Grand Cross ofthe Civil Division of thc Order of the Bath . Her Koyal Highness the Princess of Wales attendee ! the Special Advent Services nt St . Anne's Church , Soho , Westminster , on Friday evening , the 22 nd inst .

A Wolverhampton correspondent says that Lord Dudley and party , counting in all five guns , bagged three thousand head of game in three days ending last week . 'I he battue took place in his lordship's wellstockeel preserves at Baggcridge Woods , anel Black Hills . A branch of the Volunteer Sick-Bearers' Association has been started by the ofiicers of the garrison

and others at Woil . vich . Many of the ars-nal employes have promised 10 attend tin : classes and receive insiruction in attending to injured persons , and the associition are endeavouring to procure the attendance of as many railway servants as « - n be spared to attend . SEA SERPENTS . —The gigantic whale captureei in February last in the Gulf or Tiranto , Italy , bas been

subjected to a critical examination by Professor Capellmi , who , ina report lately published , states it as his opinion that the whale is of a species hitherto unknown to science , aid he has naineil it Balamo tar . ntina , in allusion to the locality of ils capture . This unlookea-For discovery of a new species of huge marine animal , taken in connection with the alleged appearance of another " monster " a short lime later , and in the same neighbourhood's vouched

for by the officers of the Reiyal yacht Osborne , is regarded as a strong argument in favour of the existence of unknown huge marine living ot > jeets , such as are popularly indicated by the name of " sei serpents . " Thc opinion is gaining ground in Italy that the sea serpent of the Koyal yactit was some ceature usually living at the bottom of tlie sea , but disturbed by submarine volcanic phenomena .

The other day a curious application was made by the owner of a picture , "The Raising ol Lazarus , " which hael been sent to a dealer to be restored . When the upper paint or dirt I ad been removed a valuable portrait of a lady , by Lely , was discovereil beneath , and the dealer thrcatcnet ) , unless a sum , in addition to the amount

he had originally agree _ to take , were given to him , to p lint over thc picure again with some indelible substance The Master of the Roils giaiited an interim injunction restiaining the defendant from mutilating or destroying the picture , autl also made an order for the inspection of the picture by the person serving the injunction .

A FASTING GIRL . —Martha White has died at Market Harborough , Leicestershire , under very peculiar circumstances . She had been ill five years and is popularly supposed to have taken no food for four years . She was at first attended by Mr . Francis , surgeon , and latterly

by Dr . Grant , his successor , and has been kept alive by the injection of morphia into her system . The case has excited considerable interest among the medical profession . It is stated that a post-mortem examination fully satisfied the doctors who made it that no food had passed thc stomach for a long time .

I have received a Post-office order for eight shillings from Nemo , Wakefield , for the poor children's dinner .-, to which reference was lately made in Barrel Organ . The amount seems to have be n subscribed " by a few of the members of the Wakefield Lodge of Freemasons . " Nemo remaiks , that he .-ends the money direct to ine , in order that I may know that the " Barrel Organ

mad ; no unceit iin s lund in Wakefield . " lain in lee I plea cd to hear tins , aud In-pe lhat many other people- will , ourig the next few days lorwuni iheirmite to M s-rs Ransomes , Bouverie , and ' _ > ., 1 , Pall Mall East , to whom I have sent this eight shillings , in order th _ t many poor children may have a substantial proof that it is Christmas . —Truth .

Masonic And General Tidings.

Bro . Raynham W . Stewart has given notice of me tiem for the next Quarterl y Court of the Royal Masmic Institution for Girls ' , "That a committee be appointed to consider the system of education which is pursued in the school , with a view of ascertaining whether any improvement can be effected . " We are asked to state that on and after

Friday next the Royal Standard Lodge of Instructiou , No 1298 , will meet at the Alwyne Castle , ( Bro . T . Meek ham ' s ) , St . Paul ' s-road , Canonbury . We understand that Mr . Henry Dymond , the Morning Advertiser's correspondent , lately returned from the seat of war is a candidate for initiation into

Freemasonry . The American lady pedestrian , Miss Bertha von Hillern , of Philadelphia , is going to attempt a walk of 150 miles in 50 hours , " Belated Sisters" is the latest title for old maids across the Atlantic .

The General Committee of the Royal Masonic Institu'ion for Girls' on Thursday increased the salaries of the staff at the school by 4112 a year . THE EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA . —Her Majesty the Empress of Austria , accompanied by His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Rodolphe of Austria , will arrive in London from the Continent on the 31 st inst ., and

will st-iy for the night at Claridge's Hotel . Her Majesty intends to proceed immediately to Cottesbrook-park , in Northamptonshire , while the Crown Prince proposes to remain in London for the purpose of visiting the scientific institutions and studying industrial and commercial life here . His Imperial Highness will afterwards undertake a

t-. ; ur through the principal manufacturing districts . The Ministerial Councillor and Deputy Consul-General , Chevalier de Scherzer , the well-known author of the great work on the Novara Expedition , has been ordered by the Government to assist and attend the Prince during his stay in this country .

TEMPLE BAR . —A correspondent sends us the following verses , as likely to be of interest to the curious reader ju > t at the present moment , when Tem le Bar is . in the course of demolition . They are said t have been published as far back as the year 1788 ; and it is to be hoped that the bad consequences which liley pretlict as likelv to follow on the removal of the liar will not be

realised : — " If the Gate is pulled down , 'twixt the Court and the City . " You'll blend in one mass prudent , worthless , and witty ; "If you league cit and lordling as brother and brother , "You'll break order's chain , and they'll war with each

other . "Like the Great Wall of China , it keeps out the Tirtars " From making irrupi ms where industry baiters . "Like Samson ' s wild lones , they'll fiie your houses , "Ant rriaiMen your spinsters , and cozen your spouses . "TneyMl destroy in one sweep both thc mart aud the forum , " Which your fathers held dear , and their fathers before

ihem . " —Times . " The Cosmopolitan Masonic Calendar and Diary "for 1878 . ( George Kenning , ig 8 , Fl et-street , and all booksellers . ) This welcome companion of the Free and Elected Mason is too well known to require comment . It contains information connected with every lodge throughout the world . In pocket-book form , price 2 S . —Hornet .

SCHOOLS OF ART . —At the distribution ofthe prizes to the students of the Manchester School of Art recently , Sir Henry Cole , C . B ., remarked that genius was the gift of Heaven and coulel not be created bv any school . One of the chief lunctions of Schools of Art was , in his opinion , to train workmen to reproduce works of art for the ticiiefitof the punlic . The problem vvas tounit .- the artist

and the workman—to gratify , not one person only , but millions ; and lhi < , he maintained , was bring successfully done . He ridiculed ihe ilia enteitaiut-d by some artists that the repro luction by copyists of works of art vvas only mechanical and not artisiic work , anil s ii 1 that for all the purposes for which fine art exi-ted , a copy , if it was a thoroughly good one , and > specialty if , as olten happened ,

it could not be distinguished Irom the orginal , was as valuable as the original lor all p-actical purposes . Fine art as applied to industry had made great , and would make still greater , strides in this country , conducing enormously to the pleasure , the material prosperity , and the elevation of the people . He abo strongly urged that the ratepayers of Manchester should get the corporation to

undertake the work of forming and maintaining an art gallery for the city . It may be mentioned that at the next meeting of the City Council a motion will be brought forward for the appointment of a committee to consider what assistance the corporation can give to the scheme which the Committee of the School of Art have in hand . A SPURIOUS PICTURE —A curious action was

dealt with by the Common Pleas Division lately . The plaintiff , a picture-dealer , having bought a picture bearing woat was supposed to be tlie signature of Mr . J . R . Heibert , R . A ., took it to that gentleman to asceitain whether it vvas genuine . Mr . Herbert nolo ly pronounced it to hc a forgery , " a mere daub , " but refused to j-iye it up unless tlie owner would undertake not to sell it a _ ain . Hence the action , which resulted in trie or'rr of ihe Court

for ihe picture to be given up , ,. r the paymen tof £ 10 , the amount at which the jury ln . l asse-s . el its valu-. It is rather humi inting to reflect that with al ojr beiast of culture , taste , an 1 art-cducilio " , there are pc-oide who will liladly give £ 250 for a picture wtii . h bears soaie celebrated name , out that if tnat name : turn oat t . be a forgery , the work itself , hitherto so highly prized , becomes in their estimation a " mere daub . "