Sheraton Lodge, No. 3019.

The toasts were interspersed with most artistic singing by Miss Winifred Marwood , Miss f . imbell , and Bros . Montague , Borwell and Bernard V . Russell , which was thoroughly appreciated . During the ball ( he Sheriffs of London , Bros . Strong and Woodland , paid a visit on behalf of the Lord Mayor , who bad

promised to attend , but slight indisposition prevented . The Worshipful Master thanked them for attending , and said this was the second function attended b y one , and the third by the other . He wished them a very successful year of office . Mr . Sheriff Strong assured them it gave him great pleasure to be present . He would not make any lengthy remarks so

that they might get on with the dancing . If there was anv one thing would reconcile ladies to Masonry , it was such gatherings as these .

Mr . Sheriff Woodland bad great diffidence in speaking when in the presence of such a galaxy of beauty . In bis young Masonic days they did not have such functions as these . If be was a lad y be should view with displeasure any meetings where they could not join : but there won' occasions when they were obliged to keep secrets . He could assure the ladies

they only had late nights on such occasions as those . He wished be was active enough to join in the dancing , but be bad attended so many festivals that it was now beyond bis powers of endurance and time of life . A greatly appreciated item in the programme was a valse "Sheraton , " specially written by Bro . A . S . Mutler , Organist of the Loyalty Lodge , No . U . 07 .

The Masonic Temple.

The Masonic Temple .

A O one will deny the advantage that accrues to a lodge ]\ from the possession of its own place of meeting . And at the present time there are , we should imagine , few centres of population in which there may not be found the Masonic hall , or as it is sometimes called , the Masonic

temple . In the early days of the Order as at present constituted , this was not so . In 1717 , for instance , the four London lodges met at as many taverns , namely , the " Goose and Gridiron " alehouse , the " Crown " alehouse , the " Apple Tree " tavern , and the " Rummer and Grapes " tavern . The

term alehouse had , of course , a signification quite different from that which it bears to-day . The old London alehouses and coffe-houses were , in effect , the clubs and the resort of men of letters , and often the only places where they were to be found .

Even to-day , the licensed house very often provides the only possible meeting place for the lodge . There are many small towns and villages in which there is but one lodge , whose members are scattered over a wide area , and the separate domicile is an impossibility . Craft and Arch meetings all told do not number more than a dozen in the

whole year , and , therefore , the rent of a separate building , or what is the same thing , the interest on the debentures , imposes a heavy burden on the few . It would be a very modest Masonic hall which cost so little as , £ 1000 , and £ 40 a year would probably take half the subscriptions and leave

nothing for a sinking fund . Under these circumstances the inn or the hotel , or it may be even the beer house , provides the only possible meeting place . Unfortunately , an inn is a public house in every sense of the word . It is not a question of the repute of the inn . It

is its essentially public character that makes it an undesirable place of congregation for the Craft . The entrance and the exit are almost of necessity public thoroughfares , and in the eyes of the law there is no difference between the Masons congregated upstairs and the frequenters of the bar

downstairs . The structural appointments are such that secrecy is almost an impossibility . Adherence to the letter of Article 206 is often difficult . That rule forbids public processions of brethren , clothed as such , and wc should imagine that a public exhibition is even a more heinous offence , shorn as it is of the dignity which might attend a procession .

Such exhibition is in many cases unavoidable when a lodge meets in a licensed house ( hat has not been specially constructed for Masonic convenience . It nearly always happens , however , when any new hotel has been built , that a prominent feature is provision for Masonic assemblies . Suites of rooms are separated , structurally in some cases ,

and , of course , under these circumstances they become practically a Masonic temple . Even then , the repose and dignity of the Masonic temple are lacking . An imposing exterior is not needed , nor , in

fact , is it desirable . The Masonic temple ought not to be the most palatial edifice in the main thoroughfare . The Order does not need the same advertisement that , say , a bank or an insurance office desires , and , therefore , an unpretending frontage in a side street such as shall ensure both quietude and respectability are the chief

requirements . In Freemasonry , as in other institutions , first impressions count for much , and , as far as initiates are concerned , the associations ought to be free from distraction , such as is unavoidable in a place of public resort . But this is not all .

When rooms such as are to be found in the ordinary tavern are used , it is almost impossible for them to be reserved wholly for Masonic purposes . Consequently , books , papers , and other paraphernalia have to be carefully put away , and , if constantly on the move , there is a risk , by no means

imaginary , of loss . The lodge muniment chest ought to be a fixture , if anything belonging to the lodge is . And it is to neglect of this consideration that many lodges find themselves unable to establish satisfactorily to anyone but themselves , their claim to a centenary warrant .

The Constitutions say very little about the place of meeting , in fact , the only and very obvious provision that is to be found , is that it shall be notified to the authorities , and that it shall also be specified in the by-laws . A lodge ' s removal to other quarters is very properly hedged about with certain restrictions , but the only control that the Grand

Master appears to possess over the lodge's habitation , is that which is involved in his approval or disapproval of the by-laws when they come to him in clue course for sanction . There are , however , two curious articles in the Book of Constitutions that deserve passing notice . Article 138

prohibits the proprietor of any tavern or other meeting place from holding any office in the lodge . If the house be a private one leased by the lodge , and the owner should also be caretaker , this precludes him from being tyler , whereas ,

in practice , nothing can be more convenient than that the two offices should be conjoint . There is , however , on record , a case where this difficulty was got over by the ingenious contention that the tyler was not an officer /// the lodge , his sphere of duty lying outside it ! Article 171 says that the landlord shall have no lien on

lodge property for , say , unpaid rent . The Constitutions cannot over-ride the common law , but this particular article is so worded that the casual student of Masonic law might imagine that it intended to deprive the unfortunate landlord of the only security he might possibly have . What is really

meant is that a lodge is forbidden to hypothecate its property under penalty of erasure . But as for the landlord he has the same lien on lodge properly as he would have on the furniture of an ordinary tenant .