At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar

All Souls' Lodge , No . 170 , Weymouth , like many other old lodges , holds its installation meeting on the Festival of St . John , in winter , or as near that clay as is practicable , and the gathering on the 27 th December was , as usual , a large one . The W . M . elect , Bro . E . L . W . Chane , was duly

installed , and appointed his officers for the ensuing year . The installation ceremony was performed by Bro . H . Barnes in a highl y satisfactory manner , assisted by Bros . A . Ravner and Zillwood Milledge . A Past Master ' s jewel was presented to the retiring W . M ., and at the close of the meeting the brethren dined together under the presidency of the W . M .

The Festival of St . John the Evangelist , which is held on the 27 th December , has , in common with that of St . John the Baptist , been long associated with Freemasonry . The former has a peculiar significance in connection with the Craft , as he may be called " the Apostle of brotherly love , " but the latter ,

whose anniversary is celebrated on the 24 th June , has also equally strong claims to recognition as a patron saint . Many of the crafts hold their annual festival on St . John the Baptist ' s day , and its observance by Freemasons is probably a survival of the customs of Operative Masons . From the year 1717 the Grand Lodge of England held its Annual

Festival on St . John the Baptist ' s . day , but in 1727 it was held on that of St . John the Evangelist . It is now held as near St . George ' s clay as the fixed day in the week will permit .

At the installation ceremony in connection with St . Maughold ' s Lodge , Xo . 1075 , at Ramsey , Isle of Man , many of the visitors were particularly struck with the unique collection of antiquities which have for the present found a home in the lodge room and the ante-rooms . Bro . P . M . C .

Kermode has , for years , been the custodian of this treasure , and has been endeavouring to arouse public opinion in favour of providing a proper museum for these Manx antiquities , as also for a large number of other ancient relics , which are drifting about in the hands of private individuals . At the banquet which followed , the subject of a museum

for the Island was broached by Bro . P . M . C . Kermode , who urged on his Masonic brethren to use all the influence they possessed in order to further the establishment of a Manx museum . He was supported b y several members present , and it was suggested that some steps might be taken by the

Masonic body of the Island to persuade his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor , who is -also the Provincial Grand Master , to again move in the matter . The opinion was general that , inasmuch as the museum is to be a national institution , the proper source of its establishment and maintenance is the

Insular revenue , and that little difficulty ought to be experienced in obtaining the necessary funds .

The mention of Bro . Earl Roberts of Kandahar and Pretoria leads naturally to thoughts of the present leader in South Africa , R . W . Bro . Lord Kitchener of Khartoum . It is a curious circumstance that his services were required in South Africa almost immediately after his lordshi p ' s

appointment by the M . W . Grand Master as District Grand Master of the newly-constituted area ol" Egypt and the Soudan . When liis lordship will take over the active supervision of his District would seem to be decidedly a matter of conjecture . $ » # ¦> 4 J >

The manner in which the events of the moment are occasionally crystallised in the names of newly-warranted Freemasons' lodges has escaped the notice of the historian but it is curiously interesting nevertheless . In ( he course of 1 9 , for instance , among the many fresh lodges established

under the warrant of the Grand Lodge of England , one called after Lord Roberts was founded at Somerset as well as the Alfred Milner Lodge at Muizenberg , both in South Africa , while the Cecil Rhodes Lodge at Bulawayo was a fruit of the previous year , as was the Lord Kitchener Lodge at Greenwich . Victorious generals have been recognised in this fashion , indeed , for a century and a half . The Marquis of Granb y so

distinguished himself at the battle of Minden in 1759 that he was made Commander-in-Chief , and in 17 6 3 a Marquis of Granby Lodge was founded at Durham , and still exists . Later in the eighteenth century a Nelson of the Xile Lodge attested , at Batley , the popular admiration for a naval hero , as a

Wellington Lodge , warranted at Rye in [ 814 , did that for a military victor ; while the Wolseley Lodge at Manchester in 188 3 carried on the tradition , and honoured the late Commander-in-Chief very speedily after his success at Tel-el-Kebir . And not the least interesting of such crystallisations is the Prince Frederick William Lodge , founded in

London in 18 5 8 , and in its name commemorating the marriage of the late Emperior Frederick to our own Princess Royal . — Westminster Gazelle . ¦ ;!• ' ¦ & ' # «

Bro . Sir William Whiteway , District Grand Master of Newfoundland , was recently the recipient of congratulatory addresses and a loving-cup in commemoration of the completion of his fiftieth year as a member of the Craft . Sir William Whiteway ' s appointment as District Grand

Master dates from 1878 . At the installation meeting of the Worcester Lodge , Xo . 1603 , Cape Colony , a telegram was received and read from Bro . Ernest Ueckermann , dated Green Point Camp ,

as follows : — "Hearty congratulations from four brethren , prisoners of war . " W . Bro . Amos Bailey , M . L . A ., suggested that a due acknowledgment should be sent back , wishing ; them a speedy release . Surely this is a unique incident in Freemasonry . « S ? ' £ » «!>

Masonry in Margate has suffered a severe loss by the death , in December last , of W . Bro . E . Closer , who for some years had taken more than ordinary interest in the Order . He was initiated in the Union Lodge , Xo . 127 , in r 886 , and became W . M . in 18 94 , in which capacity he laid the

foundation-stone of the Masonic Temple , in the construction of which he had taken great interest . Being re-elected W . M . for the following year it also fell to his lot to open the building and preside at the first meeting of his lodge under its roof . Bro . Croser also became a member of the Alfred Wootton Royal Arch Chapter , and later on founded the St .

John's Thanet Lodge , Xo . 2753 , of which he became the second W . M . The funeral was attended by a number of the inhabitants , which included many brethren of the lodges and chapter of which the deceased was a member , and much sympathy for the family was evinced by all classes .

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