At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar

of the Temple Lodge and of tlie West Ham Lodge . Provincial Grand Mark honours have also fallen to him in Middlesex , Surrey ,-and Essex . The appointment by the Provincial Grand Master of

Kent , of Bro . Alfred Spencer , as Deputy Provincial Grand Master , in succession to the late esteemed Bro . f . S . Eastes , has received the unanimous approval of the brethren in that active and yvell-ruled province . Bro . Spencer , as Provincial Grand Secretary for the past thirty years , has done yeoman

service , and his promotion is a well-earned tribute to his Masonic yvorth . Bro . Spencer ' s Masonic career has been a long and consistent exemplification of those principles yvhich yve all admire and value in Masonic and social life . He occupied the Master ' s chair in the West Mailing Abbey

Lodge , No . 106 3 , so long ago as 1871 , and is noyv its Senior Past Master . He is Treasurer of the Douglas Lodge , No . 1725 , Maidstone , and an honorary member of several other lodges in the province . On the occasion of the Queen ' s jubilee , in 1887 , he had conferred on him the Past rank of Grand Syvord

Bearer , and subsequently that of Past Grand Standard Bearer in the Royal Arch , in yvhich Degree he is a Past Z . of the High Cross Chapter , No . 829 , Dartford , having been installed in the chair in 1882 . In 18 9 6 , he was appointed Provincial Grand Scribe E . of Kent , in succession to Comp . T . S . Warne . Bro . Spencer is a Life Governor of the three Charities , and has served as Steyvard for each .

UliO . Al . t'ltKIl Sl'KXCKH . It yvas no easy matter to ( ill the place of so experienced and popular a Deputy as the late Bro . Eastes ; but yve

congratulate the Provincial Grand Master , no less than Bro . Spencer himself , on having so excellent a brother available for the post . That he will ably perform his duties and also render valuable aid to the distinguished ruler of the province we have a guarantee in the quality of the services he has for so many years performed as Provincial Grand Secretary .

Bro . R . S . Chandler , yvho has just been installed as Worshipful Master of the London Rille Brigade Lodge , comes of an old Suffolk county family , but is as justly proud of his Masonic descent and of his connection with the Masonic Boys' School . He received his education at the Institution at Wood Green , and on leaving school entered a large

mercantile house in the City , yvhere he has since remained . On the formation in 1886 of the Old Masonians' Association , composed of the scholars of the School , Bro . Chandler , then in his teens , became one of its first members , and tyvo years later yvas elected on the Managing Committee ,

subsequent !} -filling the positions successively of Assistant Honorary Secretary and Honorary Secretary , and on resigning the latter in 1892 , he was unanimously chosen by his old schoolfellows as their Honorary Treasurer , an office he continues to hold .

¦ < 3 » < S » & It yvas not until 18 97 that Bro . Chandler yvas initiated into Freemasonry in the London Rille Brigade Lodge , No . 19 62 , of yvhich regiment he had for several years been an active member , and yvhen the Old Masonians' Lodge yvas founded in 18 9 8 , he yvas designated as first Senior Warden , and the

folloyving year yvas elected Worshipful Master , probably one of the most speedy advancements on record . Bro . Chandler is naturally a yvarm supporter of the Boys' School , and at the Centenary Festival he had the honour of representing the ex-scholars with a list of 100 guineas . He is not

unmindful , hoyvever , of the claims of the sister Institutions , and is a Life Governor of the Benevolent Institution and a Life Subscriber of the Girls' School . He is Honorary Secretary of the London Rille Brigade Masonic Charitable Institution , yvhich contributes nearly ^" 200 per annum to the three Institutions .

' © © < 2 » The Royal Naval Lodge , No . 59 , yvhich is noyv over a hundred and fifty years old , successfully held its installation meeting on the 12 th January . The neyv Worshipful Master is Bro . Michael Relph , the grandson of a former District Grand Master for Gibraltar , and among the members and

guests present yvere noticed Bros . Sir Arthur Trendell , C . M . G ., P . A . G . D . C ; Atherley Jones , M . P . ; Daniel Mayer , P . G . D . ; and Colville Smith , P . G . D ., Secretary of the Royal Masonic Benovelent Institution . The installation ceremony yvas performed by Bro . R . H . Stimpson , P . M ., at Freemanons ' Hall , and the subsequent banquet held at the Holborn Restaurant . < 2 > O < S >

The death of His Honour Judge William Masterman removes from the Province of Nottingham a prominent and zealous member of our Order . He yvas already a Past Grand Deacon yvhen , on the appointment of the Duke of Portland as Provincial Grand Master of Nottinghamshire in 18 97 the position of Deputy Provincial Grand Master yvas

, offered to and accepted by him . He yvas also Grand Superintendent of the province in the Royal Arch , besides holding the office of Provincial Grand Mark Master Mason . His most recent appearance at an important Masonic function yvas at the consecration of the Welbeck Lodge , at yvhich he

presided in the absence of the Duke of Portland . Our distinguished brother yvas born in 18 4 6 , and yvas called to the Bar in 1870 . In 1891 he was appointed judge of the county court yvhich covers Nottinghamshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire .

The Daily Press has been for some time past very industriously disseminating information in regard to the Neyv Licensing Act , but has , yve think , been associating Masonic lodges yvith it in a manner scarcely yvarranted by the circumstances ; for instance , a popular half-penny daily came out on the 13 th January yvith the folloyving startling

heading : — "Are you a Mason ? Hoyv the Neyv Act Affects the Order ! Growth of the Black List ! " We hasten , hoyvever , to relieve the minds of our readers by assuring them that in the article there is not only an absence of all reference to the connection of any member of the Order yvith the black list , but the black list itself is not further referred to .