The Province Of Dor Set . In Stallation Of The Ri Ght Hon. The Earl Of Shaftesbury As Provincial Grand Master .

that the choice of His Royal Highness , the Grand Master , has fallen on you to fill this important chair . Being yourself the Provincial Grand Master of another province it will be unbecoming of me to point out to you the duties which this high office involves upon you . Whatever they may be I feel confident that you will have the strength , experience , and

tact to meet them , and that you will be loyally supported by the brethren of your new province . The Provincial Grand Master was then invested with the apron , chain , and jewel of his high office , and having taken his position in the chair was " proclaimed and saluted . "

In a brief speech of thanks to the brethren for their presence in such large numbers and their support on that occasion , Earl Shaftesbury sincerely assured them that as long as he was spared to rule over the province he would use his best endeavours to carry out the obligations in the spirit and in the letter . He expressed his special thanks to the late Provincial Grand Master , Bro . Montague Guest , who

had occupied with such zeal and distinction for the past twenty-live years the post of Provincial Grand Master , and the other Grand Officers who had come down from London to perform the ceremony of installing him into that chair . The Provincial Grand Master announced to the general satisfaction of the assembly that he had re-appointed Bro .

Col . Brvmer as Deputy Provincial Grand Master . The Provincial Grand Ollicers for the year were then appointed , and Provincial Grand Lodge was closed . The festive proceedings took place at the Amity Hall , under the presidency of Earl Shaftesbury , who was supported

by Bros . Montague Guest , Earl Malmesbury , Colville Smith ,. Col . Brymer , M . P ., Mortimer Heath , Sir John Hanham , R . Case ( Provincial Grand Secretary- ) , Baskett , Hilton ( Provincial Grand Chaplain ) , and others . It should be stated that an " overflow " banquet yvas compelled to be held in the Masonic Hall , oyving to the large number of brethren present .

Installation Meeting Of The Khartoum Lodge, No, 2877.

Installation Meeting of the Khartoum Lodge , No , 2877 .

THE installation of Bio . Lieutenant-Colonel W . H . Drage , D . S . O ., the Senior Warden , into the chair of the above lodge , was carried out on the ey'ening of the 18 th of December , the ceremony being performed in an exceptionally

able and impressive manner by the retiring Master , Bro . Captain W . E . Bailey , P . D . S . G . W . of Egypt and the Sudan , to whom the members presented a

handsome and valuable Past Master's jewel , in recognition of his work during the past year , to which the District Grand Master

referred in most eulogistic terms . The lodge was well attended , and amongst the most noteworthy of the

visitors yvas Bro . Lieut .-Gen . Sir Archibald Hunter , Commander - in - Chief in Scotland , who yvas the guest at the Khartoum Palace of

the District Grand Master of Egypt and the Sudan , Bro . Sir Reginald Wingate , P . G . W . Before closing the lodge ,

a statement of the accounts was read , and the District Grand Master paid a high tribute of praise to the members in having so

satisfactory a balance-sheet at the close of the first year of the lodge ' s existence . The officers and members afterwards proceeded

by steamer to the Grand Hotel , and there held their banquet . The usual Masonic toasts were given by the

newlyinstalled Master and other brethren , those given by Bro . Sir Reginald Wingate— " The Installing Master , " " The Worshipful Master and the Khartoum Lodge , " and " The Visitors " —eliciting the warm applause of all present .

jiito . LIKUTKNANT-COLONETJ yv . ir . HUAGK .

The opportune visit of Bro . Sir Archibald Hunter , who , prior to 18 99 , had been for many years associated with Egypt and the majority of the military members of the lodge , yvas a source of unmixed satisfaction , and his response

to the toast of " The Visitors " yvas most happily conceived and enthusiastically received . The proceedings , which yvere enhanced by the

engagement of an army band , concluded with the Tyler ' s toast . The wonderful transformation seen in the

Sudan and the flourishing condition of Freemasonry in a country which only a very few years ago yvas literally a howling

yvilderness , is a striking object lesson to those who are observing and studying the progress of the Craft . That

Freemasonry invariably folloyvs the Hag has been exemplified in the establishment of Masonic lodges in all quarters of the globe , where English Colonists

have established themselves , and a Masonic lodge is noyv as much a part of the life of a new district as local

government . So much progress has been made in thisdirection in the Sudan ,, that we learn of the intention on the part of the

military and civil residents , in Khartoum to petition the Most Worshipful Grand Master , His Royal Highness the Duke of

Connaught , to grant a warrant tor another lodge , yvnicn is to be named the Sir Reginald Wingate Lodge , after the Sirdar , who is to be one of the founders , and in the event of its being , granted , yve may safely predict for it a prosperous career .