At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar.

Lodge of England too small and narrow for his soaring Masonic ideas , and he has for a number of years , we believe , ceased to be a member of any lodge under the Grand Lodge of England ; but he is associated with more " rites" and " degrees " than one cares to count , and legitimacy of birth of such associations is to him a matter of perfect indifference .

His latest "adoption" appears , from a letter in the Northern Freemason , under the singularly inappropriate heading of " The desirability of accuracy in the Masonic press " to be " Co-Masonry " and to disprove the statement of a contributor he quotes the opinion of a " friend who is a member both of

this bod )' and of a lodge under the Grand Lodge of England , " apparently oblivious of the fact that neither the Grand Orient of France nor the Grand Lodge of France , from which latter body " Co-Masonry " is said to derive its Charter , is recognised by the Grand Lodge of England , and therefore the offspring

must , if any regard whatever is to be paid to authority , be deemed irregular . Bro . Yarker , with all his erudition , must be singularly wanting in common knowledge if he imagines that all and every weird and fantastic rite can be dumped down in this country and accepted as genuine simply because the inventors have chosen to label them " Freemasonrv . "

< C » C ? Q We cannot help thinking that the friend who is a member of this " Co-Masonic" body , and of a Lodge under the Grand Lodge of England , would , if he desired to retain his connection with English Freemasonry , be wise in retiring from

the new association , which is said to confer the three degrees in a manner identical with our own , with one exception . Rule 204 of the Book of Constitutions , which is concerned with the making of Masons clandestinely would , if brought into operation , soon dispose of his claim to serve two Masters . « 3 > , Cr

The annual meeting of the governors of the Devon Masonic Educational Fund was held at the Masonic Hall , Torquay , on the 4 th April . W . Bro . F . B . Westlake , Dep . Prov . G . M ., presided . The report states that contributions had been received from fifty-one lodges , and the year ' s transactions left a credit balance of £ 435 in addition to which the capital

, account amounted to £ 2 , 660 . There were live candidates for the two vacancies on the fund , and children of deceased brethren of Totnes and Plymouth were elected , the votes received by the successful candidates being 2 , 412 and 2 , 082 respectively .

O < 5 » O Bro . H . B . Grant , Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky , has iiit upon a unique idea—that of preserving in the Grand Lodge archives phonographic records of the voice and words of all the living Past Grand Masters . Bro .

Grant has for some time been making a collection of the photographs , autographs and biographical data of the Past Grand Masters , and now desires to add to these interesting records a phonographic cylinder for each , that in years to come will reproduce their very tone and accents in the

enunciation of words of wisdom . We are told that Bro . Grant feels regret at his inability to secure similar records of the speech and voice of the three earliest Grand Masters—Solomon and the two Hirams . What a blessing to our ritualists if our brothers of the early part of the eighteenth

century had been able thus to preserve the esoteric work complete , from the lips of some Grand Master like Anthony Sayer , and to transmit it to us with all its peculiarities of language and accent .

A large and distinguished gathering honoured the occasion of the installation meeting of the Borough of Bethnal Green Lodge , when Bro . F . J . Read was installed W . M . in succession to Bro . James Laurie at the Abercorn Rooms , Great Eastern Hotel , E . C , on the 20 th March . Amongst those present were Bros . Sir Edwin Cornwall , M . P ., and Sir Mancherjee

Bhownaggree , K . C . I . E . The Borough of Bethnal Green Lodge has been singularly fortunate in its W . M . ' s . The first being Bro . Chas . Wood (( he popular Mayor of the Borough ) , the second Bro . Moorman , who is now the

U ) . i \ J . UKAV . energetic and esteemed Secretary , the third Bro . W . Hudson , and the fourth Bro . James Laurie . Bro . Fred Read was initiated in the St . Ambrose Lodge in 1891 , and in 1902 was invested as Secretary to the newly-formed Borough of Bethnal Green Lodge . It was , indeed , largely clue to his instrumentality

that the lodge was formed . The new W . M . will be assisted by the following brethren : Bros . H . H . Bow-en , D . H . Tumber , J . E . Nolan , J . W . Moorman , P . M . Sec . ; the Rev . J . E . Watts Ditchlield , F . W . Garnham , C . S . Mundav , H . Jones , G . Knights , P . M . ; C . A . Hanky , J . T . Jarvis ,

Richardson , Foot , W . H . Clark , and W . M . Clark . O « S » < 3 > THE NEW PALACE STEAMERS , LIMITED . —In reply to numerous enquiries the management desire us to state that although the Easter Holidays fall somewhat late in the vear , it has been decided to , as usual , commence the sailings on

the Saturday , preceding Whit-Monday ( June 2 nd ) . The steamers " Royal Sovereign " and " Koh-i-noor " have been entirely re-decorated , and are really palatial pleasure steamers , possessing promenade decks 300 feet long , and licensed to carry about 1 , 500 passengers . Daily sailings will be made

during the summer months from Old Swan Pier , London Bridge , about 9 a . m ., and Tilbury to Southend , Margate , Ramsgate , Deal and Dover , and back in the same day . Special trains from St . Pancras and Fenchurcli Street Stations connect with these steamers at Tilbury . The catering , so

essential to a pleasant day's outing , is attended to by the Company itself , special efforts being made to supplv the best of good things at reasonable prices .

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