Freemasonry In Queensland.

Freemasonry in Queensland .

FEW tourists who visit Queensland fail to avail themselves of the opportunity to become acquainted with the scenic beauties of Cairns , the capital of Queensland's " Rainy Belt . " The view which meets the eye on approaching Cairns , is scarcely surpassed for grandeur and sublimity at

K . CO . MI' . U \ 11 . . 1 . 1 IAYKI 1 S . any point on the Australasian coast , indeed so lavishly has nature endowed its whole district that it is destined to become a most important centre .

Facing Trinity Bay ( so named by Capt . Cook , who discovered it on Trinity Sunday , 1770 ) , protected b y the Great Barrier reef from the strength of the mighty Pacilic which rolls beyond to the far off Peruvian shore , it

overlooks a harbour in which the whole of the ships trading to Australasia could find safe anchorage , behind which , hidden from view , is a magnilicent land-locked deep water inlet . It is encircled on three sides by long

ranges of hills , which rise behind each other in huge broken masses of diversified form ; situated some four miles from the town , these ranges rise from 500 ft . until ( 15 miles out ) Belleuder

Ker ( 5 , 500 ft . ) is reached . On the right of the town is Cape Grafton , a rugged peninsula of about 20 by 10 miles , the only settlement upon it is that of a most successful aboriginal Mission .

From the mountains descend the Mulgrave , Russell Johnstone and Barron rivers . The Queensland State Railway , which follows the track- oi the latter , presents a triumph of engineering skill ; it has an average grade of 1 in 60 , 15 miles of its length cost

_ £ 2 . ") , 9 S ; pet' mile , the cost of ( he first 45 miles from Cairns having amounted to upwards of £ 1 , 100 , 000 . It has many tunnels , is cut along the edge of some stupendous cliffs , anon it creeps like a snake around sharp curves , then dashes over deep crevasses and opens up fresh scenic beauties with every

yard of progress . At a distance of 19 miles from Cairns , are the celebrated Barron Falls , a splendid cascade 1 , 100 ft . above sea level , where the spectacle of torrents of water dashing over precipitous rocks into abysmal depths , and mimic waterfalls trickling through the cleft rocks on the hillsides in eager yet graceful endeavours to join the stronger

in its foam } - , frothy , race to the plainland below , strikes the beholder with amazement , admiration and awe . Sixty-six miles from Cairns ( onl y 30 as the crow ( lies ) the Atherton plateau is reached , 2 , 000 ft . above sea level , where the climate is bracing and equable , and affords a grateful

change from the humid atmosphere of the coast . In the extensive valleys , lying between the ranges , the extremely rich volcanic soil will one clay yield in abundance , coffee , sugar , tobacco , cotton , and , as the uplands are reached , the cereals , root crops and fruits of the temperate zone . Beyond

all this , and having Cairns as its outlet , is a vast territory stretching away S . West and N . West , enclosing perhaps the largest , and certainly the most diversified , mineral area in the Southern hemisphere , almost every mineral known to commerce being represented—those in most abundance arc gold , silver , copper , tin and lead .

Craft Masonry is represented in Cairns by an English Lodge , bearing the name of Queensland ' s D . G . M ., who has presided over the destinies of English Masonry in that far-off land for over forty years , Sir A . C . Gregory , K . C . M . G . To the Gregory Lodge is attached the Gregory Royal Arch Chapter . The First Installation Meeting after the consecration of the

Chapter was held on the 10 th November , 1904 , when Comp . H . O . Newport , 18 ° , was installed M . E . Z ., Comp . A . J . P . MacDonnell , H ., and Comp . R . A . Tills , J ., by the outgoing First Principal , and Founder , Comp . W . H . ] . Mavers , who ,

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