Aldershot's New Masonic Hall, Opened By The Provincial Grand Master.

Aldershot's New Masonic Hall , Opened by the Provincial Grand Master .

I ^ OR many years the ever-increasing body of Masons in ~* Aldershot have felt the want of suitable jiremises wherein to meet and work , having been comjielled , since the consecration of the first lodge in 1857 , to rely ujion such accommodation as the local hotels could jirovide for ordinary - meetings , and in the case of meetings of Provincial

Grand Lodge , when held in Aldershot , to fall back on the hall attached to the Soldiers' Institute . Thanks to the energy of a few of the more lirominent local brethren of the Craft , ]

THE NEW HALL . a scheme was jiut on foot two years ago to jirovide a permanent home for the loclges in the district , and with such success was it attended that on Wednesday , September

10 th , the new hall , which has been erected and fitted at a cost of several thousands of jiounds , was opened with great ceremony and circumstance by the Provincial Grand Master of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , a representative body of brethren assembling to witness the event , when a

joint meeting of Panmure Lodge , No . 723 , and Aldershot Camp Lodge , No . 1331 , was held . A strong committee appointed by the two loclges had the arrangements in hand , and to such good jiurpose did they work that the subsequent ceremony and banquet jiassed off

without a hitch . The temple was taxed to its utmost capacity to accommodate the large number who wished to be present , many indeed being unable to gain admittance . From all parts of England , Scotland , and Ireland they came , whilst lodges in India , Egypt , Bermuda , Malta ,

Gibraltar , Netherlands , Burma , and South Africa were also represented . After the lodge was opened by the Worshipful Master of the Panmure , the Provincial Grand Master occupied the chair , and the ceremony of initiation was then performed by him in such a manner as to elicit the admiration of all .

the full impressiveness of the charge being brought out in all its grandeur . At its conclusion the Provincial Grand Master and his officers retired , and the Panmure Lodge was closed , being immediately afterwards re-ojiened by the Worshipful Master of the Aldershot Camji Lodge , whose officers took the vacated chairs .

The Provincial Grand Officers then returned , and were saluted , after which the Worshipful Master , Bro . W . Downes , voiced the satisfaction of all present at having the Provincial Grand Master among them that day , and a vote of thanks was unanimously jiassed to him and his officers for their

attendance to ojien the ball . After the Provincial Grand Master had replied , the lodge was closed , and the company adjourned to the banqueting hall , where about 200 sat clown to dinner , the band of the Queen's Bays , conducted by Bro . J . W . Faulkner , playing

during the repast . The usual toasts having been proposed , that of " The Pro Grand Master , the Deputy Grand Master , and the rest of the Grand Officers , Present and Past , " was responded to by Bro . Giles , P . G . D ., who , in the course of his remarks ,

made a powerful apjieal for funds to assist the movement on foot to commemorate in fitting manner the memory of their late Provincial Grand Master , the lamented Bro . W . W . B . Beach , by purchasing a jierpetual nomination in the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , to be known as the " Beach Memorial . "

The toast of " The Provincial Grand Master was then projiosed and received with acclamation , R . W . Bro . Sir Augustus Webster responding . He thanked the Worshipful Masters and brethren of the two lodges under whose banners they had met that day for the hearty greeting accorded him and his officers . He was deejily sensible of the high honour

conferred on him by the Grand Master when he was selected to succeed the late Bro . Beach as Provincial Grand Master of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight , who had by many years of hard work won the respect and love of all . The whole of the jirovince had received him very kindly , and it was that

reception that enabled him to enter on his duties with a light heart . The reception he had met with in Aldershot that day on his first ajijiearance among them was warm indeed and all that he could wish . In complimenting them on their handsome hall , he said the jirovince and the Craft generally

owed the Masons of Aldershot a debt of gratitude for the jirovision of such a home for the Craft , which would go far towards raising the level and tone of the Craft in that district . The hall comjiared favourably with any in the jirovince , and he felt quite certain that it would give an impetus to Masonry generally .

The toast of " The Deputy Provincial Grand Master and the rest of the Provincial Grand Officers , Present and Past , " and other toasts followed , and Bro . A . Watson , W . M . of Yorick Lodge , in complimenting the Aldershot brethren on their hall , said that it would prove a distinct advantage to the Craft in their efforts to stand well with the outside world .

Hitherto the lodges had been too closely connected with licensed victuallers , to whose places they had been forced , being unable to find accommodation elsewhere , with the result that they had lost tone somewhat . He had nothing whatever to say against licensed victuallers , numbering many

of them among his jiersonal friends , but this close association did not tend to raise the level of the Craft , and he therefore was glad to see loclges break away and provide homes for themselves , such as Aldershot had , and no doubt other provinces would follow their example , which was a credit to the Craft .