Freemasonry In Tasmania.

paying all incidental expenses and making grants to the necessitous , the balance in hand Avas £ 53 4 s . 3 d ., which , with £ 100 invested in Government Debentures at 6 per cent ., raised the total funds of the society to £ 153 4 s . 3 d . —a very fair amount

for so young a society . We fiild , too , that there is a Freemasons' Hall Company ( Limited ) , the annual capital of which is £ 4 . 000 in shares of £ 1 each .

The present ; Board of Directors consist of Bros . W . S . Hammond , William Graham , Lewis Riley , J . T . Robertson , Robert Walker , Frederick H . Wise ; Bro . 0 . Toby , Sec The Directors have purchased an eligible site

for the proposed buildings adjoining the Hobarfc 'Town Savings'Bank in Murray-street , and they hope shortly to be in a position to lay the foundation stone of the hall . The Annual Meetings are held on the first Monday in February . The office is at 4 , Elizabeth-street .

Masonry in Tasmania , then , no doubfc is progressing steadily ; numerically the Craft is not strong , but zeal and unanimity characterise both lodges and chapters , and although fc < vo constitutions are afc work , agreement of feelings , if not uniformity in working , characterise their

meetings . From this slight sketch it will be seen that the Craffc is Avell represented in one portion of the antipodes , and Ave are quite sure that in the hands of the present energetic W . M ' s . of lodges . Masonry will flourish still further in Tasmania .

A Masonic Insurance Society.

A MASONIC INSURANCE SOCIETY .

We direct the attention of our readers to the •announcement of the establishment of a really Masonic Assurance Institution , and we hail the advent of this neAV undertaking with peculiar satisfaction , because we have long felt that while

almost every particular class had its own special representative office , there was wanting for the Craft afc large an assurance office embodying the principles of Masonry , and managed by brethren prepared to carry out those principles in their

integrity . One or two efforts have on former occasions been made to supply this desideratum , and although they can hardly be said to have failed ( for the offices have merged their title and -existence in other institutions ) , they never carved

A Masonic Insurance Society.

out for themselves that status among the metropolitan institutions which the object they advocated so signally warranted . The cause of this Avas very simple , ancl if they failed ifc Avas ascribable to their disinclination to

rely exclusively on the brotherhood for patronage and support , or to identify their undertaking with those Masonic institutions AA'hich are the " jewels in the crown of Masonry , " and in Avhich every Craftsman has a special individual interest . We

trust , therefore , thafc this appeal IIOAV made to the Craffc Avill be readily responded to . The prospectus states that , "to identify this company intimately with the Masonic fraternity ifc is intended to set apart one per ceat . of the neAV

assurance premiums for distribution annually amono * the three Masonic Charities . The members Avill thus be contributing to these valuable institutions a sum that , to the individual , will scarcely be appreciable , while to the societies themselves the aggregate subscription may be considerable . "

Special attention must be here drawn to the facfe fchafc ifc is not one per cenb . of the profits which is fco be sefc aside for the Charities , bufc one per cent , of the new premiums and , consequently , those institutions will benefit in each and every year of

the company ' s existence commencing from the very first . This promised boon to the Charities in question ought , at once , to enlist the co-operation and energies of all the members of the body ( and they now number about 500 , 000 in the

United Kingdom ) , and induce them , uofc only to assure their OAVU lives in the office , but also to become active agents for the company , and obtain for ifc a plentiful supply of proposals from the general public .

We now pass on- to notice the distinctive features of the company with regard to the several classes of business Avhich ifc proposes fco transact . And first with respect to the Fire Department . This branch of the company ' s business will be confined exclusively to the insurance of the dwelling-houses and furniture of "" the brethren

and the public . Hazardous risks will thus be avoided . We understand the general rate for ordinary house property will be Is . 6 d . per cent ., and household furniture and personal effects will be insured in one sum at 2 s . 6 d . per cent . ; or , if

preferred , at premiums varying from Is . 6 d . per cent , on furniture , to 4 s . 6 d . per cent , on pictures .. Turning UOAV to the Life Department , we find that it Avill embrace every description of assurance ,