Consecration Of The Freemasons' Hall, Adelaide, South Australia.

building abutting upon Freeman-street provision is made for a capacious bathroom . This row of lesser rooms , as well as the parlours , bar , dining-room , and so on , immediately below them on the ground floor , provide the necessary accommodation for a family hotel , and are isolated from the portion of tho structure specially dovoted to the purposes of Freemasonry by ample p issages ,

closed in by folding-doors , which , when the occasion recjuires , can be thrown open , so as to facilitate communication with all parts of the building . This will bo a great advantage , particularly in the case of the bauquotting-room on the ground floor which will serve both for the Masons and for the public on the occasion of dinners , balls , and other festivities . All conveniences iu the

way of hat and cloak presses are provided . The ante-room is 22 ft . Gin . long by lift . Gin . wide . At one end stands a raised dais on the same level as the floor of the hall . This is the place where the Masons make their final preparations for passing into the presence chamber of the Grand Master—the great Masonic temle itself . The ornamentation of the room is in keeping

p with tho important purpose it has to subserve . Leaving for a moment the description ofthe lodge room , and descending to the lower regions once more , it may bo mentioned that tho kitchen and servants' rooms , with a private staircase attached , are located at the northern end of the Freeman-street frontage ; that , space remains for the erection at some future day of a billiard saloon 41 ft .

by 2-lfb . at the rear of the banquetfcing room ; and that the basement storey includes two rooms—one 171 ' fc . square , and the other 14 ft . by 8 ft . The entire building ¦ will eventually occupy a frontage to Flinders-street of 92 ft ., and to Freeman-street of 8411 : but the eastern wing has not been carried up . The principal elevation faces Flinders-street , and the exterior is of the Italian or mixed style of architecture . The facade is formed of hammerdressed freestone , with freestone and Portland cement facinss . The ornamentations consisted of pilasters with

moulded bases and enriched capitals , with representation of King Solomon and other worthies . Tho utmost care has been taken to provide for the ventilation by means of tubes through the roof and earthenware pipes in the walls . The architect is the Hon . Thos . English , who has carried out the work in a way highly creditable to him . The builders , Messsrs . Brown and Thompson , have

also performed their contract in a manner which has met with the approbation of the committee . No expense has been spared that would render the edifice worthy of Freemasonry—in proof of which it may be mentioned that the total cost will not be less than £ 5 , 000 . Having disposed of these prosaic details , a word or two must bo said of the Hall itself , around which

naturally hovers that atmosphere of awe and mystery associated with the inner life of the venerable Order to which it is dedicated . First of all the architect , with the skill and facility of a true craftsman , has made lavish provision for all that can gratify the eye and befit the imposing ceremonies of the Order . The walls enclose a 49 fb . in length b 31 ft . in widththe extreme

space y , height being 22 ft . Around are arranged eighteen pilasters , with ornate Corinthian capitals , supporting a rich and elaborate friezework cornice four feet in depth , with carved trusses and other adornments . Enclosed in this friezework are fourtesn rectangular-shaped windows , that can be opened and closed by means of cords let into the masonry , and terminating in elegant

tassels . In the centre of the ceiling , five or six feet from the cornice , on each side , is a cove set off with mouldings and other enrichments , in admirable keeping with tlie general design . This cove acts as a fine to carry off the heated air , which escapes into pipes in the space above , aud by them is discharged through the roof . There are also dorrimors , lufier-boards , and other appliances to secure a ventilation as perfect as the purposes to which the room is devoted requires . Like the Town-hall , this choice specimen of the architectural art needs no

embellishments to enable it to stand tho test of criticism ; bub the lodge decorations , arranged under the immediate direction of Mr . J . T . Sagar , so far from deteriorating the general effect , give to the chamber a hundred fresh charms . The furniture has all been manufactured specially by Messrs . S . May-field and Son and Mr . P . Gay , who have shown themselves fully equal to the

occasion . At tho eastern end is the is tho seat of the District Grand Master , elevated upon a dais , and having over it a rich canopy . On cither hand are cushioned seats , reserved for the officers . The Senior Warden's chair is at the western side of the room , unci behind this is a magnificent organ of colonial manufacture . The Junior Warden occupies a seat on the southand fronting him

, on the north are the desks of the Secretaries . Beautifully polished blackwood benches , constructed upon tho principle so much approved in railway carriages , skirt the walls , and give accommodation for between eighty and ninety persons . Occupying the centre of the hall is a tosselated pavement , raised above the floor level , and bearing upon ib the pillars of the Doric , Ionic ,

ancl Corinthian orders , vessels containing corn , wine , and oil , and a score of other articles , conveying lifctlo meaning to tho common observer , but full of significance to those possessing the . key . In that small l'oom are collected mysteries as profound as the Eleusiniau priests ever preserved from the profane glance of the vulgar . Every convenient part . of the hail is the repository of some secret . The banners and bannerets , the mystic sisrns . tho Masonic implements , the corner stones , the

symmetrical columns , tbe chequered pavement , the chalices and vessels , although dumb to the uninitiated , speak with an eloquence all their own to those who have been admitted toaknowledge of what they represent . Nothing is wanting thab is to be found in bhe Grand Lodge of England ibself , so that Masons may well be proud of their hall .

On the night of tho consecration ( Tuesday , March 22 ) seats were provided for close on two hundred persons , and the right of entree was strictl y' confined to Master Masons . Soon after seven o'clock , every seat being occupied , the D . G . Master , Bro . Arthur Hardy , entered the hall , accompanied by the Prov . G . M . ( Irish Constitution ) Bro .

, the Hon . John Tuthill Bagot , M . L . C , Chief Secretary , and attended by tbe D . D . G . M ., Bro . his Honour Henry E . Downer , Commissioner of Insolvency and S . M . ; the P . D . D . G . M ., Bro . Dr . AVhittcl , J . P . ; the D . G . S . W ., Bro . his Honour Judge Gwynne ; the D . G . J . W ., Bro . C . R . Darton ; bhe D . G . Chap ., Bro . Bov . Canon Farr , M . A . ; the D . G . Beg ., Bro . J . R . Garner ; the D . G- Treas ., Bro .

F . J . Dotting ; the D . G . Sec , Bro . R . E . Lucy ; D . G . Supt . of Works , Bro . Hon . Thomas English ; and the other officers of the District Grand Lodge . There were also present the D . P . G . M . ( Irish Constitution ) , Bro . W . Fivoash , the Substitute P . G . M . ( Scotch Oonstibution ) , Bro . Wills , besides several officers of tho Irish and Scotch Grand Lodges . The usual forms were observed , and on the District Grand Lodge being declared open , the following ode was sung by an efficienb choir , accompanied on the organ by Bro . H . L . Durieit , D . G . Org .:

—Tuxu— God Save the Queen . Hail I universal Lord ! By heaven and earth adored ; All hail ! great God ! Before Thy name we bend , To us Thy grace extend , And to onr prayer attend ,

AU hail ! great God Tho imposing ceremony of consecration was then gone through . Tlie ' grand feature of the evening , however , valuable both for its originality and its intrinsic beauty —the oration ofthe Rev . Canon Farr , D . G . Ohap „ _ following the ceremony of consecration—we are permitted to . ay before our readers : —