Our Trestle Board

OUR TRESTLE BOARD

" FOP the Master to lay lines and draw designs upon . "

Our readers will be good enough to notice that wc have removed the Offices of THE MASONIC STAR to 59 . Moor Lane . Fore Street , E . C . London , to which address ALL communications should be forwarded . Those relating to Editorial matter to be addressed to the EDITOR : and all others to Messrs . ADAAIS BROS .

At a drawing for Life Subscriberships in connection with the Charitable Association of the Lewises Lodge of Instruction , No . 1209 , arid which held its annual festival at Ramsgate , on the llth inst .. one of the members , Bro . S . Devison , was the fortunate drawer oi both the subscriberships on the ballot . It appears to be a rule in this association that a brother holding two or more chances shall

not be excluded from further drawing should he be successful in gaining the first . But the double success was certainly unexpected . In good masonic form . Bro . Devison acknowledged the favour shown to him by Dame Fortune , by immediately adding another five guineas to qualify himself for the honorable jwsition of life subscriber to each of our institutions . May good fortune be with him ahwws !

The well-known authors of "The Pirates of Penzance" have caused it to be generally understood that " a policeman ' s lot is not a happy one , " and we begin to think Ave can apply the same phrase to an editor , or at least that we should do so if we had not quite determined the lines upon which our journal shall be conducted . An attempt to please all would , we know , be futile ; and we must be

content to meet the wishes of the majority of those who may be Avilling to support us . AVe have before us proposals , suggestions , criticisms , favourable opinions , and depreciatory remarks , together forming such a salmagundi as would puzzle the strongest literary stomach to digest , Avere we to prepare it . Some there be Avho would leave out the oil which others so much relish , some the pepper ,

which makes the hotchpotch " hot in the mouth , " and some Avould have the sharp vinegar of personal attack a prevailing condiment . Some look upon our Lodge Reports as onions , which are odious to them ; some upon our " Poet ' s Corner " as pickled herrings . Avhich they abominate ; and as for the chopped meat of correspondence , some wish for " none of it . "

' ¦ if » *? = s = 9 ? AVc suppose there never Avas yet a perfect Avork any more than there has been a perfect man . We must therefore " gang our ain gait" and submit to be taken or set aside , according to the tastes of those before whom the present mixture may be put ; for Ave are

sure that if we endeavour to meet the wishes or caprice of one set , Ave shall have poured upon our heads the A'ials of Avrath by others . So Ave must ask our readers generally to take us as AVC are , with the assurance that where and when we can make improvement , Ave Avill do so . * * * * *

A \ e sympathise most deeply with our Brother Butler AVilkins , D . P . G . 3 I . Northam ]) tonshire , in the loss he has recently sustained through the death , at an early age , of his third daughter , Mrs . Meredydd Evans , whose remains were consigned to their last resting-place in the General Cemetery , Northampton , on the 17 th inst ., in the presence many sorrowing relatives and friends .

***** AVe regret to record the death of Mrs . AA ' alters , wife of Bro Tristram Frederick E . A \ alters , son of Bro . Frederick AValters P . P . S . G . D . Middx ., which event took place on the Kith inst . * * * * *

At the Quarterly General Court of the gOA r ernors and subscribers of the R . M . I , for boys , which will be held at Freemason ' s Tavern . at noon , to-morrow , the 2 Gth inst .. for the election of 21 boys , out of a list of 75 approved candidates for the benefits of the Institution , W . Bro . James Stevens , L . G ., will move to expunge Law 55 . including second paragraph , and to enact in lieu thereof

as follows : —' A boy shall not be eligible for election unless the father , if living , has been a subscribing member to a lodge , or lodges , for seven years . If the father be dead , he must have been a subscribing member to a lodge for three years . But should death or permanent incapacity , occasioned by paralysis , blindness , fire , shipwreck , or other calamity , ha \ e occurred within three years of his initiation , this rule shall not apply ; providing , nevertheless .

that at the time of such occurrence the father was a subscribing member . " AA . Bro . A . F . Godson , M . P ., patron , on behalf of the House Committee , Avill move : — " That three additional vacancies be declared—in consequence of withdrawals from the establishment —and that such vacancies be filled up by the election of the same number of candidates , in addition to the number announced in the voting Papers at the Quarterly Court on 2 Gth October inst . "

At a Quarterly General Court of the governors and subscribers of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , Avhich will be held at Freemasons' Tavern , at noon , on the 27 th inst ., for the election of nine Girls , out of a list of 03 approved candidates for the benefits of the Institution . AA . Bro . C . J . Percival , vice-president , will move that " In

Our Trestle Board

the event of the recent addition to Law 55 being confirmed , to add the following rider , viz . : That this clause shall not apply in the case of a child whose father was a Life Governor of the Institution at the time of his death . ' " * * * * * A committee for securing the election of Bro . Edward Terrv as

Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year is in course of formation , and " canvassing " appears to be the order of tho day . AVe may be sure that those who support our worthy Brother in such canvass understand the necessity for remembering a recent discussion in Grand Lodge .

Bro . Richard Eve , Past Grand Treasurer , and P . S . G . AV . for the province of Hampshire and the Isle of AVight , is a candidate for the School Board in the Central Finsbury District of London . * * * * * Bro . Augustus Harris , wc note , is again to the fore with a happy

inspiration . His suggestions regarding the Lord Mayor ' s Show are excellent and , we believe , will be universally approved by all denizens of this great city . Instead of the ridiculous quasi circus show , of which our Brother Alderman AVhitehead so reasonably disapproves , which on a number of occasions has been paraded

through our streets , causing bronchial danger to lightly clad partakers therein , and physical risk to the enormous crowd of onlookers , should any sudden stampede of wild beasts occur , we think everyone would gladly welcome a strong contingent of the various Metropolitan Volunteer Corps . The suggestion that the volunteers should

be introduced into the civic show undoubtedly ought to be adopted . The old "train bands" centuries ago were the progenitors of the force now called " volunteers . " They , in their generation , were

honoured and considered in a manner far different to that which obtains for our voluntary soldiers to-day . The time they give and the personal inconvenience they put up with is worth y of much recognition .

A new lodge , ' The Eden , " No . 2285 , is to be consecrated shortly at AVorthington , in the Province of Cumberland and Westmoreland . * * * * * At the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Freemasons , held at Gateshead on 2 nd October last , two objects of local

and masonic interest attracted the attention of those present . The chair , Avhich was occupied by Bro . Sir Hedworth AA illiamson , Avho presided , belonged to the Lodge of Industry , 18 , and is the identical chair that was used by the Duke of Sussex , Grand Master of the Free and Accepted Masons , when he laid the foundation stone

of our Literary and Philosophical Institution in September , 1822 . The other object of interest was a sword—that carried b y the Grand Sword-Bearer—M hich had been used by one of the famous Bow Street runners , and the history of which , it was stated , could be traced back to the time of " Good Queen Bess . "

Our Exchanges.

Our Exchanges .

THE MASONIC ALMS-CHEST . Ours is a charitable institution . Like other benevolent societies , it has a treasury and a Treasurer , but its deeds of charity are by no means to be measured by the amount paid out of the treasury . Far from it . AVhen it makes a man a Mason , it makes an alms-chest of his bosom , and it gives to every other brother throughout the world a key to it . AVhen a brother dies he leaves this golden key to his

Avidow and orphans . Silently are these alms-chests unlocked . The world hears not the lid creaking upon its hinges . Here are found not gold and silver alone , but what is sometimes a great deal more valuable—a smile of sympathy , a note of timely warning and a word of cheering encouragement—the aid of a friend when such is needed and deserved .

There is no such other alms-chest of human construction , fastened with one lock , to which there are ten thousand keys iii every part of the world . This is the grand distinguishing characteristic of this Fraternity , Avherein it differs from all other charitable societies of origin . —Masonic Advocate .

COSTS MONEY . Too many Masons arc made without knowing or being informed of what their duties are to the rest of the Fraternity . Yet . however ignorant one may be as to his duties , he certainly does know that it costs money to keep and sustain our organization , and that lie will be expected to contribute his proportion , if he becomes a member ; not simply for his own aggrandisement , nor to increase his

personal popularity , but for the benefit of the Craft in general . Should it be possible that one gains admission to the lodge or chapter who contemplates the basis of Masonry upon dollars and cents , he is a fraud and a liar , and the sooner he is disconnected from the fraternity , if not from all decent society , the better for him and all concerned . —THOMAS J . WILDER , in The Voice of Masonry .

A visiting brother has a right to know that the body he proposes to visit is a legal body , and he has the right to inspect the warrant at the proper time ; but he has no right to put the Lodge or its officers to trouble or inconvenience while at work . The Master Avould be justified in refusing to allow the warrant to be taken out of the Lodge room while the Lodge is at work . —Masonic Review .

An editor who does not mind a joke at his OAVJI expense says he went into a drug store recently and asked for some morphine . The assistant objected to give it without a prescription . " Why , " asked the editor ; li do I look like a man who would kill himself ' I " " I don't know , " said the assistant ; i : if I looked like you I should be tempted . " —Masonic Advoeatc .