Whitsuntide Railway Facilities.

THE Groat Western Railway Company announce that an Excn-sion to Gloucester , Cardiff , Newport , Swansea , New Milford , Waterford , and other stations in South Wales and the South of Irelaud will be run on Friday , 11 th May , and that a fast Excursion train for the VVest of England will loavo Paddington at

7 * 55 a . m . on Saturday , 12 th May , reaching Exoter m 5 J hours and Plymouth in 7 } hours . Excursions will also be run on the same day to Bath , Bristol , Dorchestor , Weymouth , Worcester , Malvern , Hereford , Oxford , Leamington , Birmingham , Wolverhampton , Shrewsbury , Chester , Liverpool , Manchester , & o . Return tickets at 25 / - will also be issued to Guernsey and Jersey

On Whit Sunday a cheap train will run to Swindon , btroud , Gloucester and Cheltenham , loaving Paddington at 8 . 20 a . m . At Midnight on Sunday an Excursion for 1 or 5 days will leave Paddington for Oxford , Birmingham , Wolverhampton , Ac . On tho Bank Holiday , cheap trains will be run to Reading , Bath , Bristol , Stroud , Gloucester , Cheltenham , & c .

Excursions will bo run to London from most of the principal stations , and cross country trips have also beon arranged . Cheap tickets are now issued daily from London and many suburban stations to Staines , Windsor , Taplow , Maidenhead , Henley , Goring , Wallingford , and other riverside resorts . These tickets can be obtained throughout tho Whitsuntide Holidays , and in fact during the wholo of the Summer months . _

To meet tho expocted additional traffic by the ordinary trains on Saturday , 12 th May , tho Company will run in duplicate , the 3 . 0 , 5 . 0 and 9 . 0 p . m . trains from London to tho West of England , and tho 12 . 0 noon , 3 . 15 and 9 . 15 p . m . trains to Weymouth , Heroford aud South Wales ! Tho first portions of the 5 . 0 and 9 . 0 p . m .

trains will leave Paddington at 4 . 55 and 8 . 55 p . m . respectively , but the first parts of tho other trains will leave at tho advertised times , and the second a few minutes afterwards , tho long distance passengers being as far as possible taken in the first portion , but with a few exceptions both trains will stop at tho advertised stations to take up and set down passengers .

Ordinary and Excursion tickots aro issued at the Company ' s Oity and West-end Offices , viz .: —193 and 407 Oxford Street ; 181 Tottenham Court Road , W . ; 23 New Oxford Street ; Cambridge Circus , Shaftesbury Avenuo , W . C . ; "Tho Piazza , " Covent Garden ; 269 Strand ; 26 Regent Street , Piccadilly Circus ; 29 Charing Cross ; 17 Brompton Road ; Holborn Circus ; Minories ( opposite

Goodman's Yard ); 5 Arthur Street East , London Bridge , E . G . ; 82 Queen Victoria Street ; 67 Gresham Street ; 4 Cheapside ; and at theL . B . and S . C . Company's Excursion Office ( under Grand Hotol ) , Trafalgar Square . Tickets can also be obtained at Victoria , L . O . and D . Railway ; Kensington ( Addison Road ) ; Uxbridgo Road ; Hammersmith , and other stations .

The booking officos at the Paddington Station will bo open all day on 9 th , 10 th , 11 th and 12 th May , so that passengers wishing to obtain tickets for any destination on the Great Western Railway can do so at their convenience . Ordinary tickots will bo dated to suit the convenience of passengers .

o o o THE London and North Western Company announce that the Ticket Offices at Euston , Broad Street , Kensington , and Willesden Junction will be open throughout the day , from Monday , 7 th May , to Whit Monday , 14 th May inclusive , so that Passengers wishing to obtain tickets for any destination on tho London and North Western Railway can do so at any time of the day prior to the starting of the trains .

Tickets , dated to suit the convenience of passengers , can be obtained at any time ( Sunday and Bank Holidays excepted ) at the town Receiving officos of the Company : —Cross Keys , 1 Wood Street , Cheapside , E . C . ; 15 Queen Street , Cheapside , E . C . ; 22 Aldersgate Street , E . C . ; 8 and 9 Clerkenwell Green , E . C . ; Swanwith-Two-Necks , 65 Gresham Street , E . C . ; 30 West Smithfield ,

E . C . ; Bolt-in-Tun-, 64 Fleet Street , E . C . ; Palmer ' s , 79 Knightrider Street , E . C . ; Spread Eagle , 3 Whittington Avenue , Leadenhall Market , E . C . ; 13 Eastcheap , E . C . ; 116 Holborn , E . C . ; George and Blue Boar , 285 High Holborn , W . C . ; Atlas Office , 167 Tottenham Court Road , W . C . ; Golden Cross , Charing Cross , W . C . ; 70 St . Martin ' s Lane , W . C . ; 43 New Oxford Street , W . C . ; 3 James Street , Covent Garden , W . C . ; Spread Eagle Universal Office , Piccadilly

Circus , W . ; 34 Pahament Street , Westminster , S . W . ; Hotel Windsor , Victoria Street , S . W . ; Griffin ' s Green Man and Still , 241 Oxford Street , W . ; 496 Oxford Street , W . ; 231 Edgware Road , W . ; Lion , 108 New Bond Street , W . ; The Eclipse , 169 B Fulham Road , S . W . ; 33 Hereford Road , Bayswater , W . ; 34 Albert Gate , Knightsbridge , S . W ., & c , & c , at the same fares as at Euston Station .

On Friday , 11 th May , a special train will leave Euston Station at 6 . 25 p . m . for Holyhead and Ireland ; a Special train will leave Manchester ( Exchange ) at 12 * 55 p . m . and Liverpool ( Lime Street ) at 1 . 5 p m . for Rhyl and Llandudno . On Saturday , 12 th May , a Special train will leave Willesden Station at 2 . 57 p . m . for Bletchley , Wolverton , Bliswonh , Weedon ,

Rugby , principal stations on Trent Valley Line , and Stafford ; a Special Express train will also leave Euston Station for Birmingham at 4 . 25 p . m . ; a Special train will leave Manchester ( Exchange ) at 12 . 55 p . m . for Rhyl and Llandudno ; and Relief trains will leave Birmingham at 2 . 8 p . m . and 4 . 8 p . m . for Coventry , Rugby , and Northampton , and passengers for those places will not bo conveyed by the 2 . 0 p . m and 4 . 0 p . m trains , respectively .

On Whit Monday , 14 th May , the 4 . 30 p . m . train from Euston Station to Birmingham , Wolverhampton , Walsall , & c , will not run . Passengers will be conveyed by the 5 . 0 p . m ., except those for Peterboro' Line , Market Harboro' , Melton Mowbray , Nottingham , and the Great Northern Line , who on this date will travel by the 3 . 15 p . m . train from Euston ; the 8 . 10 a . m . train , Wolverhampton to London , will not run . On Whit Monday , 14 th May , numerous residential trains will not be run . The Company also announce that they will run Excursions to

Whitsuntide Railway Facilities.

and from London , Birmingham , Wolverhampton , Leamington , Covontry , Walsall , Leicester , Macclesfield , Stoke , Stono , Liverpool , Manchester , Chester , North Wales , Shrewsbury , Hereford , Oswestry , Proston , Wigan , Blackpool , Morecambe , Carlisle , the Lake District , Excursions will also bo run from London aud other principal towns to Scotland and Ireland for the Whitsun Holiday week .

o o o rpHE Loudon , Chatham , and Dover Company ' s Whitsun 1 Programme includes a variety of Cheap Bookings and Excursions . Cheap Return Tickets will be issued on Friday and Saturday before Whit-Sunday , from London to Margate , Rarnsgate , Deal and Dover , and other places , available to return up to and

including Wednesday , 16 th May . Day Excursions will be run on Whit-Sunday and Monday , from Holborn Viaduct and Victoria to tho principal Kentish Watering Places . Those desiring to visit tho Crystal Palace on Whit-Monday will find ample accommodation in the shape of special trains to convey them to the High Level Station .

The special facilities for passengers to the Continent are this year more numorous than ever . Fourteen day excursion tickets will be issued from Victoria and Holborn , to Paris and Brussels , via Dover and Calais , by the night mail service , and the Company ' s newest

boats " Empress " or " Calais-Douyres " aro announced to cross on 11 th and 12 th May . Other cheap tickets to the Ardennes , also to Brussels ( via Ostend ) , to Calais , and tho principal towns in Holland aro announced .

Those desirous of visiting the Antwerp Exhibition can obtain return tickets , via Queenboro' and Flushing , available for 30 days , at very low rates . All these tickets enable the holder to return on any day within the period of validity by fast services .

It may not be out of place to mention here that the services by the Queenboro' and Flushing route have , from the 1 st May , been greatly accelerated , especially in the homeward direction . The through fares have lately been reduced , and new tickets added to meet tho increasing demands of the travelling public . The splendid

paddle vessels of tho Zeeland Steamship Company running from Queenboro' to Flushing aro too well known to need any descripton , and passengers crossing by these boats will not fail to observe their smooth and steady running , ensuring as it does the best guarantee against sea sickness .

Perseverance Chapter, No. 300.

PERSEVERANCE CHAPTER , No . 300 .

npHE most interesting feature in connection with the meeting of JL this Chapter , which- was held at tho Pitt and Nelson Hotel , Ashton-under-Lyne , on Tuesday , the 17 th ult ., was the balloting for and exaltation of Bros . Joseph B . Pownall S . W ., Henry Shaw S . D ., Thomas Cook , John Pollitt , and Georgo H . Coop , all members of the Fidelity Lodge , No . 430 .

The whole of tho ceremonies were performed in a remarkably careful and finished manner by Companion R . Gornall P . Z . P . Prov . G . P . S ., who had travelled from Blackburn for the purpose .

After the close of tho Chapter , which occurred rather late in the evening , the Companions sat down to a substantial supper , this being followed by the usual festive board . Besides those above mentioned , and others whose names our

representative did not obtain , there wero present : —Companions John Preece Z ., Alfred D . Rayner S . E ., Joseph Leech S . N ., S . Newton Prin . S ., F . W . Bromley P . Z ., Thos . T . Broadbent P . Z . Visitors : —Comps . Ernest Moss P . Z . P . P . G . S . B ., and Henry L . Holland . o o o

Royal Edward Encampment, K.T.

ROYAL EDWARD ENCAMPMENT , K . T .

AFTER several years of inertia , this Encampment , which formerly had a very active existence at the Astley Arms Hotel , Dukinfield , Cheshire , has lately been resuscitated , principally by the efforts of Bro . John Clayton , a former Eminent

Preceptor thereof , and P . G . J . W . of Cheshire in the Craft Degree . He got together a few Sir Knights of neighbouring Encampments and with their assistance a meeting of emergency was called and preliminaries arranged and settled . The first regular meeting was held at the above hostelry on Tuesday , the 24 th ult .

Those present were : Sir Knights Jno . Clayton P . E . C ., Richd . Newhouse P . E . C ., H . Gordon Small , Geo . Sam Smith E . C . Pr . G . Swd . B . ( Lanes . ) , Allen Shaw Capt . of the Guard , A . W . Siddall P . E . C . P . G . A . ( Lanes . ) , Fred . N . Lowenson Pr . Chancellor

Grosvenor , Robt . W . Bourne , Grosvenor and Alpass , G . H . Brown Grosvenor and Jacques de Moloy , Walter Newton P . E . P . Loyal Volunteers , Jas . Andrew St . Josephs , Alfred Clayton Captain of the Guard , F . W . Bromley P . E . P . Loyal Volunteers , and others .

The Warrant is a small and unpretending document , bearing date 1806 , but of this we may be enabled to say more upon a future occasion . Business commenced at an early hour of the afternoon , and consisted principally in the appointment of Officers , Sir Knight Clayton being inducted into the position of P . E . C . in the usual manner .

A very excellent banquet was provided by Host Alfred Barret , and after several Loyal and other toasts had been honoured tho meeting was brought to a close .

o o o Bro . Thomas Sims , who has been manager for 25 years in the Masonic department of the firm of Messrs . Edward Stillwell and Son , has left that iirm , says the " Draper ' s Eecord , " and has taken offices at 75 Little Britain , E . C .