Summer Masonry.

SUMMER MASONRY .

A S every year the summer season comes round the cessation £ * - of activity which formerly seemed to come with the close of the winter appears to be less and less marked ; in fact , the Freemasonry of the present day almost seems to enjoy no rest , for while it is true that many Lodges suspend their

meetings m the summer , there are many others now m existence which only meet during the brighter days , and regularly go into recess during the season when their neighbours are most active in the work .

It is not only Private Lodges , however , that provide the work for the active Mason during the summer months . Many of the Provincial Grand Lodges hold their annual Festivals about this season of the year , at a time , in fact , when

travelling from different parts of the county is easier and more enjoyable than during the wet or frost of the winter half of the year , and as in many cases these annual gatherings are held at attractive or interesting centres it not unfrequently

happens they provide very enjoyable holidays for those who are able to participate in them , and hence it is the Masonry of the summer is often felt to be more enjoyable than that of the winter , by reason of the greater variety of the surroundings .

It is early yet , perhaps , to say much of the picnics and summer outings so fashionable now-a-days with Private Lodges , but the number in course of arrangement at the present time is probably greater than at any corresponding

period in the past , and goes far to prove the increased popularity of a feature that , but a very few years back , was regarded as an unwarrantable as . well as a most dangerous innovation . But even Freemasonry is quietly giving way to

fche persistent efforts of those who are striving to put woman on an equality with the sterner sex , or perhaps it is that members of the Craft are to-day more gallant than their

predecessors , many of whom would have looked with horror on any attempt to associate the fair sex with the Order , no matter how little that association might have shown to the visitors the inner work of the Craft .

Consecrations.

CONSECRATIONS .

TRAVELLERS LODGE .

riHHEBE was a large and distinguished gathering at Chester , _ I _ on Saturday , on the occasion of the consecration of the Travellers Lodge , No . 2609 . The new Lodge , which makes the fourth in the city , numbered respectively 425 , 721 , 2386 , and 2609 , has been formed mainly , though not exclusively , for the convenience of commercial travellers who are members of the Craffc .

For the first time in Chester , if not in Cheshire , the consecration ceremony was performed , in the absence of the Eight Worshipful Prov . Grand Master Lord Egerton of Tatton , by Brother E . Letchworth P . G . D . Grand Secretary , who was assisted by Sir Horatio Lloyd P . G . D ., Bros . Eichard Newhouse D . G . S . B . Prov . G . Secretary , the Eev . C . Chetwynd Atkinson

Chaplain , H . Bratt P . G . S . W ., Thomas Shaw P . G . J . W ., H Gordon Small P . G . D . C , and F . Broadsmith P . P . G . E . . '¦ - . *

Consecrations.

Lord Egerton and Sir Horatio Lloyd , the latter at the last moment , were unable to be present , but the attendance was in various respects unique in the annals of local Masonry . Bro . W . Peers P . M . 721 and P . S . G . D . was installed by Bro . Letchworth as the first W . M . of the new Lodge , and he in

his turn invested the following Officers : —Brothers A . Parker I . P . M ., Thomas Owen P . M . of the Fitz-Alan Lodge , Oswestry , and P . P . G . Std . of Shropshire S . W ., Hugh Eoberts P . M . of the Caradoc Lodge ,. Ehyl , ' and P . P . G . Std . of North Wales J . W ., George Baguley Treasurer , W . H . Davies Secretary , F . J . Duck

S . D ., D . P . Morgan J . D ., Eichard Eoberts I . G * ., E . Butterworth Organist , T . Woolliscroft and T . Mayo Johnson Stewards , and H . Doughty Tyler . The founders numbered seventeen , and eight new members —initiates and joining Brethren—were proposed on Saturday .

Southport Council.

SOUTHPORT COUNCIL .

AT the Masonic Buildings , Southport , on Saturday , Bro . C . F . Matier P . D . G . M . Grand Secretary , assisted by Bro . Vincent P . A . G . D . C , and several Grand Officers , consecrated the Southport Council of the Allied Degrees , No . 25 , in fche presence of a large gathering .

United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

THE Quarterly Communication was held on Wednesday , at Freemasons' Hall , Earl Amherst D . G . M . presiding . Nearly a thousand Brethren were present . Earl Amherst , for the Earl of Lathom Pro Grand Master , moved the resolution recording the gratitude of Grand Lodge to the Almighty for having preserved

the Prince of Wales to attain the twenty-first anniversary of his Grand Mastership , and the motion having been seconded by Bro . W . W . Beach , M . P ., Prov . G . M . Hants and Isle of Wight , was carried unanimously .

Bro . Alan de Tatton Egerton , M . P ., was appointed by the Grand Master to the rank of Past Junior Grand Deacon . Bro , Loveland Loveland was reappointed President of the Board of General Purposes , and the Brethren , on the motion of Bro . C . E . Keyser P . G . D ., seconded by Bro . Henry Lovegrove

G . Standard Bearer , voted five hundred guineas to the Endowment Fund of Guy ' s Hospital , on behalf of which the Prince of Wales will preside at the Festival next Wednesday . The other business as set out in the Agenda we published last week was disposed of .

A New Masonic Hall.

A NEW MASONIC HALL .

ON Wednesday , 27 th ult ., the consecration and dedication of a Masonic Hall took place in the picturesque village of Kenagh . The Hall was tastefully decorated with appropriate Masonic emblems . The altar was " presented by Bro . Ambrose

Bole , G . M . L ., in memory of his beloved son , Bro . Samuel Galbraith Bole S . W . 308 , who initiated the formation of a Masonic Lodge in Kenagh . The Master called him 28 th November 1888 . "

The Brethren having taken their seats , the Secretary of Lodge 96 ( Irish Constitution ) Bro . Eobert Wilson addressed the Prov . Grand Master thus :

Eight Worshipful Master , the Brethren of this Lodge , being animated with a desire of promoting the honour and interests of the Freemason Craft in this place , have , at considerable labour and expense , renovated and decorated a Masonic Hall for their

convenience and accommodation . They are most desirous that the same should be examined by this Provincial Grand Lodge , and should it meet with their approval , that it be solemnly dedicated to the purposes of Freemasonry , in accordance with the ancient forms and usages of the Craft .

The P . G . M . having acceded to the request , the consecration prayer was offered up by the Chaplain , and portions of scripture read , after which the Hall was properly dedicated .