Presentation To Capt. C. E. Wood.

Presentation to Capt . C . E . Wood .

THE members of the York Lodge , No . 23 6 , on Monday night , 15 th inst ., presented Bro . Captain C . E . Wood , of the York Rifle Volunteers , who served at the front with the Active Service Company of his regiment—the 1 st Batt . Prince of Wales' Own West Yorkshire —with a handsome illuminated address .

The presentation took place at the Masonic Hall , Duncombe Place , York , and was made by Bro . E . Robinson W . M ., who , in an appropriately worded speech , called attention to the fact that Bro . Wood had been at the front fighting for sixteen months for his country . While he had been away he had doubtless passed through

many great dangers , and everyone was pleased that he had returned safe and sound . The W . M . expressed the hope that before long the war would terminate , and that the men with whom we were now fighting would live in perfect friendship with the British people there .

Captain Cecil Wood expressed his thanks for the great honour they had paid him . He referred to the magnificent welcome which York accorded the Volunteers on their return . It was a welcome that was appreciated by every Volunteer . There had been other welcomes of a private nature- —and they were the more difficult to respond to—and that occasion was one of them . He again thanked them most sincerely for their very kind compliment . The inscription of the address was as follows :

To BROTHER CAPTAIN CECIL ERNEST WOOD . We , the Worshipful Master , Wardens and Brethren of the York Lodge of Freemasons , No . 236 , do hereby offer to you our hearty Fraternal greeting on your return to your native land after sixteen months' service with the military forces of the Empire in South Africa , and we desire to express our admiration of the pluck and

devotion toi duty which prompted you to volunteer for active service with the colours in the time of your country ' s need , and to congratulate you upon the efficiency and success with which you have discharged the duties which have devolved upon you . We trust that you may long live to enjoy the honour and distinction you have so well earned . Given at the Masonic Hall , Duncombe Place , in the City of York , on the 15 th day of July A . L . 5901 .

( Signed ) T . C . THOMPSON Secretarj E . S . ROBINSON W . M .. O . G . TAYLOR S . W .

J . . SHANNON J . . The address is illuminated very artistically , and was executed by Bro . J . B . Inglis . It shows at the top Bro . Wood ' s monogram , the York Arms , with the Sword and Mace and Cap of Maintenance , and the crest of the 1 st V . B . ( P . W . O . ) West Yorkshire Regiment . In each corner of the address is a representation of the signs of the

Zodiac , and various Masonic emblems . On one is an illuminated scroll , in which the white rose of York appears , surrounded by laurel leaves , while in the centre is a representation of the exterior of the Masonic Hall , Duncombe Place . At the foot there is a view of the crypt in York Minster , in which the Lodge formerly held their meetings , and there is also a view of me interior of the present Lodge .

Books Of The Day.

BOOKS OF THE DAY .

— : o : — Boski , Huilc , & c . Intended for review , ihould be addreised t * the Edli * r » f the Freemason ' s Chronicle , at Fleet Works , Hen Xiirnet .

Wide World Sea Adventure ( 2 s 6 d ) . —George Newnes , Ltd . THIS is another volume of those excellent stories of adventure which Messrs . Newnes are reprinting from the pages of their own serials . We have read many of them before and are , for that reason , the readier to read them again . We must have a little recreation

during this hot weather , and such yarns as these act as an excellent restorative to the jaded mind . " Round the world in a home-made boat" is a story that many will be glad to meet with once more ; for they will remember how the newspapers recorded , from time to time , many incidents which happened during Captain Slocum ' s wonderful

journeyings . To find the equal of such adventurous enterprises one has to go back to the days of their early reading—the days when Hakluyt and Mandeville and Pinkerton held us spell-bound . There is , however , one item in the volume before us which will perhaps prove of still greater interest to young readers ; for in the story

entitled "How we saw the 'Sea Serpent '" the details are placed so vividly before us that we seem to have beheld the monstrous wriggler ourselves as it lifted its head above the water and drew its vast length across the bows of the vessel . Boys , being reasonable , must have books , and it is as well that their lighter reading should be provided by tlie pens of those who know the great world well , and can write of

its marvels from personal experience . Now Century Library ( 2 S net per vol . ) . —T , Nelson and Sons . The Works of SIR WALTER SCOTT , Bart . Vol . ix ., Ivanhoo . Vol . x ., The Monastery .

To transcribe the title of ' Ivanhoe " is always a pleasure to the reviewer , for there cannot be too many editions of so good a story . It takes us back into the green glades of merry England and among old far-off , forgotten things , and battles long ago . ' We ride down the lists of Ashby-de-la-Zouch , listen to the droll foolerv of Wamba

the jester , find our own fingers in the bowels of the jolly friar ' s venison pasty , help him to quaff the four quarts of wine from his leathern bottle , mingle with Locksley and his archers , and are with them j n Spirit as f ^ Sy storm ti castle of Reginald Front-de-Boeuf . " ' ell , there have been folks who have found Scott dry , but they

Books Of The Day.

usually , we think , make an exception in favour of " Ivanhoe . " The other volume before us , contains a very different class of story , and should be read together with " The Abbot ' which is a sequel to it . Neither the " Monastery " nor the " Abbot " are among the best efforts of Scott ; but the characters of Sir Piercie Shafton and the Glendinnings do much to relieve the former story from dulness . Scott is

almost always in a happy vein when dealing with strongly contrasted characters , and " The Monastery , " which has been thought to run perilously close to dulness , was saved by the introduction of one who is both a pretentious coxcomb and a witty companion . The illustrations facing the title pages of these novels are exceptionally good , and the publishers did well when they decided to add so attractive a feature to the series .

Tales of the Stumps . By Horace Bleackley . Illustrated by Lucien Davis , R . I . and "Rip" ( 3 s 6 d ) . —Ward , Lock and Co ., Limited . IT is hardly necessary to urge people to read about cricket . We all do it , even when we can ill spare the time , for the love of the game is with us from our youth up . Mr . Horace Bleackley writes of the

game as though he loved it , as he probably does . But he understands the game , too , and that is half the battle . We could name a well known critic , an excellent scholar , who sometimes writes about cricket too , and usually succeeds in persuading his readers that it is the one subject concerning which he knows nothing . Mr . Bleackley has played the game first , and written about it afterwards ; moreover , he

seems to have plaved cricket with the ladies , as many of us have done , or how should he so well enter into their peculiar methods when , as Byron puts it , they " together join in cricket ' s manly toil ? " In the match described by Mr . Bleackley the girls were beaten , despite the fact that the men played with broomsticks ; but such is not always the case . The stories " Playing a substitute " and " Out for a duck " are

well worth reading , especially by such as know from experience the pleasures and pains that arise from standing in other men ' s shoes , or from failing to score . We do not care much for the " All England Eleven , for we do not always see the author's joke or seize his point ; but others may be more successful . This is just the book to take on a railway journey , for the sketches are clever and amusing , and the book is light .

BOOKS RECEIVED . The Time of Transition or The Hope of Humanity . By Frederick Arthur Hyndman , B . A . ( Oxon ) , of the Inner Temple , Barrister-at-Iaw ( 6 s ) . —Swan Sonnenschein and Co ., Limited . The Coward . By Robert L . Jefferson . With Frontispiece by

G . Demain Hammond ( 6 s ) . —Ward Lock and Co ., Limited . The Story of King Alfred . B y Walter Besant . With illustrations ( is ) . —George Newnes , Limited .

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