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5 S ATURDAY J ANUARY 26 , 1901 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

There is not much to be added to what we have stated elsewhere on the all-absorbing subject of the death of Her Majesty the Queen . Lodge meetings will of necessity be held on the appointed days , but

for the transaction of business only , and banquets , & c , & c , will be dispensed with for the present . It will also be seen that lodges are requested not to pass votes of condolence with the M . W . G . Master , as United Grand Lodge will at a Special Communication

Masonic Notes.

to be held on a date yet to be fixed , pass such a resolution as representative of the whole English Craft . # * * The Governors and Subscribers of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys will be immensely gratified at the

successful efforts made by the Board of Management to dispose of the estate at Wood Green . It will doubtless be in their recollection that in the published statements of account with which they have been furnished year by year the estimated value of the site and buildings has been set down at £ 30 , 400 ; but the

price agreed to be paid is £ 40 , 000 , or £ 9 600 in excess of the estimated value . It was stated at the recent Quarterly Court that the success of the negotiations was chiefly due to the ability , tact , and judgment with which Bro . Stanley J . Attenborough , honorary solicitor

to the Institution , conducted them , and vn can well believe it . Bro . Attenborough has alw „ ys proved himself to be an able as well as a firm friend of the School , and richly deserves the th' . nUs that ware then unanimously voted him for his services .

» » » Among the many Masonic functions which have been or will be cancelled or postponed in consequence of the death of her Majesty the Queen , are the banquets connected with the meetings of the Empire Lodge , No . 2108 , the Savage Club Lodge . No . 2190 , and the Drury Lane

Lodge , No . 2127 . The Empire Lodge was to have entertained the Lord Mayor ( Bro . Alderman Frank Green , P . G . D . ) and the Sheriffs ( Bros . Alderman W . Vaughan Morgan , Past G . Treasurer , and J . Lawrence ) of London ; while in the case of the

Savage Club and Drury Lane Lodges , though the meetings themselves will be held in order that the W . Masters elect may be installed in office , and the officers for the ensuing year appointed and invested , the customary festivities in honour of these important annual events will not take place .

» * * A second lodge bearing the honoured name of Sir Walter Raleigh , and intended for the convenience of brethren engaged in the tobacco trade , has just been consecrated as No . 28 37 at the Alexandra Hotel , Liverpool , the ceremony being performed by the Earl

of Lathom , Prov . Grand Master of West Lancashire , who was assisted by his Deputy , Bro . Robert Wy lie , P . G . D ., and other officers of his Prov . Grand Lodge . This raises the number of lodges on the roll of the Province to 127 , and we have no doubt that under the guidance of that excellent Mason , Bro . John Houlding , P . S . G . D . of England , ex-Lord Mayor of Liverpool ,

as its first Worshipful Master , the new lodge will find itself well set up at the close of the first and most critical year of its existence . The senior Sir Walter Raleigh Lodge , which ranks as No . 2432 on the register of Grand Lodge , and meets in the London district , was warranted in 18 92 , and is in a very flourishing condition .

* We are greatly indebted to Bro . W . J . Hughan for his very instructive sketch of the progress of English Freemasonry during the 19 th century , his article being all the more valuable from the fact of its being based on official figures . In 1801 there were , on the rolls of

the " Ancient" and " Modern " Grand Lodges , in all 763 lodges registered under the rival Constitutions now there are 2371 lodges , or more than three times as many . But had all the lodges constituted under English warrants remained with us , there would have been certainly over 2800 on the register . Since 1863 ,

when the last closing up of numbers took place , there have been , according to the list in Grand Lodge Calendar for this year , nearly 240 lodges struck from the roll , and we know that on the arrangement of the register after the Union , quite a number of lodges in the

United States , which had been allowed to remain on the " Ancient " and " Modern " registers , but had long severed their connection with us , were erased , and the same thing happened in 186 3 consequent upon the formation , a few years previously , of the Grand Lodge of Canada .

* « * Of the 240 lodges , or thereabouts , that have been removed from the list since 1863 , more than half had their warrants of constitution granted by his Royal Hig hness the Prince of Wales , and the bulk of these will be found on the registersof the newly-formed Grand

Lodges of S . Australia , New South Wales , Victoria , Tasmania , and New Zealand . The 35 lodges which last year formed the Grand Lodge of West Australia have not been formally removed by Grand Lodge , and are , therefore , still nominally on our register . But it will not be long before these disappear , and the number of our lodges in the Colonies and Foreign

Masonic Notes.

Parts will be proportionately diminished . Still , as Bro . Hughan very properly points , out these lodges , in transferring their allegiance to other Grand Lodges , are not lost to Freemasonry . On the contrary , ' as

those brethren who may visit our Australian Colonies will have no difficulty in discovering for themselves , they are very much in evidence , and are as great a credit to our Grand Lodge as if they were still under her banner .

We have received copy of the Report of the Cheshire Masonic Benevolent Institution for the year ended 30 th June , 1 9 , which was presented to the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cheshire at its annual meeting , at Stockport , on the 8 th August , and , from the Treasurer ' s financial statement accompanying itit is clear that the Institution is well established and doing good work .

• » » The income for the year , including a balance of £ 472 from the previous account , amounted to close on £ 806 , of which £ 130 represented donations from lodges and brethren ; £ 81 18 s . subscriptions from lodges in response to a special appeal , and about

£ 118 for interest . The expenditure was a trifle short o £ 162 , of which £ 160 was distributed in annuities to poor old Cheshire brethren and widows . The . invested capital , consisting of various stock of the nominal value of £ 3400 , cost £ 3862 , so that with

further help from the lodges , chapters , and brethren , the Institution will be able to extend its benefits to a greater number . Even as it is , 17 brethren and widows have been assisted , and of these 12 are still on the roll of annuitants . The Chairman of the

Committee of Management is Bro . Col . C S . Dean , S . G . D ., and the Hon . Secretary Bro . Richard Newhouse , P . Dep . G . S . B ., Prov . Grand Secretary . # * # We heartily congratulate Comp . F . G . Swinden , on the recognition he has just received from the

Provincial Grand Chapter of Warwickshire . At the annual meeting in November last , Comp . Swinden , after serving as Prov . Grand Scribe E . for nine years , expressed a wish that he might not be re-appointed to office , and it was there and then resolved to present him with some token , not only in recognition of his long and meritorious services to Royal Arch Masonry in

the Province , but also of the respect and esteem in which he was held by the companions generally . ; A Committee was formed to give effect to this resolution and on Friday , the nth instant , at-a representative meeting at the Masonic Hall , Birmingham , Comp . Beech , Prov . G . H ., on behalf of the Province , made the presentation , which was briefly , but gracefully , acknowledged by Comp . Swinden .

» » * The proceedings at the recent installation meeting of the Derby Allcroft Lodge , which we had the pleasure of reporting last week , were more than usually gratifying , both in lodge and otherwise , and its new Master- — Bro . Nathan Robinson ^ who was installed in office on

the occasion , and who , but for a serious accident , which befel him , would have been installed two months ago , having just celebrated his golden wedding , the brethren considered this a fitting opportunity to evince their respect for him by presenting him with a silver

salver . The ceremony of presentation passed off very happily , and the lodge has the pleasure of knowing that a further addition has been made to the already long list of red-letter days which mark the career of this prosperous lodge .

» * The annual convocation of the Grand Chapter of Pennsylvannia was held at the Masonic Hall , Philadelphia , on Thursday , the 27 th December last , under the presidency of Comp . Michael W . Jacobs , G . H . P . who had the satisfaction of announcing in his address

that the relations with all other Grand Chapters were of the most friendly character . In the course of the proceedings , Past Grand High Priests' jewels were presented to those companions who had served as Grand High Priest , in accordance with a resolution

unanimously adopted at the Quarterly Convocation held in March of last year . Comps . Edward B . Spencer , H . Oscar Kline , and J . Henry Williams were subsequently installed as G . H . P ., Grand King , and Grand Scribe , respectively . • *

According to the Philadelphia Keystone of the 5 th instant , the amount already received in Donations towards the support of the Masonic Home of . Pennsylvania was 7151 dollars Among the principal contributionS are recorded 200 dollars from Bro . Aaron B . Taylor , and a like sum from Oriental Lodge , No . 386 ; 100 dollars from Bro . Charles M . Swain ; and 100 dollars from Bro . J . Oliver Earnshaw .