The Old Rock Lodge, No. 912, St. Helena.

The Old Rock Lodge , No . 912 , St . Helena .

r PHE 40 th annual festival and installation of Worshipful I Alaster and officers of the above lodge took jilace recently amidst as great and rejiresentative a gathering of Freemasons as has ever been recorded in the annals of that lodge . The Worshijiful Alaster elect , Bro . A . Lee Innes , P . M .

of the St . Helena Lodge , was installed by the retiring Master , Bro . G . T . Craik , in the effective way which has become so familiar to the lodge . The Board of Installed Masters was a numerous one , and included Bro . F . Mygand ( a late jirisoner of war ) , also the Worshipful Master of the St . Helena Lodge ,

No . 4 88 . The Worshipful Alaster invested the following o'fficers for the ensuing year : —Bros . G . T . Craik , I . P . M . ; Lieut . J . McCulIough , S . W . ; R . Alarven George , J . W . ; T . Clayton , Treasurer ; A . Godwin , Secretary ; Alajor F . Horniblow ,

Organist ; F . R . Mclntyre , D . of C . ; C . W . Tyler , S . D . ; Arthur W . Pegge , J . D . ; and W . G . Sturgess , I . G . The ceremony over , " hearty good wishes" were tendered b \ r brethren from various jiarts of the world , rejiresenting the English , Scotch , Irish , and Netherlands

Constitutions . Bro . Captain De Witt-Hamer ( a late jirisoner of war ) jireseuted the lodge with a neatly carved charity-box as a small token of his esteem .

THE WORSHU'EUL 3 IASTKII AMI OFFICKRS .

A banquet afterwards took place . After the usual loyal toasts had been dnuik enthusiastically , the Worshipful Alaster proposed the health of the distinguished guest of the evening , Bro . W . Collar , P . S . G . W . of Gibraltar , who replied in a happy strain , expressing the pleasure which the working of the lodge had afforded him .

The health of the newly installed Alaster was proposed by the retiring Worshipful Alaster , who stated that after a successful year of office he gladl y handed over the gavel to Bro . limes , who , as an experienced Past Alaster , would render great service to the lodge and Freemasonry generally . Bro . Innes briefly and feelingly responded .

The health of the visiting brethren was projiosed by Bro . Lieut . J . AlcCullough , S . W ., in a speech brimming with humor . This toast was responded to by Bro . Lieut . Day ( Chaplain R . N . ) , who sjioke with enthusiasm of that beautiful jirecejit of Freemasonry—brotherly lovewhich so suddenly revealed

, itself to him at St . Helena , where he . the least expected it . He said they- were glad to be among the brethren there and to see their zealous work in behalf of the Craft . Bro . Lieut . Day was followed by Bro . General Viljoen ( late jirisoner of war ) , who that evening visited the lodge for

the first time since his arrival in the island . He sjioke with much feeling , and said he never exjiected to meet with such signs of friendshiji as he had received at St . Helena , and attributed it to the fact of his being a member of the Order . He thought that on coming to St . Helena he would be

confined to a living tomb , but to his surprise he found that hands of greeting , of friendshiji , and brotherly love , were extended to him wherever he went—that was Alasonry in its jiurest state . He dwelt long and enthusiastically on the moral benefits derived from Freemasonry , and concluded

bysaying that he but voiced the sentiments of all other Freemasons who were confined at St . Helena or elsewhere in hojiing with considerable certainty that Freemasonry

would be a great factor in bringing about a state of happiness , tranquility , and mutual understanding in South Africa , and would pave the way of progress , enlightenment , and humanity for Briton and Boer alike . Bro . Captain De Witt-Hamer ( a late member of the now extinct Transvaal Volksraad ) spoke in a somewhat similar

strain , and in taking the ojiportunity of saying " good-bye " to the brethren , he expressed a hope that some day he would be able to entertain them in his home lodge with the same feeling of friendshiji as was shown to the Masons who were prisoners of war there—for greater friendship and greater consideration could not have been shown .