Staffordshire.

STAFFORDSHIRE .

THE Provincial Grand Lodge was held at Hanley , on the 13 th inst ., upwards of 450 Brethren being present , under the presidency of . the Provincial Grand Master the Earl of Dartmouth , who was supported by his Deputy Lieutenant-Col . Bindley and several present and past Officers of the Province . The Provincial Grand Lodge having been opened , the Brethren gave the usual sa ! utes , to the P . G . M ., D . P . G . M ., Grand Treasurer , and other Grand Officers ; and the Secretary read the minutes of the last meeting , held at Walsall .

Letters of apology were read from Colonel Tudor , F . James , and others , after which the roll of Lodges was called , and it was shown that all were represented . Bro . C . A . Newnham Treasurer presented the financial statement , showing that the receipts had been £ 301 12 s 4 d , including a balance of £ 56 3 s Id in hand a year ago ; the expenditure had been £ 228 7 s lid , leaving a balance in hand of £ 73 4 s 5 d . The

amount invested was £ 450 . He also presented a statement of the amounts paid and promised towards the endowment of a perpetual nomination to the Orphan Asylum at Wolverhampton . The amount received in 1895 was £ 295 3 s 6 d and 1896 £ 246 18 s , Which , with promises to the extent of £ 81 7 s 6 d , made a total of £ 623 9 s towards the £ 730 that was required . The financial statement was approved . Bro . Newnham was thanked for his past services , and was re-elected Treasurer .

The-Provincial Grand Master then addressed the Brethren , and proceeded to appoint the following as the Officers of the

year : — Bro . A . Caddick - - - - Senior Warden Major W . Tunnicliff ... Junior Warden Rev . 0 . M . Holden - - ¦ - | -, . . Rev . A . E . Brisco Owen - - - [ Chaplains O . A . Newnham - - - - Treasurer

A . Reeve ----- Registrar Major G . W . Walker ... Secretary George Wormal - - - - ) ~ . _^ James Wearing .... } Senior Deacons J . J . Smith - - - - - )¦_ ... _ .. TO T T w TT—IV Y Junior Deacons Heath »»*""* ^ o ^ u ^

W . J . J . W . - - - / A . Newton - - - - - Superintendent of Works A . Dewsbury - - - Director of Ceremonies George Bott .... Deputy Dir . of Cers . E . B . Devereux ... - Assistant Dir . of Cers . J . M . Willdig .... Sword Bearer

W . fl . Newb " y - - - ' } standard Bearers A . D . Parker .... Organist J . D . Steen .... Assistant Secretary Thomas H . Hamer * Pursuivant

John Forster .... Assistant Pursuivant George Haynes - - - - J . ' KDewes - " - " - I " Stewards W . Webster - - - - E . R . Lane ----- Tyler .

. The business of the Provincial Lodge was then suspended , and the Brethren attended divine service at St . Mark ' s Church , Shelton , the remainder of the business being disposed of on their return , and a banquet following in the evening . The whole of the proceedings were of the most interesting character , and as we are unable to devote the necessary space to fully record them this week we hold over further details until our next issue .

East Lancashire.

EAST LANCASHIRE .

A MEETING of the Provincial Grand Lodge was held on the 13 th inst ., at the Gentlemen ' s Concert Hall , Manchester , there being a very large attendance under the presidency of Colonel Le Gendre ' N . Starkie P . G . W . Provincial Grand Master .

In the absence of Bro . George Mellor P . G . D ., who has recently tendered his resignation on account of ill-health , the duties of Deputy Provincial Grand Master were discharged by Bro . C . E . N . Beswick Eoyds .

On the roll being called it was found that all except two of the Lodges in the Province were represented . The Provincial Grand Treasurer Bro . John Wrigley submitted an abstract of the year ' s accounts , duly audited . It showed that the receipts for the year amounted to £ 832 4 s 2 d

and that the balance handed over to the new Treasurer amounted to £ 298 7 s 6 d , as against £ 405 3 s 9 d at the beginning of the previous year , the diminution in the balance being due to the greater amount ( £ 333 7 s in all ) given during the year to the charities .

The Provincial Grand Secretary Bro . John Chadwick , who is about to retire from that office , presented his seventeenth , and last , annual report . In May 1879 , when he accepted office , there were in the Province 90 Lodges and 4 , 100 subscribing members there

; were now , he reported , 111 Lodges and nearly 5 , 000 subscribing members . During the past year he had visited twenty-one of the Lodges , and had found in all of them due regard to the beautiful ceremonies of the Craft . For thirty-six

East Lancashire.

years he had worked , according to the best of his abilities , for the good of the Province , and he hoped that it might go on as prosperously in the future as it had done in the past . The Provincial Grand Master , on behalf of himself and the Brethren , expressed high appreciation of Bro . Chadwick ' s long

and valuable services , and said he hoped these would be recognised in some tangible form . He referred also to the death of Brother Lancaster Hine , who had been for very many years a tower of strength to the Province and a beacon light for the Masonic body . The Province , the Provincial Grand Master went on to say , was in a flourishing condition , numerically and

otherwise . The Lodges he had consecrated during the year had been founded by men many of whom were of high social position , and in that way , he hoped , the Order was gaining , not only in numbers , but in dignity and in social position . He was delighted to see around him so many men representative of the industrial and social life of this great community . The following Provincial Grand Officers were afterwards

appointed and invested : — Bro .. Dr . D . J . Leech 62 - - - Senior Warden 0 . D . Cheetham 993 - - - Junior Warden Rev . J . W . Challenor 2322 - - ) m , „ i « ii , i Rev . J . H . Latham 2529 - - - / P Iains S . Shorrock 381 .... Treasurer

S . F . Butcher 191 - - - - Registrar G . L . Vaughan 1030 - - - Deputy Registrar Samuel Catlow 116 - - - ) H . J . Cutter 44 - - - - > Senior Deacons Charles S . Allott 1009 - - )

£:&£?&i£2:::}*«***««. H . Lord 325 .... Superintendent of Works James Beardmore 852 ... Director of Ceremonies Eli Winterbottom 1773 ... Dep . Dir . of Ceremonies ' J . O . Witham 215 - •) J . S . Horn 1064 - - - f- Assistant Dirs . of Cers .

H . Walmsley 317 - - - ) W . Halstead 1948 - - - - Sword Bearer R . H . Phillips 348 ... Deputy Sword Bearer James Hopkinson 1392 - - . I „ , ¦ ; . , . . R . Whitworth 854 - - - - Standard Bearers

John Miles 1723 ... . Organist Sergeant Searle 633 ... Pursuivant T . H . Hamer 283 - Assistant Pursuivant 0 . W . Godby 1077 - - - - \ . T . TTnldfin inm . . . _ 1

J . Garside 317 - - - - Stewards a . V . Blakie 152 - . - . h

Thomas Threlfall 1773 - - - George W . Davies 1459 - - - J E . H . Flower 999 ... Tyier .

xt was announced tnat the post of Deputy P . G . Master , vacant by the resignation of Brother George Mellor , had been offered to , and accepted by Bro . C . E . N . Beswick Eoyds , who is to be installed at a meeting to be held in November next , or on some other suitable occasion .

After some further business , including the question of a tangible recognition of the services of the retiring Provincial Grand Secretary , had been disposed of , the Lodge was closed .- ^' " Manchester Guardian . "

The annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Essex is arranged for the 15 th July next , and will be held at Maldon . o o o The installation meeting of the St . John Lodge , No . 1343 '

was held on Wednesday , at the Masonic Hall , Grays ; when Bro . Charles Westwood W . M . installed Bro . F . W . Polling as his successor . We have a report of the meeting for next week .

Brother Charlie Woods W . M . of the Duke of Fife Lodge presided at its regular meeting on Wednesday , when a considerable amount of business was disposed of . A report , for which we have no space this week , will appear in our next issue .

We are very pleased to see that the Boys School Scholarship Fund has received the support of the Province of Kent , which , gives fifty guineas ; and Staffordshire , from which county ten

guineas has been donated . The fund continues to grow—some » what slowly , some will say , but none the less surely , and we think it is as well it should be so , else the funds of the School itself might suffer .

On the 10 th June a festival is to be held at Gainsborough , on the occasion of the dedication of the new Masonic Lodge quarters , the old suite of rooms having been destroyed by fire .

Lord Yarborough Provincial Grand Master of Lincolnshire has promised to attend , says the " Nottingham Guardian , " with the Deputy Provincial Grand Master Bro . Sissons , and a number of distinguished Brethren in the Provinces .