At The Sign Of The Perfect Ashlar.

At the Sign of the Perfect Ashlar .

The Earl of Shaftesbury , Provincial Grand Master , presided at the annual Provincial Grand Lodge of Dorset , at Dorchester , on the 20 th November , at which there was a large attendance of brethren from all parts of the country . The Corn Exchange was lifted up for the lodge , and the Town Hall and ante-rooms were utilized for the reception of

the brethren . The Provincial Grand Lodge having been opened , the Rev . T . Russell Wright , acting for the Provincial Grand Chaplain , delivered an able address on " Freemasonry , its past , present and future . " The P . G . Master , in addressing the brethrenexpressed his gratification at seeing so large

, an attendance and at the progress of the Craft in the province , and announced that the next P . G . Lodge would be held at Beaminster . The usual business was transacted , the reports of the Charity Organisation and Dorset Masonic Charity Committees being adopted . It having been

announced that the P . G . Master had consented to preside at the next festival of the R . M . B . I . for Aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons , the lodge voted a grant of 100 guineas to that institution , it being the first occasion on which a Provincial Grand Master of Dorset has undertaken the

duties of Chairman at the festival of one of the three great Masonic Charities in London . Other votes were passed , and the P . G . Master then invested his officers for the ensuing year , and the proceedings terminated .

< 3 > < S > © The annual meeting of the Committee of Benevolence of the Province of Cheshire , was held at Crewe on the 25 th November , Bro . Henry Jackson presiding . The Chairman said he thought they might congratulate themselves on

the very satisfactory condition of their various local institutions . Taking the Cheshire Benevolent Institution , which had only been established eleven years , a further sum of _ £ i 6 oo had been added recently to the fund , making a total investment , of ^ 5400 . Their educational institution was

distributing more for education and clothing than it had ever done . They had an invested fund of ^ 6745 , and with the interest from this and the contribution from brethren and lodges , they were providing education and clothing for 70 children . At the present time the Province of Cheshire

was receiving from the three London institutions a sum amounting to nearly . £ 800 per annum . Bro . Henry Jackson was re-elected chairman of the committee , and Bro . L . Ellis vice-chairman , and Bro . T . H . Annett treasurer . Bro . Sim was re-elected treasurer of the educational institution , and Bro . P . Stevenson hon secretary . Several amendments were made in the by-laws .

© © o In our last issue it was our pleasure to chronicle the consecration of the " University of Edinburgh Lodge . " The addition of this lodge to the roll of Scotch lodges meeting in London has given considerable satisfaction in Scotland , and

at a meeting of Lodge " Cannongate Kilwinning , " No . 2 , at St . John's Chapel , Edinburgh , on November nth , a vote of congratulation was carried and forwarded to the Worshipful Master , Bro . Dr . Armitage , with a pressing invitation for him to pay them a visit on their " Burn ' s " night , which will be held towards the latter end of January .

« 3 > <_» < 3 > A meeting of the committee of management of the Alpass Benevolent Institution , established for the purpose of giving needed aid to the widows of Freemasons in the Province of West Lancashire , was held on the 18 th November , at the Masonic Hall , Hope Street , under the Presidency of W . Bro . Robert Wylie , Deputy P . G . Master . A candidate was elected

on the foundation of the charity , alter which W . Bro . Philip Llojd , P . M . 1356 , honorary secretary of the annual festival recently held at Southport in aid of the funds of the institution , under the chairmanship of W . Bro . W . W . Rutherford , M . P ., P . G . S . W ., reported that up to the present time the net financial result amounted to the sum of nearly £ 1600 , which

formed a record in the history of these annual social gatherings . Cordial thanks were given to W . Bro . Lloyd for his strenuous and self-sacrilicing efforts , which had proved of so much advantage to the funds of this most deserving charity .

« S > « 2 » & The list of donations for the purchase of the Perpetual Presentation to the K . M . I . Girls ( Beach Memorial ) has now been issued , and furnishes a striking example of the liberality of the brethren of the Province of Hampshire . Following as it does so closely on the purchase of a similar presentation for the Boys' School , the result must be extremely gratifying to the Prov . G . Master and all concerned .

< s » <& < s > The whole of the 49 lodges in the province joined in the effort , and were supported by several chapters and Mark lodges , the total amount subscribed being £ 1617 8 s . od ., to which was added ^ 17 19 s . gd ., making a grand total of £ 1035 7 s . od .

i © O © Bro . Sir Henry Truman Wood , whose portrait by Professor Herkomer we have the pleasure to reproduce , has long been associated with Freemasonry . He was initiated Jin 1872 in the Marquis of Dalhousie Lodge , No . 1159 , and was

Master in 1875 . He afterwards joined the Shakespeare Lodge , No . 99 , and served as Master of that lodge , which he represented as a Grand Steward . He was exalted in the

BRO . SIR HENRY TRUMAN WOOD , I' . A . G . II . C ., P . M . !)!) & 1150 . Bard of Avon Chapter , and was one of the founders of Chapter 1159 , of which he was the first Principal . Bro . Wood was , in 1886 , promoted to Grand Office as Assistant Grand

Director of Ceremonies , and subsequently Grand Standard Bearer in the Royal Arch . He is a life Governor of the three Masonic Charities and honorary member of several lodges , including the Garden City Lodge of Chicago , U . S . A . * « s > < s .

The foundation stone of the Liverpool Cathedral will probably be laid with Masonic ceremonial in the spring or early summer of 1904 . Noting this fact in a circular to the brethren of the Province of West Lancashire , the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master , the Earl of Lathom , expresses the hope that as the erection of beautiful buildings