Tasmania.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

he annual installation of Officers of the Tasmanian Operative Lodge No. 345 I.C. (the oldest Lodge in the colony) took place in the Masonic Hall, Hobart, on the evening of January 28, when there was a very large muster of members and visitors. Amongst the Past Masters who occupied seats on the dais were Bros, the Hon. Adye Douglas (Premier and Chief Secretary of Tasmania) and the Hon. W. H. Burgess (Colonial Treasurer). Bro. W. Conway, W.M. of St. John's Lodge 346 I.C., Launceston, officiated as Acting Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies. The Lodge having been opened in due form by W.M. Bro. J. Stump, the ode "Hail, Eternal, by whose aid" was rendered by the choir. At 8 p.m. the R.W. Provincial Grand Master (Bro. Harry Conway) was announced, and entered attended by the officers of Provincial Grand Lodge, all in full regalia. Next came the R.W. District Grand Master of Tasmania, E.C. the Rev. R. D. Poulett-Harris, attended by a number of his officers. The Chair was taken by P.G. Master Bro. Conway, and Bro. J. Bidencope having been presented as the Worshipful Master Elect, was then installed in due form as Master of the Tasmanian Operative Lodge, 345 I.C. Subsequently the following brethren were invested as officers of the Lodge for the ensuing Masonic year:—S.W., Bro. G. Judge; J.W., Bro. C. G. Eady; Treasurer, Bro. B. Webb; Secretary, Bro. S. Rheuben; S.D., Bro. J. W. Watchorn; J.D. Bro. Stabb; Director of Ceremonies, Bro. Stewart; I.G.,Bro. Finlayson; O.G., Bro. Beaumont. The general and final addresses were delivered by D.G.M. (E.C.) the Rev. R. D. Poulett-Harris. At the conclusion of the ceremony Bro. S. Rheuben was presented with a handsome medallion as a slight recognition of his valuable services as Secretary to the Lodge for the last three years. A telegram was read from Bro. Major Aikenhead, W.M. of the Lord Wolseley Temperance Lodge, Launceston, conveying congratulations to the newly installed Master, and apologies for non-attendance were read from several other brethren. The ode "Now the evening shadows closing" was then sung by the choir under the direction of Bro. Steinbach, acting Pro. G. Organist, and afterwards the Lodge was closed in harmony. An adjournment was then made to the banquetting room down stairs, where, at the invitation of the W.M., about a hundred brethren sat down to a sumptuous repast. Toasts and music followed, some excellent speeches being delivered. In the course of some remarks the Pro. Grand Master (Bro. Harry Conway) said he hoped to live long enough to see a Grand Lodge of Tasmania established, and he was in hope of soon celebrating the jubilee of Irish Freemasonry in Tasmania.

The opening of the H.R.A. Chapter at the Forth has been postponed until next month.

A craft Lodge under the Irish Constitution is to be established at Upper Ringarooma during the current month. Masonry is making great headway in all parts of our "tight little island."