Master's Lodge; the Howe Preceptory of Knight Templars; the Temperance
Lodge, No. 739; the Leigh Lodge, No. 887; the Bedford Lodge, No. 925;
the Bedford R.A. Chapter; the Grosvenor Lodge, No. 938; the Grosvenor
R.A. Chapter; the Elkington Lodge, No 1,016; the Elkington R.A. Chapter;
the Fletcher Lodge, No. 1,031; the Fletcher R.A. Chapter; the Lodge of
Emulation, No. 1,163; the Forward Lodge, No. 1,180; the Lodge of
Charity, No. 1,551; and the Alma Mater Lodge, No. 1,644. _At the Masonic
Hall, Severn Street_: The Athol Lodge, No. 74; the Athol R.A. Chapter;
the Athol Mark Master's Lodge; and the Lodge of Israel, No. 1,474. _At
the Great Western Hotel_: The Lodge of Light, No. 468; the R.A. Chapter
of Fortitude; and the Vernon Chapter of S.P.R.C. of H.R.D.M., No. 5. _At
the Holte Hotel, Aston_: The Holte Lodge, No. 1,246.

~Matches.~--Baker's are best, the maker says. Lucifer matches were the
invention of a young German patriot, named Kammerer, who beguiled his
time in prison (in 1832) with chemical experiments, though a North of
England apothecary, Walker, lays claim to the invention. They were first
made in Birmingham in 1852, but they have not, as yet, completely driven
the old-fashioned, and now-despised tinder-box out of the world, as many
of the latter are still manufactured in this town for sundry foreign
parts.

~Mecca.~--The late Mr. J.H. Chamberlain, shortly before his death, said
that he looked upon Birmingham, "perhaps with a foolish pride," as the
Holy City, the Mecca of England; where life was fuller of possibilities
of utility--happier, broader, wiser, and a thousand times better than it
was in any other town in the United Kingdom.

~Mechanical Engineers.~--The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was
organised in this town, in October 1847, but its headquarters were