JAMAICA MASONIC BENEVOLENCE. THE purposes of this Institution are "the relief of necessitous and impoverished members of the masonic order, their widows, orphans or other dependent relatives, by weekly, monthly, or yearly allowances; by donations; by the granting to them of clothing, food or implements of workmanship; by providing education for their children; by aiding in their passage from the island; or by such other charitable means as may come within the scope and objects of the Association." The funds are raised by voluntary donations and by annual subscriptions from Lodges and Chapters and from individual Masons and others; and include collections made at masonic banquets and the proceeds of concerts, bazaars, dramatic and other entertainments. The funds and general affairs of the Association are under the control and direction of a Board of Directors consisting of the Presiding Officers of the District Grand Lodges of England and Scotland in the island and their deputies; the Presiding Masters and immediate Past Masters of the Subscribing Lodges, and twenty-four Master Masons annually elected from amongst the subscribers. Every subscribing Mason of one pound or more per annum is entitled to vote for the members of the Board of Directors and to all the other privileges of membership. A report of the transactions of the Association is annually prepared by the Directors and distributed amongst the Lodges and individual subscribers to the Fund; but the names of the recipients of charity are not included in such report. Particulars in this regard are only furnished confidentially to individual subscribers or to Subscribing Lodges on application to the Treasurer. In cases of emergency the President (and in his absence from Kingston a Vice-President) is empowered to dispense in charity any amount not exceeding five pounds. The grants to distressed Brethren and to the Widows, Wives and Children of Masons during the years 1888 and 1889 amounted to £63. The working expenses, including stationery, printing, postage, &c., amounted to £1 12s. 6d., making a total expenditure of £64 12s. 6d., leaving a balance on 31st December, 1889, of £573 11s. 8d. Of this amount £500 are in Government Debentures at 4 per cent., £71 8s. 2d. in the Government Savings Bank at 3 per cent. and £2 3s. 6d. in the hands of the Treasurer. BOARD OF DIRECTORS. The Right Wor. Bro. J. C. Macglashan, District Grand Master for Jamaica, President. Wor. Bro. J. L. Ashenheim dents. The Wor. Bro. W. L. Mudon, Treasurer. Bro. E. J. Sadler THIS Useful Institution was founded in 1876, upon the suggestion of Mr. W. C. Wright, and through the indefatigable exertions of Mr. B. A. Franklin. The object for which it came into existence, and in the promotion of which it continues with increasing success, is to provide medical attendance and good medicine for the respect able working classes of Kingston and for persons who are unable, out of small and precarious incomes, to pay the fees ordinarily charged by Doctors. Mr. Franklin's attention having been drawn to the necessity of affording in the hour of sickness such aid to these honourable members of society as would save them from pauperism and restore them at one and the same time to health and independence, his energies were immediately thrown into the work with a zeal which bore down all obstacles. After encountering a succession of serious discouragements, he obtained the co-operation of the conductors, managers, foremen, &c., of thirty-four of the leading firms in the city, and within three months he enrolled the names of 1,702 members of the proposed Dispensary. Then Clergymen and other gentlemen of influence were invited to assist in drawing up by-laws, and a subscription list was opened for the foundation fund, the interest of which it was intended to appropriate to the payment of the fees for a certain number of deserving poor persons. The Directors of the Dispensary were selected from among the Magistracy, Clergy and Heads of Public Departments, who alone are eligible for the Directorate. The endowment from the public, in subscriptions and donations, amounted to about £400, and this sum was invested in house property, No. 4 Heywood-street. Dr. Croskery was elected by the Directors as Medical Officer and entered without delay upon the discharge of his duties at a salary of £300 per annum. The entrance fee for members was fixed at four shillings, the weekly contribution at threepence, and children under two years of age, the offspring of married parents, were admitted free. It was soon discovered, however, that in many cases the membership was merely nominal. Large numbers of those who had been eager for enrolment never paid the entrance fee, and equally large numbers fell quickly into arrears. At the end of the first year, during which 588 members were attended and 2,775 prescriptions were given, the total bona fide membership was only 551. Even this result indicates the immense good derivable by the city from the Institution. Certain changes were made, reducing the expenses of the Dispensary; and the Doctor consented to receive remuneration on the basis of the actual number of members in good standing; this arrangement has long since however been altered and the Medical Officer now receives a salary of £330 per annum, including supply of medicines. The entrance fee was also reduced to one shilling. At the close of 1880 Dr. Croskery tendered his resignation on removal to Demerara, and Dr. A. H. Cotter was elected in his place in December of that year. He was succeeded on his death in 1883 by Dr. James Ogilvie. The membership stood at 300 in December, 1880, and in June, 1892, it numbered 1,539, being an increase of 104 on the previous year. The visits to patients during the last two years were as follow:— The above statistics indicate the increased usefulness of the Dispensary. The financial condition of the Institution to 30th June, 1892, was very satisfactory. The receipts during the year had reached £2,071 Os. 9d. (including £1,190 Os. 9d. brought down from the previous Annual Report.) The salaries of the Medical Officer, Clerk, and Collector amounted to £578 5s. 1d. and the other charges amounted to £500 15s. 11d. The balances in favour of the Society at the end of the year were £18 14s. 2d. in the Colonial Bank and £423 5s. 7d. in the Government Savings Bank, bearing interest at three per cent., and £550 5s. Od. in Island Debentures, bearing interest at four per cent., making a total credit of £991 19s. 9d. The Directors having obtained D'Espinose's Bequest of £2,000, which yields £60 per annum, they have been enabled to render aid to 60 free recipients, nominated by the Trustees of the Trust, namely, Bishop Nuttall, Bishop Gordon (the successor of the Right Reverend Father Porter) and Miss D'Espinose, the Executrix of the estate. Further, from the growing resources of the Institution provision is now made for the attendance of a qualified nurse in cases of confinement; the nurse holds an order to summon the Medical Officer if complications arise. The sum of £41 98. Od has been expended on this department during the year, being 40 cases by the nurses and of these 9 were attended by the Medical Officer. For the six years during which this scheme has been in operation 152 cases were attended by the nurses, and the Medical Officer was called, in complications, upon 46 of these, whilst the outlay has been : Nurses Total £121 12 0 This arrangement, in extending the beneficent work of the Dispensary, has increased its popularity. The accommodation for members, waiting on our Medical Officer have never been satisfactory, and it has been in the mind of the Directors to provide them with more suitable premises. After weary delays and disappointments, the Directors have at last secured a desirable site for the erection of suitable building or buildings, which they hope may take rank among the Public Buildings of the city, assert the permanency of the Institution, afford decent and convenient rooms for its waiting patients, and Medical Officer, and produce revenue also for the charity. The purchases for the site are the blocks Nos. 14 and 16 Duke street, extending to John's Lane. The sum of £425 has been paid towards the total purchase of both places-for £575. There remains £150 to be paid on completion of conveyance of No. 16. MEDICAL OFFICER-Dr. James Ogilvie, F.R.C.S., Edin. Hours of Consultation-From 8.30 to 10 a.m. and from 4 to 5 p.m. THE LADY MUSGRAVE WOMEN'S SELF-HELP SOCIETY. THE Women's Self-Help Society was founded by Lady Musgrave in 1879. It was opened as a Depository by the present Bishop of Jamaica on the 1st May, 1879. The Society has three objects in view. The first is to enable industrious women of all classes to help themselves and others by providing a sale room for all kinds of work, especially those calculated to develop the small industries peculiar to the island, such as work in ferns, lace bark, dagger plant, &c. The Society has been a great boon to many women in reduced circumstances who have to work for their living, but find it difficult to get suitable employment. It also enables other women who do not require the profits of their work for themselves to earn something for charities and philanthropic objects, as well as to raise the standard of work by bringing to bear on it that cultivated taste and artistic grace which is the natural result of a refined education. The second object of the Society is to provide occasional employment to distressed needlewomen by executing orders for plain work for ladies and gentlemen and for servants and working people. A stock of useful clothing for the latter is always on hand and some of the Committee attend at the Depository every Monday morning for the purpose of cutting out work and receiving orders. Orders for this Department are gratefully accepted and a real help to many deserving and industrious persons. The third object of the Society is to teach plain needlework, and the cutting out of garments in a more thorough and systematic manner than is usually possible in schools, where so little time can be devoted to that branch. For this purpose, a lady, already a skilled needlewoman, has been so taught at the Shortwood Training College, that her pupils at the Women's Self Help Society will now be able to compete for certificates, with a view to affiliation with the London School of Needlework in England. The Women's Self-Help Society is now settled in its new and commodious premises at No. 8 Church St. This building is also designed as a memorial of two ladies (who, with Lady Musgrave, were its original founders) Mrs. Charles and Mrs. Duncan Campbell. Lady Musgrave and Lady Norman are also represented in the new premises, by having each a room named after them: the former, the Committee, and the latter, the Work Room. The Campbell Memorial Building has cost nearly £900; of which more than twothirds has been collected. Any further contributions will be gratefully received by the Treasurer or Secretary. The great Exhibition of Jamaica held last year, in which the Women's Self-Help Society had a tastefully arranged Court, has served to make its objects better known as well as to extend its sales, not only of the graceful and delicate fern, dagger plant and lace bark work, but also of the preserved, pickled and candied fruits, peculiar to the West Indies, if not to the Island of Jamaica. A sister Society, bearing the same name, and having similar objects, has been started at the North Side of the Island, having its head-quarters at Montego Bay. The ladies of the Committee pay an annual subscription and a few friends of the Society make periodical donations. With these exceptions the Society is self-supporting. Depositors pay a fee of 2 a year and are also charged 1d. in the pound for commission on articles sold. COMMITTEE: PATRONESSES-Lady Musgrave, Mrs. Gamble and Lady Norman. PRESIDENT-Lady Blake. VICE-PRESIDENTS-Mrs. Nuttal and Mrs. McDowell. TREASURER-Mrs. McDowell. SECRETARY-Miss Burke. In the year 1864 this Institution was established under the patronage of LieutenantGovernor Eyre and Bishop Courtenay, having for its object the providing of accommodation and relief for necessitous men of the Royal and Mercantile Marine. Its President was Admiral Sir James Hope, K.C.B., who distinguished himself as one of its chief supporters. The Vice-Presidents were Commodore Cracroft, R.N., the Hon. Edward Jordon, C.B., and the Hon. L. Q. Bowerbank, M.D. It was governed by a Board of Directors composed of fourteen of the most influential gentlemen of Kingston. The Rev. George Cheyne held the office of Honorary Secretary. The Institution was maintained by annual subscriptions from the merchants and other leading members of the community and for some years prospered. But in the year 1879 it was found that while the contributions received were inadequate for the efficient support of the Home there were no means of preventing defalcations on the part of dishonest inmates and an appeal was made to the Government for aid. A law was thereupon passed by the Legislative Council, Law 30 of 1879, placing the Institution on a more substantial footing than before. A Corporate Body was established for the management of the Institution and the office of Superintendent was created with definite powers. The principle on which Government grants were to be made was laid down to be that of a sum equal to double the total amount of voluntary subscriptions received during the previous year. Since then the Institution has annually received a liberal grant from the Government. The receipts for the 18 months ended 31st day of March, 1892, amounted to £600 14s. 6d. The following are the particulars : On amount of Grant to 30th Sept., 1890 Board of Inmates 80 15 9 Jamaica Permanent Building Society 0 39 600 14 6 This sum with a balance of 93 2 0 brought forward from 30th September, 1890, gave a Revenue of £693 16 6 The expenditure for all purposes during the same period was £646 19s. 8d., leaving a balance of £46 16s. 10d. to be carried to next year. The number of seamen boarded during the eighteen months under review was 236; and the Home afforded sleeping accommodation in 5,295 instances free of charge. £162 6s. 6d. was lodged during the said period by thirty of the inmates for safe keeping at the Home, and withdrawn in small sums as required. The adoption of this principle has been the means of saving those deserving men from the temptations to which they might have been subjected during their sojourn here at the hands of the numerous crimps with which the City is infested. The Directors have succeeded in providing better accommodation for the inmates. Having purchased the premises No. 42 Church Street they have erected thereon suitable buildings at a cost of £1,065, and the same were formally opened by his Excellency Sir H. W. Norman on Thursday the 6th March, 1884. The new Home is calculated to afford accommodation to 20 Seamen and 4 Officers, divided into two classes, first and second. DIRECTORS. Hon. Lieut.-Colonel C. J. Ward, C.M.G., Custos of Kingston, Chairman. William Malabre, Esq. Capt. K. H. A. Mainwaring, R.N. Resident Secretary-Mr. D. M. Leon. Hon. George Stiebel, C.M.G. KINGSTON AND ST. ANDREW'S UNION POOR HOUSE. THIS Institution was opened on the 1st July, 1870, and is situated on Admiral's Pen land in St. Andrew adjoining the Girls Reformatory. It is maintained by the poor rates of Kingston and St. Andrew. No person who is capable of earning his or her own livelihood, can be admitted. Orders for admission must be obtained through the Inspector of Poor for Kingston or St. Andrew. The Institution accommodates 200 inmates, and the average cost of each is about 6d. per day, including all expenses, with the exception of medical attendance, the Medical Officers for the two parishes visiting the inmates regularly. The inmates are fed in accordance with a regular diet scale. The clothing is partly made up by the inmates under the superintendence of the Master and the Matron. The Institution is conducted by the Pauper Committees of both parishes. CHAIRMAN-Hon. George Stiebel, C.M.G. MASTER-Joseph Davidson, salary £150. MATRON-Eliza McKillop, salary £58, CLERK-Mr. R. A. Williams, salary £60. GREGORY'S CHARITY. MATTHEW GREGORY, Doctor of Medicine, died December 31st, 1779, aged 86. By Will, dated 22nd March, 1765, he left property to be sold, the proceeds of which were |