190 PAST AND PRESENT OF the sea so that in the fall of 1869 the order was established in Prince Edward Island and in New Brunswick and scarcely a year has since passed that has not seen a substan¬ tial increase. There are now eighty-two sub¬ ordinate lodges in this jurisdiction, which comprises the three maritime provinces, with a membership of 7,148, besides thirty-four Rebekah lodges, with a membership of 1,462 sisters. The introduction of the order into this province took place fifty years after the first lodge was started on this continent. The year 1869 was also made memorable from the fact that the Sovereign Grand Lodge met ih annual session in Sart Francisco, be¬ ing the first organized body to cross the continent to the Pacific by rail. St. I ^awrence Lodge, No. 8, was insti¬ tuted on the 13th of October, 1869, at lottetown, Prince Edward Island , by Past Grand Master John Matheson , of New Glas¬ gow, Nova Scotia , on the petition of Messrs. J. P. Irving , J. W. Falconer , W. H. Bar ¬ nard, Andrew E. Patrick and W. B. Allin , who became the charter members of the lodge. The institution took place in a room in the St. Lawrence Hotel, on Water street, where the present Victoria Hotel is now situ¬ ated. Mr. Irving was elected as the first noble grand of the lodge. The first business was to procure a hall or lodge room, which was secured in the Exchange Building, owned by Mr. Peter Hyndman on the corner of Queen and Water streets, but after re¬ maining there for two years the room was found to be unsuitable and the lodge, in the fall of 1871, moved to the "Metropolitan Hall," in the Farquharson Building on Queen street. A code of by-laws was enact¬ ed, paraphernalia secured and the necessary preliminaries to firmly establish the order in Charlottetown were duly attended to. The progress made, however, was not very en¬ couraging, for the membership, on the 31st of December, 1870, only numbered seven¬ teen, but a new interest seems to have taken hold of the brothers after that and the lodge grew rapidly. Grand Master Alexander Robertson , who visited at a regular meeting on October 26, 1874, reported "This lodge is doing well. They have a very fine read¬ ing room in connection with their lodge, which is well attended by the members." The beauties of Odd Fellowship were being better understood and appreciated, the gran¬ deur of the lessons taught by the ritual, the eternal truths or virtues exemplified in the various degrees created a desire to learn more of the mysteries and accordingly a movement was started to introduce the En¬ campment branch of the order here and la Joie Encampment , No. 13, was accord¬ ingly instituted under a charter issued by the Grand Lodge of the United States. In the year 1875 two events of great importance took place. The spirit of our order had invaded the western capital and the following members withdrew from Lodge for the purpose of forming a lodge in Summerside , namely: W. W. Stumbles . S. Keith . Theo. L. Chappelle , R. D. Stair , F. H. Beer and James A. McMur- thy. The lodge was instituted on the 5th of August, 1875, by John C. G. Ellis , district deputy grand master, and was hailed as Prince Edward Lodge , No. 22. The charter is signed by Robert Hockin , grand master, and J. C. P. Frazee , grand secretary. Prince Edward has had its periods of progress and depression, but was always fortunate in hav¬ ing on its roll of members some loyal and true brothers who devoted their best ener¬ gies to its welfare and whose interest never flagged, and so one of the most prosperous lodges in the jurisdiction has been built up