Next Week's Elections.

the Institution it should be worth consideration . It would bo a splendid feature to make capital of at the coming Festival , to show that in anticipation of tbo continued support of the Craft every candidate had been provided for , jind that for the fnturo there was a reasonable prospect of meeting claims as they arose .

With so few to be left out after the polling of Thursday next , thevo is not much need to analyse the list of candidates for the Girls' School . Naturally additional anxiety must bo felt on account of the eight children who now made their last application , and two others which seora to

call for special notice are Nos . 10 and 17 , each of whom is parentlcss . We hope these may be elected , as also the most deserving of the other candidates , but we also hope that our proposal to admit all as vacancies arise will be considered and ultimately ' adopted .

In the case of the Boys' School , the competition will be very different ; but hero also it is gratifying to find considorably more than half the candidates can be admitted . There are five last applications , No . 2 , H . J . Drewitt ; No . 4 , W . R . Binks ; No . 19 , N . M . Bolsover ; No . 28 ,

C . M . Hitchcock ; and No . 33 , R . A . Bonrdeanx . Of these , the first three have not at present secured much support , their record being 18 , 200 , and 1 G votes brought forward respectively . The lad Hitchcock is much better off in this respect ; he has a record of 1872 votes from the last contest , while the other is a first application case .

Three of the other new cases are parentlcss children , No . 36 , Metcalfe , being one of a family of seven ; No . 37 , Heath one of four ; and No . 44 , Phipps , one of two loft to the care of friends . It would seem specially needful that help should be accorded those poor orphans , although

as we have often pointed out , there may bo others on the list even more deserving of aid . Still , it seems no harder lot could be found for a family of young children than to be left parentlcss , with no proper provision for their maintenance , education and fair start in life , and

if the Masonic Order can only take these three candidates under its care at the coming election it will , without a doubt , have added one other to its already long list of favours conferred on the growing generation . We regret

that so many must go away from the Boys' election next Friday short of the privileges they seek , but let us hope that in each and every unsuccessful case there will be a possibility of further trial , with the ultimate reward of success .

Boys' School Management.

BOYS' SCHOOL MANAGEMENT .

THE PROVISIONAL COMMITTEE AND THEIR CENSORS .

IT is with something akin to " bated breath and whispering humbleness " that we venture to notice the article under this heading in last week ' s number of a contemporary . Fierce and unmeasured as were the denunciations hurled at the preceding administration of the

School , it is now regarded as little less than hardihood and ingratitude to criticise inquiringly , or to draw attention , however mildly , to statements of accounts set forth as unquestioned facts and purporting to bear the imprimatur of a " Chartered Accountant , " verified by a "Finance

Committee "—the accuracy of which ia vaunted in contrast to those published under the sanction of the old " Audit Committee . " It is difficult to gather who , or which , is to be held in the main responsible for the Balance-sheet and Accounts of the year 1890—the " Chartered Accountant "

or the " Finance Committee . Which of the twain is itwhether the dog wags the tail , or the tail waga the dog ! There was no donbt on this point under the old system , and whatever cavil could be made against the manner in which the accounts were then presented , there has never

been substantiated any allegation against the matter as regards accuracy . This " accuracy , " be it remembered , was more than vindicated by tho result of an unprecedented examination of eighteen months' accountsalready audited and vouched for — by a "Chartered

Accountant and his staff , ' who vainly sought for , but could not discover , error , malversation or wrong , and found themselves compelled to certify to that effect .

" Milk " may have its ludicrous surroundings and associations , but an erroneous account ia equally erroneous , whether associated with lacteal matter or any other item of more or less important expenditure , and we

Boys' School Management.

shall not be deterred from drawingattention to discrepancies or to point out attempts at misrepresentation from any fear of " ridicule , " which may probably more closely be allied

with those who , from their assumed lofty standpoint , feel themselves justified in charging us with " temerity" in discharging what we conceive to be a duty . We are not " partisans " in any sense—wo are lovers of fair play .

We may have occasion to recur to this and cognate matters in connection with the Institution , not omitting the improvement claimed in the Educational Department .

and in tho general demeanour , & c . of the boys . On these subjects , so closely dependent on a Head-Master and his staff , reference is invited to the Report of tho " Committee of Investigation . "

Bro . James Terry P . G . S . B ., Secretary Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , will rehearse the ceremonies of consecration and installation in the Hornsey Lodge of Instruction , No . 890 , on Thursday , the 16 th inst ., at

7 p . m ., at the Masonic Rooms , White Hart Hotel , High Street , Lewisham , S . E . Brethren are to attend in morning dress with Craft clothing . A large attendance of the Craft is anticipated , and tho occasion ia likely to prove of great interest .

From latest advices wo are able to report that Bro . John Lane , of Torquay , is rapidly improving . The dangerous symptoms have left , and Bro . Lane ' s doctor anticipates that a few days more will see our good friend at his post again .

Early next month the Provincial Grand Master of Cheshire ( Lord Egerton of Tatton ) will consecrate the Avondale Lodge , No . 2389 , at the Town Hall , Middlewich . This will make the number of Lod ges in Cheshire 44 .

The first W . M . of the new Lodge will be Bro . John Plant , Bros . R S . Cross S . W ., and Peter Hancock J . W . His lordship will be assisted by Bros . Sir Horatio Lloyd D . D . M ., James Salmon P . G . S . W ., J . Clayton P . G . J . W ., and other Provincial Grand Officers .

On Tuesday , 24 th ult ., Bro . J . B . Groom was installed as Worshi pful Master of the Robinson Mark Lodge , No . 255 . The interesting ceremony was admirably performed by Bro F . W . Wright P . M . P . P . G . J . W . Secretary . His delivery of the various charges was worthy of the best traditions of the Order .

At the Masonic Hall , Driffield , on Wednesday afternoon , Bro . C . Gray P . P . G . S . B . ( Bridlington ) was installed W . M . of the Drifelt Mark Lodge , 291 , by Colonel B . G . Smith Deputy Prov . Grand Master , after which the following were invested as Officers : —Bros . W . Highmoor I . P . M ., J . Rennard S . W ., Jos . Kirby J . W ., J . Moore M . O .,

Overend S . O ., J . Elgey P . M . Treasurer , Potts P . P . G . S . B . Secretary , Jno . Dunn P . M . P . P . G . St . B . Dir . of Cers ., R . Featherston Tyler .

The Medway Lodge of Freemasons have arranged for a ball in aid of the Masonic Charities , to be held at tho Public Hall , Maidstone , on the 14 th inst . The affair is under the immediate patronage of the Prov . Grand Master and Deputy Prov . Grand Master of Kent . Masonic cloth , ing will be worn , and the band of the Royal Engineers is engaged .

Bro . James Stevens was appointed to deliver a second portion of his lecture on the Ritual and Ceremonial of Symbolic Freemasonry last evening , in the Priory Lodge of Instruction , No . 1000 , at Southend-on-Sea . A report will appear in our next issue .

Mount . Sinai Lodge ( Penzance ) find their Lodge-room too small . Directly over it is the more spacious museum of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society . The Lodge desires an exchange of apartments with the Society , offering to defray the cost . The council of the latter , seeing that the Lodge-room and an

antechamber are as well lighted and have as much wall space as the present museum , consent to the change on certain conditions , one of which is a payment of £ 5 , presumably to open a central window in the Lodge-room , which is now blocked , and is part of the background of the W . M . ' chair .