The Girls School Festival.

THE GIRLS SCHOOL FESTIVAL .

THOSE who professed to be able to make a fair estimate of fche total of this year ' s Festival on behalf of fche Eoyal Masonic Institution for Girls found themselves far out of their reckoning when fche result was announced on Wednesday last ,

and nofc only were fche " knowing ones " taken aback , but everyone seemed surprised when Bro . Hedges , after recapitulating the different totals , spoke of yet one other—the far-away Province of Northumberland , and announced amid deafening cheers that

Bro . R . H . Holmes , as representative of that Province , had worked so hard and so well , as to bring up no less a sum than £ 2 , 315 5 s . Amid the bravos that followed this announcement

there was a sigh of relief in the knowledge that the success of the Festival had been secured , but even at this moment we believe there were few who would have backed a total in excess of

£ 14 , 000 , which was generally regarded as the extreme limit likely to be reached by this year ' s Board of Stewards . But the end of the surprises had not been reached , for the Secretary was

able to announce a total of £ 16 , 016 4 s 6 d , with eight lists still outstanding , four of which are those of fche Brethren who represented the far off districts of Egypt , Bombay , the Transvaal and Montreal .

To say that fche large company assembled to do honour to fche Deputy Grand Master as Chairman of this Festival were delighted at fche result but very imperfectly expresses the pleasurable feeling of the moment ; congratulations were

freely exchanged among those who had contributed to the success of fche gathering , and general astonishment expressed that so much had been collected , especially in view of last year ' s result of close on £ 18 , 000 under the presidency of fche

Pro Grand Master . Ifc is no disrespect to the other Stewards to say , however , that the lion ' s share of fche feeling of congratulation fell fco fche lot of the Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Northumberland , for Bro . Holmes ' s list was really

an unprecedented one ; not only fche largest amount ever secured by an individual Steward , bufc , in a manner of speaking , a special contribution beyond what was calculated upon for the Festival , raising the total from the satisfactory

fourteen thousand generally estimated for , to the really grand sum of sixteen thousand odd actually secured ; and we should almost like to see some permanent record of Bro . Holmes ' s special exertion , not only as a reward for his valuable aid , but

as an incentive for others in equally high positions to go and do likewise . Of course in thus speaking of Bro . Holmes ' s list we must not overlook the fact that the Brethren of his Province warmly supported his efforts wifch their

contributions , and are alike entitled to special thanks from the Craft and its Institutions . Not only is the gross total one of which the Craft-has

every reason to be proud , but the large number of lists above the average tends still further to prove fche popularity of this Institution among the Brethren of England who are in a

The Girls School Festival.

position to give largely of their own means , or influence many others fco do so . In another part of this issue we give full details of fche respective totals , so that ifc is hardly necessary fco recapitulate any of them here , bufc we must point to one

or two that deserve a place of honour second only to the splendid contribution of Bro . Holmes . In this connection we first refer to the £ 510 10 s of Bro . Philippe Oscar , who represented the General Committee Dinner Club , and the £ 500 of

Bro . Edward Terry , a member of the House Committee , supplemented as this latter sum was by other amounts making fche total collected by members of the House Committee £ 1 , 132 4 s .

£ 411 12 s was brought up by Bro . Fred Arnold , of the Eccleston Lodge , No . 1624 ; £ 304 10 s by Mrs . James Stephens , who represented the Fellowship Lodge , which was consecrated but four months since , she supplementing the donations of

others by a personal contribution of fifty guineas , and this being the third list of upwards of £ 300 the Institutions have received through fche energy and kindness of this lady ; £ 278 5 s by Bro . Walter Fielder , of the Justice Lodge , No .

147 , who had the misfortune to be omitted from the list of three figure London totals announced afc fche Festival , much to the regret of the members of the staff , who fully appreciate fche efforts made by Bro . Fielder , and will , we are sure , allow

us fco now direct public notice to so large a contribution which , for the time being , was left off of the " honour roll . " Next in order was Bro . Bobert Grey , the President of the Board of Stewards , and one of the most zealous workers on

behalf of the Institutions to be found anywhere—his list on this occasion was £ 234 15 s ; this was followed pretty closely by Bro . W . S . Penley , who appeared as a Steward for the Asaph Lodge , No . 1319 , with a total of £ 210 , of which a

hundred and eighty guineas was his personal donation . The other three figure London lists were as follow : Bros . G . Cockrell W . M . of the St . Michael ' s Lodge , No . 211 , £ 139 7 s 6 d ; James Tollworthy , No . 1769 , £ 131 ; George Bruce-Johnston

No . 1791 , £ 127 15 ; W . R . King , No .. 1671 , £ 117 12 s ; J . O . Jacobs , Lodge No . 55 and Chapter No . 7 , £ 115 10 s ; J . Macgregor , No . 548 , £ 110 5 s ; H . Gardiner , No . 2346 ,

£ 107 12 s 6 d ; Charles Hammerton , another prominent member of the House Committee ; F . G . Knight , No . 142 ; and Robt . A . Gowan , No . 2029 , each £ 105 ; and Samuel Rashleigh , No . 902 ; and O . C . Robson , No . 2489 , each £ 100 .

Ifc is nofc our intention fco just now review afc any length fche contributions of the Provinces . The Chairman ' s division of Cornwall contributed £ 750 to the good cause , of which fifty

guineas was a personal donation of the Earl of Mounfc-Edgcumbe , close on £ 400 of the remainder from the county being collected by Brother E . D . Anderton , the recently-appointed Provincial Grand Secretary .

Included in the total from the Eastern Division of South Wales is a donation of fifty guineas from the Grand Master of that Province , a fact that deserves special mention , as evidence