Festival Of The Girls' School.

Bro . Terry ' s list last February , and very handsomely supported Bro . Binckes in 1876 , to the extent of £ 27614 s . Two Lodges , No . 130 , of Southampton , and No . 342 , of Portsea , sustain the honour of the Province of Hants and the Isle of Wight and its twenty-nine Lodges , the former contributing

£ 169 Is , and the latter £ 53 lis . This Province has missed only one out of the last eight Festivals , and as its Grand Master Bro . W . W . B . Beach M . P ., it is said , will preside at tho Boys' School Festival in June , we shall reckon on its supporting him loyally on that occasion .

Little Herts has only ten Lodges , but it is always to the fore in contributing to the Funds of our Charities . Four of the ten send up among them £ 143 16 s 6 d , while in February it helped Bro . Terry with over £ 176 ; in 1876 it contributed to the R . M . B . I . and the Boys ' , and the year

previous it sent up Stewards to each of the three Festivals . Kent comprises forty Lodges ; there were Stewards from six of these , and though one list has still to come in , the amount of their contributions is £ 175 4 s 6 d . It has been represented at the last eight Festivals , the aggregate of its

subscriptions being £ 2 , 588 10 s 6 d , or over an average of £ 323 on each occasion . It gave to the R . M . B . I . in February close on £ 500 , close on £ 466 last year , and over £ 305 in 1875 to the same Charity , while Bro . Binckes was materially aided at his last Festival , the total for this

Province on that occasion being within a fraction of £ 660 . East Lancashire has more Lodges than any other Province , there being comprised within it as many as eighty-four . Having given £ 340 5 s to the R . M . B . I . in February , we presume it is resting , as its total this time is only £ 89 5 s .

It is noteworthy , however , that this Province has its own Charitable Institution , as is the case with Cheshire , therefore we must not look for large contributions from it . Nevertheless , like Kent and its neighbour of West Lancashire , it has contributed to all the Festivals this and the two

previous year ' s . West Lancashire has seventy-four Lodges , and figures for £ 310 Is 6 d , of which £ 268 were brought in by the labours of Bro . Goepel , the Treasurer of the Masonic Hall , Liverpool . Last year it nobly seconded the efforts of Lord Skelmersdale , on behalf of

the R . M . B . I ., by giving over £ 1 , 500 . Lincoln , with twenty Lodges and four Stewards , is down for fift y guineas , there being two lists yet to come in . Last yearits contributions to this School reached £ 543 14 s . Middlesex , of which Bro . Little is Deputy Prov . G . Master , very

properly supported him most liberally . Bro . Little himself acted as Steward , and his list of £ 285 15 s is the highest individual Steward \ listat this Festival , so far as we know at present . The Province is always to the fore at the Girls' Anniversary , and contributed £ 71112 s in 1876 , and

£ 581 19 s in 1875 . It further helped Bro . Terry with the substantial sum of £ 329 5 s , while in 1875 did Bro . Binckes an equally good turn , and swelled his list by £ 400 Is . It has , indeed , contributed to all the Festivals , and , considering it musters only twenty-four Lodges , we must describe

tbe total of its subscriptions at the eight Festivals , amounting together to £ 3 , 253 16 s , as worthy of all praise . Norfolk is not very strong as regards numbers , there being only fourteen Lodges , but Lord Suffield , its Grand Master , was the President at the Festival , and the result was that , with

Bro . Barwell as representing the Provinces , and four other Stewards besides , a sum of two hundred guineas was brought into the coffers of the Institution . Of this sum fifty guineas was the donation of Lord Suffield himself . Bro . Marson was Steward for the Province of Northampton

and Hants , which has only eight Lodges , and the sum of its subscriptions was one hundred guineas . Notts , too , has eight Lodges , of which one sent up a Steward , whose list produced £ 43 Is . There were four Stewards , representing five of the twenty-four Lodges in North Wales and

Shropshire , the result being £ 27 6 s ; but there are two lists yet to be sent in . Three of the seven Oxford Lodges contributed among them £ 62 9 s , and there is one list still

outstanding . Three of the twenty-five Staffordshire Lodges amassed together a total of £ 161 3 s . Two Suffolk Lodges out of eighteen sent Stewards , and a sum of £ 91 19 s resulted from their efforts . The amount

contributed by Surrey , or rather by two Stewards , members of tbe Province , one of whom represented Lodge No . 370 , was £ 40 19 s . In February , however , it subscribed just over £ 111 to the R . M . B . I . Neither Surrey nor

Suffolk has been unrepresented at any one of . the last eight Festivals . There are nineteen Lodges in the Province of Sussex , and three of them sent subscriptions , amounting to £ 233 7 s 6 d , a very fair sum , if we bear in mind that only

Festival Of The Girls' School.

in February it gave * 158 13 s to the Benevolent Institution , and £ 206 5 s fid to the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys in July last . Warwickshire , with its twenty-nine Lodges , is not strongly represented , but this is not to bo wondered at . It raised £ 467 5 s 6 d towards the Benevolent in

February , £ 2 , 000 towards tho Boys' last July , and £ 262 10 s for the Girls' in 1876 . Wilts is not a very large Province , having only ten Lodges , but it has only missed

contributing once in 1875 , 1876 and 1877 . On this occasion , a Swindon Lodge , No . 355 , does duty for the county , its subscription amounting to £ 122 14 s . In February , its contribution to tho R . M . B . I . was £ 273 Is . West

Yorkshire , as our readers are aware , always plays a prominent part on these occasions . Next to the two divisions of Lancashire , it is tho strongest of our Provinces , as regards the number of Lodges , of which there are now sixty-three . At this Festival it had as many as forty-six Stewards at work

for it , and the sum they raised was £ 840 . This brings the total of its contributions to our Charities in this and the last two years to £ 3 , 917 lis . Fifty guineas from China completes the tale of subscriptions from the Provinces and Abroad .

We have now gone through the whole list so far as it has been made up . We have dealt only with facts . We have endeavoured to explain , as far as we could , either why certain Provinces have not been represented at this Festival , or why the total of their contributions has been

greater or less than the Craft , perhaps , may have had reason to expect . For the rest , we must leave our readers to draw their own conclusion from the analysis we have made and the comparisons we have instituted , where necessary , between this and the seven preceding Festivals .

Balance Sheet, Girls' School, 1876

BALANCE SHEET , GIRLS' SCHOOL , 1876

rriHE accounts for the past year of the Royal Masonic JL Institution for Girls are eminently satisfactory . There was an opening balance amounting to £ 2 , 276 18 s 3 d , of which £ 50 were in Secretary ' s hands , and £ 20 in Matron ' s . The donations and subscriptions include the annual contributions of £ 150 from Grand Lodge and £ 10 103 from Grand

Chapter ; from individuals , London , £ 5 , 045 4 s 3 d ; from Lodges and Chapters , ditto , £ 856 16 s ; from Lodges of Instruction , ditto , £ 73 10 s ; from various bodies , such as A . and A . Rite , Royal Order of Scotland , & c . & c , £ 82 19 s ; from individuals , Provincial , £ 2 , 046 16 s ; from

Lodges and Chapters , ditto , £ 1 , 731 9 s ; from A . and A . Rite , ditto , £ 31 10 s ; and from Ireland , Scotland , and the Colonies , £ 133 ; making together £ 10 , 161 14 s 3 d , contributed by the Craft . Musical Instruction , less cost of instruments , tuning , & c , yielded £ 43 12 s 5 d , and there

were sundry small receipts , including £ 55 10 s in the shape of legacies , amounting together to £ 60 14 s . The interest on invested moneys was £ 1 , 162 3 s ild . Thus , the total income of the School , inclusive of the opening balance , was £ 13 , 705 2 s lOd . Against this , we have an expenditure of

£ 9 , 923 3 s 2 d , distributed thus : new building , £ 2 , 832 15 s ; repairs to plantations , £ 25 17 s ; various items , such as University examination fees , recreation of girls during holidays , prizes , and rewards , gratuities , and outfit to girls on leaving , gratuity to late assistant governess , pension to late

Secretary , Stewards' visit , gratuities to workmen , grants to invalid girls , and votes of thanks to Stewards ( three years ) , £ 492 2 s 2 d , and ordinary expenditure , £ 5 , 572 9 s . Under this last head of service we find provisions for 155 girls and

20 adults , £ 1 , 717 18 s ; clothing and boots , £ 773 9 s lid ; house utensils and turnery , & c , £ 215 17 s 6 d ; furniture and house linen , £ 120 12 s 10 d ; coals , gas , and water , £ 244 8 s 6 d ; printing and general repairs , £ 121 2 s 4 d ; drugs , medical attendance , & c , £ 60 ; laundry , & c , £ 16 ;

garden and grounds , £ 68 13 s Id ; School stationery and books , £ 74 16 s 9 d ; tithes and taxes , £ 135 8 s 4 d ;

salaries and wages , £ 1 , 255 , being £ 617 10 s for Office , and £ 637 10 s for School ; church accommodation , £ 25 ; office expenses , rent , coals , & c , £ 38 ; stationery , books of subscribers , postage , & c , & c , £ 242 14 s 3 d ; advertisements * £ 75 7 s 8 d ; poundage to collector , £ 254 18 s 8 d . A few

other items , such as election expenses , secretarial disbursements , accounts under 40 s , incidental and petty expenses , per matron , make up the total of ordinary expenditure as above stated . Thus , the balance at bankers' and in hand on 31 st December 1876 , amounted to £ 3 , 781 19 s 8 d , out

of which , however , allowance must be made for Christmas