The Result Of The Boys' School Festival.

THE RESULT OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL FESTIVAL .

SUCH considerable additions have been made to the total of this year ' s subscri ptions to the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , since the details published in our last issue were supplied to us , that -we are now able to announce that the result of the year ' s Festival is already

within a few shillings of twenty-three thousand pounds , or , to be more exact , that the figures as given us at the Institution on Thursday afternoon total up to £ 22 , 977 13 s 6 d , an increase of £ 533 13 s 6 d as compared with the amount announced by the Secretary at the

Festival , and this , too , with several lists yet outstanding . We shall not attempt any farther laudatory remarks in reference to this grand result—the fi gures speak for themselves , and reflect the greatest credit on all who have contributed to this most satisfactory result .

London , which was accredited at the Festival with £ 7 , 273 , does not come up to that amount . All we can make of the figures published in our last is £ 7 , 074 16 s Gd , and to this only £ 28 9 s has to be added , viz ., £ 1 3 s to the list of Bro . Charles Bearing , of the Sir Hugh Myddelton

Lodge , No . 1602 , and £ 27 6 s as the total collected by Bro . A . W . Buret , of the Progress Lodge , "Ho . 1768 , whose list had not been received when we went to press last week . So far , then , London has contributed £ 7 , 103 5 s 6 d , with

twelve lists to come in . This sum is less than one-third of the total subscriptions , and , we may add , includes the amounts contributed by brethren who fi gure under the head "unattached "—some of whom by right belong to the Provinces .

Among the Provinces , Kent , is the first which deserves attention at our hands . Accredited at the Festival with donations amounting to £ 2 , 000 , its tot : iI increased , according to last week ' s return , to £ 2 , 107 12 s 6 d within twentytour hours of the announcement . Now it has still further

advanced , and at the present time ifc is accredited with £ 2 , 305 15 s 6 d , a result which has been arrived at by additions to lists already announced , and by the arrival of lists

which were outstanding when we wrote last week . The lists which are affected by these additions are as follow ] and the figures given are those at which the totals wow stand : —

Jas Smith Eastes D . P . G . M . 601 16 0 -i , Lodge itoyaltfavy . . 429 T H Grove Snowdon . 10 10 0 Wellington . - 78-1 A F S Bird , J . P . - - 63 0 0 ^ ord Warden . . 1096 E S Davy , M . D . - . 21 0 0 ^ ormtliian . - 1208 TV A Smeeth - . 59 12 0 Amherst . . 1223 E Dartnell - - 15 15 0 C J Craig . . . 10 10 0 n , ., Chapter Jtelwdere . . 503 G F Basbridge . . 10 10 0

These figures are the latest totals known at the office of the Institution , but there is a doubt even now as to whether they are correct , if we may judge from a letter we have received from Bro . W . A . Smeeth , the Steward of

° - 1208 , and which we publish elsewhere . We last ^ ek gave Bro . Smeeth ' s total as £ 31 10 s , and he Mates that amount "is considerabl y less than half > e sum that he had the pleasure to announce at his ^ oage meeting on the preceding Monday , " so that the

The Result Of The Boys' School Festival.

total now accredited to him— £ 59 12 s—must still he short of tho actual figures . We very much regret that Bro . Smeeth ' s collection should have been understated , and if we still give it wrong , we hope he will supply us with the proper figures before our next issue . So far we can only publish

the amount as given in the official returns . These additions which have been made to the Kentish total places that Province far above any of the others at this year ' s Festival , the next in order of merit being East Lancashire , with its £ 2 , 100 . It appears to us a great pity that tho

credit of heading the Provinces should havo been lost to Kent by what must havo been a want of care in making up the lists . In a Province like this , and especially under such circumstances as were associated with it this year , when its Grand Master took the chair , some influential

brother should be appointed to keep a record of the totals of the several SteAvards , and make up a final return for announcement . If such were done , it would greatly assist the Secretary of tho Institution , and it would prevent errors which cannot be afterwards remedied , no matter

how publicly thoy may bo explained . The present is a case in point . East Lancashire was said to take the first place at the time of the Festival , and it was immediately announced far and wide that such was actually its position ;

whereas , Kent was entitled to the palm ; it is now too late to alter the impression made by the first announcement , and East Lancashire will retain—at least in the minds of very many brethren—the credit of being at the top of the Provinces , so far as amount of donations is concerned .

Cheshire has added £ 8 8 s to its last week ' s return , the totals from the two Stewards of Lodge No . 321 being £ 10 10 s from each , instead of £ 12 12 s , accredited to one

of them in our last . Cumberland and Westmoreland , at the hands of Bro . G-. J . McKay , alters its £ 1 , 000 into 1 , 000 guineas , an increase of £ 50 , and one which we congratulate the

brethren ou making . Gloucestershire sends up a further £ 5 5 s at the hands of Bro . J . Brook . Smitb , who now figures for £ 15 15 s , in lieu

of £ 10 10 s previously announced . Hants and Isle of Wight total is augmented by a guinea , placed on the list of Bro . T . H . Williams , while it appears there is one of its lists yet to be accounted for .

Lancashire ( West ) sends up £ 10 10 s by Bro . John Williams , and £ 31 10 s by Bro . J . T . Callow ( both of whose lists wei'e left blank in our last ) , and thereby

increases its total by £ 42 . Warwickshire—per Bro . H . Bowley , of Lodge No . 739—contributes £ 26 5 s beyond the figures given last week , and has yet some of its Stewards whose lists are outstanding .

Yorkshire ( North ancl East ) adds £ 3 lis to its total , that additional sum having been collected by Bro . A . Buckle , B . A ., of York Lodge , No . 236 . The above constitute the additions which have been made to the Provincial lists since the publication of our

last issue , and these , together with the amounts therein given , bring up the total of Provincial subscriptions to £ 15 , 874 8 s , as compared with £ 15 , 171 accredited to them at the time of the Festival—a very gratifying addition of £ 703 8 s .

Before proceeding further , we must offer some explanation for an error which occurred in our last issue as regards our summary of the amounts of the Provincial totals . At the time we wrote the remarks we refer to we were without