The Boys School Festival.

THE BOYS SCHOOL FESTIVAL .

ORDINARY expressions of satisfaction fail to express the feelings one must entertain in regard to the result of Wednesday ' s Festival on behalf of the Royal

Masonic Institution for Boys , when subscriptions to the amount of £ 18 , 582 16 s 7 d were announced , as contributed at the hands of 614 Stewards . This total is

most gratifying , and taken in association with the previous successes of the current year , on behalf of the

Benevolent Institution and the Girls School , shows a total of £ 48 , 973 lis Id announced as contributed by the Craft at this year ' s Festivals of the three Institutions ,

made up as follows : Benevolent Institution - £ 12 , 658 14 6 Girls School - - - 17 , 732 0 0 Boys School - - - 18 , 582 16 7

As in all these cases additions have been made by Stewards whose lists were not complete , while others have sent in returns that were not included iu the Festival announcements , the three celebrations of the

year may be set down as realising an average of about £ 1 , 000 a week , a result which speaks volumes in evidence of the popularity of the Craft Institutions , and the desire of the English Brotherhood to carry oub its duty

towards the aged and the orphan in distress , in spite of the drawbacks and troubles of bad times , trade depression and the other evils of which all sections of the community are just now complaining .

From these figures it will be seen that the Boys has this year secured the place of honour in the friendly struggle for supremacy among the three Institutions , and that notwithstanding the fact that the Girls had an

exceptionally good Festival , while the result of the celebration on behalf of the Benevolent Institution , although lowest of the three , was in itself no mean success , and represented a total that a few years back

would have been regarded as phenomenal . But the amount secured on Wednesday , on behalf of the Boys , was nearly 50 per cent , in excess of the Old People ' s total , a point that only needs mention in order to show

by comparison how very successful the latest gathering of the year has proved to be . In expressing our gratification at what has been achieved , as we do with all heartiness , we are convinced we are but echoing the

sentiments of the whole English Craft , the members of which must really be delighted at the result of this latest appeal to their benevolence on behalf of the orphan sons of their deceased Brethren .

In other parts of this issue we devote space to many interesting particulars concerning the Institution ; its internal working , the doings of its pupils ( both in regard to their scholastic duties and their recreation ) , the speeches made at the Festival gathering , together

The Boys School Festival.

with full details of the amounts brought up by the different Stewards ; and as everything may be said to point to success and prosperity , we think it best to let the facts speak for themselves . To continue laudatory remark ? in this column , in face of the manifold evidences of success to be found in other

parts of our issue , would be but to paint the lily , or gild refined gold , and accordingly we leave the details we are able to place before our readers , and which are to be found elsewhere in great profusion , to speak for themselves , but before doing so it is not

out of place to submit a summary of the totals contributed by the different Provinces and other divisions of the Craft towards this most gratifying celebration , with the number of Stewards from each , the particulars of which are as follow :

Province Stewards . Amount . London ... ' ... ... 184 7082 11 0 West Yorkshire ... ... 208 4454 0 0 Sussex ... ... ... 21 658 17 0 Derbyshire ... ... ... 14 590 0 6

Buckinghamshire ... ... 22 435 4 6 Kent ... ... ... 14 397 10 6 Middlesex ... ... ... 10 376 18 6 South Wales ( East Div . ) ... 2 350 0 0 Hants and Isle of Wight ... 10 316 2 0

North and East Yorkshire ... 4 293 11 0 Suffolk ... ... ... 5 290 5 0 North Wales ... ... ... 9 289 2 7 Hertfordshire ... ... 6 264 16 0 Staffordshire ... ... ... 2 246 15 0

Cambridgeshire ... ... 4 222 5 0 West ; Lancashire ... ... 13 220 10 0 Surrey ... ... ... 8 194 17 0 East Lancashire ... ... 8 162 15 0 Warwickshire ... ... 12 142 16 0

Shropshire ... ... ... 6 139 13 0 Norfolk ... ... ... 3 134 15 0 Durham ... ... ... 2 130 0 0 Berkshire ... ... ... 3 117 15 0 Wiltshire ... ... ... 1 113 0 0

Cornwall ... ... ... 1 110 5 0 Gloucestershire ... ... 4 99 15 0 Norths and Hunts ... ... 4 99 15 0 Essex . . . . . . . . . 7 99 12 0 Oxfordshire ... ... ... 5 96 5 0

Bedfordshire ... ... ... 3 92 18 0 Northumberland ... ... 1 80 17 0 Cheshire ... ... ... 4 42 0 0 Leicestershire and Rutland ... 1 42 0 0

Worcestershire ... . ... 1 42 0 0 Devonshire ... ... . ... 1 26 5 0 Bristol ... ... ... . 1 10 10 0 Jersey ... ... . ... . 1 10 10 0

Lincolnshire ... ... ... 1 10 10 0 Foreign Stations ... ... 9 105 0 O

Just a word of congratulation to the Secretary and other officials of the Institution in recognition of their efforts is not , however , out of place here , as all must recognise that very much of the success of the Festival is due fco the exertions of Bro . McLeod and those who

second him in the work of organisation ; for on the Secretary really depends the augmentation week by week of the Board of Stewards , to which must primarily be accredited the success of the Festival . Bro . McLeod has been most energetic in this particular , and the Japfc