The Festival Of The Mark Benevolent Fund.

brethren and their widows , who are in reduced circumstances , the annuities allotted to the former being at the rate of £ 26 per annum with a Christmas gift of £ 5 , and to the latter at lhat of £ 21 with a Christmas gift of thc same amount as to the men .

This is done at a merely nominal outlay , so that while the Fund is continually doing good service , the cost of its administration is inappreciable . We trust the Festival of Wednesday next will bo

a great success , and that we shall have the pleasure of congratulating the Chairman , the Stewards , and the Fund on an ample Return for the efforts that have been made .

East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational And Benevolent Institution.

EAST LANCASHIRE SYSTEMATIC MASONIC EDUCATIONAL AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

Bro . Lord Stanley , M . P ., made his first appearance on the 26 th ult . among the brethren of the Province of East Lancashire , since his return trom South Africa , and , indeed , since his installation as Prov . G . Master in November , 1899 . The occasion was the second Festival at the Royal Botanical Gardens , Old Trafford , in aid of the East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational and Benevolent Institution . Fine weather

prevailed , and some 1500 ticket-holders took part in the function . Besides proving eminently enjoyable from a social point of view , the Festival had a gratifying culmination in the announcement of an exceptionally great financial success . The Committee of the Institution had asked for at least £ 6 oco , and their appeal resulted in that amount being far exceeded . The Stewards numbered close upon 1000 , representing every lodge in the

province , and the total fund raised was £ 9379 4 s . 3 d . Bro . Lord Stanley headed the list with . £ 100 , and Bro . Fritz Reiss , as an Unattached Steward , sent - £ 50 . The Minnehaha Minstrels' concert , given in the Free Trade Hall a couple of months ago , realised ; £ i 22 . Among the noteworthy subscriptions from lodges sending Stewards were the following : Anchor and Hope , No . 37 , Bolton , ; £ IOI ¦ Relief , No . 42 ,

Bury , __ " i 39 ; Imperial George , No . 7 S , Middleton , , £ 120 ; Virtue , No . 152 , Manchester , £ 110 ; Integrity , Manchester , ^ 277 ; St . John ' s , No . 191 , Bury , ^ 100 j Caledonian , No . 204 , Manchester , , £ 150 ; Friendship , Oldham , 36120 ; St . John , Salford , ^ 250 ; Tudor , Oldham , ^ 119 ; Humphrey Cheetham , No . 645 . Manchester , i > nS ; St . Thomas , Lower Broughton , £ iut Alexandra , Levenshulme , £ 261 ; Shakespere , No . 1009 ,

Manchester , £ 100 ; Prince of Wales , Bury , ^ 242 ; Egerton , No , 10 30 , Heaton Norris , £ 150 ; Derby , Manchester , £ 100 ; Borough , Burnley , £ i 2 g ; Townley Paiker , Manchester , ; £ in ; Travellers ' , Manchester , / 318 ; St . George , Bolton , £ 243 ; Albert Victor , Pendleton , ; £ i 16 ; Zion , Manchester , ^ 131 ; Unity , Oldham , / 127 ; Ardwick , Manchester , £ 155 ; Manchester Dramatic , No . 23 S 7 , Manchester , £ 106 ; Palatine , Manchester , £ 300 j Abbey , No . 2529 , Whalley , - £ 180 ; Manchester Lodge , No . 2554 , Manchester , £ 100 .

Bro . J . NEWTON , Secretary of the Institution , read out the full list at a crowded meeting of ladies and gentlemen , which took place in the evening in the Concert Hall . Before he did so , Bro . Goulburn , Deputy Chairman of the Committee , amid much applause , presented gold festival jewels as souvenirs to the noble President and to Bro . C . D . Cheetham , P . P . S . G . W ., G . D . Eng ., Chairman of the Committee .

Lord STANLEY , in announcing the total , said there were days of recordbreaking in every rank and walk of life , and theirs was a record-breaking meeting , and a record breaking subscription outside London , so far as Masonic Charities were concerned . ( Cheers . ) The effect of the energy of Bro . Cheetham and those who worked with him in making the festival a success was best seen by a comparison of the figures with those of their first

feslival in 1895 . In that year they had 482 Stewards , now there were 996 ; in 1895 the total amount subscribed was £ 4450 ; in 1901 it was ^ 9379 . ( Cheers . ) Bro . C . D . CHEETHAM , who was very cordially received , informed the meeting that the Earl of Lathom , the Prov . G . M . of West Lancashire , had sent a letter expressing regret that he was absent owing to a prior

engagement , and the Hon . A . de Tatton Egerton , M . P ., the Prov . G . M . of Cheshire , had written to say that he was engaged on several important Committees in the House of Commons , or he would have been with them . There was no doubt , added Bro . Cheetham , that the huge success of the festival was due mainly to the fact that their own Prov . Grand Master and President was amongst them for the first time since his return from South

Africa , although there were many other reasons . Lord Stanley had come at great inconvenience , but they were thankful that he had not allowed other pressing engagements in London to keep him away . They had further to thank the members of the Festival Committee , who were for the most part members of the Committee of the Institution , and also to thank 12 ladies who had acted as Stewards , and the whole cf the Stewards for their

cooperation and great assistance in achievng the result which had been made knovwi . Never had a Masonic festival from any single province outside London yielded such an amount of money . ( Applause . ) The previous record was held by Kent , West Lancashire and Yorkshire , by all of which over . £ 6120 was raised for Masonic Charities . Now that East Lancashire had achieved the record they would keep it for many years . ( Hear , hear . ) Their Institution had £ 21 500 of invested funds . By the end of the year

it would be raised by that day ' s bounty to £ ^ o , ci > o . ( Cheers . ) They would be able to increase the allowances to the individual old brethren and widows and the children of deceased brethren who came upon t leir fund in years to come , and also to increase the number of recipients of their Charity . They could , in fact , maintain the ch ricter of the Charity of Masons by continuing to " do good by stealth , and blush to find it fame . " He moved a vote of thanks to Lord Stanley .

Bro . C . R . N . Ih : swicKi :-Rnvi ) s , Dep . Prov . Grand Master , who seconded the motion , reminded the brethren that one reason why so much money had been collected was that a portion of it was to be devoted to the provision of a memorial of their late chief Colonel Starkie . ( Hear , hear . ) Their own Institution was Colonel Starkie ' s pet child . He founded it and supported it with his best help , and the Institution grew and increased under his rule . The Masons of the province , therefore , felt that there could be no more fitting tribute to his memory than the purchase of a Perpetual

East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational And Benevolent Institution.

Presentation bearing his name upon the Male Fund of the Royal Masonir Benevolent Institution in London . ( Cheers ) . The vote of thanks was carried with enthusiasm . Bro . Lord STANLEY was greeted with loud cheers on rising to acknowledge the vote . He said he felt somewhat of an impostor whilst Bro " Cheetham was speaking of the pain and grief that he ( Lord Stanley )

was supposed to have gone through to get there , and he felt more of an impostor when he recollected that he was taking to himself a vote of thanks which undoubtedly ought to be given to others . He was Lancashire born , and proud of everything Lancashire . He was always proud to be associated with anybody who did a " big thing , " and he was proud to think that the Masonic province , of which he was the head , had demonstrated its

readiness to put its hand into its pocket to help brothers and widows and children in need . He was told that ladies were , as a rule , curious , and wished to know every secret , including the Masonic one . ( Laughter . ) He might tell the ladies present that to a certain extent , at all events , their curiosity was that day gratified . The great secret of Masonic life was that they should one and all try to remember that there were others not so fortunatel

y placed as themselves , whom they ought to assist in their hours of need He was proud to think that it was the secret of Masonry that they should endeavour by all means in their power to alleviate distress , and to bestow charity in its best sense . If Masonry meant doing as much for others as lay in their power , then that day had its secret been revealed and the province , of which he was the head , had shown that in that secret , and in

the upholding of the best tenets of their Order , it was able to stand face to face with any other province of the Empire , confident that if any other province beat them in a future Festival , they in East Lancashire would be prepared to beat such province the next one afterwards . ( Cheers . ) It would ill become him if he did not bear testimony to the great kindness shown to him by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master . ( Hear , hear *) This was another

instance where he ( Lord Stanley ) felt himself an impostor , when he remembered that for 18 months he had been head of the province , and that for that period Bro . Beswicke-Royds had done all the work that ought to have fallen upon him ( Lord Stanley ) . It was not entirely his own fault —( hear , hear)—but it would be his fault if , as opportunities occurred , and as time went on , he did not endeavour to associate himself as closel y with

the Masons of East Lancashire as did his late lamented predecessor . ( Cheers . ) When he" remembered that some of the money that they had raised that day was to be devoted to a permanent memorial to Colonel Starkie , hecould only say that when the time cime that there should be a successor to take his ( Lord Stanley ' s ) place , it would be a satisfaction to him to think that perhaps they would be able to say of him at that time that he

was no unworthy successor to Colonel Starkie . ( Cheers . ) He was nol going to ask the meeting to pass a formal vote of thanks to Bro . Cheetham and those brethren who had been associated with him in the hard work which had resulted in so magnificent a subscription . He knew that the best thanks that these brethren could receive were the thanks which had already been given to them by giving to their untiring energy so fine a result .

I heir festival had passed pleasantly and profitably , and what had pleased them most was that it had been profitably spent for those to whom th ; funds would be eventually devoted . Every one of their lodges had given to its uttermost in the endeavour to strengthen the good CIUSJ , and they well deserved the words used of old , * ' Well done , thou good and faithful servant . " ( Cheers . )

STEWARD ' JEWEL . Designed and Manufactured hy Uros . George Kenning iS" Son , Manchester . Manufactory , Little llri / ain , London . The programme for the day included outdoor performances afternoon and evening by the band of the 3-d V . B . Cheshire Regim-jnt , conducted by Bro . T . Matthews , and an excellent orchestra selected and conducted by Bro . R . Johnson , Prov . G . Org . . ,

Alter the evening meeting there was a concert in the room where it ha " been held . Madame Conway , Bro . \ V . H . Cradoch ( Manchester Cathedral ) , and the members of the Orpheus Glee Society were the vocalists , and a violin solo was given by Bro . J . Nichols . The entertainment l * ere was a conspicuous success . , The Palm House was transformed into a refreshment room- a " luncheon was served therein during the afternoon ,