Ar00100

CONTENTS . LEADER— P The Approaching Election of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... 231 " The Finest Hoax of the Century ... ... ... ... 232 Supreme Grand Chapter ( Quarterly Convocation ) ... ... ... -i-Grand Chapter Officers ... ... ... ... ... •* .. 233

Consecration of the Dart Lodge , No . 2641 ... ... ... ... 234 Consecration of the Queen Victoria Lodge , No . 2 G 55 ... ... ... 234 Consecration of the Crusaders Chapter , No . 1 G 77 ... ... ... 23 G Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ¦••23 G MASONIC NOTESQuarterly Convocation of Supreme Grand Grand Chapter of England ... 239

Festival of the Girls'Sc'iool ... ... ... ... ••¦239 Great Priory of the Order of the Temple ... ... ... ... 239 Empire Lodge , No . 210 S ... ... ... ... ... 239 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... •••24 ° Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 240 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ¦•¦ ... 24 °

Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... -li Ancient and Accepted Rite ... ... ... ... ... -43 The Craft Abroad ... ... ... ... •¦•- 2 43 Consecration of the Richard Newhouse Chapter , No . 2433 ... ... 243 Lodges and Chapter of Instruction ... ... ... ... ... 243 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 * Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... -.. •••-H

Approaching Election Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

APPROACHING ELECTION OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

Thc Annual General Meeting of thc Governors and Subscribers of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution will beheld at Freemasons' Tavern , on Friday , the 21 st instant , when , as soon as the ordinary business lias been transacted , tlie poll

will be opened for thc election of candidates to fill thc vacancies that have occurred since the meeting of last year . As usual , thc lists of applicants arc formidable by comparison with thc number that can bc elected on the two Funds , there being as

many as 65 candidates for the 13 vacancies—including the three deferred—on the Male Fund , which wcre declared at thc meeting of the Committee of Management in February , and 52 candidates for the iS vacancies—including the three

deferredon the Widows' Fund which wcre declared at thc same Committee meeting . An } ' other annuities which may have fallen vacant on cither Fund between the date of the said meeting and the 21 st instant will , doubtless , if the practice in recent years is followed , bc also filled up . Forthe MALE FUND .

there are , as wc have said , 65 candidates for the 13 vacancies—10 immediate , and three deferred—and of these 27 remain on the list from last year ' s election , and 3 8 are new candidates . London furnishes 26 candidates , and thc Provinces and Abroad

39 , the former being placed on the list as follows : No . 5 . who brings forward 1632 votes from five previous elections , and No . C ) , who starts with 293 6 to his credit , of which all but 20 votes were recorded in his favour at the last four elections . No .

8 was a candidate for the first time in 18 94 , and since then lias accumulated 248 votes , and receives 40 additional ; No . 1 r brings forward 1403 votes from 18 95 and 18 9 6 , and Nos . 15 aud ifi have in hand 2094 and 14 66 votes respectively from the same years .

No . 20 polled 3325 votes last year , and will receive a further 20 ; No . 21 , 245 6 votes , with 20 added ; and No . 25 , 25 S votes , with 20 added . Thc other 17 arc new candidates , viz : Nos . 31 and 32 ; 34 ; 3 ( 1 and 37 ; 41 , 42 , and 43 ; 47 ; 49 , 50 , and 5 r . ; 55

and 56 ; 59 and 60 ; and 64 . Of the 39 applicants from tin Provinces and Abroad , the following live hail from Devonshire , namely ; No . 3 , whose name has beeu before the Governors for

13 years , though he has obtained only 26 7 votes at the 1 . > previous ballots ; No . 4 , who has 43 " votes from seven previous attempts ; No . y , who has received no votes whatever Irom her past

Approaching Election Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

attempts ; and Nos . 14 and 19 , the former of whom brings forward 21 votes from 18 95 and 1896 , and the latter fij from last year . Kent furnishes the following live candidates : No . 12 , who has 5 68 votes and No . 13 with 530 votes from the 1 S 95 and

18 9 6 elections ; No . 26 , who polled 410 votes last year ; and Nos . 35 and 52—new cases . Cheshire also sends up live , viz ., No . 10 with nine votes in hand from the last two elections : Nos . 24 and 27 with 4 and 3 votes respertivclv from 1896 ; and two new

candidates at Nos . 4 6 and . 58 respectivelv . "West Yorkshire is responsible for Nos . 28 , 30 , 44 , and 53 , who are all applicants for the first time . North and Kast Yorkshire furnishes No . I , whose name has been on the list for 15 years and who will start

for his 15 th ballot with 79 6 votes to her credit , and No . 33 , a lirst case . Suffolk is entered for two , of whom No . 17 brings forward 3308 from 18 95 and 1 S 9 6 , and No . 23 , one vote from last year . Lincolnshire and Norfolk also furnish t , vo each , but

all of them are new cases , Nos . 38 and 61 being from the former Province and Nos . 54 and 57 from the latter . No . 2 hails from Northumberland and commences her 14 th ballot with 393 votes in hand , and No . 7 , from Nottinghamshire , brings forward 53 votes

from the last four years . A Dorset brother at No . 18 polled 6 3 votes in 18 9 G and a Shropshire brother live votes at the same election , while the remaining eight are all new cases with claims respectively on Berkshire , Hampshire and the Isle o ( Wight ,

Victoria , South Wales ( Western Division ) , Hertfordshire , Warwickshire , Bristol , and Cornwall . Only a small proportion of these poor old brethren were subscribing members of lodges for less than the prescribed number of years , their candidature

being justified by their permanent disablement through blindness , paralysis , or other sufficient cause , while about one-third are returned as having subscribed for 25 years and upwards . Several of them have also done good service to Masonry in the days of

their prosperity , while the mere fact of their names being on the list is proof direct that ( heir claims to be admitted to the benefits of the Institution are in all respects satisfactory . For the

WIDOWS' FUND there are 53 candidates , of whom 26 are old and 26 new appli cants , the number of vacancies , so far as we know up to th <

present time , to be filled being iS , namely , 15 immediate and three deferred . London is responsible for 10 of thc number and is partly interested in two others . Of the former only the widowit No . 24 was on last year ' s list , and she brings forward 130

votes , the other nine being new cases and returned at Nos . 27 and 28 ; 30 ; 33 and 34 ; 38 ; 40 and 41 ; and 44 . The other two —No . 39 ( London and Kent ) , and No . 47 ( London and Suffolk ) —are also new cases . 0 ( the 40 from the Provinces and Abroad

there are IWe from Devonshire , No . 3 , with 271 votes and No . 5 , with 294 votes lrom ir previous elections , No . 7 , with 22 fl votes from ro previous years ; No . y , who has obtained Nf voles at the last eight elections ; and No . 2 ( 1 , who brings forward -cm

votes from last year . Warwickshire sends four candidates , namely , No . 15 , who starts with 393 votes from the last three elections ; No . 19 , who scored seven votes in 18 95 and iSijG ; No . 20 , who obtained 315 votes last year ; and No . 23 , who starts with seven votes . Sussex and Somersetshire each furnish three—those from

the former being No . lS , who polled 20 votes in 18 95 and 189 G ; No . 25 , with 940 votes from last year ; and No . 52 . The Somersetshire are all new eases , and appear as Nos . 32 , _ 6 , and 43 . There are eight Provinces with two candidates apiece—Cumberland and Westmorland sending up No . 1 , who has 297 votes from her