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Article THE GIRLS' SCHOOL FESTIVAL. Page 1 of 1 Article FREEMASONRY IN LINCOLNSHIRE. Page 1 of 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Girls' School Festival.
THE GIRLS' SCHOOL FESTIVAL .
The second great anniversary of the Masonic year , namely , the One Hundred and Second Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , will be held at Freemasons' Tavern on Tuesday next , the 20 th instant . Bro . Col . Sir FRANCIS
BURDETT , Bart ., Provincial Grand Master of Middlesex , has kindly undertaken to preside as Chairman , and as this will be his first essay in this character , we trust that for his sake , as well as that of the Girls' School itself , we shall enjoy the
privilege of recording a result not so very far removed in amount as that of last year was from the average of ordinary Girls ' Festivals during the last 10 or 12 years . After a storm comes a
calm , and after the overwhelming result of the Centenary Festival of 1888 we were fully prepared for—indeed , having regard to the well-being of the other two Institutions , it was desirable there should be—a decided fallinsr off in the totals of the
Girls' School Festival , so as to enable the Benevolent and the Boys' School , but more particularly the latter , to recover some of the ground they had lost the previous year . Now , however , it is time that the Girls' Institution should bethink itself of falling
into line again and making the same efforts as in ordinary years in order to secure the utmost possible amount of success for its anniversary . We cannot say that the recovery will be as complete as we should like to have seen it . but ;; the number of
brethren who have announced their intention of acting as Stewards is . 245 , as compared with the 156 of last year , and there are still a few days for the Board to be still further strengthened . This is not the number we usually look for , which
is nearer to 300 than 200 , and not infrequently in excess of the higher figure , but it is undoubtedly a great leap in advance when compared with the final Board of 188 9 , and we are naturall y inclined to augur somewhat favourabl y in respect of the proceeds of Tuesday ' s gathering .
For , indeed , as we have said in previous articles , there is great need for a very substantial improvement . Quite £ 35 , out of the £ 51 , 600 realised at the Centenary Festival will be absorbed in paying for the new Memorial Hall and the alterations
and enlargements of the ori ginal premises , while the balance and the Festival Receipts of 188 9 , amounting together to about £ 22 , 000 , will have about sufficed for the regular expenditure during the two years . Then 20 additional children were
admitted in the earlier half of last year , and the cost of clothing , educating , and maintaining these has added some £ 800 to the regular annual expenditure , so that if the amount required annuall y before the Festival was ( say ) £ 11 , 000 , it must now
amount to £ 11 , 800 . Again , as in the case of the other Institutions , the permanent income when compared with the total annual outlay is very small . Hence the greater necessity there is for a generous subscription at the Festival ; for , in that
case , if more is raised than is absolutely required , then the overplus can be invested and the permanent income increased . However , most of these things we have said before , and we trust , therefore , that we shall not . be deemed over sanguine in
hoping that a total of £ 10 , 000 or thereabouts may be realised , so that the School authorities may be without care in respect of the _ financial soundness of the Institution and its ability to fulfil its duties and responsibilities without trenching upon its
invested property . There are certainl y Stewards enough on the Board to be able to raise not far short of this sum , even with so moderate an average as £ 40 per list ; and as London , though it furnishes the smaller contingent of
Stewardsgenerallin-, y cludes a fair number of three-figure lists , we may reasonably hope that between it and the Provinces , the sum . we have stated , or one not far removed from it , will be announced on Tuesday next b y Bro . HEDGES ,
Freemasonry In Lincolnshire.
FREEMASONRY IN LINCOLNSHIRE .
Three or four weeks since a new lodge , located in the ancient city of Lincoln , was added to the roll of this Province , so that Lincolnshire , which for the best part of the last 100 years has been honoured with a Provincial organisation , is now able
to boast of exactly two dozen lodges , three of which meet in the county town , three in Grimsby , two in Boston , and the remaining 16 in the principal townships in the county . Thus during the 12 years that Bro . Major SMYTH has been Grand Master of the Province four new lodg-es have been constituted , and as there is
strong : evidence in all directions that Lincolnshire has been for sometime past making itself busy in the affairs of Masonry and playing a part worthy of its long association with the Craft , we should not be at all surprised at some three or four more new
lodges being founded in the course of the next few years . In the case of the Ermine Lodge , 2351 , which , as we have said , was consecrated some three or four weeks since , the ceremony of consecration was performed by the Grand Secretary , who was
assisted in his duties by Bros . Capt . N . G . PHILIPS as S . W ., J . . MATTHEWS , Past D . G . Dir . of Cers ., as J . W ., and FRANK RICHARDSON , P . G . D ., as Dir . of Cers . The Prov . Grand Master was also present , though his engagements unfortunately
prevented him being early on the scene . Under these auspices it may well be imagined that the ceremony was most , impressively performed , and as the lodge starts with Bro . H . E . COUSANS—a prominent member of the Fraternity in Lincolnshire—as first
W . Master , and a set of zealous and able brethren under him as officers , we are justified in assuming that the new lodge will quickly find its feet and grow to be an ornament to the Craft generally , and especially to the Province of which it will be a
constituent part . In the course of the after-dinner proceedings some excellent speeches were made , the Prov . Grand Master , in returning thanks for the toast of his health , making a special point of describing the progress that had been made
in Lincolnshire Masonry during the time he had been connected with it . When he first joined a Lincolnshire lodge there were only 11 lodges in the Province , but there were now 24 ; then there were only about 300 brethren , but now 1000 . Then they
had no sort or kind of organisation for Charitable purposes , now they had three special Charitable Funds of their own , named respectively the Oliver , Sutcliffe , and Smyth Funds , each of them with a capital of 1000 guineas , to say nothing of their
Benevolent Fund , which amounted to between £ 500 and £ 6 oo , while nearly every lodge in the Province had a private benevolent fund of its own . Then , as regards the Central Masonic Charities , these were referred to by no less than three
brethrenby Bro . SlSSONS , who proposed the toast in their behalf , by Bro . FRANK RICHARDSON , P . G . D ., who replied , and Bro . VICKERS , P . G . Sec . All three spoke in the warmest terms of the value and importance of these Central Institutions , and the admirable
manner in which they carried out the work that was assigned them , while Bro . VICKERS pointed out that it was while the Provincial brethren were engaged in establishing these three Funds for educating Lincolnshire boys and girls , and helping the aged and
indigent brother and his widow , that they were so infrequently represented at the great Anniversary Festivals , but that latterly Bro . COUSANS and others in the Province had put their shoulders to the wheel and had shown that Lincolnshire was as loyal to our
Charities as the other Provinces . It has certainly figured pretty conspicuously during the last two or three years , and w-e are glad that its successful efforts will be continued . As for the general
proceedings they were in every way creditable to the brethren who were charged with the arrangements , and the day . passed off most admirably—to the manifest pleasure of the distinguished visitors from London , and to the lasting credit of the Province .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Girls' School Festival.
THE GIRLS' SCHOOL FESTIVAL .
The second great anniversary of the Masonic year , namely , the One Hundred and Second Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , will be held at Freemasons' Tavern on Tuesday next , the 20 th instant . Bro . Col . Sir FRANCIS
BURDETT , Bart ., Provincial Grand Master of Middlesex , has kindly undertaken to preside as Chairman , and as this will be his first essay in this character , we trust that for his sake , as well as that of the Girls' School itself , we shall enjoy the
privilege of recording a result not so very far removed in amount as that of last year was from the average of ordinary Girls ' Festivals during the last 10 or 12 years . After a storm comes a
calm , and after the overwhelming result of the Centenary Festival of 1888 we were fully prepared for—indeed , having regard to the well-being of the other two Institutions , it was desirable there should be—a decided fallinsr off in the totals of the
Girls' School Festival , so as to enable the Benevolent and the Boys' School , but more particularly the latter , to recover some of the ground they had lost the previous year . Now , however , it is time that the Girls' Institution should bethink itself of falling
into line again and making the same efforts as in ordinary years in order to secure the utmost possible amount of success for its anniversary . We cannot say that the recovery will be as complete as we should like to have seen it . but ;; the number of
brethren who have announced their intention of acting as Stewards is . 245 , as compared with the 156 of last year , and there are still a few days for the Board to be still further strengthened . This is not the number we usually look for , which
is nearer to 300 than 200 , and not infrequently in excess of the higher figure , but it is undoubtedly a great leap in advance when compared with the final Board of 188 9 , and we are naturall y inclined to augur somewhat favourabl y in respect of the proceeds of Tuesday ' s gathering .
For , indeed , as we have said in previous articles , there is great need for a very substantial improvement . Quite £ 35 , out of the £ 51 , 600 realised at the Centenary Festival will be absorbed in paying for the new Memorial Hall and the alterations
and enlargements of the ori ginal premises , while the balance and the Festival Receipts of 188 9 , amounting together to about £ 22 , 000 , will have about sufficed for the regular expenditure during the two years . Then 20 additional children were
admitted in the earlier half of last year , and the cost of clothing , educating , and maintaining these has added some £ 800 to the regular annual expenditure , so that if the amount required annuall y before the Festival was ( say ) £ 11 , 000 , it must now
amount to £ 11 , 800 . Again , as in the case of the other Institutions , the permanent income when compared with the total annual outlay is very small . Hence the greater necessity there is for a generous subscription at the Festival ; for , in that
case , if more is raised than is absolutely required , then the overplus can be invested and the permanent income increased . However , most of these things we have said before , and we trust , therefore , that we shall not . be deemed over sanguine in
hoping that a total of £ 10 , 000 or thereabouts may be realised , so that the School authorities may be without care in respect of the _ financial soundness of the Institution and its ability to fulfil its duties and responsibilities without trenching upon its
invested property . There are certainl y Stewards enough on the Board to be able to raise not far short of this sum , even with so moderate an average as £ 40 per list ; and as London , though it furnishes the smaller contingent of
Stewardsgenerallin-, y cludes a fair number of three-figure lists , we may reasonably hope that between it and the Provinces , the sum . we have stated , or one not far removed from it , will be announced on Tuesday next b y Bro . HEDGES ,
Freemasonry In Lincolnshire.
FREEMASONRY IN LINCOLNSHIRE .
Three or four weeks since a new lodge , located in the ancient city of Lincoln , was added to the roll of this Province , so that Lincolnshire , which for the best part of the last 100 years has been honoured with a Provincial organisation , is now able
to boast of exactly two dozen lodges , three of which meet in the county town , three in Grimsby , two in Boston , and the remaining 16 in the principal townships in the county . Thus during the 12 years that Bro . Major SMYTH has been Grand Master of the Province four new lodg-es have been constituted , and as there is
strong : evidence in all directions that Lincolnshire has been for sometime past making itself busy in the affairs of Masonry and playing a part worthy of its long association with the Craft , we should not be at all surprised at some three or four more new
lodges being founded in the course of the next few years . In the case of the Ermine Lodge , 2351 , which , as we have said , was consecrated some three or four weeks since , the ceremony of consecration was performed by the Grand Secretary , who was
assisted in his duties by Bros . Capt . N . G . PHILIPS as S . W ., J . . MATTHEWS , Past D . G . Dir . of Cers ., as J . W ., and FRANK RICHARDSON , P . G . D ., as Dir . of Cers . The Prov . Grand Master was also present , though his engagements unfortunately
prevented him being early on the scene . Under these auspices it may well be imagined that the ceremony was most , impressively performed , and as the lodge starts with Bro . H . E . COUSANS—a prominent member of the Fraternity in Lincolnshire—as first
W . Master , and a set of zealous and able brethren under him as officers , we are justified in assuming that the new lodge will quickly find its feet and grow to be an ornament to the Craft generally , and especially to the Province of which it will be a
constituent part . In the course of the after-dinner proceedings some excellent speeches were made , the Prov . Grand Master , in returning thanks for the toast of his health , making a special point of describing the progress that had been made
in Lincolnshire Masonry during the time he had been connected with it . When he first joined a Lincolnshire lodge there were only 11 lodges in the Province , but there were now 24 ; then there were only about 300 brethren , but now 1000 . Then they
had no sort or kind of organisation for Charitable purposes , now they had three special Charitable Funds of their own , named respectively the Oliver , Sutcliffe , and Smyth Funds , each of them with a capital of 1000 guineas , to say nothing of their
Benevolent Fund , which amounted to between £ 500 and £ 6 oo , while nearly every lodge in the Province had a private benevolent fund of its own . Then , as regards the Central Masonic Charities , these were referred to by no less than three
brethrenby Bro . SlSSONS , who proposed the toast in their behalf , by Bro . FRANK RICHARDSON , P . G . D ., who replied , and Bro . VICKERS , P . G . Sec . All three spoke in the warmest terms of the value and importance of these Central Institutions , and the admirable
manner in which they carried out the work that was assigned them , while Bro . VICKERS pointed out that it was while the Provincial brethren were engaged in establishing these three Funds for educating Lincolnshire boys and girls , and helping the aged and
indigent brother and his widow , that they were so infrequently represented at the great Anniversary Festivals , but that latterly Bro . COUSANS and others in the Province had put their shoulders to the wheel and had shown that Lincolnshire was as loyal to our
Charities as the other Provinces . It has certainly figured pretty conspicuously during the last two or three years , and w-e are glad that its successful efforts will be continued . As for the general
proceedings they were in every way creditable to the brethren who were charged with the arrangements , and the day . passed off most admirably—to the manifest pleasure of the distinguished visitors from London , and to the lasting credit of the Province .