The Mark Benevolent Fund Festival.

THE MARK BENEVOLENT FUND FESTIVAL .

The 22 nd Anniversary Festival of the Benevolent Fund of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales will be held at Freemasons' Tavern , on Wednesday next , the 23 rd inst . Bro . the Earl of EUSTON , D . G . M . M ., has kindly given his services as Chairman , and the Board of Stewards

which will support the efforts of his lordship in behalf of the Fund is about 170 strong . This Fund , as our readers are probably aware , has been for some few years past divided into three branches , namely : ( 1 ) the Benevolent Branch , which dispenses relief to worthy Mark Master Masons who have unhappily

fallen into necessitous circumstances ; ( 2 ) the Educational Branch , which educates and helps to clothe the sons and daughters of our poor or deceased Mark brethren ; and ( 3 ) the Annuity Branch , which grants a yearly pension to Mark brethren and their widows . At the present time there are 31 children—18

boys and 13 girls—in receipt of the benefits conferred by the Educational Branch , and seven men and one widow on the Annuity Branch , the men receiving £ 26 per annum , excluding the bonus or gift of £ 5 paid to each at Christmas , and the widow - £ 21 , excluding a Christmas bonus of equal amount , while

the cost of the children ' s education is wholly defrayed out of the Educational Fund , and a sum of £ 5 yearly contributed to the parents or guardians of each child towards its clothing . Each of these branches has an invested capital ranging from £ 3 800 in the case of the Annuity Branch to £ 2400 in that of the

Educational , the aggregate of the three being , according to the last Report of the General Board , £ 9100 . Under these circumstances , and considering how greatly the responsibilities of the Fund have been increased , it is not surprising that our Mark brethren should have endeavoured by everv means in their

power to enhance the importance of its annual Festival . That their efforts have been crowned with success of a most gratifying character is now a matter of history . To the year 188 4 , inclusive , the proceeds of the anniversary celebrations slowly but surely increased from less than £ 100 in [ 869 to

upwards of & 8 oo in 188 4 . In 188 5 the greater prominence we have spoken of was given to the event . Bro . Lord EGERTON OF TATTON , then Deputy Grand Master , presided as Chairman , and , thanks to the efforts made by a Board of 8 7 Stewards , the very large sum of £ 1121 was raised . In 1886 Bro . A . F .

GODSON , M . P ., Prov . G . M . Worcestershire , occupied the chair , but though the Board of Stewards was 113 in number , the proceeds amounted to only ^ 1534 . In the year following Bro . Earl AMHERST presided , there were 147 Stewards , and the total raised amounted to exactly £ 2260 ; in 1888 , with Bro . the

Marquis of HERTFORD in the chair , and a Board of 16 3 Stewards , there was a fall in amount to £ 1818 ; while last year , under the presidency of Bro . Sir LIONEL E . DARELL , Bart ., the sum realised was once again in excess of £ 2000 , the precise figures being £ 2086 18 s . 6 d . On Wednesday next the

Festival will be held under the most favourable conditions . Even as at present constituted the Board of Stewards is stronger than in any previous year , and there can be as little doubt of the popularity as there is of the efficiency of the noble lord , the newly-installed Deputy Grand Master , both as

Grand Officer and Chairman ; while to add to the attractions of the day , especially as an aid to swell the total of donations and subscriptions , there is a contingent of lady Stewards , among whom are to be found the Marchioness of HERTFORD , wife of the present Pro Grand Mark Master ; the Viscountess

VALENTIA , the Ladies ELEANOR HARBORD and AGNES COOPER , and Lady DARELL , wife of last year ' s Chairman , together with Miss DARELL , Mrs . and Miss BERRIDGE , Mrs . A . B . COOK . Mrs . C . F . MATIER , Mrs . ALFRED WILLIAMS ,

and others . Thus there is every reason to hope—and it is needless to say we have the greatest possible pleasure in giving expression to the hope—that the Festival of Wednesday next , whether it succeeds in beating all previous records or not , will enable a considerable addition to be made to the several branches

The Mark Benevolent Fund Festival.

of the Fund . We may further point out that if there are any among our Mark readers who may have doubts as to the wisdom of this conjecture , there is ample time left for them to

enrol themselves as Stewards , if they are not already so enrolled , and thus personally assist by their contributions and influence in putting an end to , or reducing as nearly as possible to a vanishing point , the misgivings they entertain .

The Secretaryship Of The Boys' School.

THE SECRETARYSHIP OF THE BOYS ' SCHOOL .

The election of the new Secretary of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys took place at the adjourned meeting of the General Committee , held in Freemasons' Tavern on Saturday last . Bro . RICHARD EVE , Past G . Treasurer , and Vice-Chairman of the Provisional Management Committee , occupied the chair ,

and Scrutineers having been appointed , the poll was declared open , and so remained until 3 p . m ., about ten minutes after which time itwas officially announced that Bro . JAMES MORRISON MCLEOD had been elected by 2317 votes , Bro . ALFRED CRAVEN GREENWOOD being second with 991 votes , Bro . GORDON

SMITH , M . A ., P . G . Stwd ., third with 815 votes . Bro . EDWIN STORR fourth with 716 votes , and Bro . S . R . BASKETT next with 53 6 votes . Thus the general expectation that Bro . J . M . MCLEOD , who had the support of a vast majority of the Provincial members of the Committee , would carry the day easily was

verified , while it is clear that the more prominent candidates , including both Bros . GREENWOOD , GORDON SMITH , and STORR , who , in conjunction with Bro . MCLEOD , were recommended b y the Provisional Committee as candidates worthy of being elected , and Bro . S . R . BASKETT , who in the estimation of many brethren

was also worthy of the same honour , had each of them a strong following , which fully justified their candidature . The remaining 23 applicants obtained amongst them between 60 and 70 votes , while Bro . J AMES HAWKINS , whose circular was impressivel y addressed to " Your Majesty , Your Royal Highnesses , My Lords ,

Ladies , and Brethren , scored a net total of 14 votes , a considerable number having , we understand , been summaril y rejected by the Scrutineers on the ground of some irregularity . Thus the question " Who will be Bro . BINCKES ' successor ?" has been set at rest , and at a very early date we shall find the

post which the retiring Secretary occupied for just a little more than 29 years in the occupation of Bro . J . M . McLEOD , to whom we offer our congratulations—as we should have offered them to any one of the other candidates , had he come off victoriousand who we trust will , in time , be successful in emulating some of the achievements of his predecessor .

Our Visitors From New York.

OUR VISITORS FROM NEW YORK .

On Tuesday evening the Anglo-American Lodge had the opportunity of dispensing the hospitalities for which , even in the brief period of its existence , it has already become so famous , to Bro . W . VROOMAN , M . W . G . Master of New York , and two other distinguished brethren from the same important jurisdiction ,

namely , Bro . FREDERICK A . BURNHAM , Chairman , or President , of the Committee on Appeals , and Bro . EDWARD B . HARPER , one of the Trustees of the Hall and Asylum Fund . We gather

from the report of the proceedings which we have received and shall publish next week , that there was a large gathering of representative English brethren , and that the welcome extended to our visitors was of a most enthusiastic

character . It could hardly , indeed , have been otherwise . Not only is Bro . VROOMAN the regularly elected Grand Master of a Grand Lodge , which was originally established as a Prov . Grand Lodge under the " Ancient" Grand Lodge of England by its then * Grand Master , the Duke of ATHOLL ; but he is likewise Grand Master of the largest and most influential of the Grand