The Coming Elections.

THE COMING ELECTIONS .

THE half yearly meetings and elections for the benefits of the two Educational Institutions of the Craft will be held next week , on 1 hursday and Friday respectively . On the first occasion—in connection with the Royal

Masonic Institution for Girls—the Governors and Subscribers will be asked to sanction the creation of a perpetual presentation to the School , in return for a payment of 1 , 550 guineas from the Province of Kent , in commemoration of the 113 th Anniversary Festival of the Institution , to be held next month

under the presidency of the Provincial Grand Master of Kent the Earl Amherst Pro G . M . of England , and to be called the " Earl Amherst Presentation ; " and afterwards will proceed to the election of fifteen girls into the School , from a list of twenty-two approved candidates .

For the Boys School—the Court of which is to be held on Friday—there are thirty-seven candidates , for . twentythree vacancies .

In the case of the Girls School there are two last application cases , No . 1 , L . I . Lerpiniere , with 104 votes to her credit from four previous elections ; and No . 7 , A . K .

Peace , who polled nine votes at the October election of last year . For the Boys there are three such candidates , all first applications , No . 10 , W . Sough ton ; No . 18 , S . S . Gilbert ; and No . 26 , S . Chapman .

One of our daily contemporaries understands that a subscription is about to be started in support of the National Memorial to Queen Victoria Fund among many of the Masonic Lodges of London and the Provinces . * * * The practical value of Freemasonry in time of need

has been proved over and over again . A contributor to the April " Windsor" writes as follows : During the present war the tie of the Brotherhood has been recognised both by Boers and Englishmen . A colonel of a Canadian regiment at Modder River , on a Sunday morning stroll , strayed

too far from his camp , when he suddenly found himself covered by the rifle of a Boer . By a fortunate impulse he made the customary sign , and cried out , " Don ' t shoot , —" The Boer immediately threw down his gun and hurried to

the colonel , informing him that he belonged to " De Broederband in Pretoria , " and was a member of General Cronje ' s staff . He begged him to return at once to his camp , and made him accept a valuable coin as a souvenir of his escape .

We do not wish to paint the lily or gild the refined gold , but the tireless energy of the King is something to which we cannot readily accustom ourselves . It will take a long time to realise what his virile activity as head of the State really means . Of his perfect tact there was never any doubt ,

but it was impossible to anticipate what he has accomplished in reviving State functions and transforming traditions of ceremony into actuality . The steps which he has taken to make his office a reality are admired on all hands . Yesterday ( 20 th inst . ) he swept up , so to speai-c , all the addresses which

had not previously been presented to him . Many bodies were represented before him , but probably the widest constituency of all is that which will treasure the words in which he expressed his regret at relinquishing the high and honourable post of Grand Master of English Freemasons . He has

a most admirable successor , and the wisdom of his Majesty ' s decision is unquestionable , but the pain of the inevitable change is unquestionably mutual , not from any conventional regard for high station , but from a sincere conviction as to the fitness , efficiency , and usefulness of the retiring Grand Master in his distinguished Office . —" Bristol Mercury . "

Derbyshire.

DERBYSHIRE .

THE annual meeting of this Provincial Grand Chapter was held at Derby on the 28 th ult , under the presidency of Comp . H . C . Okeover Prov . G . H ., acting as Prov . G . Superintendent , in the unavoidable absence of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire , K . G .

The Acting Provincial Grand Superintendent appointed the Officers for the year .

East Lancashire.

EAST LANCASHIRE .

A MEETING of this Provincial Grand Lodge is announced for 15 th May , at Darwen . A MEETING of the Provincial Grand Chapter was

held at the Town Hall , Salford , on the 27 th ult . The Acting Grand Superintendent Comp . C . R . N . Beswicke Royds presided , assisted by Comps . A . Clegg , Buckley -Carr , J . Newton , and other Officers .

Of the forty-one Chapters in the Province all were represented save three . The Prov . G . Treasurer Comp . W . H . Peel presented the financial statement , which showed a balance in hand of £ 146 . The balance-sheet was . adopted . Upon the motion of Comp . E . Williams ( Manchester ) ,

seconded by Comp . Pike ( Pendleton ) , Comp . Walter R . Sharp , of the Starkie Chapter , No . 935 , Salford , was elected Prov . Grand Treasurer . Comps . Clegg and Carr were retained in their Offices of P . G . IT . and P . G . J , respectively , and the other Provincial Grand Officers for the ensuing year were appointed .

In accordance with notice of motion , Companion C . D . Cheetham P . G . S . N . proposed that a grant of £ 50 be made to the East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational and Benevolent Institution . Comp . F . W . Lean P . P . G . S . seconded

the motion . It was moved and seconded as an amendment that the grant should be i , " ioo . After some conversation it was resolved that the grant should be £ ? $ . An invitation was accepted to hold the next Provincial meeting at Rochdale .

Dr. Conan Doyle And The Craft.

DR . CONAN DOYLE AND THE CRAFT .

ON Saturday , 23 rd ult ., the Lodge of Edinburgh Mary ' s Chapel , No . 1 , held a special meeting for the purpose of receiving Dr . Conan Doyle on the occasion of his being admitted an honorary member of the Lodge in recognition

of his position as a novelist and a historian , but particularly for his services as a medical man amongst our soldiers in South Africa . There was a large attendance , about sixty representative Masons being present . In the absence , through

indisposition , of the Master of the Lodge Bro . W . W . Robertson , the chair was occupied by Past Master P . L . Henderson , while Past Master Dr . Dickson acted as Senior Warden , and Bro . J . A . Trevelyan Sturrock as Junior Warden .

The acting Master intimated that in January last Dr . Conan Doyle was unanimously elected an honorary member of the Lodge , and then administered the usual obligation , and presented to him his diploma of honorary membership . In afterwards proposing the toast of the health of the new

member , he said that if Dr . Conan Doyle had done no more than create the immortal Sherlock Holmes he would amply have deserved the highest honour the Lodge could bestow . As Edinburgh citizens they had a special interest in that marvellous man , as it was an Edinburgh doctor , who curiously

enough was at present attending the W . M . in his illness , who furnished the type . They had , however , the grievance that Sherlock Holmes had died young . Let them hope that the

great detective might yet emerge from his retirement , and in his own inimitable way prove that he had not died at all , but that it was a case of mistaken identity . They had a still further interest in Dr . Conan Doyle—that his father was