The School Courts Next Week.

THE SCHOOL COURTS NEXT WEEK .

ffiHE Quarterly General Courts and half-yearly elections of JL the two Educational Institutions will be helcf next week , that of the Boys on Friday , and that of the sister Charity on Saturday .

At the meeting of the Boys a notice of motion given by Bro . Eichard Eve , on behalf of the Board of Management , will be first considered , the object being to confer well-merited honours on Bros . Thomas Fenn , Jabez Hogg , and Wharton P . Hood , for

the services they have respectively rendered to the Institution , Bro . Fenn in various ways , Bro . Hogg as Honorary Surgeon-Oculist , and Bro . Hood as Honorary Medical Officer . It is

needless to say that the services of these Brethren are so generally appreciated as to leave no doubt as to the unanimity with which the proposal on their behalf will be received .

Bro . Bodenham proposes a small addition to the Law of the Institution which deals with the question of Salaries of the Secretary , Head Master and other Officials , he desiring to make the preliminaries prior to any increase more stringent

than at present , by requiring the Board of Management to " recommend" any proposed increase before it can be considered at any meeting of the Council . In dealing with

public funds such as are concerned in this direction too much caution cannot be observed , so we imagine this proposition will be favourably considered .

The election of a Treasurer , Members of the Council and Members of the Board of Management is the other business set down for the meeting , in addition to the election of Boys into the Institution . For this latter contest there is an

approved list of * forty-seven candidates , reduced to forty-five by two withdrawals , and there are twenty-three vacancies to fill , so that just over half the candidates can be admitted . On Saturday , the Girls Court will be first asked to

recognise , by a presentation of votes , the gifts Brother Hammerton has made to the Institution , in the form of beer , which he has for many years past supplied to the Institution free of charge ; and will afterwards proceed to the election of

twenty-two Girls into the Institution , from an appoved list of forty-one candidates . It is thus seen that in this case also , upwards of one half of those before the Craft can be admitted —a very satisfactory position of affairs .

While congratulating the Craft on this latter point it is also desirable to urge on Brethren generally the desirability of making some special effort during the next few weeks on

behalf of the Festival of the Girls School , which will take place on the 8 th of next month , under the presidency of the Deputy Grand Master of England .

It is true a large number of Brethren have signified their intention of supporting Lord Mount-Edgcumbe on that occasion , but the number does not by any means favourably compare with

the record at the corresponding period of last year , and a falling off in the result of the Festival would seem to be likely , and that too at a time when the actual expenditure to which the Institu-

The School Courts Next Week.

tion is pledged not only requires that no diminution should take place , but would even seem to call for increased patronage . As we say elsewhere in this issue the Chairman ' s Province of Cornwall will loyally support its chief , but it must be

remembered that Cornwall is but a small Masonic division , and it is not fair to expect the members of its thirty Lodges to come forward with anything like so large a total as would certainly follow the presidency of so popular a ruler as Lord Mount-Edgcumbe if he had a larger following at his back .

But is not only for the Provincial Grand Master of Cornwall that we urge kindly consideration for " Our Girls . " The President of the year ' s Festival is also Deputy Grand Master of England , and as such should enlist general support , but above all this there is the fact that two hundred and

sixty-three Girls are being educated , clothed and maintained in the School , and the amount annually required to meet the expenses of this small army of children is virtually dependent on the free-will offerings of Brethren , on the occasion of the

Annual Festivals of the Institution . It is not yet too late for any of our readers to offer themselves as Stewards , and we feel convinced their services in that office would be greatly appreciated .

It is announced the Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe will also preside at the prize distribution and annual visit of Stewards to the School , on the Monday preceeding the Festival .

A ball was given on the 5 th inst ., at the West Ham Town Hall , by the Woodgrange Lodge , No . 2409 , Forest Gate , in aid of the funds of the West Ham Hospital , and everything was done by the Lodge members to ensure success . Dan Godfrey ' s Orchestral Band was engaged , while the management of the

whole was placed in the capable hands of Bro . G . F . Hardwick , well-known in connection with the Premier Cinderellas . There were some 300 ladies and gentlemen present , says the " Morning Advertiser , " and the dresses of the ladies were light and pretty , while the gentlemen , who were for the most part Masons , wore

Craft costume . This is the first ball the Lodge has given in aid of the local hospital , a most deserving institution , and it is expected that it will be greatly benefited by this praiseworthy

effort on the part of the Brotherhood . A word of praise is due to Bro . F . J . Brown , Hon . Secretary of the Ball Committee , and to the Stewards for the excellent way in which they performed their duties .

The dislike of the Eoman Catholic Church for Freemasonry has found expression in the publication of a series of violent attacks on Freemasons , in a Lyons newspaper called " La France Libre , " which has a Roman Catholic editor . Freemasons in Lyons have been the subject of personal denunciations . Lists of

names have been given , and employers have been exhorted to have nothing to do with those who were thus denounced . Among the persons thus brought into prominence is an Organist at one of the Lyons churches , and the result was that he was dismissed from his employment . In consequence of this he has brought an

action for libel against the paper , claiming 3 , 000 francs damages . A printer who is also aggrieved in the same way has brought an action to recover 2 , 000 francs . The case , which attracted to the court a large gathering of priests and friends of the Clerical party , resulted in a verdict for the plaintiffs for the amounts claimed , but judgment was postponed . — " Levant Herald . "