The Boys' School Election.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL ELECTION .

The autumn election of children into the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys was held at Freemasons' Tavern on Friday , the 31 st ult , when 19 candidates were chosen by ballot to fill up as many vacancies from an approved list of 52 , the boy HART , standing at No . 47 , and hailing from the Provinces of

Bedfordshire and North Wales , having had his name withdrawn by his friends after the issue of the voting papers . The result shows that the poll was a heavy one , and that the voting was close , there being a difference of about 1000 votes only between the boy who headed the poll and the lowest successful candidate .

Not far short of 400 votes separated the latter from the highest unsuccessful candidate , between whom and the candidate who obtained the thirtieth place there was a difference of about 1100

votes . The votes cast for the remaining 22 candidates were few in number , but with the exception of two of them , they will all have one or more opportunities afforded them of obtaining admission into the School .

The approved list contained the names of 13 London candidates , two of partly London and partly Provincial origin , and 3 8 Provincial , since reduced by the withdrawal of HART , as above mentioned , to 37 , while the successful comprise seven London boys , one partly London and partly country , and 11 from

the Provinces . Thus London has succeeded in carrying more than half its candidates , while the Provinces have failed to carry one-third . London had also the honour of heading the poll , one of its half-dozen new cases , No . 39 , polling 3397 votes right off the reel , while the Lincolnshire lad , with 1779 votes from April

last , stood second with 3146 votes , thanks to the support vouchsafed it by the Hertfordshire brethren , who , as the widow resides in their Province , adopted the candidate as their own . No . 3 , hailing from London and Surrey , and having 1343 votes in hand , scored 176 4 additional votes , and thus raised his total to 3107

votes . No . 4 , London , with 16 97 v ° t es brought forward , increased his total to 31 . 99 , and then followed one of the two Warwickshire boys , who polled 3062 votes , of which 363 were brought forward . Had the exertions put forth in behalf of this lad been less considerable , he would have failed altogether , as

this was his only remaining chance of obtaining admission into the School . No . 6 , standing No . 52 on the list , had the support of Worcestershire and Cheshire , and , thanks to the exertions of his friends , obtained 3055 votes . One of the three Durham boys , who had only this chance left him and but 604 votes in

hand , secured the next place with a total of 3044 votes , the Monmouthshire candidate , with still fewer votes ( 210 ) to his credit , being close at his heels with 304 r , and a West Lancashire lad , who brought forward 4 8 9 votes , well up with 3037 votes . Thus between Nos . 1 and 9 , the difference in the votes they

obtained is only 3 60 . Two boys from London obtained the tenth and eleventh places , the former , who was a last case , and had 1058 votes to his credit , scoring 2931 , and the latter , with 1249 votes to the good , 2894 . A second West Lancashire boy , who was a candidate for the second time , stood twelfth with 288 7

votes , of which 239 were polled in April last ; while a Kent boy , with 56 votes brought forward from the same election , secured the thirteenth place with 2733 votes . The East Lancashire candidate , with 2715 votes , was fourteenth in order , the

West Yorkshire next with 2692 votes ; two more London boys next with 2573 votes and 2525 votes respectively ; one of three candidates from Derbyshire , with 149 8 votes to his credit , raised his total to 2524 votes ; and a seventh London boy brought up the rear with 2368 votes , of which 311 were already in hand .

The hi ghest unsuccessful candidate hailed from London , his total being 1999 votes , of which 148 4 were brought forward . Probabl y had his friends been a little less sanguine , his position would have been hi gher . The Suffolk boy stood next with 18 72

votes , and then came the youth from South America , who carries forward his 1602 votes to the election in April next . The Berks and Bucks boy was twenty-third on the list with 1448 votes , and the Notts boy next with 1374 votes . Then followed a

The Boys' School Election.

London boy with 1250 votes ; one of the Somersetshire candidates with 1203 votes ; one of the three from Kent with 1154 votes ; and then three others who each of them scored over 800 votes , and will therefore stand proportionately well for the next election . The remaining 22 candidates did nothing to speak of . The total number of votes issued and brought forward reached

77 , 500 , of which 16 , 042 were in hand already , while of the 61 , 458 issued for this election 56 , 160 were received and passed by the Scrutineers , the number unused or rejected being 529 8 . Of the five last cases , three succeeded , the two unsuccessful hailing from London and Hertfordshire respectively . It is

manifest , however , from the fact of the latter obtaining only eight votes that he never had the remotest chance of winning , and it seems to us that it would have been better , and would certainly have saved trouble , had his case never been submitted for approval . The number of candidates who will go forward to the election in April , 1891 , is 31 .

The Girls' School Election.

THE GIRLS' SCHOOL ELECTION .

As might have been expected from the more limited number of candidates , the polling on Saturday last for the election of candidates into the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls was indidividually far heavier than at the Boys' Election the day previous . At the latter , the highest individual poll was 3397 votes , and the

lowest successful candidate obtained 23 68 votes , the highest unsuccessful scoring 1999 votes . On Saturday last the girl returned at the head of the list polled 4212 votes , and No . 16 , the lowest successful , 3563 votes , while there were two children who obtained upwards of 3000 votes , and failed to secure places ,

and a third in a similar position , who obtained upwards of 2300 votes . Taking , however , the aggregate at the two elections , we find that there were more votes passed by the Scrutineers out of a somewhat smaller issue for the Boys' Election than at that of the Girls' School .

The approved list of candidates contained the names of 32 girls , of whom one , however , was withdrawn after the voting papers had been distributed . Of these nine hailed from London and 22 from the Provinces and Districts abroad . London carried four of its candidates , and polled over 3000 votes in the case of

two others , while the Provinces placed 12 candidates . The highest successful child hailed from New Brunswick , and starting with 691 votes in her favour , obtained a total of 4212 votes . Of the two girls from Norfolk , one had 2141 votes to her credit , and increased her total to 4073 votes , thereby securing the second

place , while a London candidate , who figured in this capacity for the first time , was placed third with 4014 votes . One of two Sussex children stood next with 3957 votes , and a Suffolk girl next with 3 832 votes . The candidate from North and East Yorkshire , with 2593 votes to the good , scored 3829 , while one

of three from the contiguous Province of West Yorkshire , who had 2470 votes in hand , came next with 3771 votes . The second Suffolk girl stood eighth with 37 60 votes , and the one Hants and Isle of Wight candidate ninth , with 3731 votes , a second West Yorkshire girl , who was only one vote behind No . 9 ,

being next with 3730 votes . No . 11 from London polled 3680 votes , and No . 12 from Durham 3654 votes , of which 908 were brought forward from the April election . Nos . 13 and 14 were from London , and scored 3631 votes and 3 630 votes respectively , the former being 1124 votes to the good at starting , and the

latter 6 34 votes . The second Norfolk girl secured the fifteenth vacancy with 3 602 votes , of which 2273 votes already stood to her credit , while one of the Devonshire girls obtained the sixteenth place , with a total of 3563 votes , 429 votes being brought forward , and 3134 votes polled on this

occasion . The hi g hest unsuccessful candidates were two London girls with 3406 votes and 3062 votes respectively , the former having 1531 votes at starting , and the latter 88 4 , the next child , who brought forward 1517 votes and increased her total to 2339 votes , being from Malta , and the