RAMSGATE.—On the 26th March, 1860, a schooner was reported to be on shore on the Goodwin Sands. The Harbour Commissioners' life-boat Northumberland was quickly towed out to her assistance by the Harbourtug Aid, there being a fresh wind from N.E., and a heavy sea. On arriving near her the life-boat was slipped, and sailed across the sand through a high surf, anchoring to windward of the schooner, and, veering down, a portion of the boat's crew jumped on board her. Finding there was a probability of saving the vessel as well as the crew, they remained by her until the tide had left her " high and dry;" then, laying out her anchor to windward and heaving taut on her cable, they awaited her again floating with the next tide. On her doing so she struck so heavily that the boatmen had great difficulty in standing on her decks, and risk was incurred by those in the lifeboat ; but they stuck to her, and at 2 A.M.

on the 27th, their efforts were crowned with success; and, the tug taking her in tow, they got the vessel and crew safely into Ramsgate Harbour. She proved to be the schooner Omnibus, of Aberystwith, from Antwerp, bound to Marseilles, with a general cargo.

On the night of the 24th September, the services of this valuable life-boat were again called into requisition. At 11 P.M. on that night, the wind blowing a strong gale from N.E. with rain, guns were heard at Ramsgate, in the direction of the " Gull" lightship.

The Northumberland life-boat, in tow of the steam-tug Vulcan, immediately proceeded to sea, and after a while observed tar-barrels burning and lights displayed from a vessel which was soon discovered to be ashore, on the inner part of the North Sand-head. A terrific sea was found to be running on the sand; but the life-boat was quickly slipt, and, running fearlessly through it, her anchor was let go a short distance to windward of the wreck. At that juncture one of the life-boat's crew, HENRY VENION, was knocked overboard by a sea, but was soon got into the boat again; and, veering down to the vessel, the crew, 9 in number, jumped into her; and then, slipping their cable, they ran to leeward and joined the steamer, the gale then blowing hard from S.S.E., landing the shipwrecked men in safety at Ramsgate at 3-30 A.M. This vessel proved to be the barque Linda, of Whitby, of 300 tons, laden with railway iron, and bound to Alexandria.

At 4-30 the tug and life-boat again proceeded to the sand, with the master of the Linda on board, in order to ascertain whether there would be any probability of getting, the vessel off. At daylight they found her to be full of wafer; but, looking round, observed another vessel on shore near the North Sand-head, and dismasted.

Again turning the life-boat to windward, she ran down to the wreck through a very heavy surf, a hard gale from S.W. blowing.

With considerable difficulty the crew of 13 persons were safely taken out of the wreck, which proved to be the barque Ariel, of Gottenburgh, bound to Marseilles with a cargo of deals.

It will be remembered that in our last Number we published an account of a noble service performed by this life-boat, by taking 19 persons from the Spanish brig Samaritano, wrecked on the Wedge Sand, off Margate, in February last.

The names of JAMES HOGBEN, master of the Ramsgate life-boat, and of DANIEL READING, master of the Ramsgate Harbourtug, deserve to be handed down to posterity for the .splendid services they have jointly performed in saving lives during the last few years.

WHITBURN.—On the 3rd June, the sloop Charlotte, of Woodbridge, was wrecked on Whitburn Rocks. She was observed to be driving towards them with both anchors down, and on her hoisting a signal of distress, the life-boat Thomas Wilson, belonging to the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, was launched, and took off the crew, 4 in number, and the master's wife. The vessel almost immediately after became a total wreck.

LYME REGIS.—On the night of the 18th August, intelligence was received at Lyme Regis that a vessel was in distress, being anchored off a lee-shore in a heavy gale, 15 miles to the eastward of Lyme. At 4 A.M.

on the 19th, the life-boat belonging to the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION was launched, and proceeded to her aid, reaching her at 8.30 A.M. : the wind had then moderated, but the sea was still heavy. She was found to be the brig Ceres, of Lyme, and having lost her foretopmast, was solely dependent on the strength of her anchoringgear for safety. A portion of the life-boat's crew were placed on board, and the boat remained by her until, at noon, they were enabled, by weighing one anchor and slipping the other, to set sail on her, and, at 7 P.M., get her into Bridport Harbour, 5 miles distant.

Although we do not ordinarily record the services of life-boats, unless they are directly instrumental to save Jives; and although this vessel might possibly have held on at her anchors until the weather had been sufficiently favourable to have enabled her to get into port without other aid than that of her own crew; yet this case is so illustrative of one of the phases of the life-boat work that we think it deserving of notice.; for it often happens that a vessel has a signal of distress flying, and that there is every reason to suppose her in extreme danger, when the life-boat's crew are quickly at their posts, and they go off only to find on arrival at the vessel that, by a change of wind, or other unforeseen cause, she has escaped the danger, and that the services of the life-boat are not required; yet the crew of the latter may have incurred as much risk in going out and returning to the shore through a heavy surf as if they had returned freighted with a shipwrecked crew. Such services indeed are sometimes of the most trying description that the life-boat man is called on to encounter, as all the danger and exposure which he may have undergone have been so to no purpose. Yet in such cases it will not do to hang back until it is certain that the wrecked crew are in the last extremity, for it would then too often happen that the far greater disappointment and grief would be experienced, of seeing the vessel and her crew ingulfed, when the means of safety were already on their way, but too late to be of any avail.

In the present instance a vessel was anchored on the verge of a high surf, with, a flag of distress flying, and those on board her anxiously expecting that at any moment a cable might snap and their doom be fixed whilst the nearest life-boat was 15 miles distant.

This was just one of those painfully-doubtful cases where the life-boat's crew might, on the one hand, have to encounter much hardship and danger before they could return to their homes, and that without rendering any service; or, on the other hand, where, if they decided not to launch, the next intelligence brought to them might be that the vessel and crew were lost. It was very properly decided, as in all such cases it should be, to go; and even as it happened, | although the gale had broken up, the lifeboat's crew were enabled to render important service by getting the distressed vessel safely into port.

SOUTHPORT AND LYTHAM.—On the 20th August, at daylight, a small vessel, which afterwards proved to be the smack Hope, of Dublin, was observed to be on shore on the Horse Bank at the entrance to the Mersey. The Southport life-boat, in connection with the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, was quickly launched, and in about two hours reached her, and took oft" her crew of three men, landing them in safety at Southport. The vessel having also been observed from Lytham, the life-boat of the Institution at that place likewise proceeded to her aid, not knowing that the Southport boat was already on its way to her; she, however, did not arrive at the site of the wreck until the crew had already been taken oft' by the Sonthport life-boat.

We are again compelled, from want of space, to postpone reports of the additional valuable services of the life-boats at Hauxley, Newbiggin, Middlesborough, Filey, Yarmouth, Lyme Regis, Appledore, and Fleetwood, in saving, during recent heavy gales, the crews, consisting of fifty-four persons, of the wrecked vessels:—Susan and Isabella, of Dundee; Hose, of Lynn; Prodroma, of Stockton; Flying Fish, of Whitby; Admiral Hood, of Rochester; Elizabeth Ann, of Lyme Regis; Druid, of Aberystwith; and Vermont, of Halifax, U. S.

AN OLD SAILOR.—A very old craft came to her end during the stormy weather of November last — the Flying Fisli, which was wrecked off Filey, and which had her crew saved by the life-boat of the NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION on that station.

She was built at Whitby in 1783, and was consequently 77 years old. Mr. Edmund Woolterton, her master and owner, which resides in Bath Street, South Shields, and who is a fine specimen of the British sailor, has weathered the storms of 71 winters, having spent 60 of them at sea, and 50 of them on board the Flying Fish.