SOUTHPORT.—In accordance with the wishes of the crew a second Life-boat has been placed at this station. It is a large sailing boat, 42 feet long, and 13£ feet wide, and is constructed, in conformity with the views of a special Sub-Committee nominated by the Branch to inspect the different forms of sailing Life-boats. The requisite plans were drawn up in accordance with their suggestions by the Naval Architect of the Institution, G. L. WATSON, Esq. The boat is fitted to receive water ballast, and is also provided with a centre board or drop-keel.

The entire cost of the new boat and equipment was presented to the Institution by the Misses MACRAE, of Sonthport, and it is named after them the Edith and Annie. The ceremony of presenting and naming the boat took place at its station on the 28th June last, on the occasion of the " coming of age," of the Southport Corporation. A large company assembled on the pier on that occasion, the boat having been brought alongside from her moorings. After some remarks by Alderman NICHOLSON, the Chairman of the Branch, the Local Honorary Secretary, Dr. PILKINGTON, made the presentation of the boat on behalf of the donors, whose names, he reminded those present, were intimately associated with every good work carried out in the borough. The gift was acknowledged by the District Inspector of Life-boats, Lieutenant TIPPING, E.N., on behalf of the Parent Institution, and by Alderman NICHOLSON, on the part of the ,' Local Committee. The Rector of North Meols, the Rev. C. H. KNOWLYS, who was on board the Life-boat, then offered dedicatory prayers, at the conclusion of which, the Misses MACRAE, amid loud cheers, broke a bottle of wine on the side of the boat, at the same time naming it the Edith and Annie. When the cheering had subsided, the people on the pier sang with much spirit the "Hymn for those at Sea," and the boat then went for a short cruise, having forty-three ladies and gentlemen on board, in addition to the crew of twenty men.

RAMSEY, ISLE OF MAN.—The ROYAL NATIONAL LITE-BOAT INSTITUTION has recently sent a new Life-boat to this station to take the place of one forwarded there many years since. The new boat is 37 feet long, 8 feet wide, and rows ten oars, double-banked; it possesses all the latest improvements, and, amongst other things, it is fitted with a sliding keel.

The cost of the new boat, carriage and equipment, has been defrayed through the Manchester Branch of the Institution by an anonymous friend, per Mr. and Mrs. NORBURY, who by means of their entertainments have been endeavouring for some time to raise the cost of a Lifeboat.

In accordance with the wishes of the donor, the Ramsey new boat is named Mary Isabella; it was publicly named and launched at its station on the 6th September, under the superintendence of Lieutenant TIPPING, E.N., the District Inspector of Life-boats.

Ran..—This station has been provided with a new 34 by 8 feet 10-oared Lifeboat, the gift of Mia. MARTIN, of Peishore —after whom it is named the Jane Mart in.

The ceremony of naming was publicly performed on 13th October, by T. GRIFFITHS DIJON, Esq., J.P., of Nant Hall, Chairman of the Local Committee for upwards of twenty years, after which the boat was launched and taken out for a trial trip.

On their return to shore, the crew were entertained to dinner at the Royal Hotel.

DOVER.—One of the new 37 by 8 feet 12-oared Life-boats has been sent to this station, and its public inauguration was successfully carried out on the 19th January, in the presence of a Tory large concourse of spectators, numbering several thousands. The Mayor of Dover presided on the occasion and opened the proceedings with a short speech, after which, BEAUMONT Monies, Esq., on behalf of his brother, Captain LINDSAY MOBICK, and himself, acting as Executors of their late mother, Mrs. JANE "WOOLIACOTT MORICE, of Erith, made the presentation of the boat to the Institution, and stated that it was her wish that the Life-boat should be named after their late father. The gift was acknowledged by the District Inspector of Life-boats, Mr. CUNNINGHAME GBAHAM, who handed it over to the care of the Local Committee, and their Local Honorary Secretary, Lietenant - General BRYCE, C.B. The well-known hymn, "Eternal Father, strong to save," was then sung by the band of the 89th Irish Fusiliers, after which prayer was offered up, and the boat was then named the Lewis Morice, by Mrs, LINDSAY MORICE, and successfully launched.

NEW BRIGHTON.—The ROYAL, NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION being determined to keep the New Brighton Life-boat Station in the highest state of efficiency, have recently had built by the Naval Construction and Armaments Company, of Barrow-in-Furness, a magnificent new steel tubular Life-boat. The boat arrived in the Mersey in August last, and was immediately placed on the moorings at the back of the New Brighton stage, so as to be ready for any services that might be required. The old boat is retained as a spare boat in case of an accident happening to the new one. New Brighton is, with the exception of Rhyl, the only station belonging to the Institution, where a tubular boat is employed, and the crew at New Brighton will not use any other description of boat, which differs materially from the ordinary self-righting boats adopted by the Institution for most of their other stations. This tubular system of Lifeboat construction was invented by the late Mr. HENRY RICHARDSON, of Bala, in 1830, and in 1851, his son, Mr. H. RICHARDSON, built a boat on this principle, with which he sailed round the coast of England in order to prove the superiority of his system. Eventually a similar boat was built for New Brighton, and has been replaced from time to time by others on the same plan. The new boat differs in many respects from the original plans of Mr. RICHARDSON. In his boat there were two circular tubes, tapering towards each end, and connected with iron bands at the bow and stern, and at intervals throughout the length.

Experience has suggested, however, that this form of construction can be improved, and the new boat has been built from designs prepared by Mr. CHARLES H. BEIGE, M. Inst. C.E., the Honorary Secretary of the Institution at Liverpool. The length over all is 42 feet 6 inches, and the beam 12 feet, exclusive of a wooden fender which runs all round the vessel. The midship' sections of the tubes are not quite circular, being slightly flattened on top and bottom and at the two sides. The tubes taper towards the ends until their smallest diameters are 1 foot 9 inches forward, and 1 foot 6 inches aft; the object of this is to give a freer escape to the water passing between the tubes when the boat is in motion. At the bow and stern the tubes are curved round until they meet, forming one homogeneous structure instead of two separate tubes as in the former boats. This mode of construction will add materially to the buoyancy of the boat at the bow and stern. The boat is divided into twenty-two watertight compartments, so that in the event of one compartment being injured, the floating capacity would be very little interfered with. Each compartment is provided with a manhole for access to enable it to be cleaned and painted. Two centreboards are fixed to each tube, -materially improving the sailing qualities of the boat, which will pull fourteen oars, seven on each side. Stanchions fitted with ridge-ropes run round the boat as an additional security to the crew. Every improvement which experience can suggest has been adopted in the new Life-boat.

The boat is called the Henry Richardson, and was paid for by a legacy left to the Institution by that gentleman, who died some years ago, but the money was not available until after the death of his widow. To show the importance of maintaining the Life-boat Station at New Brighton in the highest possible state of efficiency, it may be mentioned that since the Institution established a boat at this place in 1863, the total number of lives saved by its instrumentality has been about three hundred.

ARBROATH, BERWICK-ON-TWEED, BROADSTAIRS, BROUGHTY FERRY and BUDDON NESS (DUNDEE), CAMPBELTOWN, HATJXLEY, HAYLING ISLAND, LITTLEHAMPTON, MEVAGISSEY, MILFORD HAVEN, PORT ERROLL, PORTHDINLLAEN, SKEGNESS, and TYNEMOUTH (No. 1). The Life-boats on these fifteen stations have also been superseded by new boats of the improved modern type; a few of them are provided with sliding-keels, and all but one are fitted' with water-ballast tanks. The Arbroath new Life-boat was provided from the legacy of the late Mrs. STOKER, of Dundee, and, as desired by the testatrix, the boat is named the William Souter. A bequest to the Institution by the late Mrs. JANET BABE, of Kenley, defrayed the cost of the new Life-boat for Berwick, named the John and Janet. The Broadstairs Life-boat was the gift of the late GEOBGE MOTLEY WATO, Esq., of Bradford, and is named the Christopher Wand, Bradford. The Broughty Ferry Life-boat came from the Ancient Order of Foresters Friendly ! Society, and is named after their chief secretary, Samuel Shawcross. The boat at Buddon Ness bears the same name as its predecessor, the May, the gift of an anonymous donor under the initial " D." The Life-boat for Campbeltown was presented by HEATH HARRISON, Esq., of Liverpool, and is to be known as the Mary Adelaide Harrison. The Hauxley boat bears the same name—Algernon and Eleanm—as the Life-boat which preceded it, which was given to the Institution by the Dowager Duchess of NORTHUMBERLAND.

The Hayling new boat — Charlie and Adrian—was presented by a kind friend of the Institution, with a request that it should be entered as a gift from " X." Mrs. STOKER, of Hull, generously paid for the boat for Littlehampton, which is to be always known as the James, Mercer and Elizabeth. The cost of the Mevagissey new Life-boat was defrayed by a lady resident in London, who desired that her name might not be published; in accordance with her wishes the boat is named the John Arthur.

The Milford boat was provided from a legacy bequeathed to the Institution by the late HENRY MARTIN HARVEY, Esq., of Hexworthy, Launceston, and the boat is named the Henry Martin Harvey.

The Port Erroll new Life-boat was given in memory of the late Mis. ATHERTON HOWARD, herself the donor of two Life-boats, by Miss DIXON of Cheltenham, and, as desired by the donor, it is named Frances Camilla Howard.

The cost of the Porthdinllaen new Lifeboat, which is named the George Moore, as was the case with the one now superseded, has been partly defrayed from a fund raised by the employes of Messrs. COPESTAKE and Co., of Bow Churchyard, j London, in memory of the late Mr. GEORGE MOORE, the well-known philanthropist, who was a member of that firm.

The Skegness new Life boat was paid for by the late Miss ANN BALL'S bequest, and is called the Ann, John, and Mary.

The new boat for Tynemouth, like the one it replaced, is named the Charles Dibdin, after the Secretary of the Institution, who has been for nearly twenty years the Honorary Secretary of the Civil Service Life-boat Fund, which presented and endowed the Civil Service No, 2 Life-boat for the Tynemouth Station.