At the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION, held at Princes' Hall, Piccadilly, on Saturday, 15th day of March, 1890, His Grace The DUKE OF FIFE, K.T., in the Chair, the following Report of the Committee was read by the Secretary:— to express any opinion as to the success or otherwise of the experiment, and at present they can only venture to hope THE important -work of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION has been actively carried on during the past year, and every effort has been made to place the Life-boat service in a yet higher state'of efficiency, either by stationing new Boats on the coast, or by improving old ones for temporary use until such time as the Society shall be in a position to remove them and to substitute others of a superior type, have also been taken at many of the stations to improve or add to the facilities for launching the boats—in some cases at considerable cost — with a view to assistance being rendered to distressed vessels with the least possible delay.

The Steam Life-boat referred to in the last Annual Report as about to be built for the Institution, will be ready for service as Bdon as the necessary series of severe tests have been thoroughly carried out. The Committee fee! that it would be premature that the great problem as to the efficiency of a Steam Life-boat may soon be solved.

Efforts have recently been made to produce an improved transporting carriage, and when the proposed alterations have been fully tested a large proportion of the stations will be supplied with it.

It has also been decided to still further extend the use of the Tipping sandplates, which will, it is believed, be the means of expediting the launch of many of the Life-boats from sandy and soft beaches.

Life-boats.—During the year 1889, twenty new Life-boats of various sizes were sent to the coast, all of which have given complete satisfaction to their crews, some of them having already rendered excellent service in saving life; and in the same period the boats at nineteen other stations were supplied with water ballast tanks and other improvements.

Never perhaps in the history of the Institution has the confidence of the crews in the suitableness of the Life-boats for the work they are intended to perform been more full and entire than at the present time.

The following is a list of the stations to which new boats were sent last year:— Bamburgh .

Blyth No. 2 . . .

Bull Bay. . . .

Cresswell . . ..

Donna Nook Fishguard No. 1 Gorleston No. 1.

Hartlepool No. 1 .

Kingsgate . . .

Roker . . . .

Torquay . . . .

Weston-super-Mare Northumberland.

Do.

Anglesey.

Northern Ireland.

Lincolnshire.

Pembrokeshire.

Suffolk.

Durham.

Kent.

Durham.

Devonshire Somerset.

SCOTLAND.

Buckie Banffshire.

HTJUB, Caithness-shire.

Montrose No. 2 . . . Forfarshire.

Newburgh . . . . Aberdeenshire.

Bay . . . Do.

IRELAND.

Balhriggan Portrush.

Wicklow.

Co. Dublin, „ Antrim.  Wicklow.

The position of one of the Appledore Stations has recently been changed, a new boathouse and slipway having been constructed at a point which it is thought will be more advantageous for the purposes of the service. It has been determined, at the earnest request of the fishermen and other inhabitants, to return to Pakefield the large Life-boat which was formerly there, but which for the past four years has been stationed at Lowestoft in addition to the other Lifeboat already there. The boat will, however, be placed in a better position for launching than before, and a new boat is being built for Lowestoft. The email Life-boat at Southend was removed in October last, having been replaced by a superior boat of similar dimensions.

New or additional stations are, or will be shortly, in course of formation at:— Holyhead Kingstown .

Port of Ness Queenstown Pwllheli. .

St. Agnes .

Anglesey.

Dublin.

Island of Lewis.

Cork, Carnarvonshire.

Scilly Isles.

The Committee have hitherto been enabled to meet the great expenditure entailed by the building of so many new boats, either by special gifts presented by kind friends for the purpose, or by means of bequests, and they earnestly hope that the funds will be provided for the building and equipping of many other new boats during the present year.

At the close of 1889 the Institution's fleet consisted of 293 Life-boats, Shipwrecks.—Although the past year cannot be considered to have been by any means a stormy one, but rather the contrary, yet various parts of our coasts were visited by strong gales in February, October and November, in which months many important services were rendered by the Life-boats. Of the 1,149 times the Life-boats were launched in 1889, namely 239 times on service and 910 for exercise, in addition to 32 occasions on which crews assembled, their services not ultimately being required, happily only one resulted in the loss of life, the circumstances of which were as follows:— On the 1st November, soon after 9 A.M., intelligence was received at the Portrush Life-boat station that a schooner was in danger in the Skerries Road. The crew were promptly summoned, and the boat, which had only just been placed on the station, was launched in a N.W. gale and a very heavy sea. No trace could, however, be found of the schooner, which as it was subsequently ascertained had succeeded in getting out to sea. An attempt was then made to return to Portrush, but this being found impossible, it was determined to make for Port Ballintrae.

When nearly there, a difference of opinion arose between the coxswain and the majority of the crew as to whether it •would not be better to run for Bush Strand, which upon. When step was finally close agreed in, the sail was lowered, the mast taken down, and mos' of the oars got out, the port side pulling and the starboard backing so as to bring the boat stern to sea, when an exception ally heavy sea struck her on the por quarter and capsized her about 10.30 A.M.

all the crew being thrown oat with the exception of one man. The boat immediately righted, but was again capsized, am again righting was driven beach, some of the crew others reaching tunately these loss of three of towards the holdine on to her.

land separately. Unforcapsizes resulted in the the crew, including the Chief Officer of the Coast Guard. The Committee promptly contributed 600?. to the local fond which was raised for the benefit of the widows and orphans of the drowned Life-boat men.

The following table furnishes the services rendered by the Life-boats during each month of the past year :- 1889.

January February March April May .

June .

July .

August September October .

November December Total . .

Number of Lifeboat Launches.

29 39 20 13 12 5 4 11 12 37 24 33 239 Lives Saved by Lifeboats.

67 65 13 23 s 5 6 100 72 61 420 i Vessels Saved by Lifeboats.

1 3 — 1 1 —2 6 3 17 I Lives Saved by Shoreboats.

7 19 40 34 13 15 9 1 30 18 14 ' 7 207 The best thanks of the Committee as well as of the Public are due to the coxswains and crews of the Life-boats for the admirable manner in which they have discharged their gallantry being smartness and officers and men to the Volunteer hazardous duties, only equalled by promptness.

of the Rocket To their their the Coastguard, and Brigades also, the Committee desire to tender their coidial acknowledgment* operation.

i for their valuable co- Since the foundation of the Institution in 1824, it has granted rewards for the saving of 34,670 lives as follows : — In the No. of Lives Year Saved.

1824 124 1825 218 1826 175 1827 163 1828 301 1829 463 1830 372 18S1 287 1832 310 1833 449 1834 214 1835 364 1836 225 1837 272 1838 456 1839 279 1840 353 1841 128 1842 276 1843 236 1844 193 1845 235 1846 134 1847 157 1848 123 1849 209 1P50 470 1851 230 1852 773 1853 678 1854 355 1855 408 1856 473 1857 374 In tile No. of Lives Tear Saved.

1858 427 1859 499 1860 455 1861 424 1862 574 1863 714 1864 698 1865 714 1866 921 1867 1,086 1868 '862 1869 1 ,231 1870 784 1871 882 1872 739 1873 668 1874 713 1875 921 1876 600 1877 1,048 1878 616 1879 855 1880 697 1881 1,121 1882 884 1883 955 1884 792 1885 555 1886 761 1887 572 1888 800 1889 627 Total 34,670 In view of this grand record of results, no other appeal is sorely needed to secure ready and liberal support from a benevolent Public.

Rewards. — The rewards granted by the Committee during the year 1889 for the saving of life from shipwrecks or for praiseworthy efforts to do so, and in acknowledgment of good services rendered to the cause, comprised 3 Silver Medals, 3 Second Service Clasps, 10 Binocular Glasses, 1 Aneroid Barometer, 25 Votes of .hanks inscribed on vellum and framed, 8 Certificates of Service framed, and 5,103Z. 11*. including grants to the relatives of Life-boat men who perished in the discharge of their duty.

The Institution had on the 31st December last bestowed altogether in rewards, since its establishment in 1824, 97 Gold Medals, 1,017 Silver Medals and Clasps, 171 Binocular Glasses, 15 Telescopes, 3 Aneroid Barometers, 1,252 Votes of Thanks inscribed on vellum and framed, 8 Certificates of Service framed, and 108,0302. in money giants.

Aneroids.—The demand for the Aneroid Barometers supplied by the Institution to fishermen and small coasters at a greatly reduced charge still continues, 79 of these valuable instruments having been sold during the past year to fishermen and 51 to coasters, bringing up the total furnished by the Committee since June 1882, when the system was introduced, to 2,844.

In February 1889, the Institution promoted a Bill in the House of Commons to amend the Removal of Wrecks Act, 1877, in the direction of providing for the removal of wrecks in non-navigable-waters which might prove dangerous to Life-boats , and their crews in the performance of their life-saving duties. This Bill, which was under the special charge of Sir EDWARD BIRKBECK, the Chairman of the Institution, having successfully passed through the various stages in the Lower House, went to the House of Lords, and finally became law on the 31st May last. The Removal of Wrecks Act, 1877, Amendment Act, 1889, was the first Bill carried through Parliament during the year, and the first to which Her Majesty the Queen, the Patron of the Institution, affixed her signature. The passing of this Act has given great satisfaction to the Life-boat crews, and it is believed that its provisions will prove most useful. Already some wrecks have been removed under the authority of the Act.

In April last the Committee, with the view of diminishing the terrible loss of life which takes place each year from fishing vessels on the coasts of the United Kingdom, voted a sum of money for the purpose of co-operating with the National Sea Fisheries Association, in carrying out a series of exhaustive experiments with oil, such experiments in the first instance to be tried in the North Sea during the operation of "boarding" fish from the smacks to the carriers, this probably being the best means of testing the value of the experiments.

With a similar end in view, the Committee decided towards the close of the year to assist a scheme proposed by Mr. HOWEY TAYLOR, a gentleman residing in the North of England, for securing the buoyancy of fishing cobles by means of air cases so fitted as not to impede the fishermen when following their calling, yet at the same time to render the cobles unsinkable.

In furtherance of this project, steps have been taken to fit six cobles, at the cost of the Institution, and it is hoped that the results obtained will be of such, a nature as to justify the Committee in still further assisting a scheme which there is every reason to hope will be of great utility in preventing the sad annual loss of life from this class of boat.

The question of electrical communication with the Coastguard and Life-boat Stations round our coasts is one in which the Institution is deeply interested, and the Committee earnestly trust that before long the Government—seeing that the matter is urgent and of national importance —may be prevailed upon to adopt the necessary measures to carry out such a very desirable system of communication.

Local Committees. — The Committee desire to tender to the Local Committees and their Honorary Secretaries and Treasurers their grateful thanks for their very important co-operation during the past year. Their help is at all times essential, and without it the efficiency of the service could not be maintained.

The best thanks of the Committee are also returned to the Public Press for its continued powerful advocacy, the value of which cannot be overrated.

Finances.—The subscriptions, donations, dividends, etc., for the past year amounted to 42,7001 Is. 8d., including 8,249Z. 11s. 2 /. in special gifts to defray expenses connected with the following Life-boat establishments:— £. «. A.

Courtown, Oresswell, and White- Jink Bay—Anonymous . . . 2,000 - - Douglas No. 2—Civil Service Life-boat Fund, per CHARLES DIBDIN, Esq. (endowment) . . 1,000 - - Gorleston and Wells—"Baltic" Life-boat Fund, per H. KAINS JACKSON, Esq 650 - - Lydd, Dung-eness—Eojal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes Life-boat Fund (additional) . 40 10 5 Newburgh—JOHN BESTiBr, Esq. 700 - - Port Ei-roll—Miss Dacos. . . 700 - - Port of Ness—" Stock Exchange '' Life-boat Fund, per ROBERT ESCOMBE, Junr., Esq., WILLIAM NEWALL, Esq., tod PATTESOSJ NICIIALLS, Esq I ,259 - 6 Ramsgate — Town of Bradford per Alderman. F. PRIESTMAN (additional) 50-3 Shoreham—T. M. BESTELL, Esq.

(balance) 300 - - Thorpeuess — Mrs. C. NORTH GRAHAM 700 - - Thnrgo—Manchester Central Cooperative Board 700 - - Whitburn—A Lady (additional). 150 - - The following legacies were received by the Committee in 1889, and contributed in no small degree to the efficiency of the service:— £. .«. d.

AITKEN, Miss MARGARET, Glasgow 176 6 2 ALIEN, Mrs. L. B., Lakenlmm , 45 - - BALnwnr, Miss M. B., Lancaster 200 - - BROOSHOJ*C, Colonel E, A. D., Kirk Ella, Yorkshire . . . 3,000 - - BROWN, EBENEZER, Esq., Glasgow (balance) 146 5 - CAST, 3. H., Esq., Norwich . . 300 - - CUAGETT, Mrs., St. John's Wood (additional) 307 9 3 DEAN, W. H., Esq., Stratford (additional) 60 13 6 DromETT, WILLIAM, Esq., Great Western Hotel 3,516 8 4 EA8ON,MissMAOT,Ladt ioke Gardens 10,000 - - ELK, C J., Esq., Bromptou . . 500 - - £. i. d.

ENQMSH, Misses CHARLOTTE and F. J., Clifton 1,585 9 3 FAITLKNER. Mrs, ELIZA, Tunhridge Wells 18 - - FuBGrtssBOS, MissS. A., Bath. . 76910 - FISH, P. T., Esq., Highbury . . 50 - - GOOD, Miss SARAH, Newark . 18 - - GOODMAN, Miss M., Bedford . . 450 - - Gtoss, JAMBS, Esq ..Stratford Green 1,062 10 4 HACKWOOD, THOMAS, Esq .,Sydenham 720 - - HEDLEY, WILLIAM, Esq., Lancbester, Durham . . . . 1,000 - - HENLEY, GEORGE, Esq., Dray ton Park, Highbury 1,751 510 JONES, SAJTCZI, Esq., Blackpool. 90 - - LAW, WILLIAM, Esq., Hnuwick Lane Ends, Durham . . . 50 - - LOVE, ALEXANDER, Esq., Dublin (balance) 161 17 - LOVIKOND,GEORGE, Esq.,Ilminster 900 - - MACINNES, DONALD, Esq., Glasgow 100 - - NICHOLLS, W. G., Esq., Great Portland Street 90 - - PRICE, Miss ELIZABETH, Bath , 9 - - EESTEM., W. T., Esq., Mark Lane 1,500 - - ROBERTSON, JAMES, Esq., Lauchope, Holytown . . . . 90 - - ROMSSON, Mrs. LOTOSA, Great Cumberland Street . . . . 65 - - BOOTH, W. D., Esq., East India United Service Club . . .1,92313 7 SAKGOTsON,Miss L. C., New Bond Street 1,000 - - SHARPE, JAMES, Esq., Curtain Road, E 1,966 11 8 SMITH, Bev. H. W., Warrington Crescent, Maida Vale . . . 200 - - SMITH, THOMAS, Esq., Cirencester 2,000 - - SODTHET, A. P., Esq., Conduit Street 100 - - STRICKLAND, Miss USANCES, Apperley Court 100 - - STUABT, Miss JESSHS, Dunoon . 90 12 0 TAYLOR, T. J. DOMVIIAB, Esq., Brighton 100 - - THOMAS, Mrs. F. E., Nunney (additional) 3 11 2 TUBE, Miss ANITA, Byde . • . . 20 - - WOKTHINGTON, Mrs. J., Shepherd's Bush 4 10 - WRIGHT, ALFRED, Esq., York Street, Walworth . . . . 180 - - The disbursements in 1889 amounted to 574841. 16*. 1A. Of this amount 20,235£ 9s. 9rf. was expended in building and improving Life-boats, on transporting Carriages, Life-boat houses, Slipways, and architects' charges; 20,7612. 4s. 5d.

on Life-boat stores, Life-belts, Subsidies' to outlying stations, Branch payments, Aneroids for Fishermen and Coasters, the Store-yard, the Inspectors' Department, Experiments, &c.; 11,OHZ. 7s. lOrf.

on Life-boat Coxswains, Signalmen, and Crews for going out on service, and for Life-boat drills, on special rewards and recognition of services, and on grants to the Relatives of Life-boat men lost on service, medals, &c.

The balance was expended in miscellaneous charges, including the printing and publishing of the Life-Boat Journal, the Annual Report and Appeals, in salaries, rent and repair of offices, rates, taxes, coals, housekeeper, advertisements, stationery, postage, &c. Every item of receipt and expenditure has, as usual, been carefully examined, verified and passed by Mr. LOVELOCK of the firm of Messrs. LOVELOCK, WHIFFIN and DIOKINsojj, 19 Coleman Street, E.G., Chartered Accountants.

The Committee have hitherto received liberal support from the Public in their efforts to carry on and extend the great work of the Institution; and while appreciating the fact that the value of their labours has been generally and generously recognized, not only in the United Kingdom, but all over the world, they appeal with renewed confidence to their fellow-countrymen at large, to enable them not only to maintain in efficiency the great lifesaving fleet which the anxiety and toil of many years have produced, but also to help them to perpetuate a work which is essentially a national one.