THE almost total disappearance of the old-fashioned small sailing coaster, the place of which baa been taken by steamers, coupled with the vastly improved con- ditions under which the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland are lighted, has naturally an important bearing on the disposition of the fleet of Life-boats belonging to the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION.

In the early days of the Institution it was no infrequent thing to hear of upwards of 50 small craft being stranded almost simultaneously and within sight of one another, the cause being a sudden shift; of wind or an unexpected and sadden gale catching them on a lee shore. It was consequently necessary to have a great number of the smaller class of Life-boats stationed along the high, road used by these coasting vessels, so as to be pre- pared for any emergency, more especially as these coasting craft might usually be expected to break up very shortly after taking the ground.

The times are considerably altered now, but to show what used to occur when the small coasting traffic was at its height, the folio wing short extracts from accounts of gales of wind may be taken as ex- amples of what the state of affairs was :— Gale 25th September, 1851.—Sprung up N.N.E., veered to S.E. where it was at its strength. On the east coast 112 vessels were wrecked, 18 of which were stranded between Hartlepool and Redcar, 70 lives lost.

Gales between the 27th October and 18th November, 1852. —On the 27th October the light colliers bound north- ward knew by the heavy swell rolling in from the N.E. that a storm was coming, and bore up for the Humber, Yarmouth Roads and the Tyne; many failed to get into safety and 124 were wrecked. On the 3rd November a second gale came on from S.S. W., backed to S.E. and blew hard until the 8th. After a short lull the wind freshened up on the llth, and blew a heavy gale, continuing until the 18th.

During this interval no less than 600 ships sought shelter in the Humber; many, however, were caught between the Tyne and Flamborough Head, and 176 were wrecked, making a total of 300 vessels wrecked since the 27th October. The loss of life was 217.

Gales of 25th October to 31st October, 1859.—Between these dates 248 vessels were lost on our coasts and 686 lives, but this includes 446 who perished in the Royal Charter on the 25th October. The remaining Jives were chiefly lost from small coasters.

Gales of 28th May and 2nd Jane, 1860.

—In the first of these, 143 vessels were wrecked and 34 lives lost, and in the second, 51 were wrecked and 17 lives lost.

In these two gales there were an enormous quantity of fishing boats lost and many fishermen perished, but it is with the coasting trade that this article is concerned.

In the Life-boat Jaunted for October, 1863, page No. 337, occur the following remarks:—" Schooners and brigs were as usual the most numerous description of vessels that were lost during the past year on our shores. These are usually employed in our coasting and coal trade, and the destruction of hundreds of them, even in moderate gales, is now reduced to a matter of certainty," and, further on, "------one of them was a collier sloop 71 years of age! Another collier brig also foundered in October last, and 7 out of 9 of her crew were drowned. She was 99 years old ! " No doubt these were by no means very exceptional cases, though mercifully they are so now. The wreck register for 1863 shows that out of the 2001 vessels lost, 614 were colliers laden, and 114 colliers light.

Gale of 10th and 11th January, 1866.

The following is an extract of an account of this gale at Torbay, but its ravages were by no means confined to that place "When at last the long looked for morning light came, of the 62 vessels which had been in the bay the evening before, 20 had ridden out the gale or got into harbour, one had beaten out to sea and the rest had foundered or were cast ashore. More than 40 wrecks had taken place in the bay alone, and out of their crews 73 men are supposed to have been drowned." In 1865, there were no less than 855 colliers lost, either laden or in ballast In those days these vessels, especially on the north-east coast, had an established reputation of being the most rotten am worst-found vessels that left our ports.

These are but a few examples taken a random, but quite sufficient to prove that the small coasters came ashore, not in twos or threes, but by dozens at a time.

The object of this article is not to show that it is necessary for the Institution to relax its efforts, quite the contrary; for, with the enormous increase of shipping, there is usually an actual increase in the number of casualties, although the pro- portion may be smaller. But it is rather to explain that the work to be expected of the Life-boats is altered, and that whereas from time to time it becomes evident that certain stations which may have had their use in the past, when there were many coasting vessels, may now be closed, it is clear that others require strengthening by having steam or larger Life-boats and improved launching facilities sup- plied to them. The falling off in the sailing coasting trade of course does Dot affect Life - boats stationed is fishing neighbourhoods nor those whose duty it is to'guard outlying sands. It is still the small coasting vessel which most frequently requires the aid of the Life-boat; this is only to be expected, for be she either a steam or Bailing vessel, the navigation of our coasts has always its risks; but the old days of these vessels coming ashore 50 at a time has passed.

The steam coasters are generally speaking impervious to sudden shifts of wind, and unless a gale springs up with extra- ordinary rapidity they can usually manage to clear off the land. Accidents to their machinery or their cargo shifting are the causes which chiefly bring them to grief. The sailing coasters are of a more weatherly type than those that used to strew the coast with their timbers; the present coasting vessel for the most part is ketch-rigged and well found, being in every way a more desirable craft for her work than the old-fashioned Geordy Brig, a rig which is getting rarer every day.

In addition to the gradual extinction of the small craft, the chief factor which has guided the Institution in making changes in some of their Life-boat stations, by closing some, changing the positionand strengthening others, has been that the great improvement in the lighting of the coast which has taken place in the last thirty years, has had sufficient time to prove that there are parts of the coast formerly bearing a bad reputation which have now lost that characteristic, light-vessels or lighthouses having been placed in such a position as to give timely warning before a vessel gets embayed or set in to dangerous proximity to the coast by the currents or indrafts. Such im- portant lights as the following, all of which have been placed within the last thirty years, cannot fail to have an enormous effect in decreasing the number of casualties in their respective neighbour- hoods:—The Wolf, Anvil Point, Royal Sovereign, Southwold, Gross Sand, Inner Dowsing, Withernsea, Souter Point, North Carr, Sandy Ness, Rat tray Head, Ailsa Craig, Salker, Bull Point, Lundy Hartland Point, the Barrels Kock, Kish, South Rock, and Skull martin. Improvement in other lights and the better lighting of har- bours, has also contributed largely in some places to the safety of the coast, and on this account it has been found possible to close some useless stations, so that the money for their upkeep might be ex- pended in some better and more needed direction.

There has been a growing tendency, noticeable all round the coast, towards choosing larger Life-boats, experience having shown that a larger class than the small pulling Life-boat can,-speaking generally, be used in most places where there is the slightest protection for launching. A moderate-sized Life-boat is able to command a good stretch of coast, especially if the part of the coast, as is frequently the case, is in the form of a bay, when a boat can be placed at each point, so that one shall always be to windward; the boats in the bight of the bay thus often become unnecessary.

Getting a Life-boat off from a dead lee shore is always a difficulty, and attempts to do so must frequently be attended by failure; consequently it is always prefer- able to expend money in improving the launching facilities at a station in a good position than to depend too much on the uncertainty of the one in the bight of the bay. This policy has been carefully carried out by the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, and in the last few years many stations have been brought up almost to a pitch of perfec- tion so far as the launching arrangements are concerned.

Margate is one of the most recent examples; its geographical position is splendid for Life-boat work, for in the most dangerous winds it lies to windward of many of the sand-banks at the month of the Thames, and a Life-boat can usually start in comparative shelter.

For this reason the Institution has lately expended some thousands of pounds in building slipways and putting the launching arrangements in first-rate order there. The Margate station is only one of many where much money has been spent recently in improving the service, and is simply quoted as an instance to show that although it is found necessary to close some stations, the money is required elsewhere. Economy as an argument for closing a station is not the important factor, and no station is ever closed if there is any reasonable chance, be it ever so remote, of its proving useful advanced by those living in the neighbourhood capable of giving a valuable opinion.

Times change, and it is the aim and ambition of the Life-boat Institution to keep pace with them. What was most suitable in 1860 may not be BO now.

Great improvements have been made in every type of Life-boat, and much more is known as to the advantages of each type to suit the special sort of work to be encountered at each station; besides which, minds are much more open now than formerly. The officers of the Insti- tution have learnt much from the Life- boat men, and the Life-boat men have profited much from their contact with the officers.