THIS excellent Service, which is now in its fifteenth year as a chartered corporation, is making strenuous efforts to increase its sphere of usefulness and to extend the scope of its operations.

Although the Society (" Dainippon Teikoku Sumar Kinsai Kwai") has for several years past received assistance from the National Treasury, its means have as yet been insufficient to secure the rapid extension of the Service which its promoters desired. Much, however, has already been done, and very im-1 portant results have been obtained.

In September, 1902, there were as many as 23 life-saving stations, and the establishment of upwards of 100 others is in contemplation. The stations now in existence had in September last been the means, since the formation of the Society, of saving 7,467 persons from shipwreck, in addition to which 1,4-15 vessels, large and small, had also been salved. It is estimated that each year 1 in 36 of the registered Japanese vessels —including both steam and sailing vessels — meets with disaster. Only those vessels which are above 50 koku burden—that is to say, large vessels— are registered, and of these no less than 600 met with disasters at sea last year.

The Japanese authorities have no returns relative to smaller vessels, but they estimate that the total of Japanese vessels of all classes meeting with disaster each year numbers at least 9,000.