ALDEBURGH, SUFFOLK.—The ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION has established a new and additional Station at Aldeburgh, in order to strengthen the Life-boat service on that part of the coast, the local committee unanimously concurring, and a good crew being available for manning the boat. The new Life-boat is of the '' Liverpool" non -self-righting type, 38 feet long and 10 feet 9 inches wide, rows 14 oars double banked, and is provided with masts and sails; she is, in addition, fitted with two drop-keels to increase her stability and weatherly qualities. The cost of the new boat and equipment has bef n defrayed from a munificent legacy bequeathed to the Institution by the late Mr. Edmond Dresden, of Mayfair, London, for a boat bearing his late father's name, the Edward Z. Dresden.

LOSSIEMOUTH, ELGINSHIRE ; LOWES- TOFT No. 1, SUFFOLK; RYDE, ISLE OF WIGHT ; CARDIGAN, CARDIGANSHIRE ; and FLAMBOROUGH No. 1, YORKSHIRE.

—The Life-boats placed by the Institu- tion on these Stations have recently been replaced by new boats of the most modern types, two of them (Cardigan and Flamborough No. 1) having been supplied with self-righting boats, Lowes- toft No. 1 with a boat of the Norfolk and Suffolk type, Lossiemouth with a "Watson " type of boat, and the remain- ing Station (Ryde) with a whale boat.

The Life-boat sent to Lossiemouth is named the James Finlayson, her cost having been defrayed from the legacy of Mr. James Finlayson, of Stirling. The boat for Lowestoft No. 1 is named the Kentwell, her cost being met from the bequest of Mrs. E. A. Moore, of Onslow Square, London. The Cardigan boat is called the Elizabeth Austin, as desired by the testator, Miss Sarah Austin, of Tottenham, Middlesex. The Flam- borough No. 1 new boat is named the Forester, the Institution having so named her in lieu of a boafc bearing the same name presented by the Ancient Order of Foresters, and recently with- drawn from the Tynemouth Station.

The Ryde boat is named the Selina, as provided by the will of Mrs. Selina Edwardes, of Cannock, Staffordshire.

SOUTHEND (CANTYRE).—As reported in a former number of the Life - beat Journal (No. 214), a new Life-boat has been sent to this Station. The ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION has now erected at a great expense a new house and slipway in order to make the Station complete in every respect. We reprint from the Camp- beltown Courier a most interesting account of the ceremony of opening the new house and of the launching of the Life-boat on the 16th August last:—• " Dunaverty—' The Rock of Blood' —the centre of many feuds and hates and sanguinary fights, and not a few bloody massacres, in the old warring days; which has withstood the storms and thundering seas of centuries, and stands to-day a monument of nature to those clansmen who made its rock historic, and steeped it in their blood, bears in its story little of peace, little of human kindness. Deserted by those whose forebears had their fastness on its rocky eminence, the changes of the centuries which ended the fighting days have given the name a new significance.

The waters over which it broods have become an ocean highway—one of the great sea highways of the world. But though men have changed, natureremains the same. The coast is stern and rock bound, and when winds are fierce the sea lashes in fury on the rocky battlements of Kintyre, and the ships passing day and night, laden with human beings and merchandise from j near and far, meet a rapid doom if driven shorewards in the vicinity of the i dreaded Mull. Thus it is that in the shadow of Dunaverty has been built a j life-saving station, one of the many j around our coast founded by an Insti- j tution itself a monument to the new I and better era in which the feuds of bygone times are forgotten, and there is more honour in saving than in taking life. Even now Dunaverty has already seen, and may see again, man at his best and bravest in his battle with the elements to save his fellow's life.

" The station at Dunaverty is by no means a new one. Near two score years it has stood there a means of succouring the sailor in distress. Some time ago, however, it was found that many im- provements were required if the station was to be of use when the storm was fiercest and most dangerous to shipping at that part. The very wind that blew the hapless ship upon the rocks rendered ! the launching of the Life-boat at Duna- j verty an almost hopeless task. The case of the barque Artjo showed how ; imperative it was that better launching j facilities should be provided. Then, it will be remembered, the gallant fellows of the Southend crew struggled for j hours in the attempt to launch their boat, which time after time was thrown by giant waves like a cockle-shell upon the beach, while all the time on the rocks at Macharioch fourteen Norsemen clung to the wrecked hull of their ship, waiting for succour from the shore, with the angry, seething sea around them, threatening every moment to engulf and drag them to a watery grave. How the rescue was effected by the Campbeltown boat, which was launched and despatched to the scene of the wreck in anticipation of the condition of things at Southend, is too recent and thrilling a memory to re- quire retelling here. The parent In- j stitution at once resolved to construct ! launching facilities at Southend which I would obviate the recurrence of a state of matters such as was experienced in connection with the wreck of the Argo.

The work occupied almost a year's time, being executed under many difficulties.

It was finished in the late autumn of last year, and although there was no official opening then, a new boat, boat- house, and slipway were in readiness for whatever the winter might bring.

"The official opening of the recon- structed station and the christening of the new boat took place on Wednesday.

" With a history the early stages of which are dim in the mists of centuries, Dunaverty, perhaps, never before saw such a bright assemblage as that which gathered in its shadow on this occasion.

The weather was ideal. The sun shone brightly, and scarce a breath of wind stirred on land or sea. Over the water hung a heat haze which dimmed to the view the near islands and shrouded from sight the Irish land and the out- line of the Scottish coast to the east.

The ceremony commenced at three o'clock in the afternoon, by which time the people from the town and the surrounding districts who had flocked to Southend had gathered around the boat-house, making a company number- ing several hundreds. On the flagstaff on Dunaverty's peak a Union Jack was hoisted. At the boathouse there was a brave show of bunting, while over the entrance door fluttered the Scottish standard.

" The distinguished company taking part in the function took up their posi- tion at the boathouse door on the land side, which being in an elevated position provided a fine natural platform. The company included Her Grace the Dow- ager Duchess of Argyll, Miss Campbell of Blythswood, Lady Maud Keith Falconer, Mr. and Mrs. Boyd of Oars- key ; Captain Hector and Mrs. Macneal, junr., and Mrs. Macneal, senr., of Uga- dale; Miss Campbell of Kildalloig; Provost and Mrs. Mitchell, Campbel- town ; Lieutenant Basil Hall, B.N., District Inspector of Life-boats; Rev.

Canon Wakeham and Mr. J. A. Gardi- ner, the joint-secretaries of the local branch; Mr. James Reoch (treasurer) and Mrs. Reoch ; Rev. A. M. C. Tolmie and Mrs. and Miss Tolmie, Rev. A.

M'Laren Young and Mrs. Young, Mr.King, representative of the Glasgow Life-boat Saturday Committee, and also the members of the local committee.

" Captain Macneal, addressing Her Grace the Dowager Duchess of Argyll and the assembled people, said he was taking, at the request of the Local Committee, the place of Mr. W. T.

Douglass, the engineer and architect of the Institution, who had prepared the plans and supervised the boat-house and slipway that had been erected. He (Captain Macneal) was sorry he could not enter into the details of its con- struction as Mr. Douglass would have done, but he could tell them that it was owing to the difficulty experienced in launching the boat from the shore, on account of the heavy seas they were accustomed to on this coast, that it was found necessary to construct some launching arrangement. He could also tell them that the slipway had been constructed on the most modern prin- ciple for launching a Life-boat. Pro- ceeding, Captain Macneal said it was now his privilege to present a gold key ] to her Grace and ask her to open the new boat-house. The interest which , her Grace took in everything in this , district was well known to all—(ap- j plause)—and he could assure her the committee were deeply grateful to her I for undertaking this duty. It seemed ' scarcely necessary for him to add that this was only another proof of the kind , and thoughtful interest her Grace had ever taken in every worthy object in this ' part of the country. (Loud applause.) • " The door was then unlocked by her j Grace, who in declaring the house open, said :—' In fulfilling the duty which I have had so much pleasure in under- taking of opening the new Life-boat house and slipway for Southend, I must express the deep interest I feel on this occasion, as well as in all the important work accomplished by the Life-boat Institution throughout our sea-girt ] kingdom. We, who are dwellers on these shores, can realise more fully than ; many others the urgent need which exists for the noble services to which a Life-boat is dedicated. We have seen the great ocean which lies before us not only in its smiling aspect—a vast ex- panse of sapphire blue, a shining path- way to far lands, the home, it may be, of friends and kindred ; but we have seen it also in its stormy moods, when the waves, lashed into fury by the winds, rise mountains high, and many a stately ship which has ' walked the waters like a thing of life,' may be tossed a helpless wreck at the mercy of the tempest. In such an hour, when man is overwhelmed by a sense of his helplessness against the power of the elements, every earthly hope is centred in the thought of the Life-boat and her gallant crew, who with splendid courage and self-forget- fulness take their lives in their hands and venture forth upon the raging waters to bring life and safety to despairing souls who have well-nigh abandoned all hope of ever seeing home or loved ones again. One is thrilled by the thought that this spot on which we stand to-day will be consecrated as the scene of noble effort, of heroic self- sacrifice, of the joy of rescued lives.

(Hear, hear, and applause.) In speeding the new Life-boat on her way, it is with the prayer that God will prosper her life-saving work, and bless the brave hearts who shall man her.' (Loud ap- plause.) " Lieut. Basil Hall, R.N., on behalf of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITU- TION, then handed over the new house, boat, and slip to the care of the local committee. In doing so he said the Life-boat which her Grace had just re- vealed to view was the gift of Mr.

Robert Ker. Nearly forty years ago Mr. Ker lost his son under very sad circumstances. He was drowned not very far from that spot, and Mr. Ker resolved to establish a Life-boat station in his memory, leaving a bequest to the LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION establishing a Life-boat there in perpetuity, to be named the John B. Ker. This boat was one of nearly 300 Life-boats which ring the coasts of the United Kingdom, ready to go out at any time to the rescue of shipwrecked mariners. The first John U. Ker was a smaller boat than the present, and was of the self-righting type. Some twelve months ago the Institution decided that she was out of date, and resolved to place a new boat at Southend station. When boats were being changed it was the custom of theInstitution to allow the men forming the crew to choose their own boat. A depu- tation of the crew visited other stations, and saw other boats, the result being that they selected the type now in the house—and he thought a very good choice they had made. (Applause.) It was a totally different boat from the last one. She was a sailing boat, and he thought a sailing boat was just what was wanted for this coast. She was fitted with all the most modern improve- ments, was self-baling, unsinkable, and possessed all the latest improvements which a sailing Life-boat should have.

The new house and slipway were fitted with all modern means for launching.

The slipway was 130 feet long, and al- lowed the boat to slide down to the water without the men requiring to push her.

With the new boat and the new means of launching her, the Southend crew had now everything that money could buy and human ingenuity devise for the provision of a Life-boat station. (Ap- plause.) Southend station had a good boat and good launching facilities—and it also had a good crew, men of stout arms and brave hearts; in fact, at no place in the kingdom was there a better crew than at Southend. (Loud applause.) In Coxswain O'Hara and the others they had men ready to do then' duty at any time and under any conditions.

" In concluding, Lieut. Hall said he could not address such an audience without, on behalf of the LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, paying a warm tribute to the work of the very energetic local joint secretaries. He considered it due to the work of Canon Wakeham and Mr. Gardiner that the Life-boat service in Kintyre was in the splendid state of efficiency in which it was to-day. (Loud applause.) He took that opportunity of thanking both gentlemen on behalf of the parent Institution. The Life- boat and house were now handed over to Provost Mitchell and the local com- mittee, and he wished God-speed to her and her gallant crew. (Loud applause.) " Provost Mitchell said that as chairman of the local branch, and on their behalf, he had very much pleasure in receiving into their care the boat, the slipway, and the house which had been handed over to them under such pleasant and auspicious circumstances that day. In doing so he had to ask Lieut. Hall to convey to the parent Institution the Committee's appreciation of the confidence that had been placed in them in giving them so fine a boat and slipway at Southend after so shortly ago giving a new boat and similar launching facilities at Campbeltown.

They accepted this gift with a full sense of responsibility attached thereto.

Speaking personally, he was happy to be able to say that they had an excel- lent committee, composed of practical business men, and men who yielded to none of their citizens in the British Islands in their appreciation of the services rendered by the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION. (Ap- plause.) They had an excellent execu- tive, hardy and competent crews, and if unfortunately they should be called upon at any tune to proceed to the rescue of the shipwrecked, he was quite satisfied they would be as ready to proceed as they were in the case of the ill-fated Norwegian barque Argo, and he hoped, with the same success. (Loud applause.) Continuing, Provost Mitchell said the local branch was now established nearly half a century, and was within an ace of being self-supporting. He hoped all who were not subscribers would interest themselves in the work, and give a practical demonstration of that interest so that their branch might be in the proud position of being entirely self-supporting. (Loud ap- plause.) " The Rev. A. M'Laren Young then read a portion of Scripture—Psalm cvii.

from verse 23 — after which Rev.

A. M. C. Tolmie offered up prayer.

" The gathering then joined in the singing of the following hymn :— Eternal Father, strong to save.

" The Life-boat was then run on to the slipway, and the distinguished party having gathered round the bow, " Canon Wakeham said he had much pleasure in presenting a medal to Mrs.

Boyd on the occasion of the christening of the boat by her. Mrs. Boyd was new amongst them since the last boat was launched, but, long as the periodwas since then, they were very glad that the lady who performed the cere- mony on that occasion—Mrs. Fleming of Keil — was amongst them that day.

"Mrs. Boyd then gracefully christened the boat, wishing success to the John B. Ker.

" The crew gave three lusty cheers, in which many of the spectators joined.

The boat was gaily bedecked, stem and stern, with flags, while over the bow hung a garland of flowers. Before the_ launch the following party entered the boat:—Her Grace the Dowager-Duchess of Argyll, Lady Maud Keith Falconer, Miss Campbell of Blythswood, Mr. and Mrs. Boyd of Carskey, Miss Campbell ', of Kildalloig, Mr. Montagu, Miss Montagu, Miss Edwards, Master Jim ! Reoch, Canon Wakeham, Mr. Alex.

Gardiner, Lieut. Basil Hall, R.N.

" All safely seated, the signal to let go was given, and the boat slipped gracefully seawards, keeling the waters ,' of a glassy sea like a thing of life.

Down dropped the oars with man-of- war-like precision, and the boat was ! pulled about for a time, after which she returned to the slip, and, the passengers being landed, she was smartly hauled i into the house again.".