WHITBY No. 1 AND UPGANG, YORK- SHIRE.—The Life-boats at these Stations •which had done duty for many years have been replaced by new boats of the modern self-righting type. The Whitby No. 1 boat is named Robert and Mary Ellis, as was her predecessor, being the gift to the Institution of the late Mrs. Ellis, of Harrogate. The Life- boat at Upgang is named the William Biley of Birmingham and Leamington, her cost having been met from the bequest of the late Mr. William Riley, of Leamington.

The public inauguration and naming of the two new Life-boats took place at Whitby on the 23rd August. Although the weather was very showery large numbers of people assembled on the beach, the Spa and the Cliffs.

The Rev. Canon Austen, M.A., R.D., presided on the occasion, and was sup- ported by the Hon. Mrs. Beckett, Mrs.

Austen, Lieutenant Basil Hall, R.N.

(the District Inspector of Life-boats), Mr. Jefferson Suggit (Chairman of the Local Committee), Captain Richard Smailes, Mr. E. O. Turnbull, Mr. H. W.

Smales, Mr. J. W. Foster (Honorary Sec- tary), Captain C. Vasey, and Captain W. Jefferson. The Life-boats were decorated with flags and bunting, and presented an exceedingly pretty sight to those who were fortunate enough to get a close view of them.

Canon Austen said that, happily, there were some subjects about which they were one and all agreed, and one upon which they were all agreed was that it was their duty to save human life when it was possible to save it. (Applause.) Whitby, from time immemorial, had had a very honourable place in history for the way it had at- tempted to save life. It had been his pleasure and privilege upon many previous occasions to speak in connec- tion with Life-boat demonstrations, and he would endeavour not to cover old ground, but to put a question which he would try to answer. The question was : Where did the Life-boat services of Whitby begin, when, and in what circumstances, and how had it gone on from those times? He was putting a very difficult question, and one which he could not possibly fully answer, because he had spoken about time immemorial.

He could not doubt that in those old days when the Ancient Britons used to go about in coracles, many an Ancient Briton had been saved from a watery grave by some of those whom they might call his uncivilised brothers, in similar coracles. History did not tell them, but, looking towards Dunsley Bay, he was reminded that the Roman galleys used to come and deliver their cargoes, and their soldiers and others, on the way to Cawthorne Camps, Mai- ton and York. He did not doubt that, in those Roman days there was many a person rescued from a watery grave.

In the same way, he might speak of Danes who came in the eighth and ninth centuries, and of mediaeval times, before the Whitby piers were built, in the days of King Henry VIII. Where, then, did those services begin 1 They must go back to the time of Dr. Young.

About the year 1798, there was a Life- boat at Whitby built by subscription and that Life-boat bad then saved many lives. The historian told them that the boat was very clumsy ; that it was very large, and that it took too much time to launch and to man her. After a while, towards the beginning of the last century, other boats were got. He had been at some trouble, and had had much difficulty, in finding out the exact facts in connection with the Life-boats of Whitby before the time the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION took charge of the district. He found there were Life- boats on both sides of the harbour, both 011 the East and the West. That on the East side was built by Mr. Gale—a well-known name — and that on the West side, in the first instance, came from Sunderland and was replaced by a Whitby boat, built by another well- known firm of the name of Falking- bridge. There were two names attached to those boats—the Petrel, and the Brothers. After a while the Brothers underwent repair and she was bought by the fishermen themselves, by sub- scription, helped, he believed, by Mr.

J. J. Rigg, and then called the Fisher-' men's Friend. If they looked on. the East side of the water, on the Tate Hill Pier, they would see some stone davits, which were originally placed there, and still remained there, for the purposes of the Life-boat on that side.

There used also to be a wooden shed in which the Life-boat was kept, and from which she was launched when she was wanted. Those old boats were manned by ten oarsmen and there was a man at the bow and a Coxswain at the stern.

He was holding in his hand a picture of the old Life-boats, as drawn by their famous looal artist, Mr. George Weatherill. It appeared that the Life- boats of those days had air oases, and were unsinkable, but, alas ! they were not self-righting, as was known to the grief of many a family in the town. He was told, though, of course, he did not know of it himself, that there was a rivalry between the men of the East side and the men of the West side—and that rivalry was not a very peaceful one— as to who should man the boat, and who should be Coxswain. At all events, there was a good side to it; they both wanted to have the honour, whether on the East or West sides, of saving life.

He could not do better than give the exact words which appeared on the monument in the vestibule of the parish church, which Mr. Keane, his prede- cessor, wrote in 1861 : "We have had a fearful storm to-day at Whitby. Haif- a-mile of our strand is already strewn with seven wrecks. Our new Life-boat was launched but a few months ago, and was manned with the old. orew of the finest picked seamen in Whitby.

Five times during the day had they braved the furious sea, and five times returned with crews from vessels in distress. A sixth ship was driven in behind the pier. The men, all exhausted though they were, again pulled out, but before they had gone fifty yards a wave capsized the boat. Then was beheld by several thousand persons—within almost a stone's throw, but unable to assist— the fearful agonies of those powerful men buffeting with the fury of the breakers, till one by one twelve out of the thirteen sank, and only one is saved." A sum of 5,OOOZ. was raised for the benefit of the widows and families; and to them he could only say what was on the back of the memorial: "May this memorial teach their children"—some of them were there—" to live and die worthy of their parents, and testify to every Life-boat- man, in venturing his life for the lives of his fellow-neighbours, that he may entrust his family with confidence to the love of the Lord and the care of the British public." The result of that disaster was that the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION was appealed to.

There was then a special interest in the old town with the Institution at that time, Mr. Thomas Chapman, of Whitby, being its Deputy-Chairman from 1853 to 1873, and Chairman in the latter year, and holding that office until 1883 —just before he died. The first Life- boat was the Lucy, which was followed soon afterwards by another boat, and a third boat was sent to Upgang. He ought not to stop without saying a good word—many words—of testimony to the wives of their brave Coxswains, the Life-boatmen and their families. Con- cluding, Canon Austen said : " I have spoken of the past and of the present.

Of the future we know not; but here are the boats to make the record. I can certainly promise this: As long as the Life-boats are needed, I am quite sure the men will say, as in the past so now, ' Ready, aye, ready.'" (Applause.) Lieutenant BASIL HALL, R.N., the District Inspector of Life-boats, said it was a great pleasure to him to be in Whitby to represent the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION on that most inter- esting and auspicious occasion. Canon Austen had spoken of former Life-boats, and in the present age of progress the science of Life-boat building had not stood still. These two boats had all that ingenuity and science could devise for their equipment as modern Life- boats. But there was one thing required besides that, without which the most wonderful and ingenious Life-boats were no use — the strong arms and stout hearts of the crew. He was quite sure that in the Whitby and Upgang crews they had as strong arms and stout hearts as anywhere on the coast. (Applause.) It was his pleasing duty, on behalf of the Institution, to hand the two Life- boats over to Mr. Suggit, Chairman of the Local Committee, knowing full well that they could not be left in better hands. He wished God-speed to them and their gallant crews. (Applause.) Mr. JEFFERSON SUGGIT said he felt proud to have the privilege of accepting the boats on behalf of the Local Committee of the Institution.

The hymn, "Eternal Father, strong to save," then followed; a section of the choir of the Seamen's Institute leading the singing ; and the Rev. Canon Austen offered prayer, this being the same prayer as on the occasion of the naming of the first Life-boat of the Institution.

The Hon. Mrs. GEEVASE BECKETT then named the two boats. Over the stem of each hung a bottle of champagne, sheathed in a bouquet of sweet peas, and Mrs. Beckett dashed and broke the bottle against the ironwork of the Whitby boat, saying, as she did so : "I name this boat the Robert and Mary Ellis.

May God bless her and the brave men who will man her. May she be the means of saving many valuable lives." The same ceremony was then gone through with the Upgang boat, which was named the William Biley of Bir- mingham and Leamington.

Mrs. Beckett was briefly thanked by Captain Richard Smailes, on behalf of the Local Committee. The Life- boats were then launched amidst much cheering. Mr. T. Langlands was in charge of the Whitby Life-boat, with Mr. R. Eglon as second coxswain, and Mr. W. Affleck as bowman, whilst Mr. R. P. Robinson was in command of the Upgang boat, Mr. T. G. Kelly being second coxswain and Mr. J.

Tomlinson bowman.

During the morning, and also at the time of the ceremony, a number of energetic young collectors, wearing the red woollen caps of the Institution, made appeals on behalf of its funds and their efforts resulted in a good sum being raised.

WINTERTON No. 2, NORFOLK. — As reported in the last issue of the Life- boat Journal (page 834), a new Life-boat of the Norfolk and Suffolk type has been sent to this Station to replace the previous boat recently removed. The inaugural ceremony took place on the 7th August.

Colonel Sir FitzRoy Clayton, K.C.V.O., Chairman of the Committee of Manage- ment of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, was to have been present to formally hand the boat over to the Local Committee, but indisposition prevented this and in his place came Lieutenant Basil Hall, R.N., the District Inspector of the Life-boats. There were present amongst others the Rev. W. A. Green, Chairman, and the following other members of the Local Committee:— The Rev. K. Bagnall-Oakeley, Mr.

0. W. Bedwell, Mr. Davis, Mr. S. R.

Nightingale, Mr. T. A. Rising, the Rev. R. J. Tacon and Mr. H. W.

Youell, with the Hon. Secretary, Mr.

G. Waters Beck. Many people also attended, among them being noticed Colonel R. W. Edis, C.B., D.L., J.P., Mrs. Nightingale, Mrs. Worship, the Mayor of Yarmouth, Mr. H. Chamber- lin, Mr. H. Bracey, of Yarmouth Life- boat Committee, Coxswain J. Haylett, of Caister, Dr. P. J. Ternau, Mr.

D. G. W. Braddock, Mr. G. J.

Hacker, &c.

Lieutenant HALL said it was with very great regret that Sir FitzRoy Clayton was unable to be present, as he had looked forward to visiting Winterton to take part in this cere- mony. In Sir Fitzroy's absence he had the honour of representing the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION on this occasion. This beautiful boat was the bequest of Miss Eleanor Brown, of Wandsworth Common, and at her re- quest bore her name. The Winterton men, in accordance with the custom of the Committee of Management, were invited to decide what sort of boat they would have. They were given an oppor- tunity of inspecting boats on the coast of many different types and sizes. They ultimately chose a boat much after the style of their old boat. They had tried her and thought they could not do better than have a boat similar to the old one. The new one was, of course, a very much better boat of newer design and with all the latest improvements a Life-boat could have. He thought the crew would acknowledge that in the way of a Life-boat she was all that progress, science, and human ingenuity could make her. There were no better Life boatmen than the men of Winter- ton, none with a better record or more ready to risk their lives in saving others. They had a very long and honourable record. On the new boat, as on all of the others of the 281 stationed around the coast, appeared as a motto, " Supported by voluntary contributions." He need not remind them that not one penny of their funds was provided by the Government or any other authority, the whole coming from the public as purely voluntary contributions. On behalf of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION he had only to intrust to the Rev. W. A.

Green, Rector of Winterton, as Chair- man of the Local Committee, and to the members of the Local Committee, this new boat. He quite felt that he could not leave her into better hands.

(Applause.) The Rev. W. A. GEEEN said he had the honour of accepting for the Winter- ton Branch this splendid new boat. He might say in the name of everyone that they were exceedingly grateful for this gift. On behalf of those who would man her, and had already tested her sea-going qualities, he was able to say that she stood in very high favour.

That she would be used on every occa- sion when it was possible to save life would not be doubted by anybody who knew the Life-boatmen of that part of the coast. The great traditions and the past daring services to many of which some of them could bear personal testimony, would, he was confident, continue to be maintained in future.

One and all at the Winterton Station offered their grateful thanks for the opportunities and possibilities which the new boat presented. They desired to thank the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION and wish them God- speed in their great national work of saving life around the coasts of the United Kingdom.

The hymn " Eternal Father, strong to save " was then sung, led by the boy choristers from the parish church, after which the Rev. W. A. Green offered a touching prayer for the preservation of the Life-boatmen and the fishermen, and invoked a blessing 011 them and their labours. Mrs. Worship, of Ormesby St. Michael, then pulled a cord, which broke a ribboned bottle of wine against the new Life-boat's bows, and named her Eleanor Brown, and wished her all success. The naming was greeted with loud cheers, and signalised by the discharge of rockets. Mrs. Worship was presented with a beautiful bunch of flowers. The Life-boat was then launched. The sea was fairly smooth, and the sun shone throughout the ceremony, which passed off extremely well. A number of enthusiastic ladies, each provided with a Life-boat collecting box, went amongst the crowd seeking contributions and gathered a goodly sum.

ST. AGNES, SCILLY ISLANDS. — The Life-boat at this Station has also been replaced by a new boat of the Watson type, 38 ft. long by 9 ft. 4 in. wide.

She is a splendid craft and is named the Charles Deere James, the cost of the boat being met by a lady who wished to be anonymous..