THE machinery of modern civilization is so complicated, and moves, withal, so smoothly and silently, that the majority of people never give a thought to its intricacies, or to the constant effort and strain which the smooth working implies.

This is as it should be, just as the healthy man is not aware of the action of the heart or the lungs, provided they are working properly. But there is a class of national work so splendid in its aims and so constantly inspired by the natural heroism of our people, that it would surely attract more attention than it does were it not that most of the work is carried out in the dark of the winter's night, when " the man in the street," who represents the Nation as a whole, is safe in bed.

It is only on the occasion of some specially notable storm, with its terrible tale of disaster and loss of life, that the public notices, almost with a start, that there are thousands of men around these coasts ready, at a moment's notice, to face the terrors of the gale, and fully organized by the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION to do so with effect.

Often it is only the magnificent achieve- ments of some Life-boat crew which lights up the general gloom of the dreary tale of wrecks around our coast.

But there is one sober official document, issued year by year, which would bring home to the people of this country the splendid work done by the Life-boat service and the urgent needs of that service—if it were only read. We all know, however, that a Government Blue Book has small attraction for the average reader, and probably not one in a hundred thousand of the public ever reads the " Wreck Register and Chart," published by the Board of Trade.

We propose, therefore, to make a brief analysis of this Blue Book, lately issued, giving the facts and statistics for the year ending 30th June, 1909.

For nothing can be more impressive and better calculated to bring home to the British public the great claims which the Life-boat service has upon their generosity than a brief study of these striking figures.

Shipping Casualties.

Looking first at the shipping casual- ties, we find that the total number in the year 1908-9 was 3,660, representing, fortunately, a considerable decrease of 203 on the number in the previous year, and the number of those who perished in these casualties was 248, being also a decrease of 70 on the corresponding total for the year 1907-8.

The 3,660 casualties included shipping accidents of all kinds, founderiogs, strandings, collisions, missing vessels, etc., and the Board of Trade allots the casualties as follows:— 1. Total loss.

2. Serious casualties.

3. Minor casualties.

The cases of total loss and serious casualties show a satisfactory decrease of 58, the total number being 1,095.

This is what we might expect from the general progress of science in ship- building, the greater proportion of steam vessels, and the higher educational qualifications of the masters. The number of minor casualties also showed a decrease of 145, the total being 2,565. Whereas 92 casualties resulted in loss of life in the previous year, 81 resulted in loss of life in 1908-9.

Of the 3,660 casualties which occurred, 3,284 were sustained by British and Colonial vessels, and only 376, a little more than 10 per cent., by foreign vessels. This shows a decrease of 376 on the former category and 38 on the latter category of vessels.

The total casualties were distributed on the coasts as follows :— East Coast of England— 537, a decrease of 118 South Coast of England— 65 325, a decrease of West Coast of England and Scotland, and East Coast of 12 Ireland— 802, a decrease of North Coast of Scotland— 16 156, a decrease of East Coast of Scotland— 19 The remainder Coast, etc. — 75 305 124, a decrease of of the Irish 125, a decrease of Total decrease Loss of Life.

The total loss of life resulting from the 3,660 casualties was 248. These losses were distributed on the coasts as follows:— East Coast of England—• 60, an increase of 8 South Coast of England— 27, a decrease of 48 West Coast of England and Scotland, and East Coast of Ireland— 55, a decrease of 7 North Coast of Scotland— 11, a decrease of 13 East Coast of Scotland— 8, a decrease of 13 The remainder of the Irish Coast, and at Sea,—• 87, an increase of 3 Of the 248 lives lost, 230 were lost in connexion with British and Colonial vessels and 18 from foreign vessels.

There was a decrease of 26 in the number of lives lost from British and Colonial vessels, whereas in the case of foreign vessels the decrease was 44.

A point of special interest and great importance to the well-to-do inhabitants of these islands, is the fact that out of the 248 who lost their lives in the year 1908-09, only 16 were passengers (curiously enough the same number as the year before), the remaining 232 being either officers or members of the crews of the vessels shipwrecked.

A reference to the Chart issued yearly with the Abstracts will show that a black dot is placed against each spot on the coast where a serious casualty occurred during the year ending 30th June, 1909. A red mark is placed to in- dicate the precise position of the 281 Life- boat Stations of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, and, on the whole, it will be found that the majority of the wrecks occurred in those districts where the Institution has made the best provision to guard against loss of life from shipwreck.

It may be of interest to give a few figures with regard to wrecks over a larger period. Between the year 1861 and the 30th June, 1909, there were 177,326 casualties to British, Colonial and foreign shipping on and near the coast of the United Kingdom; and in 6,989 cases these casualties were accompanied by loss of life, the total number of those perishing in this period being upwards of 29,000.

While we deplore the loss of this large number of lives the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION has the profound satisfaction of knowing that, through its efforts, 36,425 lives were saved during the same period.

There are two points in the survey which we have just given which stand out prominently, and which deserve the earnest attention of humane and patriotic Britons. The work of the Life-boat is at the call of all those " in peril on the sea," without distinction of race or nationality. But Britons should remember that Great Britain and her Colonies own nearly half the shipping of the world, and, as was shown above, of the 3,660 casualties which occurred round our coasts in the year ending the 30th June, 1909, nearly 90 percent, were British and Colonial, and the loss of life from this category of vessels was 230, as compared with 18 from foreign vessels. These figures are not in them- selves surprising when we glance at the following statistics with regard to the number of vessels and the gross tonnage of four countries— Country. No. of Vessels. Gross Tonnage.

The British Empire 11,565 18,826,442 United States. . 3,590 4,953,812 Germany . . . 2,171 4,266,713 France." . . . 1,509 1,893,593 As throwing further light upon this question, it so happens that we have before us Lloyds Quarterly Return of all vessels lost during the period July to September, 1910. From this it appears that of 23 steam-vessels wrecked 11 sailed under the British flag, and more than half the total tonnage lost (37,084 gross) was accounted for by these 11 vessels. Six of the 19 sailing vessels lost in the same period were British, and the tonnage of these vessels was nearly half the total tonnage of the whole 19.

Still more remarkable are the figures witli regard to the number of British subjects employed in the Mercantile Marine. In 1909 the United Kingdom employed 189,474 British and 43,960 Asiatic seamen, a total of 242,434. In the same year the Over-Sea Dominions employed 106,039.

Thus there were 348,473 British subjects employed at sea, the vast majority of whom were engaged in securing the safe transport of the food and raw material for the inhabitants of these islands. These facts serve to emphasize the figures to which we have already referred, viz., that out of the 248 which lost their lives in the year 1908-9, only 16 were passengers.

Need we say more to drive home the claims which the Institution has upon the generosity of the British public of all classes and of both sexes? Everyday there are, upon the seas that wash these shores, thousands of seamen either engaged in the Mercantile Marine or carrying on the hazardous calling of fishermen, which exposes them constantly to the risk of shipwreck, loss of life, and the con- sequent sufferings of the women and children who are left behind.

We are accustomed to pride ourselves upon the Dominion of the Seas, and to sing "Rule Britannia" with a sort of sub-conscious feeling that we have all done something to contribute to that rule. As a matter of fact, apart from those who pay taxes for the main- tenance of our Naval power, the vast majority of the people of this country do not make any material contri- bution in this direction. All can, and should do so, however, by sup- porting, as generously as their means allow, the noble work of life-saving which is carried out by the In- stitution, and which, though catholic in its readiness to help all, is naturally most fully occupied in assist- ing those who, in their humble way, are paying the price of admiralty and Empire for us, their stay-at home fellow- citizens..