IT may be that the great war that is now raging will be known to posterity as the " Petrol War," from the fact that petrol engines have been employed for warlike purposes to an extent that was never even dreamed of by those who were directly interested in the production of this class of machinery.

From the Submarine to the "Plane," from the five-ton motor lorry to the officer's two-seater or the motor bike, we find the petrol engine the prime mover, while a host of other uses are found for it, such as driving dynamos for searchlights, wireless installations, pumping, etc. There are also a great number of petrol launches in use around our own coasts for harbour duties ; in short, the petrol engine has an ubiquity that could never have been claimed for the steam engine.

The moment seems, therefore, particularly appropriate for a brief review of the present position of the petrol motor as a propelling agent for the Institution's Life-boats, which may now be considered to have passed entirely out of the experimental stage.

In the early days of Motor Life-boats many difficulties had to be surmounted.

Motors were themselves in an experimental state, and the subsidiary apparatus connected with them, such as the carburettor, magneto, etc., left I much to be desired. Again, makers had practically no experience of the requirements of a marine motor, and were certainly not in a position to help j the Institution in their equipment of ! a Motor Life-boat. Consequently the j whole of the details of the installation had to be designed by the Institution.

We were very fortunate in evoking the interest of the two principal contractors concerned in the production of Motor Life-boats, who loyally endeavoured to follow our requirements. Thus, bit by bit, progress was made, and we can now say without any hesitation that the motor machinery which is specified by and manufactured for the Institution is for all practical purposes "correct," and as an earnest of this we can point to the fact that the equipment is now ordered in quantities sufficient for the estimated needs of the year, and the engine builders (Messrs. Tylor & Sons) are making the engines on ordinary business lines on the usual interchange system.

This, of course, means that not only will future motor-propelled Life-boats be less costly to equip, but they will be more efficient in service, as renewals and repairs will be executed wifch greater despatch and at a lower cost.

The highest powered motors that are used in the Institution's boats are rated at 60 h.p., but they give a somewhat higher output than this in practice.

The next size is the 40 h.p., and then there is a so-called 35 h.p., which is a much lighter built engine, and is intended for the smaller size self-righting boats which are power-propelled.

The above engines are built by Tylor's, and they are all built on the same lines. But a new type of engine is now being tried, giving about 15 h.p.

This, however, is quite an experiment, the object being to produce a Motor Life-boat which can be carried on and launched from an ordinary transporting carriage in the same manner as a rowing boat, but which will be provided with power that will enable it to make long trips at a reasonable speed without fatigue to the crew. These boats will be furnished with oars and a full pulling crew, and it is expected that they will pull very well. Of course the oars can be used when the boat is being handled alongside a wreck and in similar circumstances.

If it should prove that such a boat is not too heavy for the carriage, that it has a reasonable speed under power, and that it can be pulled and handled by the oarsmen, there is no doubt that in numerous places where a full-sized Motor-boat cannot be used, these auxiliary boats will prove to be of the greatest service.

A 40-ft. boat with a 40-h.p. engine installed weighs somewhere about 13 tons without the crew, and it will be understood that such a craft must either be left afloat or hauled up en a slipway leading into deep water, and that it would be impossible to launch a boat of this kind from a carriage or run her ashore again when the service was completed. Although these boats sail very well indeed, they cannot be pulled with any degree of comfort or success. The speed of such a boat is not very high, but this class of boat does not allow of a high speed, and anything greater than the 7£ knots they are capable of sustaining would be impossible against a bad head sea. The engines are quite powerful enough to drive these boats into a head sea at a speed that is more than enough even for the hardened veterans who man the boats, and when the displacement of the boat is remembered, the fact that she can be brought to rest within a length and a half by means of the reverse gear, is a very good indication of the control which this machinery gives over the Motor-boats.

The small experimental boat will weigh about 6 tons, and the speed will be well over 7 knots, and as, even without the motor working, she will be quite as seaworthy and very nearly as easy to pull as a boat of her class without a motor installation, the Institution looks forward with a great deal of confidence to the possibilities of this class of Life-boat.

The Institution's Steam Life-boats continue to do very good service. The Angle Steam Life-boat was given a new boiler last year, as it is found that the water-tube boilers which are installed in these boats are not capable of being used for more than about fifteen years.

The Steam Tug at Padstow was during the summer provided with a small motor pump which acts as a boiler circulation pump and a stand-by condenser circulation pump, and also provides water for deck washing and fire purposes.

With regard to the Motor-boats, there have been some additions to the fleet during the year, and several boats have had their experimental machinery i-emoved and a modern equipment installed, and the following may be considered a record of the work done during the year in this connexion.

DUNMORE EAST.—This boat completed her trials early in the year, and was placed on her station. It is an interesting installation, as it may be considered as the precursor of the Motor Beach boat. The Dunmore East boat is a self-righter, 37 ft. long by 9 ft. 3 in.

beam, and she is fitted with an engine giving about 20 h.p. Her speed through the water is excellent, nearly 7J knots, and it is the good results given by this boat which have encouraged the Institution to go still further into the question, and has led to the idea of the experimental boat which has been mentioned above.

WALTON-ON-THE-NAZE. — This boat has done some excellent service since the motor was installed in 1906. She was one of the very first Motor-boats that the Institution had, and when she fractured her crankshaft early last year it was thought that the machinery might prove to be damaged beyond repair.

It was, however, found that the fault was a hidden flaw in the metal which could not have been detected by the engine-builders, and, as practically no other damage had been done, the machinery was reinstalled and plenty of work has been found for this boat during the early part of the winter.

She made four trips in fourteen days, and there is no doubt that many more years' service will be obtained from what was really simply an experimental installation.

STRONSAY AND DONAGHADEE.—It was found essential to instal new motors in both of these boats, and this work was completed during the year and both these Life-boats made a very good showing during their trials.

BEAOMARIS. — Although the Beaumaris boat was completed in 1913, owing to the difficulties experienced in the construction of the slipways she could not be sent to her Station till July last. She made an excellent passage round from Cowes to Beaumaris under her own power. A close study of the Engineer's report of the voyage, a report that goes very fully into all the details, discloses the fact that no fault of any kind occurred that in any way would have prevented the machinery from functioning. One or two joints on oil tanks, etc., showed some signs of leaking and were renewed, a thrust bearing warmed up slightly the first day and then behaved in a proper manner, and this points to a performance that was an unqualified success.

A very interesting ceremony was organised by Mr. J. H. Burton, of Beaumaris, the Hon. Secretary, and marked the inauguration of this boat.

A great number of guests were present.

The Bishop of Bangor conducted a service, and although it was blowing very hard the guests who were on board when the Life-boat slid down the slipway and took the water after the christening had been performed by Mrs. Burton, declared that they had thoroughly enjoyed their experience. Lieut.-Commander Basil Hall represented the Institution on this occasion, and at the luncheon that followed at " The Fryars," Mr. Burton's residence, the fullest appreciation of the boat was expressed by those who were in a position to form an opinion. She is one of the 43 ft. by 12ft. Gin. class "Watson" boats, and is fitted with a 60-h.p. engine which drives her through the water at 7' 5 knots.

A number of boats are in hand which are a modification of this class, being 45 ft. long instead of 43 ft., and in due course St. Mary's, Baltimore, Blyth and Wexford Stations will be supplied with these boats, while a very interesting craft is on the way for Gorleston.

She is of the Norfolk and Suffolk type, 46ft. Gin. long and 12ft. 9 in. beam, and with her 60-h.p. engine there is no doubt that she will prove to be an excellent craft for the peculiar conditions of this coast.

THE WRECK OF THE " ROHILLA."— This unfortunate catastrophe has served to confirm the opinion that has been formed with regard to the utility of the Motor Life-boat.

In spite of such a display of grit, pluck and endurance as our Life-boatmen are fortunately not often called upon to exhibit, the Whitby No. 1 and No. 2 Life-boats, the Upgang and the Scarborough boats had to acknowledge defeat simply because there was not sufficient power available.

A man may pull and pull against unfair odds, and we may agree with the poet that— "If you can force your heart and nerva and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing left in you Except the will that says to them, ' Hold on,'" you will be a hero ; but the petrol motor will work away till its fuel tanks are dry, and there is plenty of heroic work still to be done on board a Life-boat besides pulling at an oar.

The Teesmouth boat which came out with the intention of visiting the wreck O was unfortunately stove in as soon as she started, and it was left for the Tynemouth boat to come down the coast for 44 miles at night with no coast lights to help, to put into Whitby Harbour and out again, to gain a berth to windward of the wreck in order to oil the sea, to scuttle round to the lee of the wreck, to take on board the fifty odd survivors, to stand up to torrents of water that poured over the wreck and swamped the boat time after time, and then to risk such a sea as was running on her beam as she left the wreck. This, the run back into the harbour and the return to her Station, may only seem so many hours' running for a motor, but on the one hand the weary hours of rowing which were thereby eliminated must be considered, and for the credit of the motor it should be remembered that the conditions, being extraordinary, do not lend themselves to ordinary comparisons.

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