" FISHERMEN are regarded as a reserve for the Navy." So runs a circular of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries which, soon after the passing of the Military Service Act, was sent out to all seaports and fishing centres on our coasts. It goes on to explain that bona fide fishermen are exempt from military service under the Act, pro- vided they enrol in what is known as Section " Y " of the Royal Naval Volun- teer Reserve. Having done this they are free to pursue their ordinary occu- pation of "maintaining the fish food supply of the country" until they are needed for the Naval Service, when they will receive a fortnight's notice before being actually called up; "unless it should be declared at some future time that they are more urgently needed for service in the Army than for the Navy or the Fisheries." So much for those fishermen who, in common with all their fellow-country- men between the ages of eighteen and forty-one, became liable for service under the recent Act. Long, however, before this Act became law, long, indeed, before the necessity for compulsory national service had been generally recognised, a very large portion of this " reserve for the Navy" had already enrolled themselves for war work, and during the past two years these men have shown how admirably they are qualified to fulfil this purpose by j manning what Mr. Kipling has aptly named " The Fringes of the Fleet," that motley and innumerable host of trawlers, ; drifters, smacks, tugs, paddlers, excur- ! sion steamers, harbour boats, yachts, and other vessels, which are known officially as " auxiliaries," and which play no small part in maintaining " the security of such as pass on the seas upon their lawful occasions." " Only those who brave its dangers Comprehend its mystery," and only those who have been brought up to brave its, dangers in peace have been competent to put this knowledge of the mystery of the sea at the disposal of their country in war.

This is neither'the time nor the place to attempt an account of what these men have accomplished, but when the full history of the Great War comes to be written, one of the most thrilling chapters will be that which tells the exploits of our fishermen. To those who are acquainted with the work of the Life-boat Service this account will come as no surprise, for they will re- cognise that the same qualities of skilful seamanship, reckless daring, and infinite resource which have made our fishermen the best Life-boatmen in the world, are just those which will serve the country in good stead in the hazardous occupation of war..