THE great difficulty in the way of prompt Life-boat launches on flat beaches is the difficulty of the horses.

It is becoming increasingly hard to get the use of horses and the men to manage them, and they have frequently to be brought long distances, with con- sequent delay, and the cost of hiring is rapidly becoming prohibitive. If we can find a mechanical means for launching, and get rid of this uncertain element, we shall greatly increase the efficiency, certainty and speed of the Service.

It was with this idea in mind that the Committee of Management decided at its Meeting in January to experiment with a caterpillar tractor, and after consultations with Mr. P. A. Standen, of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, it was decided to make the experiments vath a 35 h.p. Clayton Caterpillar Tractor, which had already shown its ability to work over all sorts of land and under any conditions of weather. I need not describe the principle of the caterpillar tractor, for the war has already made it famous. It was for us to discover if the same principle could be applied to the saving of life.

We selected Hunstanton for the trials because we should there find every variety of beach. The trials lasted for five days and were a great success. The Honorary Secretary of the Branch gave us much help by making all the local arrangements, and Mr. F. Standen, who had supplied the tractor, was present during the trials and made a number of valuable sugges- tions.

On the 26th March I went down to Hunstanton with the District Inspector, the Surveyor of Life-boats and the Surveyor of Machinery, and we began by putting the tractor through her paces over all descriptions of uneven ground. She was first taken over the flat sandy beach, then over the sand dunes above high water mark, and finally over some rocky ground, during which operation she mounted a rock with a perpendicular face, 1 ft. 10 in.

sheer in height, attaining an angle of some 60° from the horizontal, and dropping heavily on reaching the maximum balance on the fore part of her tracks. It was a test calculated to bring out any possible defect in her construction, and to the surprise of us all she did no damage to herself whatever.

We continued the trials next day, this time with the Life-boat and carriage.

The weight of the tractor itself was 3 tons, while the weight of the carriage, fitted with tipping plates, and of the boat (a 35 ft. by 8 ft. 3 in. self-righting type) was 7 tons 3 cwt., yet we found, when travelling over the sandy beach, that the 14 in. tracks, so wide was the distribution of pressure, made no more impression in the sand than a man's foot. Moreover, the tractor had no difficulty itt drawing the Life-boat on her top speed of 6 miles an hour.

We carried out these drawing trials not only on the beach, but over sand- dunes varying from 1 ft. to 3 and 4 ft.

in height. When fitted with six spuds to each track the tractor mounted the dunes with perfect ease. Without the spuds she churned into the sand and lost her grip. Finally, we shipped the 25-ft. pushing pole and the tractor, without difficulty, pushed the carriage and boat into a sufficient depth of •water for launching.

On Monday we practised drawing and turning, and found that the tractor, with the carriage on the draw bar, could turn sharp corners marked off on •the sand at an angle of 60°, and that she could follow a zig-zag course under complete control and with perfect ease.

A complete outer circle was made with a diameter of 60 ft., and we found that the whole equipment could easily be turned within its own length. Pushing trials on a side slope showed that a fairly straight course was maintained for a distance of 85 yards.

The tide was now flowing and covering the flats facing the shelving beach, to a depth of about 2 ft. We tried a launch, and though the tide was flowing fast the carriage was easily pushed into the water until it attained a depth .of 2 ft. 6 in. and the tractor 2 ft. I con- sidered this quite enough for the experi- ments I had in view and gave the order to launch. Unfortunately, however, the Coxswain did not share my opinion, and did not slip the pole. This proved unfortunate, as, of course, the tractor had not been adapted for water. The carburettor, magneto, sparking plugs and the ignition were entirely unpro- tected, with the result that the tractor threw the water with her flywheel over the sparking plugs, causing the motor to stop. An immediate attempt was made to restart her, but unsuccessfully, and with the rising tide there was nothing to be done but to salve the magneto. This was successful, and the mechanic and the Deputy Surveyor of Machinery were " rescued" from the bonnet of the tractor by the Life-boat.

Half-an-hour later the tractor and Life- boat carriage were totally submerged.

At 5.30 P.M. the tracks of the tractor uncovered on the ebb, and work was at once started to salve her. The ignition and plugs were removed, the oil sump emptied and re-filled, the petrol tank was replenished and an attempt made to start her. This was momentarily unsuccessful, and to prevent any chance of her being re-submerged, some seventy or eighty willing volunteers on the beach drew the tractor above high water, and remounted the Life-boat on her carriage. The difficulty in re- starting the engine was due to water in the cylinder which was thrown up on to the sparking plugs each time they were dried. This was gradually dispersed, and in the end the tractor moved off under her own power to her garage.

The amusing part of this misfortune was the number of sympathetic re- ferences to what appeared to all the onlookers a great calamity. They were quite unable to understand my delight at an occurrence which proved con- clusively the extraordinary qualities of these tractors even under extreme con- ditions.

Next day the trials were resumed in the presence of the Secretary of the Institution and Mr. Lamb, of the Committee of Management. We found that there was still water in the petrol, but after this had been got rid of the tractor showed no sign of her total immersion of the day .before. Every conceivable form of trial was made, and a launch was successfully carried out on the steep part of the beach, over a distance of about 200 yards in seven minutes, with the full crew and only four helpers. Under ordinary condi- tions such a launch would require eight or ten horses and as many helpers.

On the last day of the trials we took the tractor, the Life-boat and carriage to Heacham, some three miles away, where there was a beach of deep shingle. By herself the tractor travelled successfully over the shingle, but when she was set to draw the Life- boat and carriage up a shingle gradient of one in eight her tracks revolved without obtaining any grip and she simply dug herself in. This failure was not unexpected, and was confirmed by another trial held a few weeks later on the shingle beach at Worthing. Further experiments will have to be made before we can hope for success on such beaches, but the trials at Hunstanton amply proved the value of the tractor on open sandy beaches. They showed that she could move the Life-boat over difficult ground, quickly and surely, and that in order to make her " seaworthy" it is only necessary to arrange for the carburettor and magneto to be enclosed in water-tight compartments, for water- tight terminals on the plugs, for a guard to be fitted to the fly-wheel, and for the exhaust to f be carried above the bonnet. The tractor proved very easy to drive. Those of us who were used to cars, fell into the way of it at once, while even those who had not driven a motor vehicle before, picked it up very quickly.

There are a number of Stations with beaches well suited to the tractor, and where her use will mean economy in labour, the elimination of the uncer- tainty and delays which result from the present dependence on horses, and much prompter launches—in a word a more efficient service and a better chance of saving life..