THERE are many matters, both in con- I nexion with the work of the Stations and of the Financial Branches, which I should '• be glad to discuss with Life-boat workers, and which they, no doubt, would like to ' discuss among themselves if only there were the opportunity. There are also many praiseworthy things done by our crews in the course of their Life-boat service which go unrecorded until the Annual Report appears, because in The '• Life-Boat we have only space to report fully those services of unusual danger and gallantry for which special awards are made. I have, therefore, decided to start this more personal column in The Life { Boat for comment and discussion on general matters of Life-boat interest, ! for the record of such good services as i go unreporled elsewhere, and for any j other items of news which I think will be j of interest.

The article on " The Life-boat Service j and the Shipping Companies," which appeared in the August number of The ' Life-Boat has, I am glad to say, been j quoted in a good many papers, while Syren and Shipping, one of the leading shipping papers, not only devoted a long article to the discussion of the points which we had raised, but gave its whole-1 hearted support to our appeal. j * * * * j Syren and Shipping writes : " The j Committee describe as ' extraordinary ' j and ' well-nigh incredible' the fact that many companies make no contribution at all. We cannot but share their! astonishment that such should be the ; case. The explanation of a situation so little creditable to the industry is surely that with the many preoccupations of business, the claims of the Life-boat Service to generous support have been , overlooked. If that is—and we are convinced it must be—the correct con- clusion to draw, then it is only necessary to remind owners of the beneficent work performed by the Institution in saving valuable property and even more valu- able lives. That the efficient mainten- ance of the Life-boat Service is a matter in which they have a vital interest is undeniable. Were the Institution com- pelled through lack of funds to relinquish its work—an unthinkable eventuality— and the Government had to step into the breach, we may be sure that the shipping industry would be called upon to pay a considerable share of the costs of administration. As it has already been shown, they pay in the aggregate a negligible amount for what is, after all, an important form of insurance." » * * * The article then discusses our proposal that shipping firms should contribute to the Institution on the basis of one- tenth of one per cent, of their annual profits. " Even if this proposal be not regarded with favour, we have no doubt that the Committee would be very grateful if every owner contributed on the guinea per ship basis, which, leaving fishing vessels and other craft of under 100 tons out of account, would furnish the Institution with an annual income of some £9,000. Obviously, when one bears in mind the annual expenditure 011 the Life-boat Service, the guinea-a- ship levy would leave a very large sum of money to be secured from other sources, so that the basis in question could naturally be regarded only as a minimum." # -* « # This admirable article concludes: " Four years hence the Institution will celebrate its centenary, and we trust that between now and then there will be no possible ground for criticism of any section of the community interested in. the Mercantile Marine, and the gallant men who gain their livelihood under the Red Ensign, on the score of its indifference to the life-saving work performed under the auspices of the Institution." * » « * In one point, by a clerical error, our article did more than justice to the shipping community. It was said " the total amount received in subscriptions from the shipping community of Britain in 1919 was under £1,300—less than 10 per cent, of the sum required to carry on the life-saving work of the Institution." As the total ordinary expenditure for 1919 was £138,221, this should of course have been, not " less than 10 per cent.," but " less than 1 per cent." ! *- * * The following Shipping Companies should be added to the list, given in The Life-Boat for August, of those which subscribed to the Institution during 1919.

Number Annual Sulis.

of and Dons.

Vessels. £. g. d.

Aitken, Lilburn & Co - 33 Dublin Steam Trawling Co 6 33- John Itmes, B. Henderson & Co. 8 55- Murphy, Michael, Ltd.. 3 22- Palgrave, Murphy & Co 2 22- I am also very glad to be able to record that some Shipping Firms have given larger subscriptions in 1920 than in 1919. In the above list, for example, Messrs. Michael Murphy, Ltd., have increased their subscription to five guineas, while Messrs. P. Henderson. & Co. have given altogether twenty guineas. Of those in the list published in August the Anchor Line (Henderson, j Bros.) has increased its subscription from two guineas to ten guineas, while Messrs. Cayzer, Irvine & Co. (the Clan Line), who subscribed fifteen guineas in 1919, have just given a special donation of £75 for 1920, and another £75 for 1921. These facts encourage us to hope that, as Syren and Shipping said, " It is only necessary to remind owners of the beneficent work performed by the Institution in saving valuable pro- perty and even more valuable lives." Life-boat Days.

As our readers know, the Institution was the pioneer in organising the sale of flags and other emblems ia the streets in aid of its funds. Its example was SOOTV followed by other charities, and then, during the war every charity, large and small, adopted it, until Flag Days, in London and the large towns, and Flower Days followed one another in almost unbroken succession. The i inevitable result of this has been greatly to increase our difficulties in organising these Special Efforts. We have found this in particular during the past year.

Local authorities, in some cases, are reluctant to give permission, ladies are less ready to come forward as sellers, and from many places it has been : reported that " the public is tired of Flag Days." These difficulties, in varying degrees, have been found in most places.

j It is then all the more gratifying to ! record that this year not only have Life- boat Days been held in a number of places where they have never been held before, but a large number of towns have raised record sums. Of the towns which have made a considerable increase on their results of the year before, and in several cases record collections, I might mention Oxford, Dublin, Preston, Perth, Burton- on-Trent, Paignton, Lowestoft, Mother- well, Margate, Dewsbury, Weyroouth, and Exeter. These are only a selection; many others have done as well, and it will be noticed that all parts of the British Isles are represented.

Those who have organised or helped with Days, undeterred by the obvious difficulties, who have not given up in spite of a scarcity of workers, and have refused to be rebuffed by the apparent indifference of the public, will, I know, be glad and proud to know these facts, while I hope that those who were beginning to feel that this form of appeal was wearing out will take heart again. My own experience, in visiting a number of places on their Days, was that, as a result of the surfeit of Flag Days, the public was inclined to pass by sellers with an automatic refusal, but that once they understood that the appeal was for the Life-boats they gave very willingly and generously. It is also interesting to know that in more than one place, where a number of charities made street appeals during the year, the largest sum was raised on Life-boat Day.

* * * * I hope that every one will feel encouraged by these facts to make another and special effort with the Life-boat Days next year. Not only does the Institution draw a considerable part of its income from street collections, but through them it reaches thousands of people who would not otherwise con- tribute, and who do, in fact, depend on these appeals as their one opportunity, each year, of showing their appreciation of the work of the Life-boat crews.

There is no doubt that the number of street collections permitted will soon be drastically reduced, but the Institu- tion is one of the two or three great charities which may fairly claim the right to continue to appeal in this way to the public, since there is no citizen in any town or village anywhere in the British Isles who does not benefit, directly or indirectly, by its services. I am glad to say that in all those places where the local authorities have already decided to limit the number of street collections the Institution is still to be allowed its Life-boat Days.

There is one point in connexion with the arrangements for Life-boat Days which I wish to bring particularly to the notice of their Organisers. I have found in one or two cases that they have undertaken a great deal of corre- spondence which they could have spared themselves by applying to headquarters.

I should like it to be clearly understood that I am anxious to reduce their work in this way to a minimum, and that I am able to arrange at headquarters for the writing and typing of all appeal letters, whether addressed to individuals or to the press, so that it ought not to be necessary for any Organiser to have to do more than get her envelopes addressed and to sign the letters.

Sand Pictures.

I give on another page a photograph of a charming sand model of a Life-boat rescue and a lighthouse which was made at Rhyl, during the summer, by two boys of Royton, in Lancashire, and three Birmingham girls. By means of it they collected £3 11s. for the Institution. This is not the first case of a sand model being used to help the Institution. Each year for the past four years Dr. Carroll has given a substantial sum—in 1919 it was over £14—to the Port Patrick Branch, as the result of collections made at the building of a model sand lighthouse.

This is an idea which might well be developed, and I hope that all our helpers, particularly those with children, will remember it when they are next at the seaside. I am sure that the Honorary Secretaries of the seaside branches will be glad to help with the collections, and I shall be very glad to hear from any of them who think that they might add to their funds by organising regular Sand Model Com- petitions during the holiday months.

Progress of the Motor Life-boat Programme.

In spite of very great difficulties, we are pushing on with the construction of Motor Life-boats. At the end of 1918, when we laid down our peace- building programme of 50 Motor Life- boats, there were 19 on the coast, while a number more had long been await- ing completion. Five move were sent to the coast during 1919, and a new Motor Life-boat for the Lizard has just been completed, and gone by sea from Cowes to her Station under her own power. She is a Self-Kighting Boat, 38 ft. by 9 ft. 9 in., fitted with a Tylor engine, and is named the Frederick H. Pilley, in recognition of the gen- erosity of Mr. Frederick H. Pilley, of Upper Norwood, who has given a large part of her cost. On her final harbour trials she developed a speed of over seven knots an hour, and, as showing the per- fection to which the construction of en- gines for Motor Life-boats has been raised, it may be mentioned that her engine ran for six hours with hatches closed down, and without requiring the least attention.

Another 17 Motor Life-boats are now under construction, another 10 will be laid down very shortly, and yet another 10 will be Jaid down later on.

The Caterpillar Tractor.

In the May number of The Life-Boat, Captain Bowley, the Chief Inspector, described the trials which we held at Hunstanton last March with an agricul- tural caterpillar tractor to see if it could be used, in place of horses, to launch Life-boats on flat sandy beaches. Those trials proved so successful that the Committee of Management decided at once to adopt the tractor, and twenty are now being purchased and adapted.

The first will be sent to Hunstanton, and should be in use there before the end of the year. Others will follow the first twenty, and we anticipate that their use will add greatly to the promptness of launching, besides proving to be much mere economical than the hire of horses.

Life-boat Services.

A very useful service was performed by the Appledore Life-boat on the 2 6th J uly, when the steamer Mayah, of Swansea, went aground on Bideford Bar in a whole gale. When the Life-boat reached her it -was found that there -was not sufficient water to get alongside, but the Second Coxswain and one of the crew went overboard and waded to the vessel. With the help of a ladder they got the crew of ten safely away, some of them being so exhausted as to need medi- cal help when they reached the shore.

A very prompt and efficient service was performed by the Sunderland Motor Life-boat on the 18th August. Early in the forenoon a fishing-coble was seen to be showing signals of distress off Seaham.

As the Seaham Life-boat was under its annual survey, the Sunderland Life-boat was summoned. A moderate gale was blowing, with a very heavy sea, but in sixty-five minutes from the firing of the signal the Sunderland boat bad reached Seaham Harbour, seveu miles from her own Station. She arrived, however, to find that her services were not required, as the crew of the coble had run her ashore. They themselves were safe, but she had become a wreck. Had the coble remained at sea, she, as well as her crew, would probably have been saved. Mr. W. J. Oliver, the Honorary Secretary of the Sunderland Station went out with the Life-boat, and with the Coxswain, took charge of her.

! On the 14th September the Porthdinl- j laen Life-boat put out to the rescue of a j fishing-boat in distress. A gale had sprung up while several fishing-boats ! were out, but all returned safely except I one, which had its sails blown away, j and was being carried rapidly out to sea. When, the fisherman, on board was rescued he was found to be the Second Coxswain of the Life-boat.

Life-boat as Ambulance.

Sometimes very unexpected calls come for the services of Life-boats. On the 6th November a telegram arrived at the Institution from the St. Mary's Station in the Isles of Scilly. Some days before, the steamer which plies between the Isles and Penzance had broken her tail shaft in the middle of the crossing, and there was no regular communication, except by a small schooner. On this day, however, with a strong head-wind blowing the schooner could not put to sea, and one of the islanders was lying seriously ill and in need of an immediate operation which could only be performed at Penzance.

The telegram came to ask for permission to use the Motor Life-boat, the Elsie— which, it will be remembered, was launched at the beginning of this year— as an ambulance boat. Permission was, of course, given, and, manned by a volunteer crew, the Elsie made the forty miles passage in under five hours. She also brought with her at the same time the mails of the Islands. This is not the first occasion on which the Elsie has acted as an ambulance boat. In March last she was summoned to Bishop's Rock to take off a lighthouseman who had fallen ill; and it may also be of interest to mention that in December, 1919, the Campbeltown Motor Life-boat was used to take a doctor to the Sanda Island Lighthouse, the weather being too rough for any other boat to put out.

The Late Mr. R. W. Perry Circuitt.

The Institution has lost a generous helper by the death of the Rev. R. W.

Perry Circuitt, the Honorary Secretary of the Brixham Branch. A short account of his work for the Life-boat Service will be found elsewhere, but I should like to quote here a letter from a Life-boat worker in the North of England, who knew him well in the days before he went to Brixham.

" Mr. Circuitt's first association with Life-boat work was, I believe, in the year 1896, when he acted as Chairman of a ' Life-boat Saturday Fund' demon- stration in Heywood, Lancashire. I have reason to remember that demon- stration because of a little personal episode. Those were the days when cyclists in fancy costume were en- couraged to take part, and I went over from Manchester wearing oil-skins and a sou'-wester. The day was a very hot one, and on arrival in Heywood I found the greatest difficulty in separating my- self from the saddle, to the intense amusement of our late friend. Mr.

Circuitt was blessed with a bright, cheery personality, and might well be described as a broad churchman. He delighted to attend the Manchester demonstrations, particularly enjoying any little social board following. He entertained the most cordial feelings for the Institution, and, in his passing, the Institution has lost a warm friend and a whole-hearted advocate." Special Donations.

Among special donations which have been recently received I should like to mention that a well-known Admiral, who is already a supporter of the Institution, has sent a special gift of £5 out of his prize money ; that one class in a London school has collected £1 2s., without any appeal being made to it, and has sent it to the Institution with letters from every member of the class; and that in a recent works collection at a gas company ninety per cent, of the employees and staff contributed.

Present and Future Articles in The Life-Boat.

Following on the article in the May number by Captain Rowley, the Chief Inspector of Life-boats, on the use of • caterpillar tractors for launching Life- boats, I am printing in this number an ; article on the special launching platform in use at Sunderland, by Mr. A. W.

Lewis, the Institution's Consulting Engi- neer. Many readers of The Life-Boat will remember a very graphic account from his pen of the torpedoing of the Leinster, which appeared in The Life-Boat for November, 1918.

* * * * I hope to follow this article with other signed articles, not only on the work and developments of the Life-boat Service itself but of the other services with which it works, such as the Coast Guard, the Board of Trade Life-Saving Apparatus and Trinity House.

* * * * In the February number there will appear an illustrated article giving a short history of the Dutch Life-boat Service which its Secretary, Mr. H. de Booy, has very kindly written. The Dutch Service was founded in the same year as our own Institution, and is just nine months the younger of the two. I hope to follow this article with others describing the Life-boat Services in other countries, so that, by the year 1924, when we celebrate our Centenary, readers of The Life-Boat will have had something in the nature of a general survey of the work of rescue from shipwreck throughout the world, and of the important develop- ments which are now being made in it..