Gateshead.

The Annual Meeting was held on the 1st June, the chair being taken by the Mayor (Alderman W. Clough). The report for the year ending the 30th September, 1920, showed that the Branch had raised a sum of nearly £108, and that the number of regular subscribers—which was now forty-five —had been nearly doubled in the course of the year. In moving the adoption of the report, which was felt to be very satisfactory, Lord Ravensworth expressed his earnest hope that the Life-boat Service would always remain voluntary, for he believed that the country could never get results half as [ satisfactory from a State Service. The Mayor was re-elected President, and the other honorary officials were also re-elected.

Worthing, A most successful garden fete, organ- ized by Lady Louisa Cecil, Chairman of the Ladies' Committee, was held on the 2nd June in the grounds of Tisree, Wykeham Road, lent by Mrs. Chrestien. The fete was opened by Lord William ] Cecil, and among those present were the Mayor (Alderman Mrs. Chapman, J.P.) and Mr. Harry Hargood, O.B.E., D.L., J.P., President of the Branch and a member of the Committee of Manage- ment. Lord William Cecil appealed to all present to make the fete such a success that the Institution would say, " Well done, Worthing ! " Mr. Hargood spoke of the urgent need of the Institu- tion for increased funds, and also of the serious tendency which there was among ; the fishing population—who manned the Life-boats and also sent so many men to the Fleet and the Mercantile ! Marine—to forsake the sea for higher paid work elsewhere. It was a question which he thought should be taken up by the educational authorities in sea- side towns.

A number of very attractive stalls had been prepared by ladies interested in the work of the Branch, and, in addition, games and competitions were organized. Altogether the f "te raised i the excellent sum of over £146. ' Interest in the work of the Branch has been still further stimulated by a Life-boat Exhibition at the Corporation Art Gallery, admirably arranged by its Curator, Miss Marian Frost, which attracted large crowds. Besides a number of local exhibits and photo- graphs of the Worthing Life-boat and crew, the exhibition contained a dozen models of Life-boats, several Life-boat paintings and photographs, and a case of medals specially lent by the Institu- tion . Other models were lent by the Hull Museum. The exhibition was opened, on the 3rd August, by the Mayor of Worthing (Alderman Mrs. Chapman, J.P.), and Mr. Harry Hargood, who had first proposed this exhibition, and given his help and advice in arranging it, presided at the opening ceremony, and gave a short history of the Life-boat Service. Altogether, during the six weeks the Exhibition was open, nearly 18,000 persons visited the Art Gallery.

Newport.

The Annual Meeting of the Ladies' Auxiliary was held on the 3rd June, the chair being taken by the Mayor, who was supported by the Mayoress, Presi- dent of the Ladies' Auxiliary, and by Mrs. Claude Martyn, its Chairman. Mr.

A. J. Phillips, the Chairman of the Branch, paid a warm tribute to the work done by the Ladies' Auxiliary, and said that it was fortunate in having obtained so capable a Chairman as Mrs.

Claude Marfcyn. In the course of an address on the work of the Institution, Mr. H. G. Solomon, the Organizing Secretary for the Midlands, Ireland and Wales, referred to the splendid services to the Institution of Mr. Phillips, who had been associated with its work for over thirty years, and said that the work of the Branch was greatly appreciated by the Committee of Management.

Sheffield.

The Annual Meeting was held on the 7th June, the chair being taken by the Lord Mayor (Alderman W. F. Wardley).

The report for the year ending the 30th September, 1920, which was pre- sented to the meeting, showed that the Branch had raised a sum of £1,227. To this sum the collections in works and factories had contributed £161, and the ! Special Appeal made by the ex-Lady Mayoress (Mrs. S. Roberts) had ob- tained the fine response of £328. The report suggested that in the churches i special reference should be made to the work and needs of the Institution at least once a year, to be followed by collections on its behalf. In moving the adoption of the report the Lord Mayor spoke of the great revolution which the Motor Life-boat was making in the work of the Service. The Lord Mayor was elected President of the Branch.

Glasgow.

The Annual Meeting was held on the 8th June, the chair being taken by Sir Samuel Chisholm, Bt. The report for the year ending the 30th September, 1920, showed that the Branch had raised a sum of £3,150. In submitting the report to the meeting, Mr. Leonard Gow, the Honorary Secretary, said that one of its gratifying features was that £555 had been raised by collections on board Clyde-owned deep-sea vessels.

In contrast to this Mr. F. Bedford, Manager of the Clan Line, in seconding the adoption of the report, expressed regret that the shipowners themselves had not done all that they might financially to help the Institution. The Chairman made a special appeal to the public to help the Institution to carry on its work without the continual strain of financial anxiety. The office-holders were re-elected.

Hampstead Garden Suburb.

A Garden Party and meeting were held on the 23rd June at the house of Mrs. St. Clair Stobart, for the purpose of inaugurating a new Branch which had just been formed in the Suburb.

The chair was taken by the Honorary Secretary, Mrs. Blount, and the speakers were Major Sir Maurice Cameron, K.C.M.G., a member of the Committee of Management, and Lieut. Colonel Murray, O.B.B., the District Organizing Secre- tary for Greater London. Thanks, in great measure, to the kindness of Mrs. Stobart, who had spared no efforts organizing the meeting, it was well attended, and proved a great success.

Forty new subscribers were obtained, ten ladies at once joined the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, and a number have since enrolled themselves as members.

St. Albans.

A most successful Garden Meeting was held on the 3rd July for the purpose of reviving the work of the Branch. The meeting was organized by Miss Silvester, Honorary Secretary of the Branch, with the help of her co-Honorary Secretary, Miss I. Toulmin, and an influential committee, on which both the Mayor and Mayoress (Councillor and Mrs. E.

Watson) sat. The chair at the meeting was taken by Lord Salisbury, who was supported by the Mayor of St. Albans, Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., Deputy-Chair- man of the Committee of Management, and Captain the Viscount Curzon, E.N.V.R., M.P., a member of the Com- mittee of Management. Many well- known people of St. Albans and the county of Herts attended, and a letter was read from Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey regretting that he could not be present to help an Institution second to none in national importance. Lord Salisbury asked St. Albans to help the Prince of Wales in the efforts which he was making to increase the public support of the Life-boat Service. St. Albans in recent years had done very little for the Life-boat Cause, but, although it was an inland city, it must remember that the sea was of as vital importance to its people as to those of any sea-coast town. He appealed to all present to help the Institution by putting their hands not only in their own pockets, but in other people's I pockets as well.

Sir Godfrey Baring gave an account of the Institution's record, and described the great developments in life-saving work which were now being made ; and Lord Curzon spoke of the immense value of the work which women all over the country were doing for the Life-boat Cause as collectors of its indispensable funds.

Votes of thanks were passed to the Chairman, the speakers, and the organ- izers of the meeting; to Mr. Mcllwraith for lending his grounds for the meeting, to Messrs. Butler and Angel for lending a motor charabanc to bring people to it, and to Mr. Harry Ress for arranging the music.

An evening meeting was also held, which was addressed by Lt.-Col. F. E. Fremantle, O.B.E.,M.P. for St.Albans.

As a result of these two meetings many ladies have joined the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, and it is hoped that the Branch will now give the Institution generous and increasing support.

Portsmouth.

The Annual Meeting was held on the 18th July, the chair being taken by the Mayor (Councillor John Tompson, J.P.). The annual report, which was presented by the Honorary Secretary, Mr. E. S. Butler, M.B.E., referred to the greatly increased interest in the work of the Life-boat Service which had been shown during the previous year. Early in the year a Special Appeal had brought in a number of new subscribers, and attention had been directed to the work of the Service by addresses which had been delivered to the Portsmouth Brotherhood and to various P.S.A.'s. As a result of this ! increased activity the Branch had j raised, during the year ending the 30th September, 1920, a sum of £113 Is. 8d.

Special reference was made in the report to the fact that, of the sum of £346 obtained by the Life-boat Day, held shortly after the close of the financial year, over £86 was collected in the schools. A vote of thanks was passed to Mrs. Arnold Forster for her services to the Branch as Honorary Secretary of the Ladies' Auxiliary, and of regret that she was compelled to resign; and Miss D. Hole was elected Honorary Secretary in her place. The Mayor was elected President of the Branch, Alderman Sir Harold Pink, J.P., Chairman, Lady Pink President of the Ladies' Auxiliary, and the Mayoress Chairman. The question of enlisting members for the Ladies' Life- boat Guild was entrusted to the Ladies' Auxiliary.

Peel, Isle of Man.

The Annual Sacred Service on behalf of the Institution was held on the 24th July in the grounds of Peel Castle. The different churches were represented, and the music was played by the Salvation Army's band. Besides the Life-boat men of Peel, detachments of Boy Scouts took part in the Service. The preacher was the Rev. W. C. Jordan, who made an earnest appeal for funds for the Insti- tution, with the result that nearly £50 was collected. After the Service the presentation was made of the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum, which had been voted by the Committee of Management, together with a mone- tary award, to Mr. Thomas Quirk and Mr." John Kissack, both over seventy years of age, for their gallantry in rescuing two men whose craft had been swamped and sunk in a heavy sea on the 4th May. Being unable, owing to the sea, to take the two men on board their own boat, the rescuers lashed them to it, and in this way brought them safely to land. A sad feature of the ceremony was that Mr. Kissack, who was taken ill shortly after the rescue, died just before the news of the recognition of his gallantry reached Peel, and his Vellum was presented to a member of his family.

Sidmouth.

On the 1st September a most success- ful Garden Fete was held in the grounds of Sidmouth Manor, which had been lent by Colonel and Mrs. Balfour. Mrs.

Balfour is President of the Ladies' Life- boat Guild at Sidmouth, and spared nothing to make the fete attractive.

She arranged a firework display, lent her horses for rides round the grounds, and had all the gardens specially illuminated with electric light for the dancing which took place in the evening. As a result of these and many other attractions the Fete realised £197" NOTICE.

The next number of THE LIFE-BOAT will be published in February, 1922.