THE Institution has now entered on the hundredth year of its existence. Its first century will actually be completed on 4th March, 1924. On that day, in 1824, a meeting was held in the City of London Tavern, with the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Chair, at which it was proposed by the Archbishop, seconded by Captain Bowles, R.N. and unanimously carried, " That an Institution be now formed for the Preservation of Life in cases of Shipwreck on the Coasts of the United Kingdom, to be supported by donations and annual subscriptions; and to be called the ' National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck.' " With the passing of that resolution the Institution came into existence.

Sir William Hillary.

While the Centenary of the Institution falls next year, we celebrate this year the centenary of the publication of Sir William Hillary's noble " Appeal to the British Nation on the Humanity and Policy of forming a National Institution for the Preservation of Lives and Property from Shipwreck," which led, a year later, to the founding .of the Institution. That appeal was dated "Douglas, Isle of Man, 28th February, 1823." A second edition appeared in November of the same year, and a third edition, with an appendix giving an account of the inaugural meeting of the Institution, appeared in May, 1824.

A full account of Hillary's life and his many and varied activities appeared in The Life-Boat for May, 1921, but there is one quotation from his pamphlet which I should like to make now. " So long as man shall continue to navigate the ocean, and the tempests shall hold their course over its surface, in every age, and on every coast, disasters by sea, shipwreck and peril to human life must inevitably take place." All that science has done for shipbuilding in the hundred years since those words were written has not altered their truth.

The need of the Life-boat Service is, in fact, as permanent as the ocean itself.

Prince of Wales Day.

Our President, the Prince of Wales, because this is the hundredth year, and because he " takes the keenest interest in the work of this great Service," has given permission for all Life-boat Days throughout the year to be held under the title of "Prince of Wales's Day." It will, I am sure, be a great encouragement to all our Life-boat workers that the Prince should thus personally identify himself with their appeals. It is certain, also, that it will bring a great increase in the response of the public.

1922.

During last year the Institution gave rewards for the rescue of 436 lives — 303 by Life-boats and 133 by shore- boats and in other ways—giving an average of over eight lives rescued for every week of the year. In addition to this, twenty-six boats and vessels were saved or helped to safety. The outstanding feature of the year's rescues was the number of services in which the deciding factor was motor-power.

In the services of the Lowestoft and Gorleston Boats to the Hopelyn on 19th-21st October, of the Spurn Life- boat to an unknown fishing smack on 18th October, and of the Stromness Life- boat to the steam trawler Freesia on 1st January, and to the trawler Cornet, of Aberdeen, on 22nd September, the value of the motor, in the additional power which it gives both to travel and to manoeuvre, was strikingly proved.

All four services have been fully described in previous issues of The Life-boat, so that it is only necessary to repeat that the Lowestoft Motor Life-boat rescued the crew of the Hopelyn after repeated and most gallant efforts by the Gorleston Pulling and Sailing Life-boat had failed; that the Spurn Boat succeeded in manoeuvring right across the deck of a sunk smack, lying in the confused breaking water on a sandbank, and that the Stromness Boat travelled on the first service over 50 miles and on the second 114 miles.

In other ways the year was one of great activity. Eight Motor Life-boats were completed and sent to their stations, and such progress was made with the first of the new type of Motor Life-boat, the 60-foot Barnett Twin- Screw, which is being built for the Mersey, that she should be completed in the summer of this year. In addition to this, the first of the 90-h.p. engines, specially designed by the Institution, and to be used in all future Motor Life- boats of a length of 45 feet and over, was completed and fitted in the new Penlee Boat. This Boat reached her station on 20th December, and on 3rd-4th January saved twenty-seven lives from a Jugo-Slav vessel, the s.s. Dubravka. At the present moment there are thirty-nine Motor Life-boats in the Institution's fleet of 235; another seven are nearing completion ; another eight are shortly to be laid down, and another sixteen are projected.

Service to an Irish Free State Patrol Boat

On 7th February the Ballycotton Life-boat rescued the whole crew of fourteen men from the Irish Free State Patrol Boat the Shievenamon. which had been driven ashore during a whole south- east gale. The Shievenamon was dragging among the rocks, and heavy seas were breaking right over her. In spite of this the Life-boat succeeded in veering down, and at the third attempt got alongside the vessel. The Captain of the Shievenamon wrote to the Honorary Secretary of the Station, and paid a tribute to the " great skill " with which the Life-boat had been manoeuvred in a dangerous position.

A Fine Launch in a Snowstorm.

A fine service was performed by the Life-boat at Easington on 27th November, with a gale blowing, a snowstorm, and a .heavy sea. At 5.30 in the morning signals of distress were seen some way along the coast. The Life-boat was at once got out, and was taken four miles along the beach through the snowstorm. The going was very bad, and the wind blowing very hard, but by 8.10 the Boat was afloat. The vessel in distress was found to be the steam trawler Salacon, of Grimsby. Two of her crew had already been taken off by the Rocket Apparatus, and the remaining seven were got safely into the Life-boat, which reached the shore again after a hard struggle in the very heavy sea. The Committee of Management showed appreciation of this service by giving an extra monetary reward to the Coxswain and Crew.

A Courageous Shore-boat Rescue.

The attention of the Committee has just been called to a courageous rescue in the Inverness Firth rather more than a year ago. On 19th December, 1921.

when a gale was blowing with a rough sea, a fishing boat, the Watch, was suddenly capsized in the Firth by a heavy squall, 500 yards from the shore off Kilmuir Point. Her crew of four men were thrown into the sea. The accident was seen by Mr. Colin Boss, a carpenter of Kilmuir, who ran down to the shore, and with the help of Mr.

Colenso, of Kilmuir Cottage, who was working in his boat-house, launched a small open boat. In spite of the heavy seas they succeeded in reaching the capsized fishing boat, and found a man entangled in the fishing-nets. They arrived in the nick of time. But for their promptitude he would undoubtedly have been drowned. Their own boat was now half full of water, but they succeeded in putting him on board another fishing boat, which picked up the other three men who were in the water. Mr. Ross and Mr. Colenso ran considerable risk, and their action was all the more courageous since was a non-swimmer and Mr. Colenso seventy-six years old. The Committee; of Management have presented Mr.' Colenso with an inscribed Aneroid Barometer, and awarded £3 to Mr. Ross together with a Letter of Appreciation.

The Rhoscolyn Memorial.

On 12th November, Commodore Sir Richard Williams-Bulkeley, Bt., K.C.B.,Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey, and a member of the Committee of Management, unveiled the memorial to the five men of the Rhoscolyn Life-boat whilst their lives in a gallant attempt to rescue the crew of the s.s. Timbo, of Whitby, on 3rd December, 1920. The dedicatory service was conducted by the Bishop of Bangor, and all the surviving members of the crew were present in their Life-boat dress. The memorial, which is the work of Messrs. Wippell, of London and Exeter, is of Devonshire silver granite, with a central panel of cast bronze modelled in low relief. It is this panel which is reproduced here. Above the panel is a bronze inscription in Welsh and English, and above this a Celtic cross.

"The Lifeboat Parson."

On 1st November, a tablet was unveiled in the Parish Church of Llanrhyddlad, Anglesey, in memory of the late Rev. Chancellor Owen Lloyd Williams, who died in 1918 at the age of ninety. He was chiefly known to fame as the " Life-boat Parson," for he was for many years of his long and active life closely connected with the Life-boat Station at Cemlyn, Anglesey, and he held the Institution's Silver Medal with Clasp. A biographical notice was published in The Life-Boat for November, 1918. The story is told of him that on one occasion his sermon was interrupted by a member of the crew, who ran into the church with the news that a steamer was in distress.

As the Chancellor hurried out, leaving his sermon unfinished, he said, " I have been endeavouring to save souls, now I am going to try to save life."

Enthusiasm.

Here is a case of real enthusiasm which, I am sure, all Life-boat workers will admire, and which I hope many will wish to emulate. A lady at Wilmslow, near Manchester, was for a number of years one of the most successful collectors in the district. Two or three years ago she left Wilmslow, to reside at Brighouse in Yorkshire, but each year she returns to Wilmslow for a fortnight in order to carry out her collection.

While we have such workers we need never despair of raising the funds that we need.

The Support of the Churches.

The Committee of Management are very anxious to obtain more systematic support from the Churches of all denominations. In one or two towns such support is already given, and although we know how many are the claims already made on the Churches, both by their own needs and by other charities, we feel that we may fairly ask for wider and more systematic support from them for a work which so magnificently exemplifies Christian heroism and self-sacrifice. In this connection I would call attention to the special appeal made by the Duke of Northumberland last year to the Churches in Newcastle-on-Tyne. As a result of this Canon Newson has sent a cheque for over £13, collected in Newcastle Cathedral on Christmas Eve, and has suggested that " other Places of Worship should do the same".

Exhibitions.

During this winter the Institution took stalls at two exhibitions in London, the Marine and Small Craft Exhibition, which was held at the Royal Agricultural Hall from 14th to 24th November, and the Model Engineering Exhibition, held at the Horticultural Hall from 5th to 12th January. In both cases the organisers of the Exhibitions generously gave the Institution free space. At the Marine and Small Craft Exhibition, in addition to a number of models, we exhibited a Self-righting Life-boat on her Carriage, and a Tractor. At the Model Engineering Exhibition nothing attracted more notice than three charts of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, showing not only the Life-boat Stations, but the number of wrecks which had taken place on different parts of the coast during a period of five years.

The astonishment caused by these figures showed how little the public realise the dangers of our coasts or the extent of the need of an efficient Life- boat Service.

Bradford's Gift

I should like to direct special attention to the splendid generosity of the City of Bradford, which has presented the whole cost, £10,000, of the Motor Life- boat at Spurn Point, to be named City of Bradford. In addition to this, the City has decided to present, through its Wharfedale Branch, the cost of the Life-boat House, and £3,000 of the required sum is to be raised this year.

It is a notable fact that not only did Bradford complete the £10,000 last year, but at the same time raised, as the contribution of the Branch to the general funds of the Institution, the splendid sum of £3,059, an increase on 1921 of £838.

It is also a pleasure to report that the Special Motor Life-boat Fund which is being raised by the Port of Liverpool Branch has now reached a total oi £7,500, and that the Nottingham and District Branch has inaugurated a special County of Nottingham Fund for the provision of a Motor Life-boat by raising over £1,200 during 1922. In both these cases also the special funds are being raised at the same time that the Branches continue their regular annual contributions to the Institution.

The association of cities with the Life-boat Service attracted the civic spirit of some of the large towns at an early date in the history of the Institution. Thus Bradford presented the first of three Life-boats for Ramsgate in 1866, and the City of Glasgow for many years had its name on one of the Steam Life-boats at Harwich. Among other towns which have helped the Institution in the same way are Manchester with four Lite-boats stationed, at different times, at Carmarthen Bay; Salford, at Blyth; Winchester, at Aldeburgh; Leicester, at Gorleston (No. 2 Boat); Oldham, at Abersoch; and Bolton, at Southwold.

It is very much to be hoped that other cities and towns will take the opportunity afforded next year by the Centenary of raising special funds for the provision of Motor Life-boats which shall bear their names, and thus personally associate all their citizens with the Life-boat Service as it embarks on the second century of its work.

Lectures to Public Schools.

During last winter Life-boat Lectures, illustrated with films or lantern slides, were delivered at a number of the leading public schools with much success, The Committee feel that it will be of real value to the Institution in the future that they have been able thus personally to interest in the work of the Life-boat Service the boys of Harrow, Winchester, Westminster, King's College, Canterbury, Christ's Hospital, Horsham, Sedbergh, Wellington, Perth, and the Royal Hospital School, Greenwich; and the girls of Roedean, Christ's Hospital, Herts, and Brondesbury and Kilburn High School. Lectures at other schools are now being arranged for next autumn.

Generosity.

Here is a letter received a short time ago which would be spoilt by any comment.

" Having seen in The Times you are greatly in need of funds for the Life-boat Institution, I am pleased to be able to give a 10g. Treasury Note towards it.

I wish everybody would do the same, you would soon get the amount, but I am only a poor old working woman, aged sixty-six, and doing general servants' work."

Centenary Souvenirs.

In preparation for the Centenary Celebrations next year the Institution is having made a number of small Life-boat souvenirs which I am sure that Life-boat workers will be very glad to have, and for which they should find a very ready sale at bazaars, garden fetes, and similar functions. These souvenirs will include Life-boat pincushions, in both cardboard and metal, statuettes of Life-boatmen in imitation bronze, bells with the figure of a Life-boatman for the handle, small metal figures of Life-boatmen, and Life-boat blotters for cheque books. I hope that they will all be ready in a very short time, and in the next issue of The Life-Boat full particulars will be given about them.

Meanwhile, any Honorary Secretaries and other workers who would like the earliest information should write to me, and I will let them know as soon as the souvenirs are ready to be delivered, and the price for them has been fixed.

Private House Collecting Boxes.

For many years the Institution has issued metal collecting boxes in the form of Life-boats for use in hotels, shops, boarding houses, etc., and these have provided a steady revenue. As was mentioned in " Notes and News " in the last issue, we adopted last summer a new cardboard collecting box in the form of a Life-boat for Life-boat Days. This box has proved so successful that Mr. Gidney, the Assistant Secretary, who designed it, has now designed another and smaller box on a stand, so that it can be kept permanently on a desk or table. It is intended solely for use in private houses, and I hope that members of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild will find it of real value.

The Institution and the Shipping Companies.

In the May issue of The Life-Boat last year was published an article on the support received from the Shipping Community, and giving in full the urgent appeal which the Chairman and Deputy Chairman sent to all British Shipping Firms. It is encouraging to be able to report that, as a result of this appeal, the contributions received in 1922 showed an increase of £1,000 on 1921, though it must be admitted that this increase is almost entirely due to special donations, rather than a wider subscription list. It is still more encouraging that as a result of the prominence given to this question at the Annual General Meeting last year by Mr. Stanley Baldwin, at that time President of the Board of Trade, and by all the other speakers, the Institution has had a very friendly conference with the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom, the President of which, Sir Ernest Glover, Bart., will be among the speakers at our Annual Meeting this year. Following on this conference the Chamber of Shipping decided to issue an appeal to all its members asking them to contribute to the Institution, to give facilities for the placing of collecting boxes in all passenger ships, and to see that a pro- portion of collections made for seafaring charities was allotted to the Institution.

This appeal was issued in November by the General Manager of the Chamber of Shipping, and the Committee hope that in 1923 the Institution will reap the benefits of it. The Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom does not represent the whole of the shipping industry, but it is to be hoped that the example set by this most influential body will be followed by other and similar shipping organisations, and that, as a result, all Shipping Companies will eventually be asked, by the leaders of the Shipping Industry itself, to support the Institution.

In addition to the action already described, systematic efforts are also being made to enlist the support both of the Fishing and Trawling Companies, and of the masters and crews of their vessels. At the time of the service to the Hopelyn the Institution drew attention in the Press to the fact that at nearly all the principal centres of fishing and trawling on the East Coast of England and Scotland no contributions at all were made to the Institution by owners, masters or men, while at the remainder the contributions were almost negligible, and this in spite of the fact that over 30 per cent, of the services of the Institution's Life-boats are to trawlers and fishing boats.

"The Microcosm."

There is published in Leeds a quarterly literary review called The Microcosm, which is edited by Mrs. Charles RatclifFe, the gross proceeds of the sale of each issue being devoted to some particular charity. The last number is being sold on behalf of the Life-boat Service, and I should like to take this opportunity, not only of expressing our grateful thanks to Mrs. Ratcliffe, but of calling the attention of all readers of The Life- Boat to the publication, as I think that many may like to buy it. The price is 2g. 6d. and those who buy it may feel that they are helping both the Institution and a review which is devoted to the double cause of good literature and charity. The Life-boat number, in addition to a short article on the work of the Institution, contains a poem by Mr. Laurence Binyon, a story, " The Sailor's Widow," by Miss J. E. Buckrose, several drawings and other illustrations, including a beautiful silhouette of Robert Burns's mother, and two poems of the sea by Mrs. Ratcliffe herself.

Mrs. Ratcliffe's address is City Chambers, Leeds, and any Honorary Secretaries who would like copies to sell should apply direct to her. Mrs. Ratcliffe will supply the copies which they require free, and they may credit the whole of the proceeds of the sale to their Branch accounts. Mrs. Ratcliffe has already sent the Institution a cheque for £30, and I hope that this notice will lead to the sale of many more copies.

Gifts from Salvage.

On numerous occasions in the past the Institution has received gifts from its own crews out of salvage which has been awarded them, and another of these gifts has just been received from the crew at Runswick. On the night of 20th November last the steam trawler W. S. Burton, of Hartlepool, went ashore to the north of Runswick Bay, and was brought into safety by the Runswick Life-boat. Out of the salvage which they have received for this service the crew have sent the Institution £3 18g.

The Brixham Crew have presented the Institution with £12 out of salvage received for a service to the yacht Amaryllis on 8th July, 1922, and £5 out of salvage for saving two fishing vessels on 20th December last.

Yet another example of the generosity of the crews and their desire to help the Institution comes from Boulmer in Northumberland. On 26th February a fierce gale with heavy rain sprang up, making it dangerous for three cobles which were at sea to enter the harbour.

The Boulmer crew were assembled, and stood by for two hours. The three cobles, however, reached harbour in safety. The Boulmer Coxswain and Crew have refused the rewards to which they were entitled, their reason being that " they were brother fishermen to whose help they were called out, and also the fact that funds are so urgently required for the building of Motor Life- boats, of the necessity for which they do not require to be convinced."

Finally it is a pleasure to record that we have just received a donation of £3 from the Coxswain, Crew and Beach Companies at Lowestoft.

The Twenty-six Fishwives of Cullercoats.

Here is yet another, and a most attractive instance of the people of the fishing villages, who man and launch our Boats, setting a fine example of enthusiasm in collecting. On the occasion of the quarterly exercise of the Cullercoats Life-boat, last September, twenty-six of the fishwives, at the suggestion of the Hon, Secretary, took collecting boxes. But they were not content simply to do this. To make the launch more attractive, they arranged for a neighbouring band to come over, and four of them, including the wife of the Coxswain, paid its expenses. After the launch, the band was entertained to tea, all the twenty-six fishwives subscribing to pay for it.

The collection was not confined to the launch, but was continued in the evening at the entertainment halls and picture theatres, and the twenty-six, by their energy and zeal, collected altogether nearly £60. That is how to do the thing in the grand style.

A Gift from the Navy.

It is always a pleasure to acknowledge the generous help which the Life- boat Service receives from the officers and men of the Royal Navy. A number of gifts have been received from officers out of prize money, and the latest of these is a gift of £5 from Admiral F. G. Eyre.

A Cinematograph Appeal.

In many towns, through the help of the managers of the picture theatres, the Institution is able not only to show Life-boat films, but to make collections among the audiences on Life-boat days.

To those who allow or who organise such collections, I should like especially to recommend the generous example of Mr. Albany Ward, who owns a circuit of thirty picture theatres in the south-west of England. He has set himself, through the personal help of his managers, to collect among his audiences, during the next two or three years, a sum of £4,000 for the special purpose of providing the new Boat-house and Slip- way (which will, of course, be named after the appeal) at Weymouth for the Motor Life-boat which is shortly to be built for this Station. The appeal was started last Christmas, and already over £700 has been collected. It has been most successful in the Channel Islands, which have collected about half of this sum. The Opera House, Jersey, alone, contributed over £100 during Christmas week, while the Picture House, Jersey, raised £50.

The Palace at Salisbury and the Palace at Yeovil each raised over £40.

A Life-boat Service in Morocco.

The following interesting statement is published in Lloyd's List, of 9th April, from its special correspondent at Casa Blanca :— A movement is on foot to found in the French Zone of Morocco an offshoot of the well-known " Societe de Bien- faisance des Hospitaliers Sauveteurs Bretons," which has 20 life-saving stations and some 200 small posts scattered along the French coast from Dunkirk to Bayonne.

It is proposed to establish three stations in the French Zone of Morocco.

One, a central station, is to be in Casa Blanca; the two others are to be in Rabat and Mazagan. It is further pro- posed to have posts in Fedalah, Azem- mour, Saffi, Mogador, Agadir, Mehedia and Kenitra. The initial outlay in Casa Blanca for a " Henry" Lifeboat, the construction of a private slip, hostel, &c., is estimated at approximately 200,000f. The annual charge at the same port for staff and upkeep will run into 50,000f. Although a considerable number of influential local people associated with the movement have promised financial support, it seems evident that voluntary contributions will not suffice to carry on the work, and that the French Protectorate will be asked for a subvention. Marshal Lyautey has been good enough to accept the honorary presidency and the title of high protector of this offshoot of the French Society.

The Danish Life-boat Service.

I publish in this issue a very interesting account of the Danish Life-boat Service, in continuation of the series on the Life- boat Services of the world which I am bringing to the notice of our readers.

The Danish Service is the only one, besides that of the United States, which is provided solely by the State. The next issue of The Life-Boat will contain an article on the American Service.

Later on I hope to publish a description of the Spanish and Swedish Services..