THE first of the Life-boat Centenary celebrations in London was a dinner at the Authors' Club on 29th January, at which Mr. George F. Shee, M.A., the Secretary of the Institution, an old mem- ber of the Club, presided, and at which Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., the Chairman of the Committee of Management, was the principal guest. Lloyd's List published next day the following account of it:— " Nothing could have been more cor- dial than the welcome given by the members of the Authors' Club to their principal guest at Monday night's house dinner, and never did the eloquent ex- ponent of a good cause better deserve such a welcome; for the subject of the evening's discussion was the Royal National Life-boat Institution, and if any man could do justice to such a theme, that man was assuredly Sir Godfrey Baring. In his speech, which was a masterly exposition of the subject, he mentioned the interesting fact that his great-grandfather moved one of the principal resolutions at the historic meeting held in the City on 4th March, 1824, which provides the occasion of this year's centenary. Mr. George Shee, Secretary of the Institution, made an excellent Chairman, and among the other speakers were Viscount Curzon, one of the Committee of Management; Mr. J. R. Barnett, of Glasgow, who is responsible for the design of the Institu- tion's latest motor-boat; Sir H. Acton Blake, who, as Deputy Master of the Trinity House, had something to say about lightships ; and Mr. Charles Hip- wood, of the Marine Department of the Board of Trade, who echoed the pious hope that the Royal National Life-boat Institution would never become the appanage of a Government Department.".