LIFE-BOATS have already been seen on the Thames. In the Pageant of the Sea Services of the War, which was held on the Thames, in 1919, with the King in his Royal Barge at the head, two Life-boats took part, the steam Life-boat James Stevens No. 3, which is now at Holyhead, and the Watson Motor Life-boat Shamrock, which had just been built for Baltimore. Last summer the Tenby Motor Life-boat John R. Webb, the first of the new Watson cabin type, visited i the Thames, was inspected by Members of Parliament off the Terrace of the i House of Commons, and took part in the meeting of the British Motor-boat Club.

': But this year London had such an opportunity as it never had before of seeing what an intricate and marvellous piece of work a Life-boat is, for six of ' the nine countries taking part in the i International Conference had Life-boats ] stationed on the Thames. There were eight Boats in all. Two were British, two were Dutch—one from each of the Life-boat Societies of Holland, while i France, Denmark, Sweden and Norway each sent one. The greater distance i prevented Spain, the United States, and Japan from sending Life-boats, although they sent delegates to the Conference.

: These were the Boats:— GREAT BRITAIN.

; The Barnett Twin-screw Motor Life- I boat William & Kate Johnston, of New Brighton, 60 feet by 15 feet by 4 feet f 7 inches with two 80 h.p. engines, and a crew of six.

The Watson (Cabin) Motor Life-boat, J. W. Archer, of Teesmouth, 45 feet by one 12 feet 6 inches by 4 feet, with 80 h.p. engine, and a crew of four.

HOLLAND.

The North and South Holland Life- saving Society: The Twin-screw Motor Life-boat Brandaris, 60 feet 2 inches by 15 feet 7 inches by 4 feet 7 inches, with two 45 h.p. engines, and a crew of four.

The South Holland Society for Saving the Shipwrecked. The Steam Life-boat Prins der Nederlanden, 55 feet by 16 feet by 3 feet 3 inches, with a 250 h.p. engine and a crew of four.

DENMARK.

The Auxiliary Motor Life-boat Anholt Havn, 34 feet by 9 feet 4 inches by 1 foot 6 inches, with a 12 h.p. engine, and a crew of three.

NORWAY.

The Sailing Life-boat, Christian Bb'rs, 46 feet 9 inches by 15 feet 10 inches by 7 feet 6 inches, with a crew of four.

SWEDEN.

The Full-sail and Motor Life-boat Justus A. Waller, 62 feet by 18 feet by 8 feet, with a 90 h.p. engine, and a crew of four. _ FRANCE.

The Twin-screw Motor Life-boat stationed at Calais, 36 feet by 9 feet 5 inches by 3 feet, with two 10-12 h.p.

engines, and a crew of five.

The numbers of the crews as given is for the visit to London only, and not for service.

Great Britain, as will have been seen, was represented by its two latest types of Motor Life-boats; Holland by its latest and most powerful type of Motor Life-boat, and by one of the steam Life- boats from the Hook of Holland, built | by the South Holland Society for Saving the Shipwrecked, on the fines of the i Institution's first Steam Life-boat, Duke • of Northumberland ; France by one of its • latest types of Motor Life-boat, stationed at Calais in 1922; Denmark by one of ' its light Motor Life-boats, specially built to be transportable on carriages, and '. Sweden and Norway by large cruising Life-boats which patrol the coast to warn ships of their danger, and accompany the fishing fleets.

The New Brighton Boat came round ; from her station, calling at Fishguard, Falmouth, Plymouth, Cowes, and Kams- gate on the way, and the Teesmouth Boat came from Cowes, where she had just finished her trials. All the foreign Life-boats, except the Danish, came on their own bottoms across the sea.

The Boats were berthed at East India Dock, and then came up the Thames to their moorings by the Training Ship President, off the Temple Steps. Here they took up their position in two lines and dressed over all, rainbow fashion, on ; the morning of 30th June. In the afternoon, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Doveton Sturdee, Bt., inspected them.

; He was received on the Embankment, at the landing stage of the President, by I Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt. (Chairman), the i Hon. George Colville (Deputy Chairman) j Members of the Committee of Manage- | ment, Mr. George F. Shee, M.A.

(Secretary), and Captain Rowley, C.B.E., R.N. (Chief Inspector of Life-boats).

There was a crowd of many hundreds along the Embankment, watching the ceremony.

Admiral Sturdee went round the " Fleet" in a launch, going on board each Life-boat, on which both the crews and the foreign delegates were waiting to receive him. With him were the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, the Secretary and the Chief Inspector Members of the Women's Committee and representatives of the Press then visited the Life-boats, after which they were open to the public, their crews remaining on board while the delegates were taken to see the Institution's Storeyard at Poplar.

We cannot do better than quote the description of the Boats and the inspec ion which appeared next day in The Manchester Cfuardian:— " The little international fleet of Life-boats anchored in the river off Temple Steps made a gay picture to-day on the dull water and against the heavy lurtain of cloud. They rode the river ike gulls come in from stormy waters to rest in harbour, but daintier and brighter than any gulls in their holiday rig of flying streamers and new paint.

The Life-boats had a false air of never laving done a day's work in their lives, as they danced, all bright and shining, against-the background of barges and Warehouses and all the romantic ugliness of the south shore.

" There are all types of Life-boats, irom Denmark's crimson Motor-boat, little bigger than a ship's Life-boat, to the 60 foot long William & Kate Johnston, of New Brighton, the very latest thing in the British fleet. There are two of our best boats, a couple from Holland, and one each from Denmark, Sweden, France, and Norway. Life- boats have never been seen moored at London's back door before, within a few yards of the indifferent trams, and there was a great crowd on the Embank- ment to watch the Admiral paying a call from Life-boat to Life-boat.

"He boarded the sturdy-looking twin motor-boat from Calais, and chatted with its well-seasoned skipper, whose jersey was plastered with medals. The Scandinavian boats, both wooden sailing ships, the Swedish one with auxiliary motor, were the beauties of the show.

The. snow-white Christian Bars, from the Norwegian fjords, cruises in Nor- wegian fishing fields for weeks at a time, and the light-blue Swedish boat, painted the blue of the sky, also leads a roving life instead of the normal peaceful shore existence varied by violent excitement.

" The Dutch steam Life-boat, the famous Prins der Nederland, has saved many an English sailor from the rough seas round the Hook of Holland. The other Dutch boat, the Brandaris, has a tablet on board recording the gratitude of the German Government.

" Nothing could be farther from the old-fashioned Life-boat picture than the two brand-new British boats with their up-to-date devices. The boat which has come up from the Mersey station has two 90 h.p. engines and has rigged upon deck a net like the nets which are put under acrobats at the theatre, an arrangement copied from the Dutch, so as to enable sailors on a wreck to jump straight into the Life-boat. It has a new B.S.A. Gun which fires a line instead of a rocket, and many other ingenious gadgets, such as a ' wave subduer,' which will squirt twenty gallons of oil from the valves on the troubled sea, and a powerful search- light. The J. W. Archer, of Teesmouth, is the well-equipped infant among British Life-boats, and she and the William & Kate Johnston form an epitome of Life-boat science." During that evening, the following day, and the morning of the next, the Boats remained open to the public.

Crowds lined the Embankment watch- ing them, and many went on board.

On the Wednesday afternoon all the Boats went up the Thames in procession to Fulham, with the exception of the Swedish and the Norwegian, the masts of which would have had to be un- stepped to get under the bridges. All the delegates were on board, and with them were the Deputy Chairman and other members of the Committee of Management, the Secretary, the Chief Inspector, and the District Inspectors.

The Norwegian and Swedish crews were taken on board the J. W. Archer.

The Boats went as far as Bishop's Park Steps, where the delegates and crews landed, and were received by the Mayor and Mayoress of Fulham (Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Waldron), with whom were | the Bishop of London, Sir Henry I Jackson (Mayor of Wandsworth), Colonel ! K. P. Vaughan Morgan, M.P. for Fulham [East, the Archbishop of Eegina i (Canada), and the Bishop of Rangoon.

j The Mayor of Fulham made a speech I of welcome to the delegates and crews, ! and the Bishop of London spoke of the Life-boat Services of the world as a practical example of the spirit of the League of Nations. The Hon. George Colville replied on behalf of the Institu- tion and the delegates. After the ceremony, which was witnessed by : several thousands of people along the ; I riverside and on the bridge, the crews ; ! of the Life-boats were entertained to ' tea by the Mayor. The Life-boats then | returned to their moorings off the Temple ; Steps. i On the following day, the Life-boat i j Fleet dispersed, but the William & Kate Johnston and the Brandaris, the two largest Motor Life-boats in the world, went up first to the House of '• ! Commons, where Captain the Viscount i [Curzon, E.N.V.R., M.P. (a member of jthe Committee of Management) had ] arranged for them to be inspected by i I Members of Parliament. The Boats | Jwere moored alongside the Speaker's i Steps, and a number of Members of [Parliament, including members of the ; • Government, went on board them..