As was indicated in the important article contributed by my friend, Mr. de Booy, in the February, 1921, issue of this journal, the beneficent influence of Sir William Hillary's noble initiative in the foundation of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION was not confined to these shores. Some philosophers have held that only the Good is permanent, and that evil is, in virtue of its own essence, utterly null, negative and non- enduring ; and all ethical teaching agrees that a good act, or a good thought, is fruitful and prolific of good, exem- plifies the law of the, conservation of energy, and reproduces itself in endless series from generation to generation.

Thus, not only did Sir William Hillary's life-giving ideal, backed by his own heroic example, create the British Life- boat Service, and thereby provide the i means for saving the lives " of an incal- culable number of beings yet unborn," but the impulse led to the establishment, 'among a neighbouring and kindred i people, namely, the Dutch, of two Life- i boat organizations within a few months iof the foundation of the Institution ! itself. On the llth November, 1824, ! there was founded the Nord-en-Zuid ! Hollandsche Redding - Maatschappij.

This was followed by the foundation I of the Zuid-Hollandsche Maatschappij ' tot Redding van Schipbreukelingen on j the 20th November, 1824.

i The two Societies, which between j them maintain the whole of the Life-boat j Service on the coast of Holland, includ- jing about fifty Life-boats, have re- mained separate organizations, although working with complete friendliness, the Northern Society providing and adminis-tering the twenty-five Life-boats from the extreme north (the mouth of the Ems) to the village of Loosduinen, just represouth of Scheveningen, and also on the coast of Friesland, while the South pro- vides and maintains the twenty-three Life-boats between Loosduinen and the Institusouthern extremity of Holland. The Northern Society has the larger number Comof Boats and several Motor Boats ; the Southern has, in addition to two Motor Boats, the two very important steam!Life-boats, the Prins der Neihrlandea and the President ran Heel.

It is not for us to enquire why the two Societies have not seen their way to join forces and devote their efforts to the Life-boat cause under one control. We may be sure that there are good reasons for their separate maintenance, and, in any case, it has not interfered with the thorough efficiency with which both Societies have carried on their task. Bat with a consistency and amour propre which we can only admire, each Society decided to hold its Centenary Celebration on the respective date of its foundation.

In this way the Institution had the pleasure of receiving an invitationfrom each Society, which, however, placed us in the difficulty that it was almost impossible for the same represouth sentatives to attend both functions, one being on the llth and the other on the 120th November last. Thus it came about that on the former occasion the Institusouthern tion sent Captain S. M. Day, C.B., D.S.O., R.N.R. (a member of the Comof imittee of Management), the Secretary and the Chief Inspector of Life-boats to Amsterdam, in response to the kindinvitation of Mr. P. E. Tegelberg, the President of the Nord-en-Zuid Hollandsche Redding-Maatschappij. while the Hon. George Colville (Deputy Chairman) and Sir Woodburn Kirby represented the Institution at the anniversary of the South Holland Society at Rotterdam .

The North and South Holland Life-Saving Society.

Captain Day, the Chief Inspector (Captain H. F. J. Rowley, C.B.E., R.N.), and I left London for the Hook of Holland on Monday, the 10th November, and had the experience, not infrequent on this journey, of crossing in a thick fog.I believe this atmospheric condition is the one most dreaded by mariners.

Hence, I imagine that my fellow- travellers never really enjoyed them- selves, and their seamen's sympathy with the Captain probably materially interfered with their night's rest. For myself, I am free to confess that I was extremely grateful to the god of Mists, who veiled the smooth waters of the passage in a filmy veil which only just enabled me to realiza that I was on board ship. I found that these condi- tions accorded much more comfortably with my internal economy than the rough weather and storm which guaran- tees freedom from fogs. In fact, I have always had a warm sympathy and understanding for the passenger who, hurrying down to the saloon, his face tinted a delicate green, was greeted by the steward with the stern observation, " You can't be sick here, sir," and replied, with bitter defiance, " Can't I! " Nor can I withhold my sympathy irom the passenger who was studying the waves over the side when the ship was boarded by pirates, and the chief pirate levelled a pistol at his head and told Mm to throw up his hands, to which the weary traveller replied, "Well,I've thrown up everything else, but I'll try." We breakfasted on a very comfortable dining-car between the Hook and Amsterdam, and reached our hotel at about 9.30 a.m. The morning was spent in a call on our friend, Mr. de Booy, the Secretary of the North and South Hol- land Life-Saving Society, whom we found snowed under by telegrams, which kept on pouring in while we talked. Two of those which arrived while we were in the office were from the Queen Mother and the Queen of Holland respectively, and we had the great pleasure of con- gratulating Mr. de Booy later on in the day on the honour which the Queen conferred upon him that day by making Mm an Officer of the Order of the House of Orange. In the afternoon Mr. Tegel- berg and his Committee gave a reception, •which was attended by representatives of France, Germany, Sweden and Den- mark, delegates of the Branches of the Society and of the South Holland Society, and by a number of distin- guished persons. At this reception I read a letter of congratulation from the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, and Captain Day presented the Gold Medal of the Institution, the highest award which it is in its power to confer, as a mark of its appreciation of the signal services rendered, not only to Holland, but to the mariners of the world by the North and South Halland Society. Mr.

Tegelberg, whose mastery of the English language had been shown when hs repre- sented his Society on the occasion of the Institution's celebrations in July last, replied in felicitous terms, and we had the pleasure of discussing our common work with a number of keenly in- terested members and delegates of the Society.

In the evening we left the hotel in motor cars and proceeded to one of the most important docks, where we were ferried across by an electric ferry to the quay where the ships of the Nederland Line are berthed. Here we found the 10,000-ton Konigin der Nederlanden ad- mirably decorated with flags and bunting.

We were presented to the Prince of the Netherlands, who presided at the dinner.

The Prince conversed with ease with all the delegates, speaking English to us, French to the French delegate, M. de Lepiney, Danish to our friend, Captain Saxhild, Swedish to Mr. Lithander, who represented his Government at our cele- brations in London, and German to Herr Korff, the President of the German Life- boat Society. The scene in the saloon of the Konigin der Nederlanden was a bril- liant one, and, to us English guests, the gold braided costumes and sinuous movements and impassive faces of the Javanese " boys," working under white stewardSj added a pleasing touch of Eastern mystery and charm. The dinner was a marvellous achievement, both from, the point of view of organiza- tion, of gastronomy, and of the infinite variety of dishes which passed before our astonished gaze—I do not mean that ' they all passed unchallenged, though j there are limits! The banquet would have done credit to a royal palace or to the best hotel in the world, and it was only after the dinner that we realized that the ship had only arrived from Java on the previous day, that the dinner had been cooked by the chef of the ship him-self, and that all the arrangements had been completed within twenty-four hours.

The guests included, besides the representatives of Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and Denmark, the Prime Minister of Holland, the Governor of North several ex-Ministers of the Navy, as well as a large number of Naval Officers and many representatives of the chief shipping companies. Indeed, the dinner was given by the Directors of the Nederland line, who, with the other shipping companies of Holland, form the main support of the Life-boat Service. Thus, as Mr. de Booy told us in his article published in February, 1921, the shipping companies provide more than half ot the total income of the two societies, and the Norwegian shipping companies and firms contribute an even larger proportion of the revenue of the Norsk Selskab til skibbrudnes Eedning (the Norwegian Life-boat Society). One feature of the Dutch procedure—which was also followed at the dinner given by the South Holland Society on the 20th November —struck me as an improvement on our own habits on these occasions. The speeches—and they were numerous— were scattered through the evening, thus affording a welcome intellectual exercise, " a feast of reason " (for those who understood the oratory) between the material activities which eight or nine courses involved, and which might otherwise have proved a case of " linked feasting long drawn out.' The Prince of the Netherlands, in his introductory speech, surveyed the work accomplished by the Dutch Societies in the saving of life and emphasized the value of international co-operation in the humane task of life-saving, and the splendid results which must accrue, not! only to this particular form of beneficent activity but to the general betterment of international relationship. The Prime Minister, who is a born orator, deve-1 loped the Prince's views in eloquent terms, and drew a sharp contrast between the work of life-saving now undertaken by the chief maritime nations and the deplorable attitude which characterized the coastwise population in many countries a hundred yearsago, when wrecks were not only welcomed, but, horrible to relate, often brought about by those who looked upon them as a source oi profit. The change from that spirit to the selfsacrifice of the modern Life-boatmen was one which reflected honour on Captain Day, in replying on behalf of humanity.

Mr. P. E. Tegelberg, the Managing Director of the Company owning the Konigin der Nederlanden, and also the President of the North Holland Life-boat Service, stated that his Company, together with practically every other shipping company in Holland, gladly gave 'a regular percentage in support of the Life-boat Service, that percentage being based on tonnage. These contributions were made not only in recognition of the practical benefits accruing to the shipping interests from a Life-boat organization, but as a means of fostering international good feeling, which must surely result from the practice of convening these great international gatherings and councils where delegates of all nations exchanged views and were able to learn from one another.

In proposing the toasts of their foreign guests he particularly referred to the seamen who were so fittingly representing the island kingdom of Great Britain, the only nation which had preceded Holland —and that only by a few months—by the initiation in 1824 of the world-f amous ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION.

the foreign guests, that is, on behalf of Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and Denmark, expressed their cordial thanks for the generous reception accorded to them, and, speaking as a seaman, said he ) was sure that all sailors would appreciate [ the honour done to one of their number not! in imposing on him the duty of replying.

He alluded in complimentary terms to the admirable organization and training for the mercantile marine which Holland 1 had established, and which was, in some respects, a model of the practical and | technical training which ought to be I given to officers and men entrusted with the important business of commanding and manning merchant ships.

Many speeches followed, including one of congratulation to the Society, and toSir. de Booy, on the success achieved in the hundred years of its activity. While my knowledge of the Dutch language is too limited to enable me to have followed the details of the speeches, it was obvious that the speaking was throughout easy and fluent and flavoured with plenty of the salt of humour.

We broke up at a late hour, and returned to our hotels, but left the Prince of the Netherlands and several of the Dutch guests to enjoy the further hospitality of the company as guests of the Konigin der Nederlanden.

The South Holland Society for the Saving of the Shipwrecked.

As I was only present in spirit~at Rotterdam a week later, at the Centenary Celebrations of the South Holland Society for the Saving of the Shipwrecked, I will quote from the account which appeared next day in the Rotterdamscke Newsblad, first saying, however, that both the Institution's delegates were as ecstatic in praise of the lavish: hospitality which they received as were we about the hospitality of the North j and South Holland Society.

" The Life-boat President van Heel lay , moored yesterday in the Veerhaven in | honour of the Centenary of the South ; Holland Society for the Rescue of the Shipwrecked. The harbour of the Maas was also gay with bunting and flags to commemorate this important event." In the large half of De Maas a reception was held by the Manager of the Institution, and amongst others who accepted the invitation were the Burgemeester and Mevr. Wytema, the office bearers of allied Institutions and of the North and South Holland, as well as many deep-sea mariners, consuls of foreign nations, and representatives of Life-boat Institutions abroad.

" Mijnheer Otto Stenberg, the leader of the Swedish Life-boat Institution, presented a Gold Medal, and the Royal National Life-boat Institution also presented a Gold Medal." In the evening a dinner was given by the Directors of the Society on the steamship Insulinde, when over a hundred guests sat down at different tables in the elegant dining-room of the fine ship. At the centre table was seated Prins Hendrik der Nederlanden, and on his right Heer J. Lels, President of the Society, and on his left Heer A. A.

Sweerts, of Landas Wyborgh, Vice- President. Opposite the Prince were the Prime Minister, Jhr. Mr. Ch. J. M. Ruys de Beerenbrouck, Jhr. Mr. A. Roell, the Queen's delegate in Noord-Holland ; Mr. W, I. v. Leeuwen, the Vice-Presi- dent of the Council of State; and Mr.

Wytema, Burgemeester of Rotterdam.

" The excellent dinner, which reflected great credit on the cooks of the Rotter- dam Lloyd—the waiters included a number of Java boys—was followed by many entertaining speeches.

" Heer Sweerts presented the Prince with the Gold Mtdal of the Society, and in his speech congratulated him on the great services he had rendered on the occasion of the shipwreck of the Berlin.

" In the course of his speech the Prince said: ' You will readily under- stand (after what has been said to me with Kgard to the Berlin) that I have a special feeling of sympathy with these gentlemen whose sphere of operations is the Hook of Holland. Involuntarily my thoughts go back to February of the year 1907 when the disastrous wreck ol the steamer Berlin took place at the incut h of the Rotterdamsche Waterweg, which I happened to witness at close quarters. The scenes there were fright- iul, but at the same time heroic courage and intrepidity were shown by the life- boatmen. Captain Jansen, with his Life-boat President tan Heel, the pilots' staff, the Sperlings, filled the whole world with admiration for their heroic- self-sacrifice, and made the homely people of the Hook world-famous. I can see the whole scene now clearly before me.

" ' Eighteen years have passed since then. The efforts made by office-holders of this Institution throughout all these years to increase their efficiency is suffi- ciently shown by the admirable life- saving devices which are now to be found at its Stations, and on which sea- faring people rely for rescue.

" ' Let us hope that the Zuid-Hol- landsche Maatschappij for the Rescue of the Shipwrecked will continue to have the best wishes of the public, and that the Dutch people will be more and more willing to make sacrifices for this philan- thropic undertaking.' " The next speaker was the Premier, who said: ' An aspect of the work of the Institution, whose jubilee we are cele- brating, and one that has received less attention, is the one I am now privi- leged to place before you. There are two powerful Life-boat organizations, the North and South Holland Society, with its headquarters at Amsterdam, and the South Holland, which, has its domicil in Rotterdam. Co-operation between these two is of great advantage, and their relation to each other is virtually that of twin-sisters. The beneficial results of mutual assistance on the part of our two great commercial centres is strikingly illustrated here. Amsterdam has long been known as a centre of finance, as carried on by the old school of business man, and also as the market for buying with a view to re-selling—to borrow, for a moment, the language of the book of Mercantile Law. Rotter- dam, on the other hand, is the younger sister, whose distinction it is to have acquired a world-wide reputation as a centre of navigation. Fortunately, the two work together and supplement each other's efforts for the welfare of our country. It is a healthy system, because rivalry invariably leads to greater zeal.

Expressing the hope that Heaven will bless their joint efforts, I propose to you the health of these twin-sisters.' " Jhr. Roell, in his capacity as Chair- man of the Centenary Committee, re- turned thanks for the way in which the toast had been received. Besides the bene- ficial competition between the two largest towns of Holland, there was, at present, he said, another contest being carried on as to which was the better banquet. The guests at the Koniwjin der Nederlanden, in Amsterdam, thought the meal there unsurpassed, but now that they were here the same gentlemen said that their meal was by no means inimitable.

" Burgemeester Wytema referred with pride to the fact that the- Com- mittee he had formed had collected no less than Fl.65,000 in Rotterdam. In their town the founder of the Society was bom, and the Town Council had decided to confer on him the highest honour in its power, and to name a street Willem van Kouten (applause).

" In a speech in English, Heer J.

Rypperda Wierdsma congratulated the Institution in the name of the represen- tatives of Foreign Institutions of a like nature, and more particularly the sister societies in England, France and Sweden.

The rescue of sailors in distress was an act that recognized no barriers, and in this noble work all nations became one.

Heer Wierdsma then proposed the health of the foreign guests.

" Thanks were expressed by the Hon.

George Colville on behalf of the Royal National Life-boat Institution, who said that roughly about one hundred British vessels passed the Hook every week, and it was not difficult to understand that the British should have a feeling of gratitude for the safety thus assured to them off the Dutch coast. He also re- ferred to the warm reception given to the Dutch Life-boats in the summer when they visited the Thames on the occasion of the Centenary of the British Life-boat Service, and said that the Dutch flag was now more welcome in England than it was in 1667! (Loud applause.) " Heer P. E. Tegelberg, Chairman of the Nbord-Hollandsche Maatschappij, reminded his hearers that the authorities had originally worked for the amalgama- tion of the two Institutions, but the wisdom of those who opposed this pro- posal was, after a hundred years; evi- dent, because now they could hold centenary festivities twice. Amsterdam and Rotterdam had stretched out a hand to each other, and had inaugurated a noble competition in banquets. He wished especially to express his admira- tion of the South Holland Society for the excellent way in which it had carried out its work.

" Heer A. J. M. Goudriaan, who was seated among the Life-boat crews, said ; he considered it an extraordinary privi- lege to address the crews of the South Holland Society in the name of the Board, and to convey to them the appre- ciation in which they were held by the Managers. ' There was never,' he said, ' much sensation created by their work, only a bare notice in the newspapers, which is exactly what is most in i keeping with the character of the men themselves, who simply do their duty without demonstration and without making any effort to attract notice.

The truth is they do not require any encouragement from outside, being thoroughly inspired with their own lofty purpose and with enthusiasm for their self-sacrificing work. Honour, then, and gratitude, to the never- failing prowess of our Life-boat crews, in which we have full confidence for the future ! Before our minds there rise up the figures of several heroes who have lost their lives in the fulfilment of their duty, and the occasion must not be allowed to pass without a tribute | being paid to their memory. I raise my glass in honour of the men who have proved so efficient in carrying out the intentions and wishes of the Managing I Board of the South Holland Life-boat (Society. The members of this Board j may change, but the men remain the same, and deserve nothing but com- mendation for the way in which they are carrying out the intentions of I the founders one hundred years ago.' j (Applause.) j " A number of other speeches were ! made, including one by M. Granjon de I Lepiney, Secretary of the French Life- i boat Society, and a poem was read, which ! was received with loud applause. The Prince then gave the signal to rise from the table, and the guests left the fine ship in very good humour." Next day the foreign guests were driven to the Hook of Holland, and a Life-boat display was given, in which the Steam Life-boat President van Heel and the Pulling and Sailing Life-boat Emiel Robin took part..