By Major C. R. Satterthwaite, O.B.E., R.E., Deputy Secretary of the Institution.founder, Sir William thus a few months THE Societe Humaine et des Naufrages de Boulogne-sur-Mer was founded in August, 1825, by the joint efforts of two members of the English colony, Mr.

John Larking and the Reverend Symons, who, no doubt, drew their inspiration from our own Hillary. It is younger than the Dutch societies, and a year younger than ourselves, but it is the oldest life-saving society in France, and, apart from Holland, the oldest on the Continent of Europe. The society celebrated its centenary on 12th July, 1925, and, in the absence on sick leave of the Secretary of the Institution, I was fortunate enough to be invited to accompany the Hon. George Colville, Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Management, who represented the Institution at the Centenary Fete.

In giving some account of a memorable week-end, I propose to describe what I saw, and to make no attempt to cata- logue all there was to be seen. The intensive hospitality of our French and English friends made it quite impossible for one person to see everything.

The Committee of Management had decided to send to Boulogne the new Margate No. 2 Motor Life-boat, The Lord Souihborough, the gift of the Civil Service Lifeboat Fund, and on arrival at Boulogne shortly before 6 P.M., on Saturday, llth July, in the Channel mail-boat, I was glad to see her trim lines in the harbour. Accompanied by Mr. T. W. Gomm, Honorary Secretary at Margate, and Commander E. L.

Hamer, specter, R.N., Southern District Inneed and manned by Coxswain Clayson and a crew of seven, she had made the passage from Margate in five hours, weather and tide being favourable.

I was met on the quayside by Mr.

S. C. Early, Vice-President of the Society, •who drove me to its headquarters in the Eue Jules Lecomte. Here I was introduced to the President, M. Roger Lesage, to Mr. H. F. Farmer, Honorary Vice- President, to Mr. H. S. Bradbrook, the British Vice-Consul, who was responsible for all the Centenary arrangements, andto various other members of the Committee.

It was interesting to see, close to the Society's headquarters, and in a place of honour on the sea-front, a venerable Life-boat bearing the name of " Farmer," and the gift of Mr. H. F.

Farmer's father to the Society some fifty years ago.

An inspection of the headquarters revealed that the scope of the Society's work is considerably wider than our own, as indeed the records of its century's work show. During this period 824 persons have been rescued by Lifeboats, while 1,574 bathers have been brought ashore by watchmen, and 423 rescues have been carried out by means of Brunei lines. (The Brunei line is furnished with a formidable grapplinghook, and while, no doubt, the 423 were grateful for their safety, it is permissible to suppose that some of them would have preferred the ministrations of the Life-boat!) The Society attends to the after-care of those of the rescued who Inneed it, and there is a dispensary and two spotlessly-clean hospital wards, one for men and one for women, with four beds in each. Though empty when I saw them, they are, I was told, very often fully occupied.

In Memory of the Dead.

Shortly after my arrival, the President and Committee, with the Institution's representatives and the Margate crew, walked in procession from the headquarters to the ancient Seamen's Chapel on the cliff above the sea-front. Here a large and beautiful wreath was laid at the foot of the Calvary on behalf of the town of Boulogne, and smaller wreaths on behalf of the Societ6 Humaine, the Institution, and the Margate crew. A large crowd watched this simple act of homage to the men and women of Boulogne who have lost their lives at sea. The interior of the tiny chapel, hung with innumerable wreaths and memorial tablets, is a most impressive sight, and one which all visitors to Boulogne should see.

The next item on the programme wasa GaJa Ball, at the Casino, in. aid of the funds of the Society. This was a most enjoyable and well-attended affair—so well-attended in fact, that some of the guests preferred the comparative cool of the illuminated Casino gardens, where a Bal Populaire was in progress, and where, after dark, there was a torchlight tattoo by soldiers of the 110th Regiment of Infantry, and a display of fireworks, Sunday, 12th July, dawned misty, but the mist soon gave way to intense windless heat. Activities began at 10 o'clock at the Society's headquarters, where we were told off to cars, and a round of visits began. First, we went aboard H.M.S. Carstairs, which had arrived from Chatham early in the morning, bringing Admiral Sir William Goodenough, Commanding-in-Chief at the Nbre, who represented the First Lord of the Admiralty, and Lady Good- enough. Next, to the Central Station, where a Guard of Honour of the 110th Regiment, with band, was drawn up, to meet the representative of the French Minister of Marine. At 11.15 the Paris train arrived, and Vice-Admiral Salaun, Chief of the Naval Genera] Staff, alighted, and proceeded to inspect the Guard of Honour, with the British Admiral, and General Mourier, repre- senting the Commander of the 1st Army Corps, the band having played the " Mar- seillaise " and " God Save the King." Representatives of Foreign Countries.

The next move was to the " Haute Ville" where, in front of the ancient Mairie, a band from the military school and a number of Life-boatmen and war veterans were drawn up. Again the "Marseillaise" and "The King," and we entered the Mairie, where, in the " Salle Eurvin" the Senator-Mayor, M. Roger Farjon, formally welcomed the guests, whose numbers were now swelled by the arrival of Sir R. Burton Chadwick, Parliamentary Under-Secre- tary to the Board of Trade, and repre- sentatives of other French and foreign Life-boat Societies. Sir William Good- enough responded (in admirable French) and Admiral Salaun expressed the regrets of the Minister of Marine (M. Emile Borel) at his inability to be present.

M. Lesage also spoke.

After this ceremony, Mr. Early drove me to the quayside in time for the arrival of the Engadine, bringing Mr.

Colville, who had been unable to leave London on Saturday. We then went to the Casino, where the official banquet was timed to begin at 12.30. By this time the crowd on the sea-front was enormous, and collectors for the Society, dressed most becomingly as hospital nurses, were much in evidence.

Our excellent friends across the Channel will agree that you can have too much of a good thing, and may forgive me for suggesting that on a very hot day it is a pity to spend the hours be- tween 12.30 and 4 P.M. on luncheon. For this extended duration the eloquence and enthusiasm for the cause of life-saving of the various speakers were mainly responsible. I wish my knowledge of the French language had been good enough to enable me to appreciate the oratory more fully. Besides those who had spoken at the Mairie, the following addressed the company : M. Peytral, Prefet of the Pas de Calais ; M. Granjon de Lepiney, representing the Societe Centrale de Sauvetage des Naufrages; M. Wierdsma, represent- ing the South Holland Society; M. Schmidt, representing the Belgian Society ; M. Bertaux, representing the Breton Society, and Mr. Colville. It is no disparagement of the others to say that the speech of the day was that made by M. Bertaux, whose impassioned eloquence, partly in French and partly in excellent English, brought down the house. Mr. Colville in his speech made the announcement that the Institution proposed to present the Society with a Line-throwing Gun. This was greeted with hearty applause, but seems to have mystified the French reporters, who were only able in the next day's issue of the local papers to refer darkly to a don important.

At the close of the proceedings Admiral Salaun made certain presentations, in- cluding that of the insignia of the Legion of Honour to Pilot Tetart, a most dis- tinguished Life-boatman. At the age of fourteen, in 1877, he saved the life of his Coxswain, and has since been concerned in forty Life-boat rescues.

The extended duration of the banquet made it impossible for us to see the performance of the cinema films (lent by the Institution) and caused us to miss most of the regatta events, which took place in and near the harbour before an immense crowd. We felt the need of a change from the tenue de ville prescribed for the banquet, and a trip in the Margate boat in cooler clothes seemed indicated. Mr. and Mrs. Early, Sir Burton Chadwick, Mr. Colville and some others accordingly went afloat.

The Line-throwing Gun was fired, where it could be most easily seen and admired by the bathers, and threw its line a full seventy yards. We learnt on this trip that the crew had been informed that they had quite unwittingly taken part in a race in the early afternoon, and won a prize (a very beautiful Bronze Medal).

We also saw and passed the Society's Motor Life-boat, les Freres Ployer, pre- sented to them by the Societe Centrale.

As we returned, a diving competition was in progress, and a water-polo match was about to begin.

We were the guests of Mr. and Mrs.

Early at dinner at the Casino in the evening. Mr. Colville was obliged to leave early to go on board the Carstairs for return to England, but the rest of the Institution's party heard an excellent rendering of " Tosca " at the Casino opera house, before retiring to bed after an intensely interesting, if exhausting, day.

The Lord Southborough returned to Margate on the 13th, and I thought it the duty of an inexperienced Deputy Secretary to learn something about the behaviour of a Life-boat at sea.

We left at 10 A.M., and had an excellent and most enjoyable trip. The crew appeared to have had a splendid time. On the previous evening they had been the guests of the Boulogne crew at dinner, and from the fact that the party did not break up till 2 A.M. it may be deduced that the function was a success. Besides this, Coxswain Clayson had been an honoured guest at the official banquet at the Casino. A fresh north-westerly breeze and adverse tides made our pro- gress slower than on the outward trip, but by 5 P.M. we were alongside Margate pier, where a large crowd watched the housing of the boat; a difficult feat in the strong tide, but successfully accomplished.

The Boulogne Society is to be con- gratulated on a most successful Cen- tenary fete. The amount of organizing work put in by Mr. Bradbrook must have been immense,and tohim,perhaps,above all others, was due the success of the festival. Mr. Early acted as the especial guide and friend to the English party, and our warmest thanks are due to him.

Many friends of the Life-boat cause in these Islands pass through Boulogne occasionally. All should make a point of visiting the headquarters of the Society, and they may be sure that a contribution to its funds will benefit the cause of life-saving in the Channel.

The heartiest wishes for many more years of successful endeavour in the cause of humanity go out from the senior Life-boat Institution to its ener- getic and capable little cousin..