Hull's Special Report.

AT the Annual Meeting of the Branch, held on 31st March, the Lord Mayor (Councillor Digby Willoughby), one of; the Presidents of the Branch, proposed that Hull should make a special effort to raise £5,000 to provide a Motor Life-boat to be called City of Hull. The Annual Meeting of the Blanch was followed, in May, by a meeting of the Ladies' Committee in the Guildhall, at •which the Lady Mayoress, a President of the Branch, took the chair. In 1924 Hull's contribution was £820 as compared with £801 in 1923, and it was pointed out that while the actual cost per head of the Life-boat Service was l$d., Hull's contribution was only | L, as compared with Manchester's and Bradford's If £. The proposal for raising a special Motor Life-boat Fund was approved, and the best method of increasing Hull's regular contribution was also discussed. The matinee at the Palace, the Life-boat Day, and an American Tea are the efforts made each year, and it was decided to add to the committee in the hope of enlisting more help and making these three efforts raise larger sums.

The Lady Mayoress's Matinee at the Palace was held on 21st May, artistes from the Palace, Tivoli, Alexandra and Lyric Theatres all giving their services, The theatre was lent by Messrs. Moss Empires, Ltd., and the programme was arranged by the Manager of the Palace, Mr. J. Ctallons. A sum of £101 was raised. The Lady Mayoress made an appeal for support for the special fund, pointing out that Manchester, Bradford and other places had provided Motor Life-boats, and asking that so essentially a sailors' city as Hull should do the same.

On 23rd June a, special meeting was held at the Guildhall, the Lord Mayor presiding. Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., Chairman of the Committee of Management of the Institution was present, and gave an account of the work which the Institution was doing, and the money it was spending to provide Motor Life boats at all the points on the coast where'.they were required. A committee was appointed to consider the scheme of | raising a special fund for a City of Hull Motor Life-boat, and it was announced that an anonymous gift of £500 had already been promised, Revival of the Cork Branch.

Before the trouble in Ireland there was a flourishing Branch in the City of Cork, with a strong Ladies' Auxiliary in addition to the Branch Committee. In 1918 the Branch had a subscription list of over £80, and raised altogether £284.

Since that year, however, it has been in abeyance until, last year, a Centenary Appeal was issued which brought in under £50. Mr. Sharm an-Crawford, the Chairman, and Mr. H. P. F.

Donegan, have now made a most successful effort to revive the Annual Life-boat Day. A meeting was held in help from a number of new supporters, " - - - - - - July, at which Mr. Sharman-Crawford, who presided, announced that tie Branch was assured of a great deal of and at which Bliss A. L. Donegan, B.Sc., was appointed Honorary Secretary of a Ladies' Committee to organize the appeal. The Chairman also said that he wished to emphasize the fact that it was at the express wish of the Free State Government that the Royal National Life-boat Institution continued to maintain the Life-boat Service round the coasts of trie Free State, and that it was a mistake to imagine that any section of the community in Ireland was opposed to giving the Institution the greatest possible support in collecting funds.

I " In common," he said, "with every other town and city in the British Isles, we in Cork are anxious to see ttat tta fishermen along our coast who man the Life-boat are provided with the most efficient and seaworthy craft when on our dangerous rock-bound coasts they go out on their errand of mercy to save life." This meeting was followed by an appeal by the Honorary Secretary in the Cork Examiner, which was warmly supported in a leading article, and led to the publication of another letter, signed " Man-in-the-Street," which ex- presses so well the appeal of the Life- boat Service to all classes, even the poorest, and in bad times as well as good, that we quote it in full:— " I read Mr. Donegan's letter in the Examiner, and as I may fairly call myself a man-in-the-street, for 1 spend most of my time there looking for work, I think I rank in the class to whom his letter is addressed, and therefore, may take it upon myself to say one or two words in reply. I cannot do better than adopt his own style. Here goes—Mr.

Donegan, you said ' it was hard to " touch " me,' and you are right, for I am on my ' uppers.' I am broke or nearly so ; but you have my full sym- pathy. If there is an institution in this sordid world that deserves universal support the Life-boat is it. When in everyday life men can be so hard, so mean, so unmindful of the suffering of others, when one contrasts the noble attitude of the Life-boatmen with these, one is forced to conclude there is 'something God-like in their actions.

I When an appeal for help is made to them there is no churlish refusal. They don't say: ' We are too busy to attend to you'; they don't say : 'Call again.' No. They risk their very lives to save complete strangers from shipwreck. I am a very humble man, but I can think ; and I appeal to every person on Saturday next to think what the Life-boat stands ! for ; and I ask mv brother Irishmen to realize that it is our duty, as a Christian people, to lend a hand. If the hand can- i not pull an oar let it pull a few bob or a I few coppers out of your breeches pocket, and, although I am hard pressed, God knows, I'll practise what I preach and give my mite on Saturday." The DBV was held on 26th September, and two hundred collectors took part in the appeal—among them the ' wife of the Bishop of Cork. It raised i the record sum of £273, the remarkable i featuring that only £66 of th s total i was in copper. Seven pounds was in notes, and among the £200 in silver there were no fewer than four hundred half-crowns.

The Branch has already got a sub- scription list of over £60; Miss Donegan hopes to form a permanent Ladies' Life- boat Guild ; and there is every prospect that Cork will now be re-established as a flourishing Branch, which will not only contribute itself but, it is hoped, lead to other Branches being formed in the South-west of Ireland.

Annual Meetings : Station Branches.

BLACKPOOL.—On 18th May, the Mayor, President of the Branch, in the chair. The report for the year ending 30bh September, 1924, showed that £621 had been collected, as compared with £543 in the previous year. The Honorary Treasurer pointed out that, while Life- boat Day had raised £523, the annual subscriptions amounted to only £52, and made a vigorous appeal for a much larger subscription list.

LYTHAM.—On 18th May, Mr. E. W.

Mellor, J.P., Chairman of the Committee, presiding. The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £245 had been collected, as com- pared with £171 in the previous year.

Special mention was made of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, which had not only organized a house-to-house appeal and Life-boat Day, but had obtained a number of new annual subscribers, and was largely responsible for the increased support.

SUNDERLAND.—On 27th April, the Mayor (Alderman J. S. Nicholson), President of the Branch, in the chair, supported by Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., Chairman of the Committee of Manage- ment of the Institution. The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £637 had been collected, as compared with £537 in the previous year. Sir Godfrey Baring presented the Honorary Secretary, Mr. W. J.

Oliver, with a Vellum, signed by the Prince of Wales, as President of the Institution, which recorded his election as an Honorary Life Governor of the Institution in recognition of long and distinguished services. In making the presentation, Sir Godfrey Baring ex- pressed the deep gratitude of the Institu- tion for the services which Mr. Oliver had rendered to the Cause during twenty-five years. In replying, Mr.

Oliver confessed that he would rather have been out in the Life-boat than attending such a function. He was afraid that he had been given credit for a great deal of work which had been done by the Ladies' Life-boat Guild.

He had undertaken the Honorary Secretaryship in 1900, in which year the total receipts of the Branch were under £100, less than the expenditure on the Station. At the end of the first year he had formed a Ladies' Committee, which organized the first Flag Day which Sund'erland ever had. From that day onwards the Branch had not only raised enough every year to pay all the ex- penses of the Station, but had made substantial contributions to the general funds of the Institution. Mr. Oliver then spoke of the value of the Motor Life- boat. He had known the time when no Pulling and Sailing Life-boat could be got over the Sunderland Bar. But to- day, with their Motor Life-boat, the storm had yet to rage which would stop them crossing the Bar, The Mayor and Mayoress were re-elected Presidents of the Branch, and Mr. W. J. Oliver and Captain W. J. Oliver, M.C., joint Honorary Secretaries.

WALTON - ON - THE - NAZE.—On 19th June, Mr. R. H. Palmer presiding. The report for the year ending 30th Septem- ber, 1924, showed that £303 had been collected, as compared with £271 in the previous year. Mr. J. 5. Graham was re-elected Honorary Secretary, a ad the other officers and Committee were also re-elected.

Annual Meetings : Financial Branches.

ALLOA.—Held on 4th June, Ex- Provost Duacanson, Chairman of the Branch, presiding. Reference was made to the death of Ex-Provost Grant, who was in the chair at the meeting in May, 1899, when Life-boat Saturday was inaugurated in Alloa, and who had ever since been an active and generous member of the Committee. The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £262 had been raised, as compared with £246 in the previous year. This was the third highest col- lection on record. The officers were re- elected.

CADRIFF AND PENARTH.—On 26th May, the Lord Mayor (Alderman W. H. Pethybridge), President of the Branch, in the chair. The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £263 had been collected, as com- pared with £515 in the previous year.

The Lord Mayor, in proposing the adop- tion of the report, said that Cardiff, being a port, its citizens should take a special interest in the work of the Life-boat Service. Mr. Samuel Thomas, J.P., in seconding the adoption of the report, said that the income was disappointing, but times were hard, and he hoped that the Branch would share in the coming prosperity for which they all hoped.

CARNFORTH DISTRICT.—On 27th April, Mr. R. T. Barnard, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. The Chairman of the Urban District Council, Mr. J. Murray, was elected President, and all the officers and committee were re- elected. The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £25 had been collected, as compared with £36 in the previous year.

CHELTENHAM.-—On 4th June, The Mayor (Councillor W. J. M. Dicks), Presi- dent of the Branch, in the chair. The report for the year ending 30th Septem- ber, 1924, showed that £450 had been collected, as compared with £97 in the previous year. Miss Wanklyn, the Honorary Secretary, gave an account of the special activities of the Branch during the Centenary year. The Com- mittee had set itself to raise £500, and appointed several sub-committees to run entertainments, on which people of influence were co-opted. Among those who gave their help were the Chambers of Commerce, to which the Branch sent a special deputation, and the National Citizens' Union. March 2nd was kept as Life-boat Sunday, and the Ministers of all the Churches were asked to hold a special Service on that day. A special appeal was made, and over 1,400 letters were sent out by the Mayor in March.

This was followed by a Jumble Sale in April, a Flag Day and a matinee in July, and a Fete in August, when the Life-boat which toured the Midlands was at Cheltenham. In the autumn a Th6 Dansant was held at the Town Hall, and later a Whist Drive and Dance.

During the summer a collection was made at Cheltenham College, and the Ladies' College Charity Fund sent a donation.

DARLINGTON.—On 15th May, Cap- tain Ernest Pease, the Deputy Mayor, in the chair. The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £218 had been collected, as com- pared with £214 in the previous year.

The Mayor (Alderman W. E. Pease), was re-elected President. It was decided to hold a Life-boat Day, and to issue a special appeal. The Mayoress promised to arrange an open-air Whist Drive in the summer, and it was decided to hold a matinee in the autumn.

i GATESHEAD.—On April 28th, Mr. Tom ' Peacock presiding, in the absence of the Mayor. The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £117 ', had been collected as compared with | £164 in the previous year. Of this isum, nearly £70 was raised by house- to-house collections. In proposing the adoption of the report, Mrs. Thubron, [the Honorary Secretary, pointed out that since the Branch was revived in 1918 it had raised nearly £850 for the Life-boat Service. The Mayor and Mayoress were re-elected Presidents.

It was decided to arrange a house-to- house collection, a Life-boat Day, a Garden Party- and a Whist Drive in aid of the Branch funds.

GLASGOW.—On 25th May, Lord Mac- lay, Chairman of the Branch, presid- ing. The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £2,747 had been collected, as compared with £2,566 in the previous year. The collections aboard Clyde-owned steamers amounted to £351, as compared with £456. In addition to the ordinary sub- scriptions, the Branch had received two : legacies, one of £8,000 and the other of £500, in the course of the year, so that i it had actually remitted to the Institu- jtion £10,974. In moving the adoption I of the report, Lord Maclay spoke of the deep sense of loss felt by the Branch at the d«ath of Sir William Martin, for so many years District Organizing Secre- [ tary for Scotland.

ILKESTON.—On 12th May, Councillor John E. Smith, the Chairman, presiding.

The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £135 had been collected in this, the first year of the Branch. Of this sum, over £50 had been raised by a Whist Drive and two Dances.

LEEDS.—On 22nd May, Sir Charles Wilson, M.P., Chairman of the Branch, in the chair. The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £1,874 had been collected as com- pared with £1,634 in the previous year.

Sir Charles Wilson pointed out that the Life-boat Day in Leeds in 1924 raised only £400. He said that he thought that they should aim to get at least £1,000.

An active committee of about fifty members, both ladies and gentlemen, was elected, and a special Finance Committee, including among its mem- bers the Lord Mayor of Leeds (Mr. C. (3.

Gibson), President of the Branch, Sii Charles Wilson, M.P., and the Hon.

Rupert Beckett. It was announced that the Committee of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild had several schemes on hand, among them the usual matinee at the Empire Theatre, a Pageant, and a Garden Party which Mrs. Hoyland Smith, Honorary Secretary of the Gfuild, had promised to give.

MIDDLESBOROUGH.—On 27th April, the Mayor (Councillor Edward Turner) presiding, supported by Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., Chairman of the Committee of Management of the Institution. The report for the year ending 30th Septem- ber, 1924, showed that £362 had been collected as compared with £327 in the previous year. Of this sum, £204 had been collected by the Ladies' Life-boat Guild as a result of subscriptions, two Whist Drives and an " Autumn Market," held for the third year in succession, at the house of Mrs. Harold Wright, which raised over £60. In presenting the report, the Honorary Secretary pointed out that the amount raised by the Ladies' Committee was £32 in 1921.

In that year the Ladies' Life-boat Guild was formed, and in 1922 the amount had been increased to £213. In 1923 it was £195, and in 1924, £204. Altogether, since the Guild was formed, it had raised £613. Sir« Godfrey Baring delivered an address. The Mayor and Mayoress were re-elected Presidents, and the other officials were also re-elected.

NANTWTCH.—On 13th May, Mrs. Ver- din, President of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, in the chair. The report for the year ending 30th September, 1924, j showed that £62 had been collected, as compared with £48 in the previous year.

NEWPORT (Mou.).—On 22ndMay, Mr.

A. J. Phillips, Chairman of the Com- mittee, presiding. The report for the year [ending 30th September, 1924, showed I that £260 had been collected, as com- j pared with £129 in the previous year.

] The officers and Committee were re- | elected.

NOTTINGHAM,—On 12th May, Alder- man J. Houston in the chair, in the un- : avoidable absence of the Mayor, the i President of the Branch. He was sup- I ported by Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt.,, j Chairman of the Committee of Manage- ment of the Institution. The report for :the year ending 30th September, 1924, showed that £266 had been collected, 'as compared with £516 in the previ- ;ous year. In addition, £1,985 had been received in donations towards the Motor Life-boat Nottinghamshire, making I £5,334 towards the £7,500 required. In [moving the adoption of the report, Mr.

J. Haslam, the Deputy Chairman of the Branch Committee, said that all that was wanted to crown their efforts, in con- nexion with the Motor Life-boat was I one strong final effort. It would be a contribution to the Life-boat Service of which they could be proud. Sir God- frey Baring presented to the Honorary Secretary, Mr. A. E. Heazell, the Gold Badge awarded to him by the Institu- tion in recognition of his valuable services to the Life-boat Cause, and at the same time paid a tribute to the work of Mr.

Lancashire, the Chairman of the Branch, and a member of the Committee of Management of the Institution.

PORTSMOUTH.—On 23rd April, the Mayor (Councillor Privet, J.P.), Presi- dent of the Branch, in the chair. The report for the year ending 30th Septem- ber, 1924, showed that £461 had been collected, as compared with £224 in the previous year. The report made special reference to the indebtedness of the Branch to the Commander-in-Chief (Admiral Sir Sydney Fremantle) for the help which the Navy had given on Gen- tury Life-boat Day. It was hoped that the same help would be given again, and Lady Fremantle assured the meeting that the Navy was most willing to give it, andjhat the Institution had only to ask. The Mayor was elected President of the Branch, Lady Pink President of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, and the Mayoress Chairman. In proposing vote of thanks to the Mayor, Sir Harold Pink pointed out that the contribution per head of the population in Portsmouth was less than ±d., m Southampton U., and in some parts of the country as much as 9rf.

PRESTON.—On 21st April, the Mayor (Alderman J. R. Hodgson, J.P.), Presi- dent of the Branch, in the chair. The report for the year ending 30th Septem- her, 1924, showed that £491 had been collected, as compared with £390 in the previous year. Of this sum, the Life- boat Day contributed £224, a record amount, and the house-to-house collec- tion £114. Special reference was made to the splendid work done by Miss Cross, the Honorary Secretary of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, who, in addition to her other work, personally visited several of the neighbouring towns in order to find people willing to undertake in them the organization of Life-boat appeals. The report pointed out that the most pressing need was for a large increase in the number of women workers.

SOUTH SHIELDS.—On 28th April, "the Mayor (Alderman J. G. Winskelf), Presi- dent of the Branch, in the chair. The report for the year ending 30th Septem- her, 1924, showed that £203 had been collected, as compared with £207 in the previous year. It was decided to hold Life-boat Day, to issue an appeal signed - , by the Mayor, to arrange for pic S ture postcards to be sold in the elementary schools, to carry out Whist Drives and to make a special appeal to the Churches.

The Mayor and Mayoress were elected Presidents. Mr. J. Bridge, the Borough prokccountant, was re-elected Honorary Treasurer, and Mr. William Scott, the Dhief Constable, Honorary Secretary.Special Functions.

CLACTON-ON-SEA. The Annual Life- boat Sunday was held on 16th August, conducted by the Rev. C. R. S. Finch, Curate of St. James's Church, supported ministers from the other Churches.

An address was given by the Rev. W. H.

Lovell, who said that although Clacton coui,j not boast Of any ancient historical remains, it had a long record of Lifeboat work of which any place might be proud. Before the Service a procession marched through the town, in which representatives of the Clacton Committee, the Life-boat Crew, members of the C]acton Rre Brigade, Boy Scouts and members of several Boys' and Girls' Brigades took part, STEPNEY.—A special meeting was held on 20th April, summoned by the Mayoress (Mrs. J. D. Somper), at which the Mayor presided. The object of the meeting was to prepare for London Life-boat Day in May, and the Mayor, in his opening speech, said that they were very anxious that Stepney should increase its support of the Life-boat Service. The people of Stepney should have a special interest in helping to maintain it, as, owing to its proximity to the Thames, Stepney was, to a great extent, a maritime district. He hoped that the task would now be easier, since the number of street collections officially organized in the Borough had been curtailed. Every society seemed to want to hold such collections, but if all were allowed to do so, flag days would lose their attraction. The Life-boat Service was one of the few to which help ™uld -and should readil£ !»_given.

The Hon. George Colville, Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Manage- , , r -, ,, ,, f?*' delivered an address on the f *he I titutwn and mentioned that £ot O*J ™f, f tePneF man*lme borough' t that everyone born at sea was registered at Stepney Church.

WALTON-ON-THE-NAZE.—The Annual Life-boat Sunday was held on 16th August. The Life-boat Crew, preceded by the Prize Band, and followed by officers of the Coast Guard, headed a prokccountant, cession through the town. The open-air Service which followed was conducted from the Life-boat by the Vicar (theRev. P. 0. Gould), supported by Ministers from the other Churches. The address was delivered by the Rev. Arthur Lamb, the Congregational Minister. He pointed out that the Branch had the fine record of 399 lives rescued from shipwreck and thirty-four vessels brought into safety.

After the service four certificates were presented which had been awarded by the Royal Humane Society for gallantry in rescue from drowning. One of them had been won by a boy of twelve years and another by a girl of the same age.

New Branches.

CI.ITHEROE.—A meeting was held in May at the house of Mr. Arthur Burton, at which, after an address by the Dis- | trict Organizing Secretary, it was decided to form a Branch. All who were present I were enrolled as members of the Branch, and steps were taken to arrange a Garden FSte during the summer at Eaves Hall. It was held, and was a I very happy and successful function.

OBAN.—The first Life-boat Day was held in 1924, and a Branch has now been formed, with Provost Mitchell as Chair- man, Mr. "William Campbell as Honorary Treasurer, Mr. J. H. Banks as Honorary Secretary, Mrs. Wallace as Organizer of the Flag Day, and a representative Committee. In addition to the Flag Day on 29th August, a Chamber Con- cert in the Church Hall and a Matinee in the Cinema House were arranged.

Notice.

The next number of THE LIFEBOAT will be published in February, 1926.