Inaugural Ceremonies of Motor Life-Boats
Southwold and Dunwich ; Yarmouth, Isle of Wight; Great Yarmouth and Gorlcston ; Montrose.
DURING the past summer the Inaugural Ceremonies of five Motor Life-boats have taken place. The first of these, the inauguration of the Prudential at Ram- gate, was described in the last issue so The Lifeboat. Of the other four, two were on the coast of Norfolk and Suffolk, at Southwold and Dunwich and at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston ; the third was at the new Station, opened two yearsago, at Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight. The fourth was in Forfarshire, at Montrose.
At Yarmouth the Prince of Wales named the new Life-boat, and at Montrose the Duchess of York.
The two Stations on the Norfolk and Suffolk coast have remained faithful to the famous type of Life-boat—specially designed for work among the shallow waters and sandbanks on that coast— which bears the name Norfolk and Suffolk. Both the new Boats are 46 feet 6 inches long by 12 feet 9 inches wide.
The Southwold and Dunwich Boat has a draught of 3 feet 5f inches, and the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Boat, of 3 feet 2| inches. Each is driven by a 76 h.p.
engine, and carries a crew of 13.
The new Life-boats at Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, and Montrose are both of the new Watson Cabin type, of which twelve have been built in the last three years, the first going to Tenby, in Pem- brokeshire, in 1923. The Montrose Boat is the first of this type to go to a Scottish Station, but at the same time another Watson Cabin Boat was completed for Longhope in the Orkneys, the two Boats making the voyage to their Stations together at the beginning of September.
An account of this voyage appears on another page. These Boats are 45 feet long by 12 feet 6 inches wide, with a draught of 4 feet. Each is driven by a 76 h.p. engine, has room in her cabin for between 20 and 30 people, and carries a crew of 8.
Southwold and Dunwich The Institution took over this Station in 1852, and in 1866 established a second Station there. This second Station was closed in 1920. Altogether seven different Life-boats have served at the two Stations. They have been out on service 92 times, and have rescued from shipwreck 169 lives. The new Motor Life-boat has been built out of a legacy received from the late Miss M. A. T.
Scott of Wanstead, Essex.
The Inaugural Ceremony took place on 11th July. Sir T. Courtenay-Warner, C.B., Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk, pre- sided, and among those present were Mr.
Collingwood Hope, K.C., High Sheriff of Southwold, who delivered the opening address, the Bishop of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich (the Et. Rev. Walter G.
Whittingham, D.D.), who dedicated the Boat, Dr. P. J. S. Nicoll, J.P., one of the executors of the late Miss Scott, who ! presented the Boat to the Institution, I Commander G. D. Fanshawe, R.N., I M.P., a member of the Committee of Man- agement, who received her on behalf of the Institution, the Mayor of Southwold (Alderman F. Jenkins, J.P.), the Mayor and Mayoress of Chelmsford, Mr. Ernest R. Cooper, late Honorary Secretary of the Branch, Major Bernard D. Hayton, the present Honorary Secretary, Major C. B. Satterthwaite, O.B.E., R.E., Deputy-Secretary of the Institution, Captain E. S. Carver, R.D., R.N.R., District Inspector of Life-boats, and the Coxswains from the neighbouring I Stations. The hymns were played by | the Southwold Town Band.
! Mr. Collingwood Hope gave a short ; history of the Southwold Station, and : mentioned the honours which it had • won, including decorations from the ! President of the French Republic and | the Queen of Holland.
Dr. Nicoll, in presenting the Life-boat to the Institution, said that Miss Scott had devoted the whole of her life to charity, not only by gifts but by personal service. She had always been particu- larly interested in the care of those who went to sea, andhad been associated with the late Miss Agnes Weston, founder of the Agnes Weston Sailors' Rests in various ports, in her great work for sailors.
He felt sure that the dedication of this Life-boat bearing her name would be the fulfilment of her life's desire.
Commander Fanshawe expressed the Institution's gratitude to Miss Scott, and said that if only it were realized that sea-traffic was the life blood of the nation, more would follow her generous example in helping to maintain the Life- boat Service.
Commander Fanshawe than handed the Life-boat to the Branch on behalf of which she was received by Mr. Ernest Cooper, who said how sorry he was that illness prevented Mr. Eustace Grubbe, the Chairman of the Branch, from taking part in the ceremony.
The Bishop conducted the Dedication Service, andthankednot only Miss Scott, but all who by their care and thought, skill, courage and gifts, had helped the Institution for over a hundred years to carry on a work than which nothing more truly fulfilled the spirit of Christianity.
After Captain Carver had given particulars of the Boat Mrs. Geere named her Mary Scott, and the Boat left her moorings, and made a trip round the harbour. The ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks to all who had taken part, proposed by the Mayor and seconded by Major Satterthwaite.
In replying, Sir T. Courtenay-Warner spoke of the proud record of Suffolk in life-saving. From the earliest days of Life-boat work the county had taken an active and responsible share in it. Long before the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION itself was founded the Suffolk Humane Society and the Suffolk Shipwreck Association did what was possible to rescue life from shipwreck on the coast. There, in 1807, the first sailing Life-boat was launched, all the earlier Life-boats, which had been built in the north of England, being propelled by oars only. In the past there had been eighteen Life-boat Stations on the coast of Suffolk, but with larger Life- boats and motor-power this number was not required, and the coast was now fully protected with six Stations, three of them being provided with Motor Life- boats. No county had a finer record than Suffolk, for her Life-boats had rescued no fewer than 2,768 lives.
Yarmouth, Isle of Wight This is the youngest Station in the British Isles, and when it was decided to place a Motor Life-boat at the west end of the Island, Yarmouth was chosen in place of Totland Bay, where the Institution had maintained a station since 1885, owing to the difficulty of launching a Motor Life-boat at the latter place.
The Life-boat has been provided by the amalgamation of four legacies received from Mrs. Marion P. Smart of Tunbridge Wells, Mr. Richard Black- burn of Nottingham, Mrs. Henrietta D. Price of South Kensington, and Mrs. Constance Armstrong ofBoscombe.
The names of the four donors are inscribed in full on the inside of the Boat, and the name chosen for it, B.A.S.P., is made up of their initials.
The Inaugural Ceremony was fixed for the afternoon of 22nd July, so as to form part of the tour of the Isle of Wight which the Prince of Wales made on that day, and the town was specially decorated for the ceremony. Among those who took part in it were Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., Chairman of the Committee of Management of the Institution, the Hon. George Colville, Deputy-Chairman, Major-General the Right Hon. J. E. B. Seely, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., a member of the Committee of Management and Lord- Lieutenant of Hampshire, who accom- panied the Prince through the whole tour of the Island, Major H. Mansford, O.B.E., Chairman of the Yarmouth Branch, the Archdeacon of the Island (the Venerable Dr. L. G. Tugwell), and Commander R. L. Hamer, R.N., District Inspector of Life-boats. The Yarmouth Motor Life-boat was moored to the pier-head, with the Motor Life- boat from Bembridge and the Pulling and Sailing Life-boat from Brooke, —the two other Life-boat Stations in the Isle of Wight—standing by.
The yachts in the harbour, the boats of the Sailing Club, the premises of the Solent Yacht Club and other buildings were all dressed with flags.
The Life-boat was formally presented to the Station by Sir Godfrey Baring, who explained how the name to be given her had been formed out of the initials of the four testators, and spoke of the Institution's gratitude to them.
Major Mansford, in accepting the Boat on behalf of the Branch, said that although she had not as yet been formally launched, she had already proved her worth and the worth of her crew, for she had been out on seven services, and had rescued 13 lives.
The Prince then said : " It is a great happiness to me to have the honour of naming this Life-boat the B.A.S.P. and to wish her and her gallant crew every success in saving life on the shores of this Island." This was followed by the dedica- tion of the Life-boat, the ceremony being performed by the Archdeacon of the Island, accompanied by the Vicar of Yarmouth (the Rev, Stanley Woodin), who dedicated her with the following prayer: " Grant, 0 Lord, to all who man this Life-boat, courage, endurance and skill. Give them calm mind in danger, be with them in stress and storm, and let Thine arm be strong to save. Unto Thy mercy and protec- tion, 0 God, we commend all who sail the seas. Shield them in the hour of peril and bring them unto the haven where they would be. Until the sea gives up its dead, grant 0 Lord, to those whose grave is in the deep, rest and sleep in Thee, Our Redeemer and our God." This was followed by the Lord's Prayer and Benediction.
The Prince then broke a bottle of champagne over the bows of the Life-boat, and the Hon. George Colville thanked him, not only for the honour which he had done the Yarmouth Station by naming its Life-boat, but for the personal interest which, as President, he took in all the Institution's work.
The Prince then went aboard the Life-boat, and after inspecting her was rowed ashore by four of the crew.
Great Yarmouth and Gorleston.
A Life-boat Station was established at Great Yarmouth in 1857, and in the following year it was decided to keep two Life-boats there. The second Life- boat was withdrawn in 1883, and the Station itself was closed in 1919, when it was decided to place a Motor Life-boat at Gorleston. During sixty- two years the Yarmouth Life-boats rescued 471 lives.
At Gorleston the Institution has main- tained a Life-boat since 1866. There were at one time four Life-boats here, but since 1908 there have been two, and when the Motor Life-boat was sent to the Station in 1923, both the Pulling and Sailing Life-boats were withdrawn.
The Life-boats of Gorleston have a magnificent record. They have rescued 916 lives, and the Coxswains and Crews of Gorleston have been decorated by the Institution with sixteen Bronze Medals, six Silver Medals and one Gold Medal.
With the closing of the Yarmouth Station, and the placing of a Motor Life-boat at Gorleston, it was felt that the whole of Yarmouth would take an interest in the new Life-boat, which, though stationed at Gorleston, would be doing the work which had before been shared by the two Stations. It is therefore hoped, with the consent of the two local Committees, to amalgamate the Branches.
A Motor Life-boat was first sent to Gorleston in 1921, but later transferred to Lowestoft, and the Boat now ' stationed at Gorleston was built in 1923 i for Cromer, and transferred to Gorleston : next year. She has been built out of legacies from Miss Julia Adeliza Meiklam, of Gladswood, Berwickshire, and Mrs.
Charlotte May, of South Africa, and to these two legacies have been added a i generous gift from Mrs. Mary E. j Moysey, of Guildford, Surrey. 1 The inaugural ceremony took place ! on llth August. The Right Hon. the ' Lord Somerleyton, P.C., G.C.V.O., ! D.L., J.P., presided, and the Institution j was represented by Colonel the Earl of 1 Albemarle, K.C.V.O., C.B., A.D.C. i D.L., J.P., one of its Vice-Presidents. i The Mayor of Great Yarmouth (Coun- i cillor A. W. Gallop, J.P.), and Mr. A.
H. Cartwright, Chairman of the Gorleston Branch received the Life- i boat on behalf of the Station. She was named by Lady Meyer, wife of Sir Frank Meyer, Bt., M.P. for Great Yarmouth. Among those present were the Mayoress, the Deputy Mayor, the Vicars of Yarmouth and Gorleston, and Mr. A. D. Snell and Mr. A. C. Cooper, 11 the Honorary Secretaries. Mr. W. H.
I i ffiske, Chairman of the Gorleston ]; Volunteer Life-boat, wrote regretting : that a meeting at Norwich prevented | him from taking part in the ceremony.
I The Motor Life-boats from Lowestoft | and Southwold and the Pulling and Sailing Life-boat from Caister were present.
In his opening speech Lord Somer- leyton spoke of the magnificent record of the Life-boats on the thirty miles of coast from Caister to Southwold.
They had rescued between 4,000 and 5,000 lives out of the 60,500 lives j rescued round all the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland since the Institution was foundred in 1824.
Captain B. S. Carver, E.D., E.N.E., the Distict Inspector of Life-boats, gave particulars of the new Boat, and pointed out that with another Motor Life-boat eight miles to the south at Lowestoft, another 30 miles to the north at Cromer, and five Pulling and Sailing Life-boats in between, the coast was well guarded.
The Rev. Aubrey Aitken, M.A., Vicar of Yarmouth, presented the Boat to the Institution on behalf of the three donors, and recalled the fact that it was a Yar- mouth man, James Beeching, whose model was awarded the prize of 100 guineas offered by the Institution for the best model of a Life-boat, seventy-five years ago, and that from this model he built the first Self-Eighting Life-boat He also pointed out that the upkeep of the new Boat would be about ; £650 a year, and appealed to the people ; of Yarmouth and Gorleston to show .
their pride in her by contributing as : much as they could towards her main- I tenance. ! Lord Albemarle, in accepting the | Boat on behalf of the Institution, j expressed its gratitude to the three ladies to whose generosity the Life- I boat Service owed her, and spoke of j the voluntary principle on which the ! Institution was founded, controlled, as it was, by a committee of business and professional men who gave their services for love of the cause.
He then formally presented the Life- boat to the Mayor, who received her on behalf of Yarmouth and Gorleston, and thanked both the donors and the Institu- tion. He recalled some of the disasters from shipwreck on their coast in the days before there was an organized Life-boat Service, when as many as twenty-two vessels were wrecked at one time off their harbour's mouth, and 150 lives were lost in one gale.
Mr. A. H. Cartwright received the Life-boat from the Mayor, and said that it was the duty of the people of the district to do all they could to make the Station self-supporting.
The Vicar of Gorleston, the Eev. E.
Talbot, M.A., then dedicated the Life- boat, in the midst of a torrent of rain, and Lady Meyer named her John & Mary Meiklam of Gladswood.
The vote of thanks was proposed by the Mayor and seconded by Mr. A. H.
Cartwright, and at the conclusion of the ceremony the Life-boat gave a demon- stration of life-saving work. On her return she rescued a bather who was being carried out to sea.
In the evening, at a public ceremony in the Wellington Gardens, Sir Frank Meyer, Bt., M.P., presented Coxswain William Fleming, who already holds the Institution's Gold Medal, with the Bronze Medal awarded him for the service to the ketch Henrietta, of Goole, wrecked in Yarmouth Eoads on 22nd December, 1925.
On the same day a Life-boat Day was held in Great Yarmouth, organized and carried out by the newly-formed Ladies' Life-boat Guild, which now numbers seventy members, of whom seventeen joined on the day itself. The value of the Guild was shown by the fact that, in spite of the bad weather, the appeal realized £225, while last year the sum was £96.
Montrose Montrose has a long history in Life- boat work. A Life-boat was first sta- tioned there in 1807, built by Henry Greathead, of South Shields, the builder of the first Life-boat, stationed at Tyne- mouth in 1789. This Boat was managedfirst by a private committee, and in 1818 was handed over to the Town Council which administered the affairs of Mont- rose Harbour. Some twenty years later the management of the Life-boat Stationwas undertaken by the Harbour Trus- tees, and in 1869 it was taken over by the Institution, which shortly afterwardsstationed a second Life-boat at Montrose.
There have been two Montrose Life- boats ever since, and the record of the Station, since the Institution took it over, is 437 lives rescued from shipwreckand nineteen boats and vessels saved from destruction.
The No. 1 Life-boat has now been re- placed by the new Motor Life-boat, and the No. 2 Life-boat, which is a light Pull- ing Life-boat of the Self-righting type, will remain at the Station. A Motor Caterpillar Tractor has been provided to launch the No. 2 Life-boat, while the existing No. 1 Boathouse has been en- larged, a trolley-way built over the existing Slipway, and the Slipway pro- longed for the accommodation and launching of the Motor Life-boat.
The Boat has been built out of a legacy from the late Miss Ann Russell, of Manchester, and another Motor Life- boat is to be provided out of the same legacy.
The Inaugural Ceremony took place on 1st September in the presence of some nine or ten thousand people, and the naming of the Life-boat was performed by H.R.H. the Duchess of York, who comes of the House of Glamis in the county of Forfar, which has four Life- boats, the other two being at Broughty Ferry (Dundee), and Arbroath.
The Duchess was accompanied by the Duke and by her father, the Earl of Strathmore. Captain John Stansfeld, President of the Branch, who is ninety- two years of age, presided, and the Life- boat was received on behalf of the Branch by Provost W. Douglas John- ston, O.B.E., Chairman of the Branch Committee, who had personally made all the arrangements for the ceremony, while the Honorary Secretary of the Station, Mr. J. C. Clark, organized a Life-boat Day which was held on the same day. The Institution was repre- sented by the Hon. George Colville, Deputy-Chairman of the Committee of Management, Mr. George F. Shee, M.A., Secretary, Captain Howard F. J. Rowley, C.B.E., R.N., Chief Inspector of Life- boats, and Commander E. D. Drury, !' O.B.E., R.D., R.N.R., Inspector for the Northern District. The religious cere- mony was conducted by the Rev. John S. Robertson, B.D., Minister of Mon- trose, Canon H. M. RanMn, M.A., of St.
Mary and St. Peter, Montrose, and the Rev. Roderick Mclver of the United Free Church.
Among those who were present were Mrs. Douglas Johnston, the Provost's wife, the Dowager Countess of Airlie, President of the Forfarshire Branch of the Red Cross Society, the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, the Provosts of Forfar, Brechin and Arbroath, members of the Forfar County Council, Admiral Drum- mond of Eskhill, the Chairmen and Honorary Secretaries of the Life-boat Stations between St. Andrews and Buckie, and Voluntary Aid Detach- ments, under the command of Major Colin G. Neish, County Controller for Forfarshire, Red Cross Nurses, Girl Guides and Brownies, Boy Scouts, ex- Service men, and 1,200 school children.
The streets of the town, the harbour and the shipping were all decorated, and the day was observed as a public holiday.
A special enclosure had been provided for 700 guests, and by the help of loud speakers the thousands gathered all round the dock were able to follow and join in the ceremony.
THE DEPUTY CHAIRMAN'S SPEECH.
After the opening hymn, led by the Montrose Town Band and the Ferryden Choir, Ijje reading of the lesson by Canon Rankin, and the prayer by the Rev.
Roderick Mclver, Mr. Colville, on behalf of the donor and of the Institution, presented the Motor Life-boat to Mon- trose. In doing so he said : "In the first place it is my privilege and pleasure to express to Their Royal Highnesses the dutiful thanks of the Committee of Management of the Institution for the honour they are doing us by being present to-day. The Crown and Royal Family have always given their most generous aid to the work of this Insti- tution, and it is with feelings of the most respectful gratitude that we wel- come the appearance of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York for the first time at a Life-boat meeting.— (Cheers.) " Montrose had a Life-boat before the Institution was formed, but the first Montrose Life-boat, built in 1807, com- pares with the one which we are here to name to-day very much in the same way as a stage coach compares with a Scotch express. The boat, which is to be named the John Russdl, is one of two to be provided oat of a legacy left by the late Miss Ann Bussell, of Manchester. She has cost about £8,500 to build, and will cost about £650 a year to maintain. In addition we have had to extend the existing Life-boat House and Slipway, and add the necessary machinery for hauling up the Boat, and these alterations have cost about £6,000.
" The figures I have given will at once help you to realize the very heavy annual expenditure to winch this Institution is committed in providing and maintaining a fleet of 217 boats, of which 60 are Motor Life-boats, many of this design, and to which Motor Lifeboats are being added roughly at the rate of one every two months.—(Cheers.) " You may think £8,500 is a large sum to pay for such a boat as the one before us. I wish you could see a modern Lifeboat being built, the efficiency and the workmanship, and the intricacy of the engines which it is necessary to provide.
" With the arrival of our newest and most modern boat in Montrose your highly esteemed Provost, who is Chairman of the Institution's Branch here, and the President of the Branch, Captain John Stansfeld, are straining every nerve to raise funds for the Institution.
Will those of you who are here present to-day help them in their effort not only by a donation—may I say a generous une ?—but better still by the promise af an annual subscription—again may [ say a generous one 1—and not only that but by interesting yourselves in the Institution and getting other people to lo the same.
" Since the Institution has controlled ife-saving in Montrose its Boats have laved 437 lives—(cheers), the majority 10 doubt being your townsmen and nay be your relatives. It is with the ullest confidence in the powers of this 5oat and of the men of Ferryden who iave formed the crew that, as the repreentative of the Committee of Management and on behalf of the donor and the nstitution, I now offer the Life-boat to he Provost as the Chairman of the !ranch. God,speed her on her errand f mercy."—(Loud cheers.) Provost W.-Douglas Johnston said:" On behalf of the Montrose Branch gratefully accept custody of the Motor Life-boat John Rmsell, assuring you that the Local Committee will continue give every attention to the care of Station. But the work of the Committee would be of no avail without support we receive from the Life-boatmen.
—(Cheers.) For generations fishermen of Ferryden have given encouraging service, and we have every confidence that the coming generations will follow in the footsteps of their forbears."—(Loud cheers.) The Rev. John S. Robertson then conducted the service of dedication, and Captain Rowley gave the following particulars of the Life-boat:— A DESCRIPTION OF THE BOAT.
" The Life-boat to be named to-day of the Watson type, originally designed by the naval architects, Messrs. G.
Watson & Co., of Glasgow, well known to all, especially in Scotland. The type has been gradually improved until the gresent head of the firm, Mr. J. R.
arnett, has brought it to perfection the Life-boat lying here.
"She is built mainly of Honduras mahogany, has a length of 45 feet inches, a width of 12 feet 6 inches, and draught of 3 feet 9J inches. She subdivided into 84 water-tight compartments so that she is unsinkable, no matter how badly holed her hull may be.
Her total bulk is 57 tons. That is to say that if she were forced right under the water she would displace 57 tons.
Her actual weight is 19 tons, so that she has a buoyancy of 38 tons. This is usually called the reserve of buoyancy.
What this means is that, reckoning 15 men to a ton, it would take the weight 570 men on board to force the Boat right under the water. She can carry many people as weather conditions would allow up to 150. With that number on board, her deck, which now has a free-board of 9 inches, would be submerged, but she would still have ample stability to work.
" She carries a Line-throwing Gun with range of 80 yards, and a Searchlight.
She is lighted with electricity, and has a capstan driven off the main engine.This engine is the Institution's specially designed six-cylinder engine, developing 76 h.p. at 800 revolutions a minute. It is amphibious. It can continue to work when submerged. In fact, the first Life-boat of this type was tested by filling the nine main compartments, in- cluding the engine-room, with water and then, with the engine submerged, but running, and 19 men on one gunwale the Life-boat was still lively and stable.
" She has a radius of action—at her full speed of 8'2 knots—of 60 miles.
At the lower speed of 7 knots it would be about 100 miles.
" I can safely say that Montrose is now one of the most perfectly equipped stations on our coasts, and with her able Crew may be depended on to continue her splendid record of Life-boat work." —(Loud cheers.) The Duchess of York then released a bottle of Australian wine, which broke over the bow of the Life-boat. At the same time she said, " I name this Boat the John Rwsell." She then went on board the Boat, which made a tour of the dock, amid loud cheers.
On her return the Duchess was presented with a bouquet by the six- year-old grand-daughter of Coxswain William Stephen, and the Duke pre- sented to Patrol Leader James P. Law, of the Porfarshire Boy Scouts, a Silver Medal awarded to him by the Chief Scout, Sir Robert Baden-Powell, for saving another boy from drowning.
Captain Stansfeld, in moving the vote of thanks, said that it had been a great privilege to the Branch to have the honour of Their Royal Highnesses' company, and congratulated all those who had made such perfect arrangements for the ceremony.—(Cheers.) In seconding the vote Mr. George P.
Shee, the Secretary of the Institution, said : "I am sure I shall be interpreting the wishes of Her Royal Highness if I first of all express to the President of the Branch our pleasure in seeing him here.
—(Cheers.) Captain Stansfeld has been President for between 40 and 45 years, and during all that time has taken the deepest interest in the welfare of the Branch.
" Her Royal Highness is a daughter of the County of Porfar, and to-day she has come to link herself with the sea and with that service which is the finest flower of our dominion of the sea. By doing so she will strengthen the affection which all the people, not only of Porfar- shire and of Scotland, but of Great Britain feel for her. — {Cheers.) " In that part of Britain, south of the Tweed, which Scotland annexed long ago, there is a beautiful county which has earned the title of the ' Delectable Duchy.' There is another county of England, whose history is linked with the red Rose of Lancaster. But it has remained for Forfarshire to give to England and to Britain the Delectable Duchess, the white Rose of York. — (Lond cheers.) I offer you, Madam, the humble and cordial thanks of all present here to- day, and of those hundreds of thousands who throughout the British Isles honour and cherish the Life- boat Service, and I ask all present to e spress their thanks by giving three cheers for Her RoyaJ Highness the Duchess of York." The cheers were loud and prolonged, rushing in a growing volume of sound round the sides of the dock basin.
A FIREWORK DISPLAY.
After the ceremony Provost Johnson entertained the principal guests. In the evening he gave a supper to members of the Montrose Committee, the Crew and their wives and the widows of former Life-boatmen, at which Mr.
Colville, Mr. Shee, Captain Rowley and Commander Drury all made short speeches. During the evening there was a firework display which was also given by the Provost. Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Fork and a picture of the new Life-boat were shown in fireworks, and the Town Band played during the display.
The Life-boat Day, held on the same day, raised by collecting boxes, the sale of postcards and programmes, over £90.
Captain Stansfeld and Provost Johnson also made an appeal by letter to all people of Montrose, at home and abroad, to contribute to the cost of the altera- tions at the Station. The appeal was issued a week before the ceremony, and by the end of the month over £400 had already been contributed..