By George F. Shee, M.A., Secretary of the Institution.

IN February, 1823, Colonel Sir William Hillary, soldier, author, philanthropist and greatest of Life-boat men, issued his appeal to the nation, advocating the formation of an organization for the preservation of life from shipwreck on the coasts of the United Kingdom.

On 4th March, 1824, at the " City of London Tavern," the Archbishop of Canterbury presided at the meeting at which it was unanimously resolved to form " a National Institution for the preservation of life from shipwreck on the coasts of the United Kingdom . . .

for conferring rewards on those who preserve their fellow-creatures from destruction and for granting relief to the destitute families of any who may unfortunately perish in their attempts to save the lives of others." Among those present at this meeting were the Archbishop of York; the Bishops of London, Durham, Bath and Wells and Bristol; Lord John Kussell; William Wilberforce, M.P., the advocate of the abolition of slavery, and Sir William Hillary himself.

On 4th March, 1924, the Institution celebrated its Centenary. Among the measures taken in this connexion it was decided to invite those countries which possessed a Life-boat Service—whether under the Government or under voluntary auspices—to send representatives to a Life-boat Conference to be held in London. Thus, for the first time in the history of civilization, an opportunity was afforded of bringing together for the discussion of the vital problems affecting the Life-boat Service all those who were engaged in the organization and promotion of that Service.

At that time some doubts were expressed as to whether the interest in the Life-boat Service—so remote from the ken of the average individual—was sufficiently widespread to induce the Governments and the Societies concerned to send their representatives to London. In any case, it was thought well at the outset to limit the invitations to those countries which were known to possess an organized Life-boat Service.

Unfortunately, we were at that time not closely in touch with the Belgian Government Service; nor could the Turkish Service, although based on the advice and assistance of the Institution, be regarded as fully organized. Hence invitations were not sent to these two countries.

The First International Conference.

Even under these limited conditions, however, events proved the wisdom of the step then taken. Although financial considerations prevented Germany and Portugal * from sending delegates, the invitation of the Institution was accepted by eight nations, including the United States of America and Japan ; and five were prompted to send Lifeboats, which lay for several days near the Houses of Parliament—a peaceful argosy, symbolic of the Cause which brought them together. It is interesting to recall the fact that the Conference was held under the auspices of the City of Westminster; the delegates were entertained by the Government at a dinner presided over by the Right Hon.

Sidney Webb, then President of the Board of Trade, and were received by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, the President of the Institution, who presided at the Centenary Dinner, attended by over 500 persons.

Four years later, in 1928, the second * It is greatly to be regretted that the Portuguese Society, which was established in 1892. was not represented at the Paris Conference.

International Conference met in Paris on 26th and 27th June, at the Ministry of Public Works, having been called together by our sister Society, the Societe Centrale de Sauvetage des Naufrages.

Those who had the privilege of being present at both Conferences—and I was fortunate enough to be one of them—must have felt the .greatest satisfaction in seeing the immense strides which have been made since 1924.

It will be remembered that one of the j resolutions adopted in that year was that proposed by Count Yoshii, the President of the Imperial Japanese Society, who urged the desirability of establishing some Life-boat organization in all the maritime countries of the ! world. This resolution was sent, through their Ambassadors or Ministers in Great Britain, to the Governments of all maritime countries, to the Under Secrej tary of State for Foreign Affairs, with a request that it might be brought officially to the League of Nations Council by the British Government, to the League of Nations Union at Geneva, and to the Headquarters of the League of Nations Societies at Brussels. Subsequently, in November, 1925, at the request of the Committee of Management, I attended a Sub-committee of the League of Nations on Ports and Navigation, at which the resolution referred to was discussed, and it was resolved that the desirability of establishing a Lifeboat Service should be urged upon all nations with a seaboard. It was also resolved that the Secretariat to the League of Nations should place itself at the disposal of the Life-boat Services in any way which might be found of advantage to those Services.

Trie publicity thus given to the idea of the Life-boat Service as a great practical means to the service of humanity spread with remarkable rapidity. Hence, our French colleagues were prompted to invite to the second Conference not merely all the countries which possess a Life-boat Service, but all those which have an important seaboard and are, therefore, directly interested in the Service, either from the point of view of the rescue of their own nationals or of the provision of suitable means with which to succour the mariners of the world who may be wrecked on their shores.

Consequently, at the Conference held in Paris, eighteen nations were represented, either personally or by papers contributed, and seventeen nations actually participated in the meetings, these being, in the alphabetical order of their names in French :— GERMANY.

The German Life-boat Society.

Herr Johannes Rosing, General Secretary.

Herr Benno Mentz, Inspector.

BELGIUM.

The Ministry of Railways, Marine, Posts and Telegraphs.

Baron de Gerlache, Inspector-General.

DENMARK.

The Royal Danish Government.

Captain Topsoe-Jensen, Departmental Head of the Naval Department of the Ministry of Marine.

Mr. C. V. Fabricius, Director of the Life-saving Service for North Jutland.

SPAIN.

The Spanish Society for Saving the Shipwrecked.

Captain Manuel Gutierrez Corcuera.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The United States Government.

Vice-Admiral Frederick C. Billard, Commander of the United States Coast Guard.

Mr. Oliver M. Maxam, Chief, Division of Operations.

District Commander Martin W. Rasmussen.

FINLAND.

The Finnish Government.

Mr. Mauno Nordberg, Consul-General of Finland.

FRANCE.

The Central Society for Saving the Shipwrecked.

Captain le Verger, General Secretary of the Society.

Lieutenant Cogniet, Chief Inspector.

Captain Chollet, Inspector.

Captain Huoa de Kermadec. Inspector.

Captain Richard, Inspector.

Lieutenant Joneaux, Inspector.

GREAT BRITAIN.

The Royal National Life-boat Institution.

Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., Chairman o: the Committee of Management.

The Hon. George Colville, Deputy Chairman.

Mr. George F. Shee, M.A., Secretary.

Captain H. F. J. Rowley, C.B.E., R.N., Chief Inspector.

Mr. J. R. Barnett, O.B.E., M.I.N.A., Consulting Naval Architect.

GREECE.

The Greek Government.

Mr. Spiro Marchetti, First Secretary of the Legation.

Captain Mezeviris.

ITALY.

Italian Society for Saving the Shipwrecked.

Captain Inigo Campioni, Naval Attache to the Italian Embassy.

JAPAN.

The Imperial Japanese Life-boat Institution.

Captain M. Koga, Naval Attache to the Japanese Embassy.

LATVIA.

The Latvian Society for Saving the Shipwrecked.

M. Woldemar Meslin, Vice-President, HOLLAND.

The North and South Holland Life-saving Society.

Mr. P. E. Tegelberg, President.

Mr. G. L. de Vries Feyens, Member of Committee.

Mr. H. de Booy, Secretary.

The South Holland Society for Saving the Shipwrecked.

Baron A. A. Sweerts de Landas Wyborgh, President.

Mr. J. Rypperda Wierdsma, Vice- President.

POLAND.

The Polish Government.

Mr. Otto Weclawowicz, Commercial Councillor to the Polish Embassy.

SWEDEN.

The Swedish Society for Saving the Shipwrecked.

Mr. Edvard Lithander, Member of Parliament and President of the Society.

Mr. Albert Isakson, Civil Engineer, and Member of the Committee.

Captain Sten Isberg, Secretary.

TURKEY.

The Government of the Turkish Republic.

Djevdet Bey, Secretary of the Embassy.

UNION or THE SOCIALIST SOVIET REPUBLICS.

Society for the Succour of the Shipwrecked of the U.S.S.R.

Mr. Gloustchenko, Controller of the Mercantile Marine of the U.S.S.R. for the Baltic Sea.

The delegates were presented to the President of the Republic on the 27th, and were entertained to dinner by the Societe Centrale de Sauvetage des Naufrages on the same evening.

On the 28th the delegates of the chief countries were taken to Vileine-sur- Seine, where experiments were carried out by General Reibel with his Line- Throwing Apparatus for use from the shore or from ships, and the delegates had an opportunity of seeing one of the new French Motor Life-boats.

Latvia and Poland.

Let us take a look round the Conference ;able, and we shall note some interesting :acts. Among the nations represented •here are five only that provide a Life-boat Service maintained solely the State, namely, Belgium, Denmark, the United States, Turkey, and ;he Soviet Republic of Russia. Finland and Greece do not at present possess a ife-boat Service at all, although, of course, they have a very important coast. It is very interesting, too, to note the presence of Mr. Woldemar Vleslin, the representative of Latvia, a new State which includes a part of the oast which was originally incorporated n the Russian Empire, and where the ife-boats were formerly provided by the Imperial Russian Life-boat Society.

It was the privilege of the Institution to be able to supply the nucleus of a resuscitated Life-boat Service on this coast by transferring to Latvia three Pulling and Sailing Life-boats at a cost far below that which had been incurred in building them. Interesting, too, to note the presence of Poland (represented by M. Otto Weclawowicz, Commercial Attache of the. Polish Embassy), which has acquired a Life-boat Service only by the transfer to its flag of a number of Life-boat Stations which formerly belonged to the German Life-boat Society.

The Turkish Service.

Turkey was represented by Djevdet Bey, the Secretary of the Embassy.

The nucleus of the Life-boat Service of the Turkish Republic was established many years ago under the advice of the Institution, and in 1913 we sent to Turkey plans and specifications of our Life-boats. As a result, the Institution consented, at the request of the Turkish Governifient, to two Self-righting Lifeboats being built for the Black Sea entrance to the Bosphorous by Messrs.

S. E. Saunders, Ltd., from the specifications and under the supervision of the Institution. After the War Turkey re-organized her Service, and not long ago invited Mr. de Booy, the Secretary of the North and South Holland Lifeboat Society, to visit its shores. The invitation was gladly accepted, and the Reddingboot, of June, 1928, the organ of the North and South Holland Society,* contains an extremely interesting account of Mr. de Booy's visit, which shows that the Turkish authorities have attained a high standard of efficiency in the provision and the use of the Rocket Apparatus and in the limited number of Life-boats which they have in the Service, while the crews are of an excellent type—strong and sturdy, with the courage of the Turkish peasant.

* It should be explained that their are two Life-boat Societies in Holland, the North and South Society, and the South Holland Society.

Both were founded in 1824, a few months after the Institution, and they divide the coast of the Netherlands between them.

Russia and Italy.

Finally, to deal with the exceptional features of the Conference first, the representative of the Soviet, Mr. Gloustchenko, the Director of the Mercantile Marine of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, read a paper, giving a description of the organization originally provided by the Imperial Russian Lifeboat Service and that which now exists under the Soviet regime, with figures as to the number of Life-boats, Rocket Apparatuses, lives saved, " Voluntary " Committees, etc. This paper, as was the case with the Turkish contribution, had not been circulated previously, and, therefore, nothing more can be said about it at present except that it gave just a glimpse of the Life-boat Service * after the Revolution and the efforts of the Soviet authorities to revive it in some shape or form.

It was interesting to see present the Naval Attache of the Italian Embassy in Paris, who represented the Italian Society for the Rescue of the Shipwrecked.

Unfortunately, I had no opportunity of talking to him, and I am, therefore, unaware of the position and the activities of the Italian Society, the existence of which was hitherto unknown to the Institution. I missed the representative of Norway, whom we welcomed at the Conference in 1924, and who on this occasion sent in an interesting paper on the Line-throwing Gun.

Subjects Discussed.

Turning to the discussion itself, important papers had been contributed and circulated beforehand by the following countries — Great Britain.—" The Launch of Motor Life-boats from Slipways and Open Beaches," by Captain Howard F. J. Rowley, C.B.E., R.N., Chief Inspector of Life-boats; and " The Introduction of Twin-screws in Motor * We used to receive the Russian Life-boat Journal till 1917. While I was able to wrestle with some success with the Life-boat Reports of the other countries, the Russian, together with the Japanese, left me defeated. I have to thank the courtesy of the Japanese Embassy for translating some of the recent issues of the Journal of the Imperial Japanese Life-boat Society.

Life-boats," by Mr. J. R. Barnett, O.B.E., M.I.N.A., of Messrs. G. L.

Watson & Co., the Consulting Naval Architect of the Institution.

France.—" The Development of Motor Life-boats," a description of the important Station at Goury La-Hague, where there is a double slipway, with a turntable in the Boathouse, and a trolley which carries the Life-boat over one slipway at low water and another at high water ; a very valuable paper on " The Dangers to which Life-boats are subject when crossing the Bar," especially on their return to the shore, by M.

Barrillon, the Chief Engineer of the French Navy, and Director of the Experimental Testing Tanks ; and a paper on " The Line-throwing Apparatus," as used in the French Service, by General Reibel, the inventor.

Germany.—A paper on " Motor Lifeboats on the German Coast," and particularly on the new Motor Life-boats, with a heavy-oil Diesel engine, by Herr J. Rosing, the Secretary of the German Society.

Sweden.—" The Patrol Service on the West Coast of Sweden in Bad Weather." The Netherlands.—A paper on the new Dutch self-righting Motor Life-boat Insulinde, by Mr. de Booy, the Secretary of the North and South Holland Society.

Denmark.—A paper on the Life-boat Service on the Danish coast.

Norway.—" The Line-throwing Gun," a paper contributed by Captain Ottar Vogt, Secretary of the Norwegian Lifeboat Society, and The United States of America.—A group of papers which were, unfortunately, not distributed to the delegates until just before the second day, and which dealt with the needs of the coasts of the United States, the material equipment of the Services, Life-boats and Surf Boats, and visual signals in life-saving operations.

The only papers that were actually read were those of the Turkish delegate, Djevdet Bey, and the Soviet delegate, as indicated above. All the other papers, including General Reibel's valuable description of his Apparatus, with excellent illustrations, had been circulated before the Conference, so that all the delegates had had time to study them and prepare their remarks.

The President of the French Society.

Vice-Admiral Touchard, the President of the Societe Centrale, presided through out the Conference, which sat morning and afternoon on the 26th and 27th, and both in his address of welcome and in conducting the deliberations of a gathering representing so many nations he showed a tact and charm of manner which were obviously as much a part of his character as they had been a graceful equipment in his distinguished diplomatic career. (He was for some time French Ambassador in St. Petersburg, to call it by the name by which it was familiar to him.) It was, indeed, delightful to see the ease with which the gallant admiral, in his eighty-first year, conducted the prolonged and intricate discussions of a Conference a good deal of which was necessarily carried on in English, and then to find him still able to preside at the Dinner given by the Societe Centrale on the 27th and to do the honours of the delightful soiree musicale which wound up the formal proceedings. It is only right to add that his task was considerably lightened by the ease and ability with which Lieutenant Cogniet, the Chief Inspector of the Society, translated the more important part of the discussions from English into French, as did also my old friend Mr. de Booy, of Holland.

Presentation of Delegates to the President of the Republic.

At the end of the morning session on the 27th the delegates were taken to the Elysee and formally presented to the President of the Republic, M. Doumergue, who welcomed them in a brief speech which paid a tribute to the vital importance of the subject of the Conference and to the splendid men who in all the countries represented carried out the work of life-saving in the service of humanity. A still more eloquent homage to the Life-boat Service and to its Crews was paid by M. Leygues, the Minister of Marine, when replying to the toast proposed by Admiral Touchard at the dinner on the same evening. Indeed, I have seldom heard a nobler appreciation of the activities of the Life-boat Crews and of the significance of the Life-boat Service for the progress of mankind, a subject most earnestly dealt with also by Sir Godfrey Baring, the Chairman of the Committee of Management, in his speech, from which I shall venture to quote presently.

Demonstration of the French Line-throwing Apparatus.

On the 28th our friends of the Societe Centrale arranged a most delightful and instructive trip to Vilaine-sur-Seine, a charming spot on the river about twenty-five miles from Paris. Here, on a quiet reach of water which reminded one vividly of the Thames just below Henley, we found one of the latest French twin-screw Life-boats, and General Reibel gave an extremely interesting demonstration of the use of his Line-throwing Apparatus, both from the boat and the shore. There followed an alfresco lunch under a pergola facing the river, and no one who was present is likely to forget the charm of that meal at which the perfect weather, the lovely surroundings and the hospitality of our hosts combined with the atmosphere of cordial co-operation in a great humane service to leave an ineffaceable impression.

Unfortunately, Admiral Touchard was unable to be present, and Commandant le Verger, the Secretary of the Societe Centrale, presided, having his predecessor, M. de Lepiney, facing him in the position of " Mr. Vice." Sir Godfrey Baring and Mr. Barnett had also been obliged to leave Paris in the morning, but Mr. Colville was present as well as Captain Rowley, and in a happy speech expressed the gratitude of all the delegates for the hospitality of the Societe Centrale, while I took the opportunity of paying a special tribute of our admiration of the gallant old Admiral, to whom'we sent a telegram signed by all those present.

It is, of course, impossible to deal here in any detail with the technical discussions which occupied the attentions of the Conference throughout two days.

I shall probably be able to revert to some of the most important papers when the Report of the discussions is received; but readers gi The Lifeboat are entitled to ask : What was the outcome of the Conference ? The Value of the Conference.

Was it merely a pleasant way of meeting one another, or did it really further the cause of the Life-boat Crews scattered along the shores of Great Britain, on the varied 10,000 miles of the coasts of the United States, on the sand dunes of Holland or Denmark, on the North Sea littoral of Germany, or the steeper declivities of the Baltic strand ? Will the hardy men who carry out the rescue work in Norway and Sweden, Spain and Portugal, Russia and Japan find their task made easier, or at least their inevitable risks somewhat lessened ? In a word, will the mariners of the world as they approach their landfall find a prompter response and improved machinery in the beneficent work of rescue, wThich means to them so often the difference between life and death ? The answer to these questions is an emphatic affirmative. Indeed, in the words of Sir Godfrey Baring, Chairman of the Committee of Management, speaking at the dinner given to the delegates on 27th June, " It would be impossible adequately to estimate how much these discussions will benefit the progress of the great common task in which we are engaged." What is certain is that the Conference proved once more the immense advantage which accrues from the close discussion of a common purpose by those earnestly engaged in its pursuit, especially if their labours are normally carried out in different countries thousands of miles apart, yet all concerned with the same great end—the service of humanity.

Pooling Knowledge.

Each of the countries represented— even those which as yet have no form of Life-boat Service—is confronted by different problems; coast formation, the type, size and weight of life-boats, the adoption of petrol or heavy-oil engines, the sparsity of a maritime population, the difficulties of launching and transport, the use of the rocket apparatus, the means of communicationalong the coast. And each of these problems was discussed by those who were handling them from day to day in their respective countries, so that the contributions of each were pooled for the benefit of all. More than that, as has often been the case in the discoveries of astronomy, it was seen that in several instances much valuable time would have been saved, and the cause of lifesaving accelerated, if it had been possible for those working on the same problems to be aware of the way in which those problems were being attacked by their co-workers. Twin-Screw or Single Screw? Several instances will show how beneficial the discussions were. The Institution has been steadily developing its Motor Life-boats and, what is extremely important, its own engines, and has been particularly studying the highly technical question as to whether the adoption of twin-screws as well as twin-engines involved any risk that the Life-boat might be overturned by the extra " push " which it was thought a following sea might exert on the double tunnel. Work in this direction was pursued with the greatest interest and anxiety, and the Institution thought it well to build two Life-boats of the same type, one with twin-engines and a single screw, and the other with twin-engines and twin-screws. These boats were tested side by side in the worst possible conditions, with the gratifying result that the twin-screw boat showed at no disadvantage whatever, in a following sea, as compared with a single-screw boat, and that both were thoroughly satisfactory.

Meanwhile, the French Life-boat Society had referred a somewhat similar problem to the distinguished experts of the Department of Naval Engineering, and one of the papers submitted to the Conference was that which dealt exhaustively with the history of these experiments.

I do not propose to enter into details here. Suffice it to say that under the direction of M. Barillon, the Chief Engineer of the French Navy and the Director of the Testing Tanks, a series of 3,100 experiments were made under conditions which portrayed an exact reproduction in miniature of the various types of breaker striking the stern of a Life-boat of various types at various points of the wave-length and at different angles. The results were eminently satisfactory, in that they showed that the tunnel which the Institution has uniformly adopted for the protection of the propeller against damage or entanglement in wreckage is the best possible protection against a Motor Life-boat being overturned .

The experiments also gave the most overwhelming proof of the immense importance of the drogue, or sea anchor, in preventing capsizing by a following sea.

Here, then, we have a most extraordinary confirmation from two totally different directions, both of conjectural theory and of actual experience with regard to an integral part of the machinery of the Life-boat Service.

Petrol and Heavy-Oil Engines.

The same thing was observed in the discussions on the provision of motor boats of light weight. There is, perhaps, no direction in which the development of the motor boat for life-saving purposes has been, and is, making more important strides than in the application of power to comparatively small boats of light draft which can be launched off the beach ; and, as our readers are aware, the Institution has in hand a large programme of construction of boats of this type which are only awaiting the completion of experiments with a very light engine adapted for marine purposes.

The United States Coast Guard Service, in which the Life-boat Service is included, has for many years past made extensive use of the small petroldriven Motor Life-boat. Indeed, the United States has provided an engine in a far smaller type of boat than any with which the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION has yet made the experiment. The United States Service has no less than 165 of these self-bailing motor surf-boats, 26 feet in length, with a beam of 5 feet and a draft of 2 feet, and they date the adoption of this type of boat from 1899. Its larger Motor Life-boats are only 36 feet by 9 feet 6 inches, with a draft of 3 feet 6 inches, their 44 h.p. engine giving a speed of about eight knots, while a smaller type, with a 20 h.p. engine, attains a speed of about seven knots. In no case, however, has the United States so far adopted the heavy-oil engine.

Meanwhile, the North and South Holland Life-boat Society has a number of Motor Life-boats, several of which are of a powerful type, and all provided with heavy-oil engines. They have not, however, so far attempted to use these engines in a small type of Life-boat. In other words, all their Motor Life-boats are of a type and size which allow of the use of the heavy-oil engine.

German Experiments with Diesel Engine.

the The German Life-boat Society—a voluntary one like our own—has particularly pursued investigations with regard to a smaller type of Diesel engine for boats of light draft. Indeed, one may say that all those who are closely concerned in the development of motorpower in Life-boats are profoundly interested in the experiments which are being, and have been, made by the Germans in this matter. For the Diesel engine has long been recognized as a marvellously efficient means of marine propulsion ; its weight alone has proved the chief obstacle to its much wider adoption for light draft boats. If this difficulty were removed, there is no doubt that the greater simplicity of the Diesel engine and the elimination of much of the danger incidental to the use of petrol engines would bring about a much wider utilization of the Diesel engine, and with it the more general adoption of heavy oil instead of petrol as fuel.

Sweden and Norway and Holland are all engaged on a similar problem, and it is certain that the discussions and the exchange of experience between those who are dealing with it from day to day in the different countries have proved of the utmost value to all concerned.

Methods of Launching.

So, again, the means of launching Life-boats off shingle, by tractor, by slipway or by man-power—all these questions received adequate discussion.

And here Captain Rowley was able to add a first-hand account of the latest experiments which the Institution has been making with the new, very powerful caterpillar tractor which will enable us to launch six-ton Motor Life-boats off a carriage from any kind of beach.

For these experiments had taken place at New Romney only three days before the British delegates left for Paris.

Thus the very informative description of the means of transporting and launching Life-boats off an open beach which was given in his original paper was confirmed and brought up to date for the benefit of all the delegates, and photographs of the tractor in action were handed round.

A Unified System of Signals.

Again, the desirability of simplifying and unifying the system of signals of distress between ships and the shore received the close attention of the Conference.

Those engaged in the Life-boat Services are only too well aware of the vagueness and confusion in the use of signals of distress, which so often militate against efficient means of rescue, and might, in some cases, lead to disaster. Recognizing this fact, the Conference adopted the following resolution, which will be forwarded to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in France, and through him no doubt circulated to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of all the maritime countries :— " That this Conference, representing 18 maritime nations which possess organized Life-boat Services, or are interested in the further development of such Services, wishes to place on record the great importance which it attaches to the early establishment of a unified and simplified international system of signals between ships in distress and the shore, relative to the demand for assistance and the steps which are being, or are to be, taken to give such assistance by means of Life-boats; and, pending such unifica- tion and simplification, the Conference urges the elimination of all signals which are liable to be confused with recognized signals of distress." Line-throwing Guns and Pistols.

Finally, to touch only upon the more important items which occupied the attention of the delegates, General Reibel's demonstration of the use of his Line-throwing Apparatus proved of the greatest interest, especially to those countries—and they are the majority— where the Eocket Apparatus is controlled by the same authority as the Life-boats. The Norwegian Society and Admiral Billard, of the United States Government Service, as well as General Reibel, had dealt with this subject in their respective papers. But it was another thing to see General Reibel's invention tested both from the Life-boat and the shore. There can be no doubt of its great value as a simple and powerful means of throwing a line from a ship or from the land, but in its present form it is too heavy for use from a Life-boat, and our technical advisers prefer our own Line-throwing Gun for that purpose. But the discussion on the subject of developing the best, handiest, safest and lightest means of throwing a line about 100 yards from a Life-boat to a vessel in distress elicited the fact that the German Society has produced a pistol, weighing apparently only 2| lb., which is stated to be capable of throwing a line as far as our own B.S.A.

gun.

This brief survey will give some idea of the importance of the second International Life-boat Conference, and it is gratifying to be able to state without, 1 hope, overstepping the limits of modesty, that the contributions, both written and verbal, of the Institution's technica delegates, Captain Rowley and Mr Barnett, were amongst the most important and illuminating which the Conference received.

American Delegates' Visit to England.

The bond of union of the Life-boal Service was happily emphasized in a very significant manner only a week or so after the Conference on the occasion of the visit of the Admiral Billard and his fellow-delegates to England en route to the United States.

We did our best to enable our American 'riends to see something of the work of ;he Institution during their short stay.

They saw the final trials of the new Launching Tractor, Princess Victoria, at Hoylake. They visited the Storeyard at Poplar, where they saw the Reserve Fleet and Workshops ; the yards of Messrs. J. Samuel White & Co. and Messrs. S. E. Saunders at Cowes, where they saw some eighteen Life-boats under construction, the Second Reserve Fleet, and the timber storage ; the new Motor Life-boat and Slipway at Swanage ; the 60-feet Barnett Boat at New Brighton ; and the Station at Douglas, Isle of Man, the birthplace of the Institution, where thousands witnessed the launch of the Life-boat which was carried out for them. Here they desired to pay a tribute of honour and admiration to the great Englishman whose appeal to the nation resulted in the establishment of the Institution, and after the launch they laid a wreath on his grave.

Thus, in the course of a brief visit, they were given as comprehensive a view as possible of the Institution's Lifeboats, methods and organization.

The Larger Issues.

To any one taking a wider view than that concerned with actual practice alone, the Conference was an event full of promise in the larger sphere of international relationships. This point was strongly emphasized by Sir Godfrey Baring in the speech, to which I have already referred, in reply to the toast of the foreign delegates proposed by Admiral Touchard. Speaking in French, he said :— " I would dwell upon the international value of the fact itself, that we have been attending the second International Conference on Life-boat Affairs. Surely, sir, that is an historic fact of very great importance. Think of it. A little more than a hundred years ago the courage, the eloquence, the foresight and the active humanity of Colonel Sir William Hillary led to the establishment in Britain of the first organized Life-boat Service.

" As his Excellency the French Ambassador in Britain stated at our annual meeting, held in March last, the first Conference marked the public recognition of the international character of the Life-boat movement. That character was further emphasized by the despatch to all countries with a seaboard of the resolution in favour of the establishment of a Life-boat Service in all countries, which was proposed by Count Yoshil, of the Imperial Japanese Life-boat Society. Then, in November, 1925, the question of the Life-boat Service was considered by a subcommittee of the League of Nations, at which the Secretary of the Institution attended as our representative.

At that committee it was resolved to place the services of the Secretariat to the League of Nations at the disposal of the International Lifeboat movement.

Towards a Better Understanding.

" We see, then, that by a centripetal movement, common to all the great aspirations of humanity, the Life-boat Services of the world are converging, even though unconsciously, towards the same central idea of a better understanding between nations, and of a mutual helpfulness which shall tend to eliminate the causes of friction, and so the ruinous loss and devastation which war involves.

" Truly we may agree with the French Ambassador when he expressed the opinion that Sir William Hillary would, indeed, have been pleased to see the development of the movement which he initiated, and of which he declared that ' people and vessels of every nation, whether in peace or in war, were equally to be the objects.' " That tendency is promoted by the mere organization in all countries which have a seaboard of a great Service at the disposal of the mariners of the world— those in peril on the sea—irrespective of what nation, colour, or religion they may be. But in practice the result is much more definite. For what can link people together more closely than acts of heroism, humanity and devotion performed by men of one nation towards those of another country who are entire strangers to them, and who have no claim upon them except the fact that they are in danger and distress ? Heroic Achievements.

" But there is yet another aspect in which our common task may claim to be regarded as a valuable contribution towards the progress of civilization.

Courage, endurance, and humanity are qualities which we need in every land.

The Life-boat Service embodies these qualities in the highest degree, not, as the Prince of Wales said a few weeks ago, as expressed exceptionally in one supreme effort, as in war, but as a constant, year to year, day and night, expression of the character of the men of our maritime populations. Probably each of the countries represented in Paris to-day can show examples of endurance in the Life-boat Service which are the subject of pride to the nations concerned.

Last year it so happened that there was a group of services on the English coast which produced records of endurance of Life-boat Crews lasting thirteen, seventeen, twenty-one, twentyseven and thirty hours, in which the Crews were exposed to the fury of the gale, frozen to the marrow, without food or shelter, and yet hanging on grimly, with teeth clenched in the indomitable resolution to carry through their selfappointed task. Of such stuff are the men of the Life-boat Service. Such men we shall find among the simple fisher-folk who form the backbone of the service in your beautiful France, in Britain, and the United States of America, in Germany, and Japan, in Belgium, and Holland, Denmark and Norway and Sweden, and Spain, and Portugal.

" May we not claim, sir, that a Service which produces such men, a Service which is illumined by the achievements of such men, forms a notable contribution to the forces which are making for peace and unity between the nations ? May we not, indeed, see in the Life-boat Service the promise of a splendid paradox, transforming what has hitherto been an obstacle to international intercourse into a means of facilitating it ? A Bridge of Boats.

" Throughout the ages since, with stout heart of oak, man first set out in his frail bark to seek his bread or his adventure on the waters, the ocean has been the great barrier which has separated peoples and made it difficult for them to know one another, even for purposes of exchanging the fruits of their soil and the products of their industry.

" May I venture to suggest that the Life-boat Service and its international development, of which we are to-day witnessing the second important forward step, may provide a bridge of boats, across which the nations may move into closer friendship and understanding, to the lasting benefit of mankind." I think our readers will find themselves in agreement with these views.

When the American delegates laid their wreath on the tomb of Sir William Hillary, they symbolized not merely the admiration of one great branch of the Anglo-Saxon people for the benefits conferred on humanity by a great Englishman. They also marked the association of all civilized people with a seaboard in the great work of life-saving in which they are all concerned, and in which it has been the privilege of Britain to take the lead in the foundation and development of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION..