* Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary." IN the issue of The Lifeboat for last November, under " Special Gifts," appeared the following paragraph : " We give the following letter in full: " ' Mummy gave me a stamp to put on a letter to Daddy but I put it in the box without and am sending it for the Life-boatmen as Daddy said he was so brave and did not get enough. With love from Mary.' " Although, since our letter, as well as Daddy's, was unstamped, it is the General Post Office which has principally benefited by this donation, we are none the less grateful! " Shortly after the journal appeared the tube to the collecting box at Lifeboat House was found to be stopped up, and on. being cleared the obstruction proved to be threepence wrapped up in a piece of paper with the following verse:—• " Mary Mary Quite contrary How do your letters go ? But her heart's all right The dear little mite, Whether they're stamped or no ! " From a Much-travelled American.

The American who, as announced a year ago, had made fourth and fifth gifts of a hundred guineas and fifty guineas respectively, has now made a sixth gift of £200, and a seventh of 100 guineas, bringing his total contribution to £565. It adds to the pleasure of these gifts that they are always made personally. On this last occasion this very kind friend of the Institution said that he had now crossed the Atlantic 111 times, and that he reckoned that he had crossed 3,000 frontiers ! From a Search Party.

On 22nd January last the Stromness and Longhope Life-boats and a shore-party of 21 men went out in search of a shipwrecked crew as a result of a message found in a bottle which said that a trawler had sunk and the men were in a cave without food. The message was found to be a hoax. The Institution gave the shore-party ten guineas, and of this they returned £10 as a gift to the Institution..