Southend-on-Sea, Essex and The Humber, Yorkshire.

LIEUTENANT H.R.H. PRINCE GEORGE, E.G., G.C.V.O., R.N., named the Motor Life-boat which was sent last autumn to Southend-on-Sea, on 8th July last, the name given to the boat being Greater London. It will be remembered that just a year before, Prince George went specially to the Orkneys to name the new Stromness and Longhope Motor Life-boats.

There has been a Life-boat Station at Southend since 1879, and it has the record of 160 lives rescued from shipwreck.

The present boat is the sixth to be built for the Station. She is of the Ramsgate type, specially designed in 1926 for those Stations where the Lifeboats may have to travel considerable distances and to work over sands, and is a combination of the Watson, a cruising type, and the Norfolk and Suffolk, a shallow-draft type. She is 48 feet 6 inches x 13 feet, with twin screws and two 40-h.p. engines. She has a speed of 8£ knots and a radius of action of over 70 miles.

She is the gift of the Civil Service Lifeboat Fund, which, since it was established in 1866, has contributed over £78,000 to the Institution, and is the eighth Life-boat to be provided and endowed out of the Fund. Of the eight, five are Motor Life-boats, and are stationed at Margate, North Deal, Maryport, Dun Laoghaire (Kingstown), and Southend-on-Sea. During the sixty two years of the Fund, 1,266 lives have been rescued from shipwreck, and 54 boats and vessels saved, by Civil Service Life-boats.

Prince George, who travelled down by road from London, was received at the borough boundary by the Lord-Lieutenant of Essex (Brigadier-General R. B. Colvin, C.B., T.D., J.P.), and the Mayor of Southend (Mr. R. H. Thurlow Baker).

The Mayor presided at the Ceremony, and among those taking part in it were the Right Hon. Lord Southborough, P.C., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., K.C.S.I. (Chairman of the Civil Service Life-boat Fund), the Countess of Iveagh, C.B.E., M.P. for Southend, the Earl of Iveagh, C.B., C.M.G., D.L., the Bishop of Chelmsford (the Right Rev. H. A.

Wilson, D.D.), the Hon. George Colville (Deputy-Chairman of the Committee of Management), Alderman Sir John Francis, J.P. (Chairman of the Southend Branch), Mr. George F. Shee, M.A.

(Secretary of the Institution), and Captain Howard F. J. Rowley, C.B.E., R.N. (Chief Inspector of Life-boats).

The singing was led by the Choir from Prittlewen Church and the Pier Band.

When the Prince arrived at the pier a number of presentations were made to him, including the Coxswain, Mr. George Murrell. The Prince then presented to Alderman F. Britain (Honorary Secretary of the Branch), the inscribed Binocular Glass which had been awarded to him by the Institution.

The Ceremony opened with the hymn " Eternal Father, Strong to Save," and Lord Southborough, on behalf of the Civil Service Life-boat Fund, presented the Life-boat to the Institution.

In doing so he spoke of the late Mr. W. Fortescue Barratt, the Honorary Secretary of the Fund, who, even after he retired, continued to work wholeheartedly for the Life-boat Service.

This new Life-boat, the first to be presented to the Institution by the Fund since Mr. Barratt's death, would carry an inscription plate, recording the services of their friend and colleague to the Life-boat Cause. He then presented the boat to the Institution on behalf of the Civil Servants of the country, in full confidence that she would carry on the great traditions of the Life-boat Service.

In accepting the boat Mr. Colville expressed the deep gratitude of the Institution to the Civil Service. He then formally entrusted her to Alderman Francis (Chairman of the Branch), and after Captain Rowley (Chief Inspector of Life-boats) had described the boat, the Bishop of Chelmsford dedicated her to the glory of God and the service of mankind.

THE PRINCE'S SPEECH Prince George then named the boat, breaking a bottle of wine on her bows.

In doing so he said :— " There has always been a close and friendly link between the Royal Family and the Life-boat Service, ever since the Royal National Life-boat Institution was established in 1824, when King George IV. became the first Patron.

These ties have been strengthened throughout the century, as the Institution has developed the great national service entrusted to it, and the Life-boat Crews have shown, by the constant example of their heroism and humanity, their readiness at all times to launch their boats to the assistance of those in peril on the sea.

" At the present moment, His Majesty the King is the Supreme Patron of the Institution, and the Prince of Wales, the President, has always taken the keenest interest in the Institution and the welfare of the Service. (Cheers.) " This would be quite a sufficient reason why I should be pleased to be present to-day at the inauguration of this splendid Life-boat which bears the name Greater London. But, as a matter of fact, there are three reasons which add very definitely to my pleasure.

"As a naval officer, I have been brought into close touch with the traditions of the Senior Service. I know how deeply the Royal Navy sympathise with the spirit that animates the Lifeboat Crews and how much they admire not merely the heroism of these men, but the seamanship and the skill with which they carry out their arduous duties.

" Secondly, it fell to me last year, at the special request of His Majesty, to go from London to the Orkneys in order to name two Life-boats in those distant islands, at Stromness and Longhope— two splendid Motor Life-boats, one of them of the very latest type. In this way, I might say I was initiated into the Life-boat Service and it was, I think, a happy arrangement that I stayed in the Flagship of the Atlantic Fleet in order to carry out my pleasant duty.

" These are, I am sure you will agree, very good reasons why I should welcome the invitation to name this fine boat to-day. But there is a third which may not have occurred to you, but which is very interesting to me. I have recently been appointed to the Civil Service and it is my privilege—and one which I value very highly—to be a member of the staff of the Foreign Office. My acquaintance with the duties of the Civil Service and my brief contact with some of its members have already confirmed the reputation which this great body of men holds in the mind of the nation for their devotion to duty and their high integrity of character. In this way I feel that I have some claim, however slender, to be here to-day as one of the great body of men and women, who, by their generosity and in the spirit of public service, have presented this magnificent boat to the Royal National Life-boat Institution. As I said on a previous occasion, I think few things are more highly creditable to the Civil Service than that they should have decided many years ago that there was one great national object, characteristic of the best qualities of our race and yet carried out on a purely voluntary basis, which deserved their steady support, namely, the Life-boat Service.

(Cheers.) " As a result of that decision, they have, in the course of years, presented to the Institution and maintained, a little fleet of Life-boats, always the best of their respective kind and type, and always maintained by them at the highest standard of efficiency. This is the eighth Life-boat which the Civil Service has presented, and, like its immediate predecessors, it is a Motor Life-boat of the latest type. In this boat, which bears a great name, the Greater London, the Civil Service has a boat worthy of the Life-boat Service, worthy of the Crew which is called upon to man her and worthy of the great body of men and women—the Civil Service of Great Britain and Ireland—whose generosity she represents. She has already been launched on service six times and has saved four lives.

'' I have now great pleasure in naming her the Greater London, and I wish her and her gallant Crew Godspeed on the service to mankind to which she is dedicated." (Loud cheers.) THE PRINCE'S SPEECH AT THE LUNCHEON.

At the conclusion of the Ceremony, the Prince opened the new arm of the pier, and he and the principal guests were then entertained to luncheon by the Mayor. In replying to the toast of his health proposed by the Mayor, the Prince said :— " I much appreciate the kind way in which you have proposed my health and thank you all for the cordial way in which you have honoured the toast.

This is the first time that I have visited Southend and I hope that my visit here to-day will be taken as another proof of the keen interest that all the members of my family take in the Life-boats provided by the Institution and in the splendid Crews that man them. I also hope that the naming of this boat, which has been formally pledged to the service of humanity with the blessing and the sanction of a religious ceremony, will lead to a great increase of interest in, and support for, the Life-boat Station at Southend.

" Indeed, I venture to go a little further and to hope that my visit may lead to the boys and girls of the Southend schools entering with fresh zest into the essay competition which is held every year throughout Great Britain and Ireland, and in connexion with which six challenge shields are presented.

I am encouraged in this hope by what has followed on my visit to the Orkneys last summer. In that year the challenge shield for Scotland was won by a girl in the Orkneys, and two boys from Orkney schools won certificates, only thirty-five of which are given in each of the six districts. (Applause.) This year, I hear, the Challenge Shield for Scotland has been won by a boy in the Shetlands, and the Orkney schools have won no fewer than seven of the thirtyfive certificates awarded. I am very glad to hear that my visit to the Orkneys has aroused so much interest and healthy ambition among the boys and girls, not only in the Orkneys, but in the Shetlands. For such an interest is not only very welcome to the Institution, but I am sure you will all agree with me that there are few better examples that we can put before British boys and girls as the model of everything that a good citizen should be than the men who man our Life-boats. (Applause.) And if this is the case with the children of the hardy islanders of the far Orkneys and Shetlands, it is probably even more true in the case of the boys and girls of a crowded and prosperous town like Southend.

" It was this that the Institution had j in mind when it set the subject for the j competition this year. The subject was ' What are the qualities of the Lifeboatman which make him an example of good citizenship ? ' I wonder how many of us here would like to have suddenly to write an essay on that subject. I doubt if I should. But it had no terrors for the boys and girls and, even without being a patron of letters, one can enjoy the amusing and clever and even wise things which some of them wrote. One of the riters sums it up in a way which will appeal to the Mayor and town councillors of Southend. ' He is a man,' writes this essayist, ' who gives his services to the public the same as borough councillors do.' (Laughter and Applause.) Speaking in the presence of so distinguished a number of borough councillor? I feel that praise can hardly go further than this, and, although there is, perhaps, some difference betwesn the Life-boatman and the borough councillor, I think we can all say we admire them both. (Laughter and Applause.) Before resuming my seat, I must thank you, Mr. Mayor, for your kind hospitality, which I much appreciate." (Loud applause.) The toast of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution was proposed by Councillor H. W. Richardson (Chairman of the Pier Committee). In responding, Mr. Colville described the developments being made by motor power in the Lifeboat Service, and the consequent great increase in the cost of maintaining it.

He congratulated Southend on carrying out an excellent Life-boat Day, but said that it had not a very good list of annual subscribers, and he appealed to more of its population of over 100,000 to contribute 5*. a year. Mr. Colville then proposed the toast of the Mayor.

Before returning to London, Prince George visited Shoeburyness, where he opened the Children's Convalescent Sunshine Home.

The Humber (Yorkshire).

As a special Centenary gift to the Institution in 1924 the City of Bradford raised £10,000, in addition to its annual contributions to the general funds, and this gift was used to provide a 45-feet Watson Motor Life-boat for the Station at Spurn Point, on the Humber. This Boat was built in 1923, and was named City of Bradford. It has since been decided that the Humber should be provided with a boat of the improved and more powerful Watson Cabin type.

This new boat was completed and went to the Station this year, while the other boat is the first Motor Life-boat to be put in the Institution's Reserve Fleet.

The new Humber boat has been built out of another special gift from Bradford amounting to £4,800, combined with a legacy of £5,000 received from the late Mr. Moss Howson, of Harrogate. She is named City of Bradford II, while the boat in the Reserve Fleet will now be called City of Bradford I.

As Spurn Point is very remote, the Inaugural Ceremony was held at Bridlington on 6th July. The Lord Deramore, T.D., J.P. (Lord-Lieutenant for the East Riding of Yorkshire), presided, and among those taking part in the ceremony were the Lord Mayor of Bradford (Alderman H. Thornton Pullan), who was accompanied by the Lady Mayoress, Sir William Priestley, J.P.

(a Vice-President of the Institution and Chairman of the Bradford Branch), Sir Henry Sutcliffe-Smith (Honorary Secretary of the Bradford Branch), the Mayor of Bridlington (Alderman C. H.

Gray, J.P., Joint Honorary Secretary of the Bridlington Branch), the Rural Dean of Bridlington (the Rev. J. Topham), the Rev. G. V. Britton (President of the Free Church Council of Bradford), Mrs. Moss Howson, Mr. H. Royal Dawson (Joint Honorary Secretary of the I Bridlington Branch)," Mr. G. G. Stephenson (Honorary Secretary of the Harrogate Branch), and about 150 members of the Bradford Branch and Ladies' Life-boat Guild. The singing was led by the Excelsior Prize Silver Band.

The Ceremony opened with a hymn, followed by prayer by the Rev. G. V. Britton. The Lord Mayor of Bradford then presented the Life-boat to the Institution in the name of the two donors, Mr. Moss Howson and the City of Bradford. In doing so he said that they were all proud of what Bradford had done for the Life-boat Service.

The trade of their city was largely a foreign trade, dependent on ships and the brave men who manned them.

Remembering that, they were glad to do all that they could to support those who were ever ready to help their comrades in peril on the sea.

In accepting the Life-boat on behalf of the Institution, Sir William Priestley said that besides making this special gift the Bradford Branch was fifth in the list of Branches in its contributions to the general funds of the Institution. So long as Bradford existed it would do everything possible to support the Lifeboat Service.

The Rural Dean of Bridlington dedicated the Life-boat, and after the singing of a hymn Lieut.-Commander P. E. Vaux, D.S.C., R.N., District Inspector of Life-boats, described her.

Mrs. Moss Howson then named the Life-boat City of Bradford II.

A vote of thanks to Mrs. Moss Howson was proposed by the Lord Mayor of Bradford and seconded by Sir Henry Sutcliffe Smith. Mr. G. G. Stephenson (Honorary Secretary of the Harrogate Branch) replied on Mrs. Moss Howson's behalf. He recalled that though Bradford claimed Mr. Moss Howson as a Bradford man, he had lived at Harrogate for thirty-five years, so that Harrogate claimed him also. He had been one of the earliest subscribers to the Harrogate Branch, and it was many years ago that he had first discussed leaving the Institution a legacy to provide a Lifeboat.

A vote of thanks to the chairman was proposed by Canon William Barker and seconded by Councillor Victor Waddilove.

In replying, Lord Deramore spoke of the splendid record of the Yorkshire coast in life-saving. It had fifteen stations, and six of them—Redcar, Scarborough, Whitby, Filey, Bridlington and Spurn—had been in existence for over a century. Since complete records of lives rescued had begun to be kept in 1850, Yorkshire Life-boats had rescued 2,300 lives.

A vote of thanks to the Mayor of Bridlington was proposed by Mr. J. G. Hutchinson and seconded by Miss Nora Grainger (Assistant Secretary of the Bradford Branch). The Life-boat then went for a short cruise with a number of the visitors on board, and they were then entertained to tea by the Mayor.