THE Inaugural Ceremony of the new Weymouth Motor Life-boat took place on 16th July on the Nothe Parade, in the presence of many hundreds of people. The Motor Life-boat from Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, was also present.

This is the third Motor Life-boat to be stationed at Weymouth. The first, which went there in 1924, was a 40-feet Watson Life-boat with a 50 h.p. engine. She was replaced in 1929 with another Life-boat of the same type, but this boat was withdrawn the following year, as it was found that the strong tides and heavy gales made necessary a more powerful type. The new boat is of the 51-feet Barnett (Stromness) type, the largest and most powerful which the Institution is now building. (A full description will be found on p. 525.) She is one of two Motor Life-boats provided out of a legacy from the late Mr. William Ryland, of Sheffield, the other being a Life-boat of the same type stationed at Lerwick in the Shetlands. Mr. Ryland died in 1900, but the bulk of the money under the bequest did not come to the Institution until September, 1931.

There has been a Life-boat Station at Weymouth since 1869, and its Life-boats have rescued forty-seven lives.

Major J. H. C. Devenish,- J.P., President of the Branch, opened the proceedings and said that the town was very proud of the fact that the Institution, by placing such a powerful Motor Life-boat there, had shown that it recognized it as one of the most important Life-boat Stations on the south coast.

Mr. B. A. Wightman, one of the trustees of the late Mr. Ryland, pre- sented the Life-boat to the Institution.

She was received by the Hon. George Colville, Deputy Chairman of the Com- mittee of Management, who expressed the Institution's gratitude to Mr. Ryland and Mr. Wightman. He then formally handed her to Major Devenish, who accepted her on behalf of the Branch.

The Bishop's Address.

A service of dedication was con- ducted by the Bishop of Salisbury (the Right Rev. St. C. G. A. Donaldson, D.D.), assisted by the Rev. C. M.

Ricketts, M.A. (Vicar of Holy Trinity and the Mayor's chaplain), and the Rev. Emlyn Jones, representing the Free Church Council. Before blessing the Life-boat the Bishop said: " Thoughtful men sometimes ask how the virility of the nation can be main- tained if war is abolished. It may be true that the suffering and dangers of war develop character, but I believe that in the conflict with nature man can find his soul far more nobly than in battle. We are sent here to replenish the earth and subdue it. In this task mankind finds its noblest qualities developed, and in no part of our national life is this more true than in the Life-boat Service. The victory of the Life-boat crews over the whole forces of nature is a true fulfilment of our common human destiny." The Earl of Shaftesbury, P.O., K.P., G.C.V.O., the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset, spoke of the pride which the whole country felt in its Life-boat Stations. He then presented two certificates won by pupils of Dorchester and Portland schools in the Life-boat Essay Competition.

A vote of thanks to Lord and Lady Shaftesbury and the Bishop was pro- posed by Captain E. A. Betts, C.B.E., R.N., District Inspector of Coastguard and a member of the Committee of the Weymouth Branch, and seconded by Captain H. C. Mayo, O.B.E., R.N., the Honorary Secretary of the Branch.

The Countess of Shaftesbury then named the Life-boat William and Clara Ryland, breaking over her bows a bottle of champagne.

After the ceremony the Life-boat gave a demonstration of life-saving..