The Service to the Lee Bay.

ON 11th January of this year the motor life-boat at Appledore (Devon) was launched in a whole gale to the help of the motor fishing boat Lee Bay, of Ilfracombe, and rescued her crew of three men, one of whom was a cripple.

It was a very difficult and dangerous service, and the Institution awarded its bronze medal to Second Coxswain H. E. Pow (who was in command in the absence of the coxswain), its thanks inscribed on vellum to the motor mechanic, C. T. Hornabrook, a framed letter of thanks to each member of the crew and money awards amount- ing to £41 12s. Qd.1 The medal and the thanks inscribed on vellum were presented at the Institution's annual meeting in London in April. On their return to Apple- dore from London, the second coxswain and motor mechanic were given a civic welcome.

A local presentation was made on 14th June, at the Church Schools, Appledore, the room being decorated by the motor mechanic. Although it was raining heavily all evening, the audience was far too large for the 1 The service is fully described in The Life-boat for lot June.

room and overflowed into several adjoining rooms to which the speeches were relayed to them by loud- speakers.

Mr. H. C. Whitehead, the president of the branch and a life-governor of the Institution, was in the chair, sup- ported by the Mayors and Mayoresses of Bideford, Okehampton and Tor- rington, the chairmen of the Northam and Ilfracombe Urban District Councils, the committee of the Appledore branch, members of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, representatives of the Institu- tion's branches at Clovelly, Ilfracombe and Lynmouth, and—last but not least—the three men who had been rescued.

The presentations were made by Sir Basil Peto, Bt., M.P. for Barnstaple, and Mr. F. W. Irwin, one of the three men of the Lee Bay, described the rescue.

It was not the least remarkable feature of a remarkable meeting (a feature of which the honorary secretary of the branch, Mr. W. A. Cryer, who organized the meeting, was justly proud) that though there were seven- teen speeches, the whole meeting lasted only an hour and a quarter.