ON the 26th of November, 1948, at the Guildhall, St. Ives, Cornwall, the French consul at Southampton presented to Mr. William Peters, former coxswain of the St. Ives life-boat, the Brevet de Chevalier de 1'Ordre du Merite. The presentation was made, the consul said, to show the gratitude of France for services to French merchant ships and fishing boats during the war, and for the hospitality shown by Cornish people to French refugees..