Last spring the Trustees of the National Maritime Museum at Green- wich, and the Museum's director, Mr.

Frank Carr, decided to arrange a special life-boat and life-saving exhibition.

To the Museum's own models were added seventeen from the Institution's collection. The Institution also sent thirty-one paintings, two-dozen photo- graphs, its gold, silver and bronze medals, historic manuscripts, and the pulling and sailing life-boat, Richard Coleman, which was stationed at Wor- thing from 1901 until 1930, and since the station was closed in 1930 has been on exhibition at Worthing.

The exhibition cannot be better described than in the announcement of it made by the Maritime Museum itself: "The exhibition is unique in show- ing, for the first time, a complete his- tory of life-saving at sea, from the earliest days of organized effort, right up to the present time.

"With the co-operation of the Royal National Life-boat Institution, which has placed the whole of its models, pictures and records at the disposal of the Museum, and with the help of the Ministry of Transport and H.M. Coast- guard, who have provided and set up a full-sized rocket life-saving appara- tus, a comprehensive story is told.

" In the Museum grounds a full-sized pulling-and-sailing life-boat of the old type, on her launching carriage, may be seen; and here also is the rocket life-saving apparatus of H.M. Coast- guard, properly set up and in working order. Within the Museum, in the Print Room Gallery, some twenty-five scale models show nearly every im- portant type of life-boat, from the first Great head boat of 1789, to the latest type of motor life-boat launched only a few days ago, on 4th May, 1950.

Artists' pictures of thrilling rescues, ancient and modern, share with photo- graphs the space on the screens; where plans also find a place. There are portraits, too, from that of the founder of the Life-boat Institution, Sir William Hillary, to a splendid picture of Cox- swain Blogg, of the Cromer boat, the most famous of modern coxswains.

"The manuscripts exhibited include a letter from Sir William Hillary, dated November 27th, 1830, containing a thrilling account of the rescue from the wreck of the St. George, for which he won one of his three gold medals for gallantry; the signed original of the Prince of Wales's introduction to "Britain's Life-boats," published in 1923; and the original of Joseph Con- rad's foreword to the same book, signed, and with amendments in his own hand. The exhibition also in- cludes some life-saving medals." The exhibition was opened on the 16th of May, which was the life-boat flag day in Greater London, by the Mayor of Greenwich, and Vice-Admiral Sir Harold Kinahan, C.B., C.B.E., the Admiral President of the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, presided.

Mr. L. C. H. Cave, a member of the Committee of Management, represented the Institution and thanked the Mayor and the Museum.

The exhibition remained open until the 10th of June. It is not possible to say how many people sawlt, but during those three and a half weeks over 16,000 people visited the museum, and in addition a large number came into the museum grounds, and saw the Worthing life-boat and the rocket life-saving apparatus..