When is an emergency not an emer- gency ? One answer might come from the crew of the inshore rescue boat at St. Ives: when it is a drifting bottle.

At 8.25 p.m. on 29th May Captain T. Stevens, honorary secretary at St.

Ives, was told that someone had seen a bottle prominently labelled "Emer- gency" drifting out to sea.

At the same time Mr. John Stevens, owner of the small gig Mayflower, re- ported that the Mayflower, manned by his son, was overdue. He feared that the engine had broken down and that the gig would be drifting north-westerly on the strong ebb tide.

Five minutes later, at Captain Stev- ens' request, Mr. A. Thirlby, coxswain of the inshore rescue boat, and two crew members launched to investigate the two reports.

The bottle was "rescued" by the crew and the Mayflower, which was free from engine trouble but proceed- ing slowly against the strong tide, was escorted back to St. Ives by 9 p.m. The contents of the bottle? "Emergency Post"—a back number of a monthly magazine described as a "Christian Witness for Today" con- taining religious messages and a bib- lical crossword puzzle for the benefit of its readers..