75 Years Ago The following article appeared in the August, 1911, issue of THE LIFEBOAT:VISIT OF THE PRINCE OF WALES TO NEWQUAY, CORNWALL.

FOK the second time within two years Newiniay has been fortunate enough to receive a Royal visit, and has thus been the meansof illustrating thedeep interest taken by our kingly Patron in the national service which it is the privilege of the Institution to carry on. In March the Prince of Wales and Prince Albert were sent to Newquay to recover in the beautiful air of that health-giving spot from the after-effects of an attack of measles. Although the visit was of purely a private character, needless to say t'hat the inhabitants of Newquay determined to do their best to make the stay of their distinguished visitors as interesting and pleasant as possible, Of course our good friends, the Committee of the Newquay Branch, at once offered to provide the spectacle of a launch of the Life-boat, a function which is more than usually interesting at this Station owing to the length of the steep incline of the slipway down which the boat rushes to the sea, as if eager to go on her errand of inercy.

Nor was it surprising that the sailor son of our sailor King accepted the offer with alacrity, and arrangements were at once made to have the launch on March 16th. Unfortunately, this being the date of the Annual General Meeting of the Institution in London, it was impossible for the Committee, the Secretary, or the Chief Inspector to be present to do honour to the Princely visitor. Everything was, however, admirably managed bv Lieut.

Drury, the District Inspector for the Western District, who attended as the representative of the Institution, and Mr. H. A. Hawkey, the excellent and indefatigable Hon. Secretary of the Branch, assisted by Mr. W. J. M.

Hawkey, and ably supported by the Coxswain, J. H. Gill, and the crew.

The two Princes, who were accompanied by their tutor, Mr. Hansell, tirst made a thorough inspection of the boat and boat-house under the guidance of the District Inspector, having every detail of the work carefully explained to them. The rockets were then fired, the doors of the house were thrown open, and the boat emerged, borne on her carriage, with the young Princes, Mr. Hansell, and Lieut. Drury standing up, a sight which was the signal for an outburst of cheering on the part of the enthusiastic crowd which had assembled to witness the launeh. The Prince of Wales and his brother would dearly have liked to go down the slipway in the boat, but, in view of their recent illness, it was not thought wise to expose them to the inevitable ducking which the crew get as the boat enters the water. Accordingly the Princes witnessed fche launch from the Committee-room at the top of the boat-house. At the words " let go " the good boat James Stevens sped on her way down the slipway, with her crew of thirteen men aboard, gathering momentum as she flew till, amid the breathless excitement of the crowd, she plunged into the sea, throwing up a mountain of spray in which she was lost to sight.

The whole function was most successful, being a repetition of the ceremony which took place on the occasion of the visit of their Majesties the King and Queen as Prince and Princess of Wales in June, 1909, when the Deputy-Chairman, Sir John Cameron Lamb, received them on behalf of the Institution.

The Princes expressed themselves as delighted with all they had seen, and having accepted copies of Sir J. Lamb's new book,'' The Life-boat and its Work," they thanked all those who had arranged the function, and gave a donation of £5 for the crew. They further marked their interest in the Life-boat by coming out of their hotel later on to watch the return of the boat on her carriage,,- drawn by eight powerful horses.

Altogether it was a most auspicious and memorable occasion, and the Committee, the Coxswains and crew of the New-quay Branch must feel immensely encouraged in their efforts to maintain the Station at the highest standard of efficiency; while the Institution feels honoured by the forging of one more link in the chain of sympathy which binds its Royal Patrons to a work which.

so well embodies the courage and kindliness which are the best characteristics of our sea-faring race..