THE LIFE-BOAT. · many directions But inciden. the t which won for him Gol the Medad ofl the...

THE LIFE-BOAT.The Journal of the Royal National Life-Boat Institution.

(ISSUED QUARTERLY.)

VOL. XXIII.—No. 257.] 2ND AUGUST, 1915. [PRICE 3d.

A Hero of the Seas.IN spite of the diatribes of pacificistsagainst war as a relic of barbarismand the embodiment of all evil, thepresent stupendous struggle has onceagain proved that, notwithstanding theh o r r o r s , t h emisery and thegrief which warbrings in itstrain, it is alsothe fruitful soilon which springthe noblest andmost selflessdeeds of whichm a n k i n d i scapable. And soit is that on allthe "battlefieldswhich have beendrenched withnoble blood andon all the season which theBritish Flag hasflown, there havebeen countlessi n s t a n c e s ofheroism, endu-rance and self-sacrifice, so thatthe test ands t a n d a r d ofh e r o i s m hasb e c o m e u n -c o n s c i o u s l yheightened andstrengthened.There has been,in many ways, a revaluation of valuesin this as in other aspects of humanlife.

In ex-Coxswain CHARLES FISH, whosedeath occurred on the 5th July, theredied a man who would have stood theseverest test which might have beenapplied even by a jury of naval and

Coxswain Charles Fish.

military V.C.'s. No man embodiedmore fully the spirit of heroic endu-rance, splendid seamanship and kindlyhumanity which has characterised theLife-boatmen of Britain for over a

century, and hew a s h i m s e l fintimately con-nected with thehistory of theLife - boat Ser-vice for nearlyfifty years.

The very factt h a t we a reengaged in agigantic Warand that theform of heroismto which publica t t e n t i o n isn e c e s s a r i l ydirected is thatof service inarms makes itdesirable, wethink, to givesome account ofthis fine man'slife and career,and a descrip-tion of the re-markable serviceto the IndianChief, in whichhe and his com-rades so greatlydistinguishedthemselves, and

which may be taken as a typicalinstance of Life-boat work at its best.

Born in 1839, CHABLES FISH livedthe hardy and strenuous life of aRamsgate fisherman and, early in hiscareer, became a member of the Life-boat crew. In 1866 he became SecondCoxswain, and in 1870 he was appointed

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40 THE LIFE-BOAT. [2ND AUGCST, 1915.

Coxswain, being the third Coxswain tothe Ramsgate Life-boat, his predeces-sors being James Hogben, 1851—1860,and Isaac Jarman, 1860-1870. Fishwas coxswain from 1870 to 1891, whenhe retired after a period of heroicactivity which has scarcely beenequalled in the splendid annals of theLife-boat service. He had assisted tosave no less than 877 lives, and hadearned medals and other honours frommany directions. But the incidentwhich won for him the Gold Medal ofthe Institution, which was presented tohim by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh,was the magnificent exploit in whichthe Ramsgate Life-boat rescued thecrew of the Indian Chief, which waswrecked on the Kentish Knock on the5th January, 1881. We cannot dobetter than reproduce the story of thisepic as it was given in the Daily Tele-graph of 1881, merely abridging theaccount with a view to considerationsof space. It is particularly interesting,at this moment, to be able to giveFish's own account, which breathes thestraightforward, manly and God-fearingspirit which actuated him through life.It will be noted that although, as Cox-swain, he was responsible for the actionof the boat, and for her staying by thewreck in spite of the appalling dangersto which she was exposed, he gives tohis comrades of the crew all the creditwhich is their due. The story is givenas it was told to the representative ofthe Daily Telegraph by the mate of theIndian Chief and by Coxswain FISH :—

The Mate's Account." Our ship was the Indian Chief, of

1,238 tons register, and we were boundwith a general cargo to Yokohama.There were twenty-nine souls on board,counting the North-country pilot. Wewere four days out from Middlesbrough,but it had been thick weather ever sincethe afternoon of the Sunday on whichwe sailed. All had gone well with us,however, so far, and on Wednesdaymorning, at half-past two, we made theKnock Light. You must know, sir,that hereabouts the water is just anetwork of shoals, for to the southwardlies the Knock, and close over againstit stretches the Long Sand, and beyond,

down to the westward, is the SunkSand. Shortly after the Knock Lighthad hove in sight, the wind shifted tothe eastward and brought a squall ofrain. We were under all plain sail atthe time, with the exception of theroyals, which were furled, and themainsail that hung in the buntlines.The Long Sand was to leeward, andfinding that we were drifting that way,the order was given to put the shipabout. It was very dark, the windbreezing up sharper and sharper, andcold as death. The helm was put down,but the main braces fouled, and beforethey could be cleared the vessel hadmissed stays and was in irons. Wethen went to work to wear the ship,but there was much confusion, thevessel heeling over, and all of us knewthat the sands were close aboard. Theship paid off, but at a critical momentthe spanker-boom sheet fouled thewheel; still, we managed to get thevessel round, but scarcely were the bracesbelayed and the ship on the starboardtack, when she struck the ground broad-side on. She was a soft-wood built ship,and she trembled, sir, as though shewould go to pieces at once like a packof cards. Sheets and halliards were letgo, but no man durst venture aloft.Every moment threatened to bring thespars crashing about us, and .thethundering and beating of the canvasmade the masts buckle and jump likefishing-rods. We then kindled a greatflare and sent up rockets, and our signalswere answered by the Sunk Lightshipand the Knock. We could see oneanother's faces in the light of the bigblaze, and sung out cheerily to keepour hearts up; and indeed, sir, althoughwe all knew that our ship was hard andfast and likely to leave her bones onthat sand, we none of us reckoned upondying. The sky had cleared, the easterlywind made the stars sharp and bright,and it was comforting to watch thelight-ships' rockets rushing up andbursting into smoke and sparks overour heads, for they made us see thaiour position was known, and they wereas good as an assurance that help wouldcome along soon and that we need notlose heart. But all this while the windwas gradually sweeping up into a gale

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•—and oh, the cold, good Lord! thebitter cold of that wind f

"-It seemed as long as a month beforethe morning broke, "and just before thegrey grew broad in the sky, one of themen yelled out something, and thencame sprawling and splashing aft to tellus that he had caught sight of the sailof a Life - boat * dodging among theheavy seas. We rushed to the side tolook, half-blinded by the flying sprayand the wind, and clutching at whateveroffered to our hands, and when at lastwe caught sight of the Life-boat wecheered, and the leaping of my heartmade me feel sick and deathlike. Asthe dawn brightened we could see moreplainly, ami it was frightful to noticehow the men looked at her, meeting thestinging spray borne upon the windwithout a wink of the eye, that theymight not lose sight of the boat for aninstant; the salt whitening their facesall the while like a layer of flour as theywatched. She was a good distance away,and she stood on and off, on and off,never coming closer, and evidentlyshirking the huge seas which were nowboiling around us. At last she hauledher sheet aft, put her helm over, andwent away. One of our crew groaned,but no other man uttered a sound, andwe returned to the shelter of thedeckhouses.

" Though the gale was not at itsheight when the sun rose, it was not farfrom it. We plucked up spirits againwhen the sun shot out of the ragingsea, but as we lay broadside on to thewaves, the sheets of flying water soonmade the sloping decks a dangerousplace for a man to stand on, and thecrew and officers kept the shelter of thedeck-cabins, though the captain and hisbrother and I were constancy going

* [This clearly is an error, for no Life-boatcould possibly have been near the wreck atthis early hour. The ship struck at half-pasttwo o'clock on the morning of the 5th January,and at daybreak the rescue mentioned wasattempted, clearly, by a smack, for no Life-boat heard of the wreck until eleven o'clockof the same day. Probably it was that smackwhich afterwards conveyed the news of thewreck to Harwich at 11 A.M. Another fishing-smack proceeded at once to Bamsgate, andarrived there at noon, having received theinformation of the wreck from the KentishKnock Light-ship.]

out to see if any help was coming. Butnow the flood was making, and this wasa fresh and fearful danger, as we allknew, for at sunrise the water bad beentoo low to knock the ship out of hersandy bed, but as the tide rose it liftedthe vessel, bumping and straining herfrightfully. The pilot advised theskipper to let go the starboard anchor,hoping that the set of the tide wouldslue the ship's stern round, and makeher lie head on to the seas; so theanchor was dropped, but it did not alterthe position of the ship. When shebroke her back a sort of panic seizedmany of us, and the captain roared outto the men to get the boats over, andsee if any use could be made of them.Three boats were launched, but thesecond boat, with two hands in her,went adrift, and was instantly engulfed,and the poor fellows in her vanishedjust as you might blow out a light.The other boats filled as soon as theytouched the water. There was no helpfor us in that way, and again we with-drew to the cabins. A little beforefive o'clock in the afternoon a huge seaswept over the vessel, clearing the decksfore and aft, and leaving little but theuprights of the deck-houses standing.It was a dreadful sea, but we knewworse was behind it, and that we mustclimb the rigging if we wanted toprolong our lives. The hold was alreadyfull of water, and portions of the deckhad been blown out, so that everywheregreat yawning gulfs met the eye, withthe black water washing almost flush.Some of the men made for the fore-rigging, but the captain shouted to allhands to take to the mizenmast, as thatone, in his opinion, was the securest.A number of the men who werescrambling forward returned on hearingthe captain sing out, but the rest heldon and gained the fore-top. Seventeenof us got over the mizentop, and withour knives fell to hacking away at suchrunning gear as we could come at toserve as lashings. None of us touchedthe mainmast, for we all knew, now theship had broken her back, that thatspar was doomed, and the reason whythe captain had called to the men tocome aft was because he was afraid thatwhen the mainmast went it would drag

42 THE LIFE-BOAT. [2ND ACGDST, 1915.

the foremast, that rocked in its stepwith every move, with it. I was nextthe captain in the mizentop, and nearhim was his brother, a stout-built,handsome young fellow, twenty-twoyears old, as fine a specimen of theEnglish sailor as ever I was shipmatewith. He was calling about him cheer-fully, bidding us not be down-hearted,and telling us to look sharply aroundfor the Life-boats. He helped severalof the benumbed men to lash them-selves, saying encouraging things to themas he made them fast. As the sunsank the wind grew more freezing, andI saw the strength of some of the menlashed over me leaving them fast. Thecaptain shook hands with me and, onthe chance of my being saved, gave mesome messages to take home, too sacredto be written down, sir. He likewisehanded me his watch and chain, and Iput them in my pocket. The canvasstreamed in ribbons from the yards, andthe noise was like a continuous roll ofthunder overhead. It was dreadful tolook down and watch the decks rippingup, and notice how every sea that rolledover the wreck left less of her than itfound.

" The moon went quickly away—itwas a young moon with little power—but the white water and the starlightkept the night from being black, andthe frame of the vessel stood out like asketch done in ink every time the darkseas ran clear of her and left her visibleupon the foain. There was no talking,no calling to one another; the men hungin the topmast rigging like corpses, andI noticed the second mate to windwardof his brother in the top, shelteringhim, as best he could, poor fellow, withhis body from the wind that wentthrough our skins like showers ofarrows. On a sudden I took it intomy head to fancy that the mizenmastwasn't so secure as the foremast. Itcame into my mind like a fright, and Icalled to the captain that I meant tomake for the foretop. I don't knowwhether he heard me or whether hemade any answer. Maybe it was asort of craze of mine for the moment,but I was wild with eagerness to leavethat mast as soon as ever I began tofear for it. I cast my lashings adrift

and gave a look at the deck, and sawthat I must not go that way if I didnot want to be drowned. So I climbedinto the crosstrees, and swung myselfon to the stay, so reaching the maintop,and then I scrambled on to the maintopmast crosstrees, and went hand overhand down the topmast stay into theforetop. Had I reflected before I leftthe mizentop, I should not havebelieved that I had the strength towork my way forrards like that; myhands felt as if they were skinned andmy finger-joints appeared to have nouse in them. There were nine or tenmen in the foretop, all lashed andhuddled together. The mast rockedsharply, and the throbbing of it to theblowing of the great tatters of canvaswas a horrible sensation. From timeto time they sent up rockets from theSunk Light-ship—once every hour, Ithink—but we had long since ceased tonotice those signals. There was not aman but thought his time was come,and though death seemed terrible whenI looked down upon the boiling watersbelow, yet the anguish of the coldalmost killed the craving for life. Itwas now about three o'clock onThursday morning ; the air was full ofthe strange dim light of the foam andthe stars, and I could very plainly seethe black swarm of men in the top andrigging of the mizenmast. I was look-ing that way when a great sea fell uponthe hull of the ship with a fearful crash;a moment after, the mainmast went.It fell quickly, and, as it fell, it boredown the mizenmast. There was ahorrible noise of splintering wood andsome piercing cries, and then anothergreat sea swept over the after-deck, andwe who were in the foretop looked andsaw the stumps of the two masts stickingup from the bottom of the hold, themizenmast slanting over the bulwarksinto the water, and the men lashed toit drowning. There never was a moreshocking sight, and the wonder is thatsome of us who saw it did not go ravingmad. The foremast still stood, completeto the royal mast and all the yardsacross, but every instant I expected tofind myself hurling through the air. Bythis time the ship was completelygutted, the upper part of her a mere

I2ND AUGUST, 1915.] THE LIFE-BOAT.frame of ribs, and the gale still blewfuriously ; indeed, I gave up hope whenthe mizenmast fell and I saw my ship-mates drowning on it.

" It was half an hour after this that aman, who was jammed close against me,pointed out into the darkness and criedin a wild hoarse voice, ' Isn't that asteamer's light ?' I looked, but whatwith grief and suffering and cold, I wasnearly blinded, and could see nothing.But presently another man called outthat he could see a light, and this wasechoed by yet another; so I told themto keep their eyes upon it and watch ifit moved. They said by-and-by that itwas stationary; and though we couldnot guess that it meant anything goodfor us, yet this light heaving in sightand our talking of it gave us somecomfort. When the dawn broke wesaw the smoke of a steamer, and agreedthat it was her light we had seen ; butI made nothing of that smoke, and waslooking heart-brokenly at the mizen-mast and the cluster of drowned menwashing about it, when a loud crymade me turn my head, and then I sawa Life-boat under a reefed foresailheading direct for us. It was a sight,sir, to make one crazy with joy, and itput the strength of ten men into everyone of us. A man named Gillmore—Ithink it was Gillmore—stood up andwaved a long strip of canvas. But Ibelieve they had seen there were livingmen aboard us before that signal wasmade. The boat had to cross the brokenwater to fetch us, and in my agony ofmind I cried out, ' She'll never face it!She'll leave us when she sees that water !'for the sea was frightful all to windwardof the sand and over it, a tremendousplay of broken waters, raging one withanother, and making the whole surfaceresemble a boiling cauldron. Yet theynever swerved a hair's breadth. Oh,sir, she was a noble boat! We couldsee her crew—twelve of them—sittingon the thwarts, all looking our way,motionless as carved figures, and therewas not a stir among them as, in aninstant, the boat leapt from the crest ofa towering sea right into the monstrousbroken tumble. The peril of these men,who were risking their lives for ours,made us forget our own situation. Over

and over again the boat was buried, butas regularly did she emerge with hercrew fixedly looking our way, and theiroilskins and the light-coloured side ofthe boat sparkling in the sunshine, whilethe coxswain, leaning forward from thehelm, watched our ship with a face ofiron. By this time we knew that thisboat was here to save us, and that shewould save us, and, with wildly beatingheart, we unlashed ourselves, anddropped over the top into the rigging.We were all sailors, you see, sir, andknew what the Life-boatmen wanted,and what was to be done. Swift asthought we had bent a number of ropes'ends together, and securing a piece ofwood to this line, threw it overboard,and let it drift to the boat. It wasseized, a hawser made fast, and wedragged the great rope on board. Bymeans of this hawser the Life-boatmenhauled their craft under our quarter,clear of the raffle. But there was nosuch rush made for her as might bethought. No! I owe it to my ship-mates to say this. Two of them shinnedout upon the mizenmast to the body ofthe second mate that was lashed eightor nine feet away over the side, and gothim into the boat before they enteredit themselves. I heard the coxswainof the boat—Charles Fish by name, thefittest man in the world for that berthand this work—cry out, ' Take thatpoor fellow in there !' and he pointed tothe body of the captain, who was lashedin the top with his arms over the mast,and his head erect and his eyes wideopen. But one of our crew called out,' He's been dead four hours, sir,' andthen the rest of us scrambled into theboat, looking away from the dreadfulgroup of drowned men that lay in acluster round the prostrate mast. Thesecond mate was still alive, but amaniac; it was heartbreaking to hearhis broken feeble cries for bis brother,but he lay quiet after a bit, and died inhalf an hour, though we chafed his feetand poured rum into his mouth, anddid what men in our miserable plightcould for a fellow-sufferer. Nor werewe out of danger yet, for the brokenwater was enough to turn a man's hairgrey to look at. It was a fearful seafor us men to find ourselves in the midst

44 THE LIFE-BOAT. [2ND AUGUST, 1915.

of, after having looked at it from agreat height, and I felt at the beginningalmost as though I should have beensafer on the wreck than in that boat.Never could I have believed that sosmall a vessel could meet such a sea andlive. Yet she rose like a duck to thegreat roaring waves which followed her,draining every drop of water from herbottom as she was hove up, and fallingwith terrible suddenness into a hollow,only to bound like a living thing to thesummit of the next gigantic crest.

"When I looked at the Life-boat'screw and thought of our situation ashort while since, and our safety now,and how to rescue us these great-hearted men had imperilled their ownlives, I was unmanned; I could notthank them, I could not trust myself tospeak. They told us they had leftRamsgate Harbour early on the pre-ceding afternoon, and had fetched theKnock at dusk, and not seeing ourwreck had lain to in that raging sea,suffering almost as severely as ourselves,all through the piercing tempestuousnight. What do you think of such aservice, sir 1 How can such devotedheroism be written of, so that everyman who can read shall know how greatand beautiful it is? Our own sufferingscame to us as a part of our calling asseamen. But theirs was bravely courtedand endured for the sake of their fellow-creatures. Believe me, sir, it was asplendid piece of service; nothinggrander in its way was ever done before,even by Englishmen. I am a plainseaman, and can say no more about itall than this. But when I think ofwhat must have come to us elevenmen before another hour had passed, ifthe Life-boat crew had not run downto us, I feel like a little child, sir, andmy heart grows too full for my eyes."

The Coxswain's Account." News had been brought to Rams-

gate, as you know, sir, that a large shipwas ashore on the Long Sand, andCaptain Braine, the harbour-master,immediately ordered the tug and Life-boat to proceed to her assistance. Itwas blowing a heavy gale of wind,though it came much harder some hoursafterwards; and the moment we were

clear of the piers we felt the sea. [Ourboat is considered a very fine onS. Iknow there is no better on the coasts,and there are only two in Great Britainbigger. She was presented to theROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITU-TION by Bradford, and is called afterthat town. But it is ridiculous to talkof bigness when it means only forty-twofeet long, and when a sea is raginground you heavy enpugh to swamp aline-of-battle ship. ^1 had my eye onthe tug—named the Vulcan, sir—when,she met the first of the seas, and shewas thrown up like a ball, and youcould see her starboard paddle revolvingin the air high enough out for a coachto pass under; and when she struckthe hollow she dished a sea over herbows that left only the stern of hershowing. We were towing head towind, and the water was flying over theboat in clouds. Every man of us wassoaked to the skin, in spite of our over-alls, by the time we had brought theRamsgate sands abeam ; but there werea good many miles to be gone overbefore we should fetch the Knock Light-ship, and so you see, sir, it was muchtoo early for us to take notice thatthings were not over and above com-fortable. [We got out the sail-cover—apiece of tarpaulin—to make a shelterof, and rigged it up against the mast,seizing it to the burtons; but it hadn'tbeen up two minutes when a heavy seahit and washed it right aft in rags; sothere was nothing to do but to hold onto the thwarts and shake ourselveswhen the water came over. \I neverremember a colder wind. I don't saythis because I happened to be out in it.Old Tom Cooper, one of the best boat-men in all England, sir, who made oneof our crew, agreed with me that it wasmore like a flaying machine than anatural gale of wind. The feel of it inthe face was like being gnawed by adog. I only wonder it didn't freeze thetears it fetched out of our eyes. fWewere heading N.E., and the wind'wasblowing from N.E. The North Fore-laud had been a bit of shelter, like; butwhen we had gone clear of that, and theocean lay ahead of us, the seas werefurious—they seemed miles long, sir,like an Atlantic sea, and it was enough-


to make a man bold his breath to watchhow the tug wallowed and tumbled intothem. JT sung out to Dick Goldsmith,' Dick,' I says, ' she's slowed, do yousee; she'll never be able to meet it,' forshe had slackened her engines downinto a mere craw], and I really didthink they meant to give up. I couldsee Alf Page—the master of her, sir—on the bridge, coming and going likethe moon when the clouds sweep overit, as the seas smothered him up onemoment, and left him shining in thesun the next. But there was to be nogiving up with the tug's crew any morethan with the Life-boat's; she held on,and we followed.

" Somewhere abreast of the ElbowBuoy a smack that was running portedher helm to speak us. Her skipper hadjust time to yell out, ' A vessel on theLong Sand !' and we to wave our hands,when she was astern and out of sightin a haze of spray. ^Presently a colliernamed the Fanny, with her foretop-gallaut yard gone, passed us. She wascracking on to bring the news of thewreck to Ramsgate, and was making aheavy sputter under her topsails andforesail. They raised a cheer, for theyknew our errand, and then, like thesmack, in a minute she was astern andgone, py this time the cold and thewet aiul the fearful plunging were be-ginning to tell, and one of tbe mencaJled for a nip of rum. The quantitywe generally take is half a gallon, andit is always my rule to be sparing withthat drink for the sake of the ship-wrecked men we may have to bringhome, and who are pretty sure to be ingreater need of the stuff than us. Inever drink myself, sir, and that's onereason, I think, why I manage to meetthe cold and wet middling well, andrather better than sonje men who lookstronger than me. jHowever, I toldCharlie Verrion to measure the rum outand serve it round, and it would havemade you laugh, I do believe, sir, tohave seen the care the men took of thebig bottle—Charlie cocking his fingerinto the cork-hole, and Davy Berryclapping his hand over the pewtermeasure whenever a sea came, to pre-vent the salt water from spoiling theliquor. jBad as our plight was, the tug's

crew were no better off; their wheel isforrard, and so you may suppose thefellow that steered had his share of theseas; the others stood by to relievehim ; and, for the matter of water, shewas just like a rock, the waves striking

I her bows and flying pretty nigh as highas the top of her funnel, and blowing

| the whole length of her aft with a falllike the tumble of half-a-dozen cartloadsof bricks. I like to speak of what theywent through, for the way they wereknocked about was something fearful,to be sure.I " By half-past four o'clock in the

"afternoon it was drawing on dusk, andabout that hour we sighted the re-volving light of the Kentish KnockLightship, and a little after five wewere pretty close to her. She is abig, red-hulled boat, with the words' Kentish Knock' written in long whiteletters on her sides, and, dark as it was,we could see her flung up, and rushingdown fit to roll her over and over; andthe way she pitched and went out ofsight, and then ran up on the blackheights of water, gave me a betternotion of the fearfulness of that seathan I had got by watching the tugornoticing our own lively dancing. jThetug hailed her first, and two menlooking over her side answered; butwhat they said didn't reach us in theLife-boat. Then the steamer towed usabreast, but the tide caught our warpand gave us a sheer that brougM usmuch too close alongside of her. _JVhenthe sea took her she seemed to hangright over us, and the sight of thatgreat dark hull, looking as if, when it

I fell, it must come right atop of us, madeus want to sheer off, I can tell you. (_ I

j sung out, ' Have you seen the ship*?'And one of the men bawled back,'Yes.' ' How does she bear ?' ' Nor'-west by north.' ' Have you seen any-thing go to her ? ' The answer I caughtwas, 'A boat.' Some of our laen saidthe answer was, 'A Life-boat,' but mostof us only heard, ' A boat.' mie tugwas now towing ahead, and we wentpast the lightship, but ten minutes afterTom Friend sings out, ' They're burninga light aboard her !' and looking astern

i I saw they had fired a red signal lightthat was blazing over the bulwark in a

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long shower of sparks. The tug puther helm down to return, and .we werebrought broadside to the sea. Jfhen wefelt the power of those waves, sir. Itlooked a wonder that we were notrolled over and drowned, every man ofus. We held on with our teeth clenched,and twice the boat was filled, and thewater up to our throats. ' Look out forit, men !' was always the cry. Butevery upward send emptied the noblelittle craft, like pulling out a plug in awashbasin, and in a few minutes wewere again alongside the light-vessel.Whis time there were six or seven meiilooking over the side. ' What do youwant ?' we shouted. ' Did you see theSunk Lightship's rocket?' they allyelled out together. 'Yes. Did yousay you saw a boat ? ' ' No,' theyanswered, showing we had mistakentheir first reply. On which I shoutedto the tug, ' Pull us round to the LongSand Head Buoy !' and then we wereunder weigh again, meeting the tre-mendous seas. Jp'here was only a littlebit of moon, westering fast, and whatthere was of it showed but now andagain, as the heavy clouds opened andlet the light of it down. Indeed, it wasvery dark, though there was some kindof glimmer in the foam which enabledus to mark the tug ahead. J' Bitter coldwork, Charlie,' says old Tom Cooper tome; 'but,' says he, 'it's colder for "thepoor wretches aboard the wreck, ifthey're alive to feel it.' fThe thoughtof them made our own sufferings small,and we kept looking and looking intothe darkness around, but there wasnothing to be spied, only now and again,and long whiles apart, the flash of arocket Jn the sky from the Sunk Light-ship. Meanwhile, from time to time,we burnt a hand-signal—a light, sir,that's fired something after the mannerof a gun. You fit it into a woodentube, and give a sort of hammer at theend a smart blow, and the flame rushesout, and a bright light it makes, sir.

jOurs were green lights, and whenever Iset one flaring I couldn't help takingnotice of the appearance of the men. Itwas a queer sight, I assure you, to seethem all as green as leaves, with theircork jackets swelling out their bodies soas scarcely to seem like human beings,

and the black water as high as ourmasthead, or howling a long way belowus, on either side. They burned hand-signals on the tug, too, but nothingcame of them. Jxhere was no sign ofthe wreck, and staring over the edge ofthe boat, with the spray and the dark-ness, was like trying to see through thebottom of a well. So we began to talkthe matter over, and Tom Cooper says,' We had better stop here and wait fordaylight.' ' I'm for stopping,' says SteveGoldsmith ; and Bob Penny says,' We're here to fetch the wreck, andfetch it we will, if we wait a week.'rBight,' says I; and all hands beingAgreed—without any fuss, sir, though Idare say most of our hearts were athome, and our wishes alongside ourhearths, and the warm fires in them—we all of us put our hands to our mouthsand made one great cry of ' Vulcanahoy !' jpthe tug dropped astern. ' Whatdo you want?" sings out the skipper,when he gets within speaking distance.' There's nothing to be seen of thevessel, and so we had better lie-to forthe night,' I answered. ' Very good,'he says, and then the steamer, withoutanother word from her crew, and thewater tumbling over her bows like cliffs,resumed her station ahead, her paddlesrevolving just fast enough to keep herfrom dropping astern. j4.s coxswain ofthe Life-boat, sir, I take no credit forresolving to lie-to all night. But I ambound to say a word for the two crews,who made up their minds without amurmur, without a second's hesitation,to face the bitter cold and fierce seas ofthat long winter darkness, that theymight be on the spot to help theirfellow-creatures when the dawn brokeand showed them where they were. 1̂know there are scores of sailors roundour coasts who would have done like-wise. Only read, sir, what was done inthe north, Newcastle way, during thegales last October. But surely, sir, nomatter who may be the men who dowhat they think their duty, whetherthey belong to th« North or the South,they deserve the encouragement ofpraise. \&. man likes to feel, when hehas don?? his best, that his fellow-menthink well of his work. If I had notbeen one of that crew, I should wish to


say more; but no false pride shall makeine say less, sir, and I thank God forthe resolution He put into us, and forthe strength He gave us to keep thatresolution.

"All that we had to do now was tomake ourselves as comfortable as wecould. Our tow-rope veered us out along way, too far astern of the tug forher to help us as a breakwater, and themanner in which we were flung towardsthe sky with half our keel out of waterand then dropped into a hollow—likefalling from the top of a house, sir—while the heads of the seas blew intoand tumbled over us all the time, madeus all reckon that, so far from gettingany rest, most of our time would bespent in preventing ourselves from beingwashed overboard. (We turned to andgot the foresail aft, and made a kind ofroof of it. This was no easy job, forthe wind was so furious that wrestlingeven with that bit of a sail was likefighting with a steam-engine. When itwas up ten of us snugged ourselves awayunder it, and two men stood on theafter-grating thwart keeping a look-out,with the life-lines around them. jAsyou know, sir, we carry a binnacle, andthe lamp in it was alight and gave outjust enough haze for us to see eachother in. We all lay in a lump togetherfor warmth, and a fine show we made,I dare say; for a cork-jacket, evenwhen a man stands upright, isn't cal-culated to improve his figure, and as weall of us had cork-jackets on and oil-skins, and many of us sea boots, youmay guess what a raffle of legs and armswe showed, and what a rum heap ofodds and ends we looked, as we sprawledin the bottom of the boat upon oneanother. jSometimes it would be JohnnyGoldsmith—-for we had three Gold-smiths—Steve and Dick and Johnny—growling underneath that somebody waslying on his leg; and then maybe HarryMeader would bawl out that there wasa man sitting on his head, and onceTom Friend swore his arm was broke;but my opinion is, sir, that it was toocold too feel inconveniences of this kind,and I believe that some among us wouldnot have known if thsir arms and legsreally had been broke, until they triedto use 'em, for the cold seemed to take

away all feeling out of the blood. ,-Asthe seas flew over the boat the waterfilled the sail that was stretched over-head and bellied it down upon us, andthat gave us less room, so that somehad to lie flat on their faces; but whenthis bellying got too bad we'd all get upand make one heave with our backsunder the sail, and chuck the water outof it in that way. ' Charlie Fish,' says

! Tom Cooper to me, in a grave voice,' what would some of them younggen'lmen as comes to Ramsgate in the

I summer, and says they'd like to go out; in the Life-boat, think of this?' JThisI made me laugh, and then young Tom• Cooper votes for another nipper of rum| all round ; and as it was drawing onfor one o'clock in the morning, and someof the men were groaning with cold, andpressing themselves against the thwartswith the pain of it, I made no objectionand the liquor went round, jl always

i take a cake of Fry's chocolate with meI when I go out in the Life-boat, as I find| it very supporting, and I had a mind tohave a mouthful now; but when I

! opened the locker I found it full ofj water, my chocolate nothing but pasteI and the biscuit a mass of pulp. Thiswas rather hard, as there was nothing

| else to eat, and there was no getting| near the tug in that sea unless wej wanted to be smashed into staves.j However, we hadn't come out to enjoyi ourselves; nothing was said, and so weI lay in a heap, hugging one another for! warmth, until the morning broke.

" The first man to look to leeward wasi old Tom's son—young Tom Cooper—| and in a moment he bawled out, ' Thereshe is !' pointing like a madman. Themorning had only just broke, and thelight was grey and dim, and down inthe west it still seemed to be night;the air was full of spray, and scarcelywere we a-top of a sea than we wererushing like an arrow into the hollowagain, so that young Tom must havehad eyes like a hawk to have seen her.Yet the moment he sung out and"pointed, all hands cried out, ' There sheis!' But what was it, sir 1 Only amast about three miles off—just onesingle mast sticking up out of the white

j water, as thin and faint as a spider's; line. Yet that was the ship we had

I


been waiting all night to see. _JThereshe was, and my heart thumped in myears the moment my eye fell on thatmast. But Lord, sir, the fearful seathat was raging between her and us !—for where we were was deepish water,and the waves regular; but all aboutthe wreck was the sand, and the wateron it was running ia fury all sorts ofways, rushing up in tall columns offoam as high as a ship's mainyard, andthundering so loudly that, though wewere to windward, we could hear it,above the gale ami the boiling of theseas around us. ff? might have shookeven a man who wanted to die to lookat it, if he didn't know what theBradford can go through. I ran myeye over the men's faces. ' Let slipthe tow-rope,' bawled Dick Goldsmith.' Up foresail,' I shouted, and two minutesafter we had sighted that mast we weredead before the wind, our storm foresailtaut as a drum-skin, our boat's stemheading full for the broken seas andthe lonely stranded vessel in the midstof them. \ft was well that there wassomething "In front of us to keep oureyes that way, and that none of usthought of looking astern, or the sightof the high and frightful seas whichraged after us might have played oldHarry with weak nerves. iSome ofthem came with such force that theyleapt right over the boat, and the airwas dark with water flying a dozenyards high oveV us in broad solid sheets,which fell with a roar like the explosionof a gun ten and a dozen fathoms ahead.But we took no notice of these seaseven when we were in the thick of thebroken waters, and all the hands holdingon to the thwarts for dear life. Everythought was upon the mast that wasgrowing bigger and clearer, and some-times when a sea hove us high we couldjust see the hull, with the5 water aswhite as milk flying over it. (The mastwas what they call ' bright,' that is,scraped and varnished, and we knewthat if there was anything living aboardthat doomed ship we should find it onthat mast; and we strained our eyeswith all our might, but could see nothingthat looked like a man. But on asudden I caught sight of a length ofcanvas streaming out of the top, and all

j of us seeing it we raised a shout, and ai few minutes after we saw the men.l^Riey were all dressed in yellow oilskins,Nind the mast being of that colour wasthe reason why we did not see them

I sooner. They looked a whole mob ofpeople, and one of us roared out, 'Allhands are there, men !' and I answered,' Aye, the whole ship's company, andwe'll have them all ! ' for though, as

i we afterwards knew, there were onlyeleven of them, yet, as I have said, theylooked a great number huddled togetherin th.it top, and I made sure the wholeship's company were there. jBy thistime we were pretty close to the ship,and a fearful wreck she looked, withher mainmast and mizenmast gone, andher bulwarks washed away, and greatlumps of timber and planking rippingout of her and going overboard withevery pour of the seas. J We let go our'anchor fifteen fathoms to windwardof her, and as we did so we saw thepoor fellows unlashing themselves anddropping one by one over the top intothe lee rigging. As we veered out cableand drove down under her stern, Ishouted to the men on the wreck to benda piece of wood on to a line and throw

,it overboard for us to lay hold of.!iThey did this, but they had to get aftfirst, and I feared for the poor, half-perished creatures again and again as Isaw them scrambling along the lee rail,stopping and holding on as the moun-tainous seas swept over the hull, andthen creeping a bit further aft in thepause. There was a horrible muddle ofspars and torn canvas and riggingunder her lee, but we could not guesswhat a fearful sight was there untilour hawser having been made fast tothe wreck, we had hauled ihe Life-boatclose under her quarter, ffhere lookedto be a whole score of* dead bodies

j knocking about among the spars. Itstunned me for a moment, for I hadthought all hands were in the foretop,and never dreamt of „ so many liveshaving been lost. JSeventeen weredrowned, and there they were, most ofthem, and the body of the captain,lashed to the head of the mizenmast, soas to look as if he were leaning over it,his head stiff upright and his eyeswatching us, and the stir of the seas


made him appear to be struggling toget to us. I thought he was alive, andcried to the men to hand him in, butsomeone said he was killed when themizenmast fell, and had been dead fouror five hours. jThis was a dreadfulshock ; I never remember the like ofit. I can't hardly get those fixed eyesout of my sight, sir, and I lie awake forhours of a night, and so' does TomCooper, and others of us, seeing thosebodies torn by the spars and bleeding,floating in the water alongside themiserable ship.

"Well, sir, the rest of this lamentablestory has been told by the mate of thevessel, and I don't know that I couldadd anything to it. We saved theeleven men, and I have since heard thatall of them are doing well, .flf I mayspeak, as Coxswain of the Life-boat, Iwould like to say that all hands con-cerned in this rescue, them in the tugas well as the crew of the boat, did whatmight be expected of English sailors—for such they are, whether you callsome of them boatmen or not; and Iknow in my heart, and say it withoutfear, that from the hour of leavingBamsgate Harbour to the momentwhen we sighted the wreck's mast,there was only one thought in all ofus, and that was that the Almightywould give us the strength and directus how to save the lives of the poorfellows to whose assistance we hadbeen sent." /

Since his retirement, Coxswain FISHlived a quiet life at Ramsgate, alwayspreserving a keen interest in the workof the Life-boat on every part of thecoast, and occasionally speaking on

behalf of the Institution for the benefitof some Branch. To quote a passagefrom the Kent Argus of 1891, "Quietand unobtrusive to a degree, theCoxswain of the Life-boat is an honest,bluff and genuine seafarer to the heart'score. He is not a man given to speakof his own deeds, even although hemay feel pardonable pride in doing so.True as steel, and ever ready at duty'scall, he has not an enemy amongst thosewho know him."

Fish was a staunch teetotaller and,in view of this fact, the following littleincident is characteristic of the man.At a dinner which is given to the crewof the Ramsgate Life-boat periodicallyunder the terms of a bequest from thelate Admiral Back, Coxswain FISH, asusual, took only water. But in thecourse of the evening the men wereinformed that he had provided " beerall round " for them at his expense. Itis not surprising that a man of thistype and temperament was universallyliked and respected among his fellow-citizens. In a letter of sympathywritten to his son, the Secretary of theInstitution said :—

"At a time like the present, whenEngland is fighting a tremendous battlein the struggle for the freedom ofEurope, the loss of a man like yourfather comes as a reminder of the finestqualities of our race, and is a stirringmessage to younger men to take partin the splendid conflict which is nowwaging. Neither soldier nor sailorcould wish to take into battle a stouterheart, a finer spirit, or a steadier nervethan that which CHARLES FISH carriedwith him whenever he set foot in theLife-boat."

50 THE LIFE-BOAT. [2xD AUGUST, 1915.

Services of the Life-boats.Ballycotton, Co. Cork—At 6.50 A.M. on

the 1st January a message was receivedat the Coast-guard Signal Station fromthe captain of the s.s. Pinna, ofLondon, to the effect that he was indistress and required immediate assist-ance. The vessel was drifting before aterrific S.W. gale, and it appeared likelythat she might be wrecked at anymoment on the rocks in the vicinity.The information was promptly conveyedto the Coxswain, Richard Harding, whoimmediately summoned his crew, andthe Life-boat T. P. Hearne was launchedin the teeth of one of the worst galesthat had been experienced for manyyears. The boat behaved splendidly inthe tremendous sea running, and aftera difficult passage .succeeded in reachingthe distressed vessel. At that timeher anchors were holding, and thecaptain threw a line to the Life-boatand asked the Coxswain to stand byand render assistance if it should berequired.

Towards the afternoon the stormgrew worse, and as two steamers werein the vicinity of the Pinna theCoxswain decided to take his boat toKnockadown, where she could remainin readiness to put off promptly tothe vessel again, if the captain sig-nalled for him. Later in the afternoon,as it was becoming dangerous for theboat to remain at Knockadown, theCoxswain again set out and with greatdifficulty brought the boat to Youghal,where the crew, who were very coldand hungry, were well looked after.Four men remained on watch until jfour o'clock next morning in case signals ;should be made from the Pinna, andabout 5 o'clock tug-boats arrived on thescene and towed the vessel into Queens-town Harbour. The weather hadmoderated somewhat about this hour jand the Life-boat started to return to |her station, where she arrived at |11 o'clock on the 2nd January. j

The Honorary Secretary in reporting ;this case spoke in the most eulogisticterms of the conduct of the crew of theLife-boat under very trying circum-stances, and the Committee of Manage-}

j ment granted the men an additional| monetary reward.

j Southend-on-Sea, Essex.—At 1.30 P.M.| on the 1st January during moderatelyi rough weather Acting Coxswain CulhamI received a message stating that a bargeappeared to be in difficulties. Thecrew of the Life-boat James StevensNo. 9 at once proceeded to the pier-head and the boat put to sea. Thevessel proved to be the barge Outsider,of Rochester, bound for Leigh, ladenwith ballast. When the Life-boatreached her the master expressed histhanks to the crew for coming to hisassistance, but stated that as theweather was moderating he did notwish to leave his vessel, but would beglad if the Life-boat would stand by.She accordingly did so until the Cox-swain was satisfied that the barge wouldrequire no further help.

Harwich, Essex.—On. the 1st January,in response to a report made by one ofthe Great Eastern Railway Steamersthat a vessel was ashore on the SouthShipwash Sands, flying signals ofdistress, the Steam Life-boat City ofGlasgow was launched. When nearingthe sand the Life-boat spoke a vesselwhich was lying at anchor, and thisvessel, which was the Harriet, reportedthat the crew of the stranded vessel,twenty-five in number, were on board,and that they did not wish to be landedby the Life boat; the latter, therefore,returned ashore, where she arrived at7.45 P.M. At about 9 P.M. a naval wire-less message was received stating thatthe captain and chief officer were still onboard the stranded vessel and that noneof the ship's boats was left. TheLife-boat, therefore, again put off, wascarefully manoeuvred alongside, andsaved the two men. The Life-boat thenleft the wreck and steamed to thes.s. Harriet, and informed them thatthe captain and chief officer had beenrescued. When she arrived, the crewof the wrecked vessel, who were still onboard the Harriet, elected to be takenashore, and the Life-boat, having taken

AUGUST, 1915.] THE LIFE-BOAT. 51

them on board, proceeded to Harwichwhere she landed the men at 3.20 A.M.The wrecked vessel was the steamerObidense, of Bergen, bound fromRotterdam to the United States witha general cargo. i

Palling and Cromer, Norfolk.—Thes.s. New Oporto, of West Hartlepool, !

whilst bound from Middlesborough toLondon with a cargo of iron, on the8th January, stranded on the MiddleHaisborough Sands. The crew of thePalling Life-boat Hearts of Oak and theGromer Boat Louisa Heartwell wereassembled and the boats put off to herassistance. On arrival arrangementswere made with the master of thesteamer to try to save the vessel, andseveral Life-boatmen were placed onboard to jettison the cargo. The Life-boats reached the vessel soon after ten ,'o'clock in the morning and the work ]was continued on board until about8 P.M. when, owing to the wind andsea increasing, the hatches had to beclosed. At about 11 P.M. it was foundthat there was a considerable amountof water in the stoke-hole and thesteamer had taken a list to starboard;it was decided, therefore, to abandonthe vessel, and ten of the men weretaken off by the Palling Boat, and theremainder, seven in number, by theCromer Boat. The Life-boats thenreturned to their respective stations.The vessel eventually became a total :wreck. I

Montroie, Forfarshire Early in themorning of the 8th January some ofthe motor fishing-boats put to sea, the ;weather at the time being moderatewith but little wind. Later the windshifted into the eastward and broughtup a very heavy sea, causing the boatsto run for safety. Three, however,were not sufficiently prompt in return-ing ashore and, as their return wasattended by considerable danger tothose on board, the Life-boat SarahJane Turner was dispatched to theirassistance. One of the boats shippeda heavy sea in crossing the bar, buteventually all three succeeded in gettinginto safety.

Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.- - On the13th January the Life-boat ColonelStock was launched during foggyweather to the assistance of the ketchThe Fane, of Bridgwater, which hadstranded at Sand Point. There was a 'strong westerly breeze blowing at thetime and the sea was rough. Whenthe Life-boat reached the vessel thecrew of three hands were promptlytaken off and conveyed ashore, the Boatbeing moored in the harbour for thenight.

Lynmouth, North Devon.—At 1 A.M.on the Hth January, Coxswain JohnCrocombe, received a message from theCoast-guard Station stating that inform-ation had been received by telephone tothe effect that a vessel was firing signalsof distress in Woody Bay. He at oncetook steps to summon the crew and theLife - boat Pritchard Frederick Gainerwas launched and proceeded in tow ofa steamer to the scene of the casualty.When about a mile off the strandedvessel the Life-boatmen sighted a rowing- ,boat burning lights, and this proved tobe the ship's boat containing all thecrew of nine hands. The Life-boat tookthe men on board and conveyed themin safety to Lynmouth, at the same timetowing the empty boat in. The vessel,which became a total wreck throughrunning on to the rocks, was the steamtrawler Mikaga, of Cardiff, and wasbound at the time from Cardiff to theIrish Sea. The weather was moderatelyrough, and the women of the villagerendered much valuable help both inthe launching and in hauling up theLife-boat, as so many of the men wereaway on active service.

Moelfre, Anglesea—The s.s. Earl ford,of Glasgow, was observed in distressabout three miles from Moelfre Life-boat Station on the 16th January, andthe Life-boat Charles and Eliza Laurawas promptly launched to her assistance.On reaching the vessel the Life-boattook off the crew of ten men and landedthem at Moelfre. The wind was blowinga gale when the Life-boat was launched,but it moderated somewhat after themen had been rescued.


Clacton - on - Sea and Walton - on - the-Naze, Essex. — During a moderatenortherly gale on the 17th January,a wireless message was received statingthat a trawler was ashore on theBarrow Sand. This message was con-veyed both to Clacton and to Walton,and as a result the Albert EdwardMotor Life-boat from the former stationand the James Stevens, No. 14 MotorLife-boat, from the latter station, pro-ceeded to the 'assistance of the vessel.When the Clacton boat reached thescene of the casualty there was notsufficient water for her to get alongside,but when the tide flowed she did so.The vessel proved to be the steamtrawler Eaton, of Hull, which wasengaged in war defence work. Laterthe Walton boat arrived on the scene,and both Life-boats stood by the vesselto assist her if necessary. Fortunately,the Eaton was able to get elear of thesands under her own steam, and theLife-boats returned to their respectivestations. In this case the HarwichSteam Life-boat also went out, but herservices were not required.

Cromer, Norfolk On the night ofthe 18th January signals of distresswere seen in the vicinity of the Shering-ham Shoal, and the Life-boat LouisaHeart-well was launched as soon as hercrew could be assembled. A veryheavy sea was running, and greatdifficulty Was experienced in launchingthrough the heavy surf, a very heavyhail squall adding to the men's difficul-ties. Coxswain Blogg proceeded in thedirection where the flares were lastseen, but failing to find any vessel introuble, spoke a steamer which was atanchor in the vicinity of the sands.He then learnt that a small sailingvessel had passed near the steamer, andbad burnt a flare in a south-westerlydirection, also that flares had been seenin a south-easterly direction, but thatthe lights of the latter vessel had dis-appeared at about 2.30 A.M. during avery heavy hail squall. The Life-boatproceeded to search for the vessel, butfailing to find her in the darkness,decided to anchor until daylight. Atdaybreak the Coxswain sighted a smallsailing vessel, and at once proceeded

i to her. She proved to be the ketchThomas Stratton, of Maldon, boundfrom Hull to Grays with a cargo ofcoal. The master reported that he

i had burnt flares for assistance duringthe night, as he had drifted into twofathoms of water, and had shipped agreat deal of water in. the very heavy searunning. In addition, the ketch hadsprung a leak. Six of the Life-boatmenwere put on board and assisted to manthe pumps and set sails, as the crew offour hands were in an exhausted con-dition. When the Coxswain boardedthe Thomas Stratton he saw the mast ofanother vessel on the sands, apparentlyabout one mile distant. A thoroughsearch was made through glasses, butas no sign of life or of a ship's boatcould be seen, the Life-boatmen pro-ceeded with their work of saving theketch. When they had got under waya course was set for Yarmouth, and atabout 3 P.M. on the 19th January theyeventually succeeded in getting thevessel into Yarmouth Roads. It sub-sequently transpired that the steamerGeorge Boyle was lost on the Shering-ham Shoal during the night with all ofher crew, and there is no doubt it wasthe mast of this vessel which the Cox-swain observed from the deck of theThomas Stratton.

During the whole of the time theLife-boat was afloat the weather wasexceedingly bad, and in one of thesqualls the Life-boat's mizen mast wascarried away. In reporting the casethe Honorary Secretary stated that itwas an awful night when the boatwas launched. The ground was whitewith hail, and the cold intense, and heconsidered that the service was one ofthe roughest and hardest that had everbeen performed by the Cromer Life-boat, and, further, that great creditwas due to the Coxswain and crew. Inrecognition of the excellent servicesperformed on this occasion, the Com-mittee of Management granted each ofthe crew an additional monetary reward.

Fishguard, Pembrokeshire At about5.20 A.M. on the 22nd January, signalsof distress were observed on theschooner Hetty, of Falmouth, which wasin Fishguard Bay. In response the


crew of the Motor Life-Boat Charter-house were assembled, and the boatproceeded to the vessel, which by this jtime had drifted outside the eastern Ibreakwater and run ashore. When jthe Life-boat reached the distressedvessel the crew of four hands wererescued, together with their dog, andlanded in safety at the quay. Duringthis service a whole N.N.W. gale wasblowing, with a heavy sea, and theweather was very cold, with rain andsleet falling.

Ramsgate, Kent.—At 9.45 A.M. on the22nd January a message was receivedby wireless telegraphy stating that asteamer had run on to the remains ofa wreck, near the North-West GoodwinBuoy, and wanted immediate assist-ance. At the time a moderate W.S.W.breeze was blowing, and the air wasthick with snow. The Life-boat in towof the harbour tug promptly put to sea,and found the s.s. Goulburn hard andfast on top of a wreck, with her fore-hold full of water. The vessel wasbound at the time from Sunderland toAustralia with, a cargo of coal. As itwas necessary to discharge part of thecargo, the Life-boat proceeded to Barns-gate for further assistance, and thenreturned to the vessel. Later, com-munication was effected with tugs, andthey eventually succeeded in towingthe vessel clear and conveying her insafety to London.

Padttow, Cornwall—At 6.30 P.M. onthe 23rd January a message was receivedstating that a vessel was in distressabout ten miles off Trevose Head. TheInstitution's tug was dispatched to herassistance, but in the darkness failed tofind the vessel. She then returnedashore, and, a further message havingbeen received next day respecting avessel in distress, the tug again put tosea. She found the oil tank steamerWeehawken, of Swansea, disabled, andthe tug, together with two steamtrawlers, was engaged to try and savethe vessel. Together they towed her tothe neighbourhood of Barry, where theyarrived at about 4.30 P.M. next day.The men were then engaged throughoutthe night on the pumps, and next day

the vessel was successfully docked.During this service there was a freshN.N.E. breeze with a moderate sea.

Margate, Kent.—At 3.30 P.M. on the24th January information was receivedthat a four - masted barque — theCedarbank, of Tvedestrand—was ashoreon the Long Sand, and that two agentswere anxious to get to the vessel as shewas in want of assistance. As theweather looked threatening, and thevessel had been ashore for some days, itwas considered advisable to send theLife-boat to her assistance. The ElizaHarriet was, therefore, launched andproceeded to the Long Sand, but in thedark and the haze she was unable tofind the barque. While searching shefell in with a tug and ascertained thebearings of the distressed vessel. Afurther search was made, but this alsoproved unsuccessful. The Life-boatmenthen decided to wait until daylight, andas soon as they were able to see theyproceeded to the barque which wasaground. After a consultation withthe captain, the Life-boat's crew wereengaged to jettison the cargo, and theywere employed on this work until5.30 P.M. the following day, when thevessel was re-floated. The Life-boatthen remained by her for three hoursuntil they ascertained that she was allright, afterwards returning to herstation.

Lowestoft, Suffolk.—At 5.45 A.M. onthe 2nd February, Coxswain John Swanwas called out by the Coast-guard as avessel was burning flares as a signal ofdistress. He at once assembled hiscrew and launched the Life-boatKentwell, which proceeded to the New-combe Sands in tow of a tug. Theythere found the sprit sail barge Sirdar,of Grays, ashore and full of water, withheavy seas breaking over her. TheLife-boat veered down to the vessel, andthe crew of two men were immediatelytaken off and brought into harbour.The vessel became a total wreck. Laterin the day the Life-boat again proceededto the vessel, but it was impossible todo anything to save her. At the timeof the service a strong S.W. by S.breeze was blowing with a heavy sea.


North Sunderland, NorthumberlandAt 9.20 P.M. on the 3rd February signalsof distress were heard from the Long-stone Lighthouse, and steps wereimmediately taken to launch the Life-boat Forster Fawsett. Owing to thestate of the tide and the muddy natureof the shore very considerable difficultywas experienced in launching the boat,but after a great deal of hard work itwas successfully accomplished. Shefound the steam trawler Segal, ofGrimsby, ashore on the rocks on theFame Island, and the crew were engagedto try and save the vessel, which wasreturning from the fishing ground. Aheavy kedge anchor was laid out, andafter two hours' work the vessel wasrefloated, apparently but little damaged.As the vessel was able to proceed onher journey, the Life-boat returned toher station. At the time of the accidentthe weather was hazy with a moderateS.S.E. wind, but while the Life-boatwas returning to her station the windincreased to a strong gale.

Mumbles, Glamorganshire.—At 3 A.M.on the 4th February the Life-boatCharlie Medland was called out to theassistance of the schooner Til Away, ofFowey, which was in distress about twomiles N.E. of Mumbles Head, andmaking signals of distress. The Life-boat proceeded in the direction in whichthe lights had been seen, and eventuallygot alongside the schooner which haddragged her anchors. As the masterof the vessel was of opinion that therewas a danger of his vessel going topieces he requested the Life-boat totake the crew off. This request wascomplied with, and the crew, three innumber, including the captain, werelanded at the Mumbles. The sea washeavy at the time.

Gorleston, Suffolk. — On the 5thFebruary, when a moderate southerlybreeze was blowing, a wireless messagewas received? stating that a vessel wasashore on the South Scroby Sands.This happened at 5.45 A.M., and withintwenty minutes the No. 1 Life-boatMark Lane was on her way, under sail,to the distressed vessel. When nearingher the boat fell away to leeward and

anchored until H.M.S. Halcyon cameand towed her to windward. The Life-boat then bore down on the strandedvessel, which was a submarine, veereddown alongside, and remained thereat the request of those on beard untilthe submarine was refloated. The Life-boat then sailed back to harbour.

' Southwold, Suffolk. — The ketchZenobia, of London, whilst bound fromSunderland to London with a cargo ofbottles, was overtaken by a S.S.E. galewhen riding abreast Southwold Harbour,on the 5th February. At the time themaster was alone on board, the twohands having landed earlier in the dayand being unable to get back. As thesea was much too heavy for an ordinaryboat to attempt to put to sea the Life-boat Rescue was launched and proceededto the vessel, which was on a lee shore.Subsequently the Life-boat assisted theketch into harbour.

Filey, Yorkshire.—Early in the morn-ing of the 13th February twenty-two ofthe fishing-cobles put to sea in moderateweather. At about daybreak the windbacked into the E.S.E. and increased toa strong gale bringing up a very heavysea. Ten of the cobles at once madefor the shore and got into safety, butthe other twelve put out to sea andwhen attempting to return to landencountered great risk of being swamped.At about 9 A.M. the Life-boat Hollon theThird was launched to their assistanceand stood by the boats until they allsucceeded in getting into safety. Life-belts were served out to the men in thecobles as they ran for the shore, onaccount of the danger.

Scarborough, Yorkshire.—At about 11A.M. on the 13th February, J. Crawford,the Second Coxswain of the LifeboatQueensbury, received information thattwo cobles were in difficulties about fourmiles off Scarborough, and as the sea wasvery rough and becoming worse he wentto their assistance. After the boat hadbeen at sea about an hour it was seenthat it would not be possible for her todeal with both cobles, and a steamtrawler named the Tarantula was,therefore, also dispatched. The Life-


boat succeeded in reaching one of thecobles named the Friendship and tookthe crew of three hands on board,towing the coble in safety to theharbour. The crew of the other coblewere saved by the Tarantula.

Newbiggin, Northumberland. — Sixteenof the cobles belonging to Newbigginwere overtaken by a strong gale whichsprang up from the E.S.E, on themorning of the 13th February. At11 A.M. it was blowing a whole gale andthe sea got very heavy. The coblesmade for land, and as they were ingreat danger the Life-boat Ada Lewiswas launched. One of the cobles—theSea Flowei—got into broken water andwas capsized, but fortunately the Life-boat was able to rescue two of the crew,and the third was picked up by anothercoble. The men had a very severestruggle before they were picked up.The Lifeboat also stood by the otherfifteen cobles while they were gettinginto safety.

Staithes, Yorkshire. — On the 13thFebruary, at 1.30 P.M., CoxswainWebster reported that seven cobleswere at sea to the N.W. and that astrong wind, blowing from the E.S.E.,would make it difficult for them toreturn. The Life-boat James Gowlandwas, therefore, launched, and stood bythe boats while they were coming intoport, as the passage was one of con-siderable danger on account of theheavy seas. All the boats got in insafety.

Douglas, I»le of Man—On the eveningof the 13th February, Coxswain RobertLeece observed that a schooner, which hadbeen lying in Douglas Outer Harbourfor 'some days windbound, was flyingsignals of distress. The Life-boat CivilService No. 6 was launched, and withconsiderable difficulty succeeded inreaching the distressed vessel. Whennear her the Coxswain let go his anchorand veered down to the schooner. Onaccount of the very high sea runningand the close proximity of the vessel tothe rocks the operation was attendedwith considerable risk, but the boatsucceeded in rescuing the crew of four

hands and their dog. The boat thenreturned ashore. Owing to the severityof the weather it was impossible tore-house the boat, and she was placedat moorings until the weather moderated.The schooner was the Catherine Latham,of Chester, bound from Connah's Quayto Dublin with a cargo of bricks andtiles. A strong E.S.E. gale prevailedat the time.

Cloughey, Co. Down—The Life-boatJohn was launched at 4.40 A.M. on the14th February, and rescued the crewof twenty-four of the s.s. Antonio, ofBilbao. The vessel had stranded onthe North Rock and, when the Life-boat reached her, it was hoped that itwould be possible to save her. Afterremaining near the vessel for some timeit was found that she had made so much•water that it was desirable to conveythe crew into safety. A strong N.E.wind prevailed at the time of the acci-dent, and the sea was heavy.

Spurn, Yorkshire.—On the morningof the 15th February, during a mode-rate northerly breeze, with a heavyground sea, a steamer was reportedashore about one mile N.W. of DonnaNook, flying signals of distress. TheLife-boat was launched, and when shereached the position indicated, foundthe steamer C. T. 8 ashore. At therequest of the captajn the Life-boatconveyed a wire hawser to a tug whichwas standing by. Efforts were madeto tow the vessel afloat, but they provedunsuccessful, and, as the services of theLife-boat were no longer required, shereturned to her station.

North Sunderland, Northumberland.—Signals of distress called out the Life-boat Forster Fawsett at 4.40 A.M. on the16th February. She found the steamerChr. Ghristensen, of Copenhagen, ashoreon the south end of the LongstoneIsland, where she had stranded whilstbound to the Tyne to load with coalfor New York. The crew refused toleave the vessel, and at the request ofthe captain the Life-boat stood by untilthe next tide, when an attempt wasmade to refloat the vessel with tbeassistance of two tugs. These efforts


proved unsuccessful and, as the weather•was getting worse, the crew, nineteen

I in number, were saved by the Life-boat.At the time of the service a strong S.gale was blowing with a very rough sea.

Holyhead, Anglesey.—At 10.50 P.M. onthe 16th February information wasreceived that a ship close to the endof the breakwater was making signalsof distress. The steam Life-boat Dukeof Northumberland was promptly dis-patched to her assistance and foundthe schooner Reaper, of Castletown,with her sails badly damaged. Shehad dragged her anchors and driftedright on to the breakwater, in such aposition that two of the crew managedto jump ashore from the rigging. Thethree men remaining on board thevessel were saved by the Life-boat.At the time of the service a strongS. gale was blowing with a very rough sea.

Flamborough, Yorkshire. — At 11.45P.M. on the 16th February informationwas received that a vessel was makingsignals of disbress about two miles tothe south of the Head, and at aboutmidnight the Life-boat Matthew Middle-wood was launched. A whole S.S.E.gale was blowing at the time with aheavy sea. On reaching the positionindicated the Life-boat found the s.s.Rhenania, of London, ashore on therocks, and rescued the crew of seven-teen hands. At the time of theaccident the vessel was bound fromLondon to Blyth in ballast.

Looe, Cornwall At 7 A.M. on the17th February a telephone message wasreceived from Port Wrinkle statingthat a large steamer was at anchor sixand a half miles off the shore andflying signals of distress. A strongS.S.W. gale was blowing and the Life-boat Rider was, with considerable diffi-culty, launched. When the Life-boatgot close to the steamer she let goher anchor and veered down alongside,when six men of the crew of the vesselimmediately jumped into her. Shethen had to sheer off on account ofthe heavy seas, and as the steamer'sAnchors were holding, the captainrequested the Life-boat to return to

Looe and wire for tugs to come tohis assistance. At 2 P.M., as only onetug had come to the vessel's help, theLife-boat went back to the steamer,although the weather had moderatedconsiderably. In the meantime anothertug arrived on the scene, and the vesselwas eventually taken in tow. TheLife-boat accompanied her for somelittle distance and then, finding that nofurther assistance was required, returnedto her station. The vessel was thesteamer Panama Transport, of WestHartlepool, bound from Havre to New-port in ballast. She was disabled owingto the loss of her propeller.

North Deal, Kent.—During a strongS.S.W. gale on the 17th February, theschooner Proba, of Bideford, whilstbound from Charlestown to Londonwith a cargo of china clay stranded onthe Brake Sands. Information of thecasualty reached North Deal at 9.45A.M., and the Life-boat Charles Dibdinwas promptly sent to her assistance.A very heavy sea was running, and thelaunch was only accomplished withconsiderable difficulty. When the Life-boat reached the sands she found theseas making a clean breach over thevessel. The anchor was let go andthe Life-boat veered down. It wasonly with great risk that the crew, fivein number, were successfully rescued.As soon as the boat got near to theschooner one boy jumped into the Life--boat and two men got hold of the boat'smizen halyards and got into the boatin that way. A line was then thrownon board, and the captain made it fastto another boy, who was hauled throughthe sea into safety. The captainawaited a favourable opportunity andjumped into the boat. The Life-boat-men, when there was a smooth, got intheir anchors after a hard task, andstarted for the shore. Owing to thestrong wind and the state of the tidethey were unable to make Deal and,therefore, ran for Eamsgate, where thefive shipwrecked men were landed. Asthe weather continued very bad, theboat was left at Bamsgate and the crewreturned home. Next day they pro-ceeded to Ramsgate and took their boatback to her station.


Summary of the Meetings of the Committee ofManagement.

Thursday, 15th April, 1915.The Rt. Hon. the EARL WALDEGBAVE, P.O., !

V.P., in the Chair. iBeported the death of Sir JOHN CAMERON i

LAMB, C.B., C.M.G., V.P., Deputy Chairman [of the Institution.

The following Resolution was moved bythe Chairman (The Right Hon. EARLWALDEGBAVE, P.O.), seconded by SirGODFREY BARING, Bart., M.P., and carriedunanimously, that the following Minute be 1placed on record, and that a copy be forwarded jto Lady Lamb, with an expression of the !deepest sympathy of the Committee :—

" The Committee of Management of theROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTIONhave received with sorrow the news of thedeath of their late Deputy Chairman, SirJOHN CAMERON LAMB, C.B., C.M.G., Vice-President of the Institution. His invaluableservices, rendered with whole-hearted devo-tion for eleven years, as Member of Committeeand Deputy Chairman, have left an inefface-able impression on the Life-boat service ; andhis kindness of heart and unselfish considera-tion for others will not cease to be borne inaffectionate remembrance by all who knewhim." i

Reported the death of Commander ST.VINCENT NBPEAN, M.V.O., R.N., late Chief jInspector of Life-boats, and passed the follow- |ing vote of condolence:—- j

"That the Committee of Managementexpress their sorrow at the death of Com-mander ST. VINCENT NEPEAN, M.V.O., lateChief Inspector of Life-boats, who retired in j1909, after thirty years' valuable service, jduring which he had given himself with iunstinted devotion and the utmost loyalty to |the interests of the Institution."

Read and confirmed the minutes of theprevious meeting.

Road and confirmed the minutes of theBuilding, Finance and Correspondence, andWreck and Reward Sub-Committees, andordered that their recommendations becarried into effect.

Reported the despatch to her station of thenew Life-boat for Lyme Regis.

Read the reports of one of the DistrictInspectors on his visits to the followingStations:—

Northern District.—Fraserburgh.Western District.—Holyhead Nos. 1 and 2.Irish District.—Kilmore, Rosslare Harbour,

Kingstown, Youghal, Ballycotton, Castletown,Port St. Mary, Port Erin and Peel.

Mr. HABGOOD, Chairman of the WorthingBranch, also visited the following Stations inthe Southern District:—Southsea, East-bourne (2), Hastings and Hayling Island.

Presented the reports of the DistrictOrganizing Secretaries on their visits to theBranches in their respective areas.

Reported the receipt of the following specialcontributions since the previous meeting:—CIVIL SERVICE LIFE-BOAT FOND £ s. d.

(Balance of rewards paid toCrews of Civil Service Life-boatsfor services in 1914) . . . . 146 11 9

FRIENDLY BROTHERS OF ST.PATRICK (London Knot) . . 10 10 -

Major THOMAS BOTT . . . . 10 - -Mrs. MARION HARBISON . . . 10 - -C. V. SWAN, Esq 10 - -"G." 10 - -H.M.S.C<zr»aroore,Collections,etc. 8 - -—To be severally thanked.

Reported the receipt of the followinglegacies:— jg g. a.The late Mrs. ANN ALLEN, of

Spalding, Lines., for 2 Life-boats on the Lincolnshire Coast 6588 9 9 •

The late Miss M. HARKER-SMITH,,of Tunbridge Wells . . . . 1000 - -

The late Mrs. ELLEN HEWETT, ofLymington 250 - -

The late Miss ANN S. HUDSON, ofS. Godstone 50 - -

The late Mrs. HANNA M. BELL, ofStockton-on-Tees 42 5 7

Also specially recognised the good services,extending over many years, of the followingHonorary Secretaries of Branches of theInstitution: —Miss A. EDWARDS, Clevedon;Mr. H. W. BAGGS, Keighley; and Mr. W. J,CULHANE, Runoorn.

Reported the closing of the PenmonStation.

Paid £9,263 9s. 3d. for sundry charges inconnection with the maintenance of thevarious Life-boat establishments.

Voted £374 3s. 2d. to pay the expenses ofthe following Life-boat services:—

LivesLife-boat Vesse!. saved.

Abersoch .

Abersoch .

Abersoch .

Arklow (Motor)

Bembridge

Cardigan .

Clacton-on-Sea(Motor)

Schooner Dependence, ofLittlehampton.

Landed 4.Schooner Glanfeadon, of

St. Ives. Landed 5.Schooner Douduard, of

Padstow. Landed 5.Schooner Christiania

Davies, of BarrowSchooner Theodora, of

Newcastle. Assistedto save vessel and

Ketch Clara, of MilfordHaren

Barge Mary Ann, ofHarwich. Stood byvessel.


Life-boat.Donaghadee

(Motor)

EastbourneNo. 2

Gorleston No. 1

Grimsby .

North Deal .

Padstow No. 2

PeterheadNo. 1

Porthdinllaen

Bamsey

Bobin Hood'sBay

Scarborough .

Teesmouth(Motor)

Whitby No. 2 ,

Wioklow(Motor)

LivesVessel. saved.

S.S. Upas, of. Newry.Boat of S.S. AilsaCraig, of Belfast . . 3

S.S. Gairntorr, of New-castle. Landed 8.

S.S. San Bicardo, ofLondon. Stood byvessel.

Four Pile Drivers. Stoodby vessels.

H.M Patrol Boat No.688. Stood by vessel.

Schooner Frances, ofLancaster. Landed 5.

S.S.Kremlin, of London.Stood by vessel.

Ketch James, of Car-narvon 3

Ketch New Leader, ofKamsey . . . . 4

Two cobles of BobinHood's Bay. Stood bycobles.

Five cobles of Filey andScarborough. Stoodby cobles.

S.S. Spiral, of Christi-auia. Landed 22.

Twelve cobles and amotor fishing-boat ofWhitby. Stood byboats.

Barque Vincennes, ofHavre. Bendered as-sistance.

Caister No. 1 Life-boat assisted to save theS.S. Buccaneer, of West Hartlepool and 21hands; Cromer Life-boat assisted to save theS.S. Ida, of Haugesund; Hastings Life-boatsaved the ketch Reward, of Bamsgate; Barns-gate Life-boat saved the schooner Gravesend,of London; Bedcar Life-boat rendered as-sistance to, and landed 18 from the S.S. Spiral,of Christiania ; and Walton - on - the - NazeMotor Life-boat assisted to save the S.S. Olas-salt, of Aberdeen.

Also voted £648 16s. 2d. to pay the expensesof the following Life-boat launches, assembliesof crews, etc., with the view of assistingpersons on vessels in distress:—AldeburghNo. 2, Bridlington Quay, Bade, Clovelly,Cresswell, Cullercoats, Dungeness No. 1,Eastbourne No. 2, Eyemouth, Filey, Has-borough, Hastings, Ilfracombe, Lowestoft,Lynmouth, Newbiggin, Newhaven (Motor),North Sunderland, Palling No. 1, Penlee,Penzance, Bedcar, Bobin Hood's Bay, St.David's (Motor), St. Mary's, Scarborough,Seaham (Motor), Selaey, Spurn, Tynemouth(Motor).

Voted £24 12s. 6d. to men injured in theLife-boat service at Aldeburgh, BridlingtonQuay, and Flamborough.

Voted additional rewards to the crews ofthe Bridlington Quay, Newbiggin and Dona-ghadee (Motor) Life-boats, for long andarduous services performed in very roughweather on the 18th March.

Voted a further compassionate grant of £50towards the support of old Life-boatmeii atBamsgate, who had assisted in saving the crewof the Indian Chief, and were now in verypoor circumstances.

Voted £100 to the dependent relatives ofthe late BOBEBT CABB, who lost his life atthe launch of the Bridlington Life-boat invery severe weather on the 18th March. Alsopaid the funeral expenses amounting to £8 4s.

Sent special letters of thanks to the King'sHarbour Master and the Pish Dock Masterfor their valuable assistance in getting theGrimsby Life-boat clear of the Pier End onthe 14th March, during very severe weather.Also voted 10s. to three other men for theirassistance on this occasion.

Voted an Aneroid Barometer to Mr. WM.COUI.DREY, Honorary Secretary of the Bern-bridge Branch, for assisting to save one ofthe helpers who had been washed off his feetby a heavy sea at the launch of the boat onthe 19th March. Also made a monetaryreward to another man who assisted, and totwo Life-boatmen who became exhausted andhad to be landed from the Life-boat.

Voted an additional £15 in compensationfor a horse which fell dead on the occasion ofthe launch of the Hoylake Life-boat on the5th December last. Also discharged a claimof £157 8s. id. from the Bridlington Corpora-tion for two horses drowned at the launch ofthat Life-boat for service on the 18th March.

Voted an Aneroid Barometer, bearing asuitable inscription, to EDWARD TOBBENS,Mate of the S.S. Ailsa Craig, and the sum of£1 each to two men of the crew for saving twoof the crew of the S.S. Upas of Newry, whichfoundered about ten miles south of Dona-ghadee during a hard northerly gale on the18th March.

Beported that the Carnegie Hero FundTrust had granted memorial medallions tothe widows and parents of the men who losttheir lives in the Peterhead Life-boat disasteron the 26th December. Also that they weremaking a monetary grant to the dependentrelatives in two cases.

Wednesday, 21st April, 1915.The Annual General Meeting of the

Governors and friends of the BOYAI< NATIONALLIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION was held this dayin the Council Chamber, Caxton Hall,Westminster, S.W., the Et. Hon. WALTERBUNCIMAN, M.P., in the Chair.

The Meeting was well attended and repre-sentative in character.

The Chairman having alluded to the greatand national character of the operations ofthe Institution, and drawn particular attentionto its work during the war, the Annual Beport(which is published in May) was presented tothe meeting.

The meeting was also addressed by the Bt.Hon. the Lord INVEKCLTDE, Sir GODFREYBABISG, Bart., M.P., Sir B. M. PENROSE


FITZ-GERALD, Bart., the Hon. GEORGECOLVILLE, and the Rt. Hon. the EarlWAtDEGItAVE, P.O.

The officers {or the current year werechosen, and a resolution was moved, secondedand carried unanimously, placing on recordthe meeting's hearty appreciation of the Cox-swains and crews of the Institution's Life-boats, and gratefully acknowledging thevaluable help rendered to the cause by theLocal Committees, Honorary Secretaries,Honorary Treasurers, and Ladies' Auxiliaries.

The following resolution was passed:—" That subscribers of £5 5s. or upwards a yearto the funds of the Institution shall beHonorary Vice-Presidents, and Donors of£26 5s. or upwards to the funds of the In-stitution shall be Honorary Vice-Presidentsfor Life, but shall not, in either case, therebybecome members of the Committee ofManagement."

Recipients of medals during the year 1914attended the meeting and were presented tothe Chairman.

A vote of thanks to the Chairman closedthe proceedings.

The officers' names and the resolutions willbe found in the May issue of the LIFE-BOATJOURNAL on pages 20, 22, and 23.

Thursday, 13th May, 1915.The Rt. Hon. the EARL WALDEGRAVE, P.C.,

was unanimously re-elected Chairman, andSir GODFREY BARING, Bart., M.P., was electedDeputy Chairman of the Committee of Man-agement of the Institution for the ensuingyear.

LORD WALDEGHAVE, having taken the Chair,the members of the Sub-Committees wereelected for the current year.

Read and confirmed the minutes of theprevious meeting.

Read the minutes of the Building, Financeand Correspondence, and Wreck and RewardSub-Committees, and ordered that their re-commendations be carried into effect.

Read the special report of the Chief In-spector of Life-boats respecting the suggestionthat a Motor Life-boat should be placed atTotland Bay, Isle of Wight. Also reported inthis connection the closing of the BrighstoneGrange Station.

Reported the despatch of the new Life-boatto Gourdon.

Read the reports of the District Inspectorson their visits to the following Stations:—Ramsey, Douglas, Hilbre Island, Hoylake,New Brighton Nos. 1 and 2, Formby, Fleet-wood, Lytham, St. Annes, Blackpool, Piel(Barrow), Southport, Arklow, Lyme Regis,Exmouth, Teignmouth, Torquay. Mr. Har-good, chairman of the Worthing Branch, alsovisited Newhaven Station.


Reported the receipt of the following specialcontributions since the previous meeting :—

£ s, d.HER MAJESTY QUEEN ALEXANDRA 100 - -Mr. LEO M. TOKEN 25 - -" A READER OF Punch " . . . 10 - -Mr. J. WALMSLEY 10 - -—To be severally thanked.

Reported the receipt of the followinglegacies:—The late Miss E. M. HULL, of £ s. d.

Great Yarmouth 1811 6 5The late Mr. SAMUEL VEALE, of

Westbourne Terrace, W. . . 187 17 11The late Mr. JOHN J. RICHARDSON,

of Whitehaven 100 - -The late Mr. W. LAMBS, of

Thorpe-on-the-Hill . . . . 50 - -The late Miss ELINOR WOOTTON,

of Barnsbury 20 - -

Specially recognized the good services,extending over many years, of Mr. W. J.OLIVER, Honorary Secretary of the Sunder-land Branch of the Institution.

Paid £6,041 16s. lid. for sundry charges inconnexion with the maintenance of the variousLife-boat establishments.

Voted £37 3s. to pay the expenses of thefollowing Life-boat services:—

livesLite-boat. Teasel. saved.

Filey . . . Boat of the S.S.Eglantine, of NorthShields. Assisted tosave boat and . . . 9

Newhaven H.M. Patrol Boat Lord(Motor) de Ramsey. Assisted

to save vessel.Wexford . . Schooner Harmony, of

Preston 3Lowestoft Life-boat assisted to save the

S.S. Glenpark, of Greenook; and SwanageLife-boat assisted to save the barge Maggie, ofLondon, and her two hands.

Also voted £215 17s. Id. to pay theexpenses of the following Life-boat launches,assemblies of crews, etc., with the view ofassisting persons on vessels in distress:—Cahore, Courtmacsherry, Donna Nook, Dun-more East (Motor), Eyemouth, Ilfracombe,Johnshaven, Mablethorpe, Margate No. 2,Queenstown, St. Abbs (Motor), and St. David's(Motor).

Voted £51 17s. &d. to men injured in theLife-boat service at Aldeburgh, Blackpool,Clacton-on-Sea, Donna Nook, Southend-on-Sea, and Weymouth.

Granted a special reward of £5 to fishermenfor the loss of their boat which was launchedto render assistance to the S.S. Blanka, atRattray Head in October last.

Voted 15s. to three men for their prompt-ness in putting off in a boat and, at slightrisk, rescuing a man who had fallen over-board from a trawler off Lantern Hill, Ilfra-combe, on the 24th March. The weather wasfine and the sea smooth.


Voted £2 10s. to five men for putting off ina boat and saving five men, whose boat was jbeing blown out to sea off the North Fore-land, on the 8th April. A strong N.W. breezewas blowing at the time and the sea wasrough. When picked up the boat was threemiles from land and was in danger of sinking,while all the men were in an exhaustedcondition.

Thursday, 10th June, 1915.The Bt. Hon. the EABL WALDEGBAVE, P.O.,

in the Chair.Bead and confirmed the minutes of the i

previous meeting.Bead and confirmed the minutes of the

Building, Finance and Correspondence, andWreck and Reward Sub-Committees, andordered that their recommendations becarried into effect.

Bead the reports of the District Inspectorson their visits to the following Stations :—

Porthoustock, Coverack, The Lizard, Cadg-with, Porthleven, Falmouth, Polkerris, Meva-gissey, Looe, Dunmore East, Youghal, White-haven, Maryport, Balcary.


Beported the receipt of the following specialcontributions since the previous meeting:—

& s. d."Bath" 1000 - -Mrs. THYNNE (further on account

of the Thomas MastermanHardy Life-boat) . . . . 74 3 1

"White Star" Line Steamers(collected on board) . . . . 25 - -

The LOBD NEWLANDS . . . . 10 - -—To be severally thanked.

Beported the receipt of the followinglegacies:—The late Miss A. W. CLABK HALL, £ s. d.

of Bournemouth—Canada Stockvalue 588 - -

The late Mr. DAVID AHDEBSON,of Edinburgh (further on ac-count) 550 - -

The late Miss ELIZABETH DING-WALL, of Edinburgh . . . . 500 - -

The late Miss LOUISA M. HEBON, £ s. d.ofKirkcaldy 500 - -

The late Miss E. STAITE, of Ley-ton—India Stock value . . . 433 5 7

The late Mr. ALFBED H. PEITS,of Hastings (balance of residue) 308 13 2

The late Miss MABJOBY S. SCHAW,of Glasgow 250 - -

The late Miss AHKIE OBICHTON,of Caterham 100 - -Paid £5,940 for sundry charges in connexion

with the maintenance oi the various Life-boatestablishments.

Voted £35 lls. Gd. to pay the expenses ofthe following Life-boat services:—

LivesLife-boat. Vessel. saved.

Clogher Head. Tug Pulper and a barge.Kemained in attend-ance.

Cromer . . . S.S. Bodil, of Esbjerg . 14Youghal . . A motor - boat and a

punt. Towed boatsto shore and saved . 3

Gorleston No. 1 Life-boat assisted to savethe S.S. Wilhelmina, and the steam trawlerKhartoum, of Hull; and Lowestoft Life-boatassisted to save the Admiralty Mine-SweeperCanton.

Also voted £173 Os. id. to pay the expensesof the following Life-boat launches, assembliesof crews, etc., with the view of assistingpersons on vessels in distress:—Aberdovey,Arbroath, Clacton-on-Sea (motor), Courtmac-skerry, Courtown, Dunbar, Kilmore Quay,Palling No. 1, Penlee, Port Isaac, St. Mary's,Sennen Cove, and Sheringham.

Voted £52 14s. 6d. to men injured in theLife-boat service at Peterhead.

Voted £2 5s. to six men for putting offfrom Aranmore, in a boat and saving threemen whose boat ran on to a rock and sankon the 19th April. The endangered menscrambled on to a rock and made signals,which were responded to by the salvors.There was a strong N.E. breeze at the time,with a rough sea.

Voted £7 10s. to the crew and £5 to thehelpers of the Sheringham Private Life-boatfor saving the crews, twelve in number, offive fishing-boats off Sheringham on the12th May.

NOTICE.

The next number of the LIFE-BOAT JOURNAL will be published onthe 1st November.

THE LIFE-BOAT. · many directions But inciden. the t which won for him Gol the Medad ofl the...

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