WHAT THE LIFEBOATS DO

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 184, 2 May 1929, Page 17

WHAT THE LIFEBOATS DO

THOUSANDS OF LIVES SAVED ON BRITISH COAST. “The crew of the Rye lifeboat responded at an instant’s notice to a cry of distress which called them from their rest, at 5 a.in., to launch their boat in the teeth of an on-shore gale, with no other claim upon them but the call of those in peril on the sea,” wrote Mr. George T. Shee, secretary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, in the “Daily News,” after the terrible tragedy of that heroic response to the call of duty, every member of the crew perishing at Ids post. It is extraordinary how little the average man in the street knows about this wonderful service, which is going on every day, and has been going on every day for 10-1 years, and has been responsible for the rescue of over 61,000 lives. The British coast is the busiest in the world, and it is dangerous. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was established in 1824. At that time there were some 39 lifeboats, the fruit of private benevolence, without permanent support, public or private, the crews without organisation or training or reward. Today the coast is guarded by 207 lifeboats, of which 69 are motor-lifeboats, the latest product of the development of science in boat building and engirje construction; 87 are self-righting lifeboats and 51 are of the non-self-righting type, either the Watson or the Liverpool kind, .each boat being selected by the crew after careful examination by a deputation appointed by them. Something like 3000 men are trained to man these boats, and another 3000 men —and women—are trained to launch them. They are all volunteers, but the institution rewards them for every launch in which they take part, whether it is successful or not. It compensates them for injury, and if they lose their lives it provides pensions for the widows and dependent' children and relatives. The lifeboat men of Britain have given back to Britain thousands of lives, and have given an example of trained, organised, and heroic effort in the service of humanity which has been and is a model to every lifeboat service in the world.