CORRESPONDENCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue XLIX, 6 January 1916, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE

ROYAL ALFRED AGED MERCHANT .SEAMEN'S INSTITUTION.

To the Editor-'

Sir.- —When one. considers the trulv greafc and heroic part British merchant seamen are taking in the war, their claim upon the. generous consideration of all is unquestionably established. Thatone of these brave fellows should stand m need of a helping hand when forced •ky «ige or affliction to abandon the sea would be, one ventures to affirm. an ingratitude to those to whom as a body Britain owes her commercial prosperity, and to whom, to a degree most apparent of late she is indebted for thevery daily necessaries of life. At one time it- could be truly said that Britain was the only great maritime nation without a provision for its merchant seamen, but with the establishment of tho Royal Alfred Aged Merchant Seamen's- Institution that -stigma was -removed, and for half-a-century this great National Charity has provided a home or pension for thousands of aged and destitute seamen of the British mercantile marine. Take 1 many other old established institutions the "Royal Alfred" has felt the pinch of war funds for worth.y objects arising out of the present, nationsrt crisis.

An earnest appeal is therefore made to Britons in all parts of the world to help the Committee of this old Sailors' Charity to make good the deficiency and to answer the urgent "signals of distress" from hundreds of hard-pressed mariners who have given the best years of their lives in the service of their country. Contributions kindly directed to tho Royal Alfred Institution at 58, FenLondon, E.C., will be gratefully acknowledged by

Yours faithfully, J. BAILEY WALKER. ' Secretary, 58, Fenchurchst., London, E.C.