HELP ROR AGED SEAMEN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 11, 23 December 1911, Page 6

HELP ROR AGED SEAMEN.

THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

The Royal Alfred Aged Seamen’s Institution, established in the year 1867, unendowed and supported solely by voluntary contributions, is carried on with the object of giving, irrespective of rank, ports of service, or place of abode, a home or pension to the British merchant sailor when od and destitute. The secretary (whose address is 59 Fenchurch Street, 15. C., London) asks us to publish the following verses:—

To the people of the Nation Which hath called the sea its own, We are sending forth this message— Will you make it widely known ? It appeals to every Briton Wheresoever ho may be, To assist the worn-out. sailor When too old to go to sea.

He has watched through nights of peril, Toiled and sweated at the winch; He has gladly done his duty Where a landsman well might flinch ; Ho has suffered thirst and hunger, Brayed disaster round the Horn, And been stricken down with fever In the heats of Capricorn.

In the chain that binds the Empire He has forged a mighty link ; What she would have done without him England scarcely dares to think; Yet when toil-worn home returning From his labours for* mankind, There is often want before him When he leaves the sea behind.

There’s a worthy Institution—- “ Royal Alfred” is its name, And our Sailor King, its Patron, Hath in public urged its claim ; It .distributes wide its bounty, But the “waiting list” is long,— Funds are needed—will you help us? Is the burden of our song.

A.M. 1911