THE LIFEBOAT.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 April 1924, Page 4

THE LIFEBOAT.

ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT.

On tlio fourth of March the Royal National Lifeboat Institution celebrated the centenary of its formation. On ono man rests the honour of this achievement in the cause of humanity, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Hillary, Bart, who, during bis residence in the isle of Man, himself bore a large share in the saving of lives from the cruel ravages of the sea. In the year 1825 Sir William figured conspicuously in the rescue of 62 people from the wreck of the City of Glasgow, 11 from the brig Leopold, and nine from the sloop Fancy. On November 20, 1830, when the Koval Mail steamer St. George was wrecked in Douglas Bay, the colonel was again to the fore. The St. George was in a very precarious position, as her cable having carried away she bad been driven on to the reefs. The only lifeboat available at the time of the disaster was a new one, not ready for service, but Hillary, undeterred by this difficulty, induced 16 companions to put off with him to the distressed vessel. By this piece of conspiculously brilliant service he and his gallant company succeeded in rescuing the mail boat’s full complement of 22 souls. TIIE INSTITUTION.

Realising that the success of the lifeboat’s act! cities depended on the support and attention of tho public, Sir William published ail “Appeal to the Nation” about the saving of life off tho British coast. As a result of the “appeal” being read by ono Thomas Wilson, a prominent merchant’ and one of the members of Parliament for teb City of London, a meeting was convened by Wilson, who enthusiastically took up Sir William’s cause at the City of London Tavern for Thursday, February 12, 1821. At this preliminary meeting—prior to which Sir William

and Mr Wilson had made every effort to interest meii of position and standing in their worthy scheme—wai. formed the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, though it was not until the second meeting, held on .March I, IS2I, that the institution was formally started. Since that memorable date tho institution, in spite of the fact that it depended on private .subscriptions and was not placed on a firm basis until 1850, has made wonderful progress rind given invaluable service to the cause of humanity. In 1883 it was reorganised and in 1893 a pension scheme was introduced into tho lifeboat service. The institution maintains at its own expense 27-1 boats, lias paid in pecuniary awards no less than .0500,000, and been responsible for the saving of over 60,000 lives. BOYS OF THE OLD BRIGADE. With the outbreak of the World War the young lifeboat men all answered the call of their country. This, however, did not break down the service : the veterans returned, and the boats put out on their gallant errands of mercy manned by crews whoso ages averaged 55 or 65. One of the finest pieces of service performed by these men was when H.M. sloop Pomona stranded off the Southwold in a heavy gale. The Lowestoft boat, with its gallant crew of greybeads under coxswain John Swim, put to sea to reach their goal 17 miles away. These old men of 60 and more, afflicted with the attendant ills of old age, effected a rescue which will live for ever in the annuls of the institution’s history. To speak of the institution and ignore the boats and their inventors would he to leave a story of heroic endeavour incomplete. The first lifeboat was conceived and designed in 1785 hv a London coaehbuilder (Lionel Lukin). Lukin fitted out a Norway

yawlc as a lifeboat, and took out a patent for it, but his invention did not meet with any recognition. Lukin, who died in 1831, is buried in the parish church of ilytlfe, Kent. The greater number of lifeboats, which have since been built to various designs, incorporate some of the features of Lukin's Norway yawls, though the probability of his contemporaries, Wouldhavo and Greathead (who produced the first genuine lifeboat) having seen or studied his design are vague. When, in 1789, the ship Adventure of Newcastle was stranded on the Herds Sands at that place, the subscribers to the newsroom at South Shields suggested ihe construction of a boat for tile rescue of those in danger ofF the coast. That same year a boat aas built from the plans of William Woitldhave, a painter, and Henry Greathead, a boatbiiilder.

The story of how Would have got the inspiration for the design () f n se!friprliti nf£ boat, to be set apart for rescue work, is well worth repetition. “Early in the year 1780 lie happened to take notice of a woman who had been drawing water from a well. The skoe! in which she meant to carry away the water was fpiite full, and on the surface there floated the half of a round wooden dish. While Wouldhnvo sat chatting with the woman he was abstractedly turning over and over the water this piece ot' wood, and presently he began to notice with keen interest that it would not remain upside down, but promptly righted itself in the water, no matter how often lie reversed it- in fact, owing to its shape, the fragment possessed the property he desired in a lifeboat.” Later in a Newcastle paper WouklliaVe saw an announcement offering a prize of two guineas for the model or plan of a boat that would remain afloat in the choppy sea at the mouth of the Tyne in stormy weather. Submitting his model, Wouldhavo received a guinea for his pains. It is recorded that lie left thb coin and his invention at the disposal of the advertisers. A 1 copy of this model hangs from the chandelier in the parish church of St. Hilda, of which Wouldhave was clerk, at South Shields. No other boat was built until 1798, when the Luke of Northumberland ordered one from Greathead, and another was constructed for Oporto in 1800. Before 1803 Greathead had built 31 boats. The next important date in the history of lifeboats was 1881, when the double-banked, 10-oared, self-right-ing and self-emptying boat was invented. In 1885 the drop keel was placed ill lifeboats for the first time. Steam was introduced in 1890, wlieu a steel lifeboat was built fitted with engines which developed 170-horse power. By 1909 the fleet of the institutiin included four of these boats. Other countries soon followed the lead of Britoin in the use of lifeboats, and services were, established on the following dates:—Belgium, 1838; Denmark, 1818 ; Sweden, 1856; France, 1865; Turkov, 1868; Russia, 1872; Italy, 1879; Canada, 1880; Spain, 18S0; Holland, 1884; Germany, 1885; Japan, 1889; Norway, 1S91; and Portugal, 1898.