When the winds blow hardest and sleet adds cutting force to the gale, then the surfmen, whose business it is to save life regardless of their own comfort or safety, are most alert.

With pea-coats buttoned tightly and sou'westers tied down securely, the surfmen fought the gale on their watch-tour of duty.

With head bent low in deference to the force of the blast, and eyes narrowed to slits, the surfman searched the seething sea for the shadowy outlines of a vessel in trouble.

This served to warn the crew of the vessel of their danger, or notified them that their distress was observed and that help was soon forthcoming; it also served, if the surfman was near enough to the station, to notify the lookout there of the ship in distress.

These conditions were favourable for surf-boat work, and as the surfman told his tale the keeper or captain of the crew decided what to do.

To reach the wreck from shore was a much safer and surer method of saving life, not only for those on the vessel, but also for the surfmen.

For a time nothing happened, the slender rope reached out into the boiling waves, but no answering tugs conveyed messages to the waiting surfmen from the wrecked seamen.

They made the end of the strong line fast to the mast well above the reach of the hungry seas, and the surfmen secured their end to the deeply buried sand-anchor, an inverted V-shaped crotch placed under the rope holding it above the water on the shore end.

The success of the surfmen in saving lives depends not only on their courage and strength, supplemented by continuous training which has been proved time and again, but the wonderful record of the life-saving service is due as well to the efficient appliances that make the work of the men effective.

Signal flags are supplied, and the surfmen are taught their use as a means of communicating with people aboard a vessel in distress.