ADMIRAL FIELD (Sussex, Eastbourne)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called officially by the Mayor of Eastbourne to the gallant rescue by the captain and crew of the French trawler Avenir, from Boulogne, of four 102 fishermen in a boat from Eastbourne 20 miles off Beachy Head, in the storm on the 18th instant, when, after struggling for 11 hours in a heavy sea, she finally succeeded in taking them on board, and ultimately landed them at Newhaven; and whether the Government will consider the advisability of bestowing some mark of public recognition of such conduct on the part of brave men belonging to a friendly Power?
§ MR. MUNDELLAI have received a letter from the Mayor of Eastbourne, drawing attention to the gallant rescue by the crew of the French trawler Avenir of four English fishermen who were driven out to sea during the recent gale. I have also received the statements of two of the rescued men, and I am now considering the best means of publicly recognising the gallant and humane conduct of the French fishermen.