" On Saturday, the Southport trawling boat Alice, William Robinson, master, was voyaging homewards, and when about nine miles from the Liverpool banks she picked up a small boat in which were two men.They turned out to be the crew of the sloop Tower, 70 tons, owner, James Fisher; master, Thomas Rimmer. This vessel had left Barrow on the previous morning, laden with pig iron, and her destination was Woodside. She was very roughly handled by the storm which arose on Friday night and about five o'clock next morning she commenced rapidly to fill with water and fell over on her side. At seven o'clock her deck was so much under water that her boat floated, and the two men forming her crew fortunately got into it, for immediately afterwards the sloop went down in about five fathoms of water. This occurred at about 200 yards from the Formby lightship, but it was dark at the time, and the men having but one oar, were driven out to sea, with no apparent chance of rescue. It was about half-past eleven o'clock when the signal which they hoisted on their only oar was seen by the crew of the Alice, and shortly afterwards they were taken on board the latter vessel, having been exposed to the wet and cold for more than four hours.

Half-an-hour after performing this deed of kindness the crew of the trawler discovered another small boat on which were hoisted signals of distress, and on nearing it they found it contained two men in a well-nigh exhausted state. They were the crew of the schooner Bans Vale, 74 tons, of Ulverston. The names of her owners are Messrs.Roper & Co., and that of her master Christopher Hutchinson. She also left Barrow for Garston early on Friday morning, and she was heavily laden with iron ore. The gale from the south commenced about ten o'clock on Friday night and the schooner beat about until four o'clock in the morning, when, her anchor having gone, she struck on Taylor's Bank. As she appeared to be breaking up, the crew took to their only boat and endeavoured to make for the Formby Lightship, when unfortunately one of their oars broke and they drifted out to sea, and at length were picked up, as already described, about noon on Saturday."