a new schooner perfectly seaworthy and sufficient, under
favorable circumstances, to carry the whole shipwrecked party to
a port of safety. I have thus collated some of the facts of this
case to illustrate my high opinion of the energy and ability
displayed by Commander Sicard and his comrades on this occasion
and to show how well such conduct repays the favor of the
Government.

After relating the history of the boat's voyage which we have already
read, the Secretary concludes as follows:--

The death of Lieutenant Talbot closed a career of unusual
promise, and in it the Navy lost a brilliant and beloved member.
A skillful sailor, an accomplished officer, and a Christian
gentleman, his self-sacrifice has arrested the attention of his
comrades and will remain an example to the Service which in life
his virtues adorned and whose highest qualities were illustrated
in the crowning heroism of his death. His comrades of humbler
rank will not be forgotten; with him they faced the dangers of
the lonely ocean and offered their lives with his to save their
shipwrecked messmates, and no one can estimate how much of
danger and suffering, perhaps death, was saved through the
courage and endurance of the sole survivor of that gallant
boat's crew.

II

The following is a list of the officers and crew of the Saginaw as it
appeared on the pay-roll at the time she was wrecked; I feel that I
should name them all in recognition of a comradeship in suffering
never to be forgotten where each one performed his duty
unflinchingly:--

_Officers_

Montgomery Sicard, lieutenant commander.
John G. Talbot, lieutenant.
J.K. Cogswell, Perry Garst, and A.H. Parsons, ensigns.
George H. Read, passed assistant paymaster.
James Butterworth, passed assistant engineer.
H.C. Blye, passed assistant engineer (in charge of contractor's
party).
John J. Ryan, C.D. Foss, Herschel Main, and Jones Godfrey, second
assistant engineers.
George H. Robinson, master's mate.

_Petty Officers_

Peter Francis, quartermaster.
Nicholas Barton, quartermaster.
Thomas Hayes, sailmaker's mate.
John Lane, boatswain's mate.
James Foschack, gunner's mate.
J.M. Logan, yeoman.
William Halford, coxswain.
Samuel A. Thompson, master at arms.
Charles Hale, paymaster's yeoman.
A.E. Myfinger, cabin steward.
Solomon Graves,