what occurred when the boats were being lowered and
were about half way from their davits to the water. At this particular
time, there appeared some possibility of the ship not sinking
immediately, and the commanding officer gave the order to stop lowering
the boats. This order could not be understood, however, owing to the
noise caused by escaping steam from the safety valves of the boilers
which had been lifted to prevent explosion, but by motion of the hand
from the commanding officer the crews stopped lowering the boats and
held them in mid air for a few minutes until at a further motion of the
hand the boats were dropped into the water.

INSPECTED BY THE SUBMARINE.

"Immediately after the ship sank the boats pulled among the rafts and
were loaded with men to their full capacity and the work of collecting
the rafts and tying them together to prevent drifting apart and being
lost was begun. While this work was under way and about half an hour
after the ship sank, a large German submarine emerged and came among the
boats and rafts, searching for the commanding officer and some of the
senior officers whom they desired to take prisoners. The submarine
commander was able to identify only one officer, Lieut. E.V.M. Isaacs,
whom he took on board. The submarine remained in the vicinity of the
boats for about two hours and returned again in the afternoon, hoping
apparently for an opportunity of attacking some of the other ships which
had been in company with the _President Lincoln_, but which had, in
accordance with standard instructions, steamed as rapidly as possible
from the scene of attack.

"By dark the boats and rafts had been collected and secured together,
there being about five hundred men in the boats and about two hundred on
the rafts. Lighted lanterns were hoisted in the boats and flare-up
lights and signal lights were burned every few minutes, the necessary
detail of men being made to carry out this work during the night. The
boats had been provided with water and food, but none was used during
the day, as the quantity was necessarily limited, and it might be a
period of several days before a rescue could be effected.

THE RESCUE.

"The ship's wireless plant had been put out of commission by the force
of the explosion, and although the ship's operator had sent the radio
distress signal, yet it was known that the nearest destroyers were two
hundred and fifty miles away, protecting another convoy, and it