se to the
ship as to make it impossible to avoid them; and it was also found that
the submarine at the time of firing was only about eight hundred yards
from the _President Lincoln_. There were at the time seven hundred and
fifteen persons on board, some of these were sick and two men were
totally paralyzed.

COOLNESS AND DISCIPLINE.

"The alarm was immediately sounded and everyone went to his proper
station which had been designated at previous drills. There was not the
slightest confusion and the crew and passengers waited for and acted on
orders from the commanding officer with a coolness which was truly
inspiring. Inspections were made below decks and it was found that the
ship was rapidly filling with water, both forward and aft, and that
there was little likelihood that she would remain afloat. The boats were
lowered and the life rafts were placed in the water and about fifteen
minutes after the ship was struck all hands except guns' crews were
ordered to abandon the ship.

"It had been previously planned that in order to avoid the losses which
have occurred in such instances by filling the boats at the davits
before lowering them, that only one officer and five men would get into
the boats before lowering and that everyone else would get into the
water and get on the life rafts and then be picked up by the boats, this
being entirely feasible, as everyone was provided with an efficient
life-saving jacket. One exception was made to the plan, however, in that
one boat was filled with the sick before being lowered and it was in
this boat that the paralyzed men were saved without difficulty.

THE SHIP ABANDONED.

"The guns' crews were held at their stations hoping for an opportunity
to fire on the submarine should it appear before the ship sank, and
orders were given to the guns' crews to begin firing, hoping that this
might prevent further attack. All the ship's company except the guns'
crews and the necessary officers were at that time in the boats and on
the rafts near the ship, and when the guns' crews began firing, the
people in the boats set up a cheer to show that they were not
downhearted. The guns' crews only left their guns when ordered by the
commanding officer just before the ship sank. The guns in the bow kept
up firing until after the water was entirely over the main deck of the
after half of the ship.

"The state of discipline which existed and the coolness of the men is
well illustrated by