the first class which has been awarded to you, under the
authority of the provisions of the seventh section of the Act of
the Congress of the United States, approved June 20, 1874, for
the extreme and heroic daring manifested by you in the rescue,
under circumstances of peculiar danger and difficulty, of eight
persons from the wreck of the American ship "Ellen Southard," at
the mouth of the river Mersey, near Liverpool.

In transmitting this offering to you, as to each member of the
crew of the Life-Boat of the Royal National Life-Boat Institution
stationed at New Brighton, it is proper to remark that it is the
first time an opportunity has arisen for bestowing the medal of
the life-saving service of this country upon subjects of a
foreign nation. It was the fortune of your crew to arrive upon
the scene of disaster after the Liverpool life-boat men had
effected a deliverance, and been in turn subjected to a dreadful
casualty, whereby nine of the persons they had rescued and three
of their own number were drowned: and the remaining eight persons
from the vessel and the twelve men of the Liverpool crew,
clinging to the capsized boat in a fearful sea, owe their lives
to you and your comrades. The extreme jeopardy and hardships you
encountered upon the occasion of their rescue are deeply
appreciated, and, in behalf of the United States, I beg you to
accept this testimonial, provided by law in recognition of such
deeds of bravery and compassion. In sending it, allow me to add
the expression of the sense of the gallantry and the devotion to
high human duty which marked the conduct of yourself and of your
comrades upon the occasion under notice, and of the assurance
that each member of your crew, in his own person, by this deed of
valor and mercy, confers fresh and just honor upon the great name
of England.

I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
Charles F. CONANT,
_Acting Secretary of the Treasury_.

_____

_Report of the United States Life-Saving Service._

Treasury Department,
To the Honorable United States Life-Saving Service,
LOT M. MORRILL, Washington, D. C., November 30, 1876.