ter an engagement on the previous day. Finally,
with a number of wounded prisoners on board, the Sydney left here
yesterday, and our few hours of war excitement were over.

*Crowds See the Niger Sink*

[By a Correspondent of The London Daily Chronicle.]

DEAL, England, Nov. 11.--By the destruction of the British torpedo
gunboat Niger, which was torpedoed and sunk by a submarine in the Downs
this afternoon, the realities of war were brought home to the
inhabitants of Deal and Walmer.

A loud explosion was heard from the gunboat as she lay off the Deal
pier, and great volumes of smoke enveloped the vessel. When the smoke
cleared the Niger was observed to be settling down forward. Men, women,
and children rushed to the sea front, exclaiming that the vessel had
been torpedoed or mined. They soon realized that the Niger was doomed.
The Deal and Kingsdown lifeboats as well as boats from other parts of
the beach were launched in an effort to save the sailors.

Consternation and almost panic prevailed among the hundreds who stood
watching the ghastly sight from the beach. Fortunately, the North Deal
galley Hope, commanded by Capt. John Budd, lay at anchor near the spot,
waiting to land the pilot from a London steamer which was going down the
channel. When the boatmen realized that the Niger had been hit by a
submarine or mine, to use their own expression, they rowed like the very
devil.

"We saw the sailors," said Capt. Budd, "jumping from the vessel's side
in dozens. As we neared the fast-disappearing vessel we came upon swarms
of men struggling in the sea and heroically helping to support each
other. Some were fully dressed, others only partly so. They were
clinging to pieces of wreckage and deck furniture, and some were in
lifeboats.

"It was a heartrending spectacle. The men were so thick in the water
that they grasped at our oars as we dipped them in the sea. We rescued
so many and our own boat got so choked that we could not move. With our
own gunwale only just out of the water, we were in danger of sinking
ourselves.

"We called to the men that we could take no more in or we should sink
ourselves, but they continued to pour over the sides, and some hung to
the stern of our boat. We had about fifty on board. Never had there been
so many in the boat before. One burly sailor, whom we told to wait until
the next boat came along, laughingly remarked [Transcriber: original
'remared'] while he was in the water