"Strange to say the David was not seen after the explosion, and was supposed to have slipped away in the confusion; but when the _Housatonic_ was inspected by divers, the torpedo-boat was found sticking in the hole she had made, and all her crew were dead in her. It was a reckless adventure these men had engaged in, and one in which they could scarcely have hoped to succeed. They had tried it once before inside the harbor, and some of the crew had been blown overboard. How could they hope to succeed on the outside, where the sea might be rough, when the speed of the David was not over five knots, and when they might be driven out to sea! Reckless as it might be, it was the most sublime patriotism, and showed the length to which men could be urged on behalf of a cause for which they were willing to give up their lives and all they held most dear." RECENT SUBMARINES AND SUBMERSIBLES After the Civil War several nations interested themselves in the subject of submarines, and during the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-71, France attempted the construction of such vessels, but without success. Yet the possibility of producing these boats was becoming more apparent every year by the improvements in electrical motors, gasoline engines, compressed-air motors, and the automobile- or fish-torpedo--itself a miniature submarine boat. In America the progress made in submarine-boat construction has been fully as great, if not greater, than in any other country. Undoubtedly the foremost figure in this progress has been Mr. P. Holland; and his efforts and successes are largely responsible for the present fleet of submarine boats built already, or in the process of construction, as well as for those of several foreign countries. Indeed, in the matter of submarine inventions, only one country can be considered as rivaling America, that nation being France, whose enthusiasm for submarine navigation has been much greater than that of any other nation, although in the matter of results she has not outstripped the United States.