When the Civil War came the inventor managed to get his plans before Mr. Lincoln, who immediately became interested, and who used frequently to visit his workshop in Washington to discuss them. Finally Mr. Lincoln, who had some knowledge that the Merrimac was being constructed and knew that something must be done to meet the emergency, sent Dr. Timby with his plans to three of the wealthiest and most prominent men in New York, with a request that they submit the plans to the best engineer they could find. These took the model and plans to John Ericsson, then regarded as the best engineer in the country, and he, after shutting himself up with them for ten days, submitted a report in which he stated his belief in the feasibility of the plan, and that he could construct the vessel in one hundred days. The order was immediately given to go ahead, and at the end of the one hundred days the “Monitor” was floating on the waters of New York harbor, to all appearances a success. An interesting addition to this story, which belongs here, comes from Mrs. Lucy Cate Abercrombie of Forest Hill, and, while it is not part of the Doctor’s narrative, it helps to complete the history. When Ericsson announced that the Monitor could be built, he was called to Washington for consultation and, among other questions, was asked where the plates necessary to armor the proposed vessel could be secured. He responded that he did not know, that such plates were only made in Glasgow, and that it was impossible to secure them from there, but that there was a man in Baltimore who had invented machinery for rolling large plates, and perhaps he could do the work. MR. HORACE ABBOTT MAKES THE MONITOR A POSSIBILITY. This was Mr. Horace Abbott, the grandfather of Mrs. Abercrombie, who had perfected a machine for rolling heavy plates, by the invention of the third roll, but he had put his last dollar into the invention and the stagnation of business due to the war was writing ruin for him in very large letters. Mr. Abbott was sent for and a contract was signed, and in forty-eight hours thereafter the first plate had been rolled, and this led to other government work. Thus the Monitor not only saved the fortunes of the Union, but also those of one of its inventive citizens. Mr. Abbott’s invention revolutionized the methods employed in rolling heavy plates; it has never been materially changed and is in use to-day in every rolling mill in the country. THE MONITOR GOES TO HAMPTON ROADS.