What a picture for brush or pen is offered in the scene of rescue in the dead of night, when these dazed prisoners won once again their liberty. They came forth in single file from the prison house. Near the head of the procession was a bronzed sailor, one whose coolness in the dragging hours of extremity had done much to maintain the flickering life of his comrades. He thrust out at arm's length his oilskin, and followed with a wonderfully nimble step, thus providing the only touch of lightness in the grim tragedy.
Shelter was awaiting them, and from there they dispatched hurried messages to loved ones at home, to relieve hearts nearly broken by suspense. And a while later a grateful little company heard read to them by one of the survivors the metrical version of the 124th Psalm. They needed no preacher to interpret to them its beauty and its significance—for they had been there, and they knew:
And as fierce floods
Before them all things drown,
So had they brought
Our soul to death quite down.
* * * * * * *
Even as a bird
Out of the fowler's snare
Escapes away,
So is our soul set free.
Broke are their nets,
And thus escaped we.
New Records in Shipbuilding
Forty-four Ships in One Month
New records in the production of ships by the United States and the United Kingdom were established during the month of May, 1918. American shipyards completed and delivered to the Shipping Board forty-three steel ships and one wooden ship, representing, in the aggregate, 263,571 deadweight tons. These figures do not refer to launchings, but to ships fully equipped and ready for service. The month's work in the United States in comparison with previous months is shown in the following table of tonnage produced:
| 1918. | Tons. |
| January | 88,507 |
| February | 123,625 |
| March | 172,611 |
| April | 160,286 |
| May | 263,571 |