St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-04-27

flag at the same time being hoisted.
This was the first firing that broke the
stiffness of the morning air, and the
spectators, not generally knowing the
cause of the firing, were waiting for the
tort to answer.
A minute or two afterwards the atten-
tiOn OF all was directed to a black speck
up the naIrOws, and with two streakS of
foam diverging from her bows and a
wide wake of white water astern Of
her,
The DiabOIical Cushing
rushed by at express train speed. She
| reached the Philadelphia in short
| space of time, wheeled around as if she
were Oh a pivot, and run up alongside
| the flagship with dispatches to Admiral
Gherardi. She reported all right at the
anchorage and along the route of the
| parade, and at 9o'clOck the signal, Pre-
pare to get under way" The fort was
| crowded with people at that time, and
| the roads and banks were filled with
| spectators. In order to pass the time
for them the band played national airs.
| Everybody wanted TO know where the
Blake was, and expressed surprise at
her appearance. for they expected to
| see much more powerful boat. They
did not take into account the fact that
| they were looking down upon her from
| height. and that it was only when she
was boarded that her great strength
could be seen. As soon as the signals
were hosted on the Philadelphia. two
of the patrol boats took up their posi-
| tiOn about two hundred yards above the
squadron ready for the start. Steam
was up on all of the war ships, and Ad-
miral Gherardi was assured of prompt
start when the orders were given.
AT a quarter past 9 o'clock all anchors
were hove short, and only the signal to
move was needed for the procession to
the anchorage for the great review of
tomorrow. The route up the bay was
entirely clear of boats. and only the
patrol tugs were darting about, clearing
belated vessel out of its position.
Looking Down the Bay.
the war ships could be seen in squadron
formation, and light smoke was coming
out OF their smokeStacks as they moved
slowly into line. One gun sounded
from the Philadelphia, and her signals
came down on the run. Her screw be-
gan to churn up the waters of the bay.
and she slowly forged ahead against a
strong tide which was racing down
through the narrow gateway to
the upper bay. The Blake was
not quite in line with the Phila-
delphia, so the latter waited tor her to
come abreast of her before she went on
her way. Soon they we're in their proper
positions, and with three patrol steam
erS in the van they went up through the
NarrOWs under one bell. In the mean-
time the vessels which had been all
chOred more than the regular squadron
distance apart, and were in some cases
out of line, pointed their prOws toward
the channel. closing in for the parade.
Another gun from the Philadelphia was
answered from the Chicago at $3.50. 1t
told that the Blake was abeam of the
flagship, and the actual start was made
then.
The patrol boats leading the fleet
pushed ahead, and the Philadelphia.
with the tremendous black-hulled and
powerful-Iooking Blake abreast. swung
into the Narrows at speed of about
eight knots an hour. Once more the
guns of Fort Hamilton and Fort Wads-
worth doomed a streak of red flashes
out from the Long Island bluff, anu the
sound of more cannon came across the
water. An immense cloud of white
smoke drifted seaward, sent there by
the wind. Almost instantly after the
Fort Hamilton Discharge Capt. Hub
BELLS men at Fort Wadsworth, who had
been watching for their nelghbors
across the water to start the work, fol-
lowed with
A laundering Discharge
from half a dozen guns. good only for
Salutiug. Then the forts followed one
another. A flash and boom from Fort
Hamilton would be the signal for an
other from Fort WadSWorth, and for ten
minutes, at regular intervals, the guns
spurted flashes of fire, and banks of
white smoke were blown out of the can
mons mouths. The Philadelphia and
Blake dipped their colors in answering
the salute and came up the bay, proud
OF the positions they held at the head of
the fleet. Their straight up and down
prowS glided through the waters with
out so much as the suspicion of bone
it was blowing hard. Had the
ter, it would have been extreme
ly rough. Between the Narrows and
quarantine the Philadelphia and Blake
seemed to be the same size. They were
in striking contrast, one painted white,
the other black. However, it was when
they got abreast of quarantine and one
cOuldll0ok over their quarters the English
vessel looked the proudeSt. The Blake
steamed along as if she appeared to be
conscious of her strength. The two
leaders in the procession flew their ma
tional flags. The Philadelphia carried
blue Peter at her fore and flew an i'm
mense American flag at her stern. The
cross of st. George was rippling from
the EngliShman's fore and an admirals
flag was over the stern. The other YES
sells in the fleet came along in the same
style substantially.
Flags of Many Nations.
All of the American vessels flew blue
Peters and American flags. The
strangers flew the flags of their nations,
and when an admiral was aboard that
fact could be learned from flag used to
designate his rank. The leaders kept
the distances assigned them with re-
markable precision. A cable and a half
length 600 YARDS separated each ship
from the other, and this distance was
maintained with absolute precision.
Very slowly they proceeded at first, but
100 yards above the forts they had nearly
reached their full squadron speed. AS
the leaders passed up, the forts began
saluting, and instead of the quiet steal
ing away of the squadron, as was seen
at Hampton Roads, the heavy guns at
Fort Hamilton and Fort Tompkins, fir
ing alternately, sent it on its way to the
Hudson river anchorage.
Standing on the high Long island
shore midway between Owls Head and
Fort Hamilton, the view was beautiful
one. The fleet was then proceeding at
about eight knots an hour, and was in
perfect formation. The war ships were
directly under the fort, aud the narrow
channel had brought them almost side
by side, the 600 yards interval between