Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-12
Gayety Rules the Naval Gathering
in Hampton Roads.
POPULAR RUSSIAN OFFICERS.
Collection OF Sailors Hat Ribbons Engaging
the Attention of the Pretty Girls at Old
Point-On Board the Philadelphia and the
San Francisco.
STAFF Correspondence of The Evening Star.

| appearance TO-DAY. VI all the men-ol-war tnat
we're lying at anchor in the quiet waters Of the
harbor only three are here today. These
are the Philadelphia, with the rear
admiral in command still on board.
and the two Russians, the armored cruiser
General Admiral and the partially protected
/ cruiser Rynda. There seems to be some little
difference of opinion to whether the name of
the former is the Admiral General or the Gen.
eral Admiral. 1t is not so easy to decide, and
| those curious ones who thought they would
leave 1t for settlement until they saw the name
| on the sailors hats are no better off now than
| they were before she came to anchor. There
| are plenty of the sailors about town. but no one
| is able to read the Russian names on their hats.
| Russian is apparently not easy language to
get along with unless one knows it. Fortunately,
however. the officers from the two ships are all
good lnguists and speak English and French
with considerable fuency.
| SOCIAL CoURTEsIEs TO THE RUSSIANS.
In this way they have already managed to
make themselves quite popular in the social cir
cles of the fort and the hotel, for, thanks to the
kindly Offices of the American officers they
have been generally introduced and well-re-
| ceived
At an afternoon tea given at the fort by Mrs
Frank. tbs wife Of the colonel in command, the
Russians were out In force, and they minge in
| the merry dance in the ball room Of the
hotel every evening to the satisfaction Of the
female part OF the population.
There was an interesting spectacle in the ball
room last evening. pretty girl had big
bearded vassal of the car up in a corner be-
tween dances and was making him give her the
| first lesson in spelling Russian words. Her first
attempt was at his own name on the theory
that If she could only learn to spell his name
she might be able to remember it until the next
| time she saw him. After sitting out a couple
first half dozen syllables Of his name, but she
had got no further when the time came to put
out the lights.
Those Russian names are great. 1t is a good
bet that the next time she meets that particular
officer she will have to put on the usual express
sion Of deep regret and say: Really. I'm
awfully sor-r but have forgotten your name"
And he will begin all over again.
WELCOMED ON THE RUSSIAN VESSELS
The Russian officers decidedly hsopitabl in
returning the attentions they have received,
and visitors from the shore are taken out in
their longboats and given a warm welcome on
board tine two ships Russian tea is naturally
the shape their hospitality takes, and the desire
on the part OF the visitors to partake of real
Russian tea as made by real Russians is a very
general one. The amount of that beverage
that some OF the ladies must have disposed of
in the last couple of days is something alarm
ing to think about. They are ne-looking lot
of men, those Russian officers. brawny and
broad and good natured to a degree
COLLECTING SAILOR HAT RIBBONS.
The spirit Of collection has broken out in a
new place here at the fort. Spoons are forgot
ten for the moment and all attentions are
turned to the silk hat ribbons the sailors wear
and that bear the names Of their ships. Even
the brass buttons are only good second in the
popular estimation just now. The thing is to
rec who can get tine largest variety OF ribbons.
for each ribbon betokens that the wearer has
been received aboard the ship whose streamer
she carries. 1. is a measure Of her popularity,
like scalplocks among the red Indians. The
first one she gets goes around her hat, the
next about one arm, then the other arm, then
the waist, and so until she is pretty well
covered. It's great fun for the girls and it
pleases the young officers as we'll to have their
ships SO well represented. The girls which
one can get the most ribbons the officers are
jealous that their own ship shall have the larg-
est following of devotees. Whenever a lunch
| is given aboard ship the guests are all berib-
| boned with souvenirs of the occasion, and even
| a brief visit Of inspection on board is pretty
certain to have the same pleasant results. The
| officers of the car have fallen into line very
| willingly in this game and their ribbons are
rather at a premium. 1t is true that one can
only guess from the number Of letters in the
name whether they are Rynda ribbons or Gen.
eral Admiral, but that is q matter Of small i'm
portance.
| The presence of the Russian feet in these
waters is fraught with rather more interest than
| one is likely to imaa me at first When the in
vitations were sent out by this government to
| the other nations to participate in the Column
| bian review Russia as one of the most friendly
nations replied willingly and promised to send
| an even half dozen Of her most imposing men-
of-war. Unfortunately only three Of these will
be able to be in American waters in time for the
review. They are the smallest of the three, the
| Dimitri Donsoi, the General Admiral and the
Rynda. The others are two armored cruisers and
turret battle ship-the Admiral Nachimof, the
Pamiate Azova and the Emperor Nicholas l..
All three Of them are larger than almost any
other foreigner that is expected. The Pamiate
Azova is 81 feet inches long, SO that Ger
| many's big protected cruiser, the Kaiserin
Augusta, 1888 feet. is the only one that outranks
her in size. Unfortunately these three Rus
SLAMS are now in the Baltic sea and are not ex-
pected to be able to leave there before the LIST
OF May on account Of the condition of the ice
For this reason Russia had to be content with
smaller showing in the review, hoping to have
her larger vessels over here later in the summer
ADVANTAGES OF A LATER REVIEW.
There is a very general feeling among naval
men here that If the review could have been
held in the latter part Of May inst cad Of in
April 1t would have been far grander display.
Russia. with her big ships, would have set a
pace that the other countries would have had
to live up to and the result would have been
that if they desired to make good showing in
comparison they would have had to send their
best.
England and one or two other countries would
seem to object to having their finest ships here
to be measured, criticised and compared by
the representatives of other nations and they
have contented themselves with simply making
fairly good showing and one that could not
be treated too lightly.
Notwithstanding all the criticism that can
possibly be raised there is no doubt that the
coming review will be a superb display. Nine
countries have signifed their intention of par
ticipating and they have promised to SEND alto
gether about twentyfour ships. England leads
In point Of numbers with Eve big cruisers. This
array Of foreign ships in line with the Ameri-
can contingent will make an inspiring parade.
Naturally there is nothing talked about here
but the review and all its details and the great
est interest is taken in the arrival Of the ships
next week. Curiosity is shown on all sides as
to which ship will be the first to show, and
| small wagers are made to its nationality.
The flagship still lies at her moorings Just of
| the pier ready to fire salute in honor Of the
| arrivals as they come in.
VIEW OF THE FLEET.
Yesterday afternoon when it was first rumored
| that the white squadron would be ordered ont
to sea The STARS correspondent made visit
| Of inspection to the feet Tied up to the