Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-25
Its Opening to Be Celebrated by a
Great Naval Demonstration.
UNITED STATES TO Be REPRESENTED
Probably -Four Of Its Finest War
Ships to Go.
THOSE TO BE SELECTED

| Unless existing foreign complications
| make it inexpedient, It is more than prob
| able that the United States will be repre-
sented by at least four of its finest ships
at the fetes in honor of the opening of the
great Kiel canal between the Baltic and
| North seas Orders have already been is
! sued to Rear Admiral Kirkland. command
| ing the European squadron. to arrange his
| itinerary SO as to insure the participation
| of the flagship San Francisco and the
| cruiser Marblehead in the celebration.
| These two vessels comprise the entire Eu-
ropean fleet at this time. Secretary Her
| bert is seriously considering the question Of
| adding at least two more vessels to the
| fleet for that special occasion. In case he
| concludes to do SO, the reinforcements will
| be taken from the North Atlantic or home
squadron. which is larger now than 1t has
| been for years. 1t can easily stand the de-
| tachment of two vessels unless the rela-
| tons of this government with foreign
countries, somewhat strained at present,
| reach stage SO acute as to threaten open
| hostilities, in which unlooked-for event it
| Is not likely that any, American warships
| could be spared for the peaceful demon
| stration at KEEL
Why the New York Should Not Go.
Secretary Herbert has been urged 20 send
the flagship New York and the triple-screw
cruisers Columbia and Minneapolis as cal
| culated to make the best showing for the
| new American navy. The probabilities are
| that if two vessels are taken from Ad-
| miral Meades fleet they will be the Mime
| apolis and the Cincinnati The New York
| is Admiral Meade's flagship. and there are
| several reasons why she should not go far
| from home. One of the reasons urged for
| her selection for the foreign detail is also
| accepted as the best reason why she should
remain at home under existing conditions.
no fC hn Ia nd net my nj C in
| in the navy, and would be the main reli-
| ance on the sea in case of trouble. 1t is
| claimed that she is superior to any ship of
| her tonnage and class in the world, not ex-
cepting the crack British cruiser Blake,
which was the finest ship in the Columbian
| naval review.
| In the Minneapolis San Francisco, Mar
| hlehead and Cincinnati the United States
| will have representatives of which she need
| feel no shame in comparison with the YES
| sells of other navies at Kiel. They are all
and armament. All but the Marblehead
| are protected cruisers The Minneapolis is
| of 1875 tons displacement and has main
| battery of one S-inch breech loading rifle and
| two 6-inch and S-inch rapid fire guns. Her
| great distinction, however, lies In her
| speed. She holds the record at that. The
| German and French navies each boasts a
| triple screw cruiser, but neither of them
| approaches the Minneapolis In speed.
In this branch of naval construction the
| United States has outstripped the world.
4,O3S tons, and main battery Of twelve
| 6-inch breech loading rifles. The Cincin-
| natl, which is a government built ship, has
| a displacement of 3,213 tons, and has
| rain battery Of ten 5-inch and one 6-inch
rapid fire guns. The Marblehead is 2,OI4
| tens displacement and carries nine 5-inch
| rapid fire guns.
All Nations VIII he Represented.
| All the great powers Of the world will be
represented by some of their most powerful
| ships at the kiel celebration, which is gen.
| orally recognized an event second only
| to the opening of the Suez canal. The
number of warships expected to be present
| will far surpass any similar gathering of
| recent years, not excepting the Colum bian
| review, in which about forty ships took
| part. The Emperor of Germany has di-
rected that the event shall be celebrated by
naval fetes on a grand scale, beginning on
| the 10Th of June and continuing for week.
| He has issued invitations to all the great
| nations of the world to be represented by
| their navies. The climax of the celebra-
| ton will he the reception of the German
| squadron escorting the emperor the Goth
| of June. The welcoming fleet will include
representatives of all foreign navies all
the excursion steamers from nearby ports
and a host of private yachts from all over
| the world. The local authorities have pro-
| vided anchorage for one hundred and fifty
large vessels. The kaiSerS invitation has
| already been accepted by Great Britain,
France Russia, Italy, Spain and the United
States. France will be represented by at
least two battle ships. England will send
her channel squadron, comprising eight
vessels. Russia will be represented by six
or seven ships and Italy and Spain by
three or four each. The United States will
certainly have two ships there, and pos
sibly four. AS was the case at our naval
review, Great Britain will see that her rep
resentation exceeds in numbers and power
that of any other nation. Germany will
have all her available ships on hand, and
the indications are that the occasion will
be the most brilliant from naval stand
point that has ever been witnessed
Recfprocating Germany's Courtesy.
Germany had only two ships at our ma
val celebration, but the United States will
endeavor to do her more honor so far as
numbers go, if circumstances will permit
At the Columbian review Great Britain
was represented by five ships and France,
Italy, Spain and Brazil by three each Ger
many had but two representatiyes-the
kaiserin-Augusta, of 6052 tons displace-
ment, and the Seeadler, of 1,SSO tons dis
placement. Her courtesy on that occasion
would be fully met If the United States
should not find 1t convenient to send more
than two of her ships to Kiel The San
Francisco is nearly as large as the Kaiserin-
Augusta, and the Cincinnati and Marble
head are each larger than the Seeadler The
Minneapolis is far superior to the Kaiserin-
Augusta. 1t Will therefore be seen that
there will be no equitable cause of criti-
cism even should there be no addition to
the European fleet for the Kiel celebration
L