The San Francisco call., 1896-10-28
Initial Practice Cruise of the
Navy's Premier Fighting
Craft.
IT'S MEN DRILLED AT SEA.
Decks Cleared for Action as Though
in an Engagement With
Foe.
ABOARD THE UNITED STATES
BATTLE-SHIP OREGON,

tion soon to be made by board OF
naval officers yet to be appointed, the
United States battie-ship Oregon, Captain
Henry l.. Howson commanding, sud-
denly weighed her anchor last Sunday
morning, passed down San Francisco Bay,
pushed her great white PROV through the
Golden Gate and put to sea for practice
cruise. There was, perhaps. not man
aboard who was not glad of it. The Ore
gon had been hugging the shore so long in
San Francisco Bay that, as an able sea-
man put it, there was some danger of the
crew becoming 'landlubbers.'
The Oregon had been preparing for a
week to get under way. Captain Howison
had had her drifting and making short
trips around the bay, compensating her
compasses and completing other necessary
preliminaries. The crew had been expect
ing to put to sea for a week. When at last
the captain decided to heave anchor SUM-
day morning, in view of the favorable
weather, it took about thirty secondsfor
the word to be gladly passed over the ship,
from the Iookout's perch in the coming
tower 10 the orlop deck. Even the water
ballast, away down next TO the sea itself,
gurgIed its Joy.
The crew sprang to its duties with alac-
rity. The scene aboard was one OF unusual
activity. A man with spyglass ashore
might have thought the Oregon was pre-
pairing for action. a whisper by Lleuten-
ant-Commander and Executive Officer E.J.
Drake on the bridge seemed to penetrate
all the hatchways and be heard even in
the forehold. The gangways, the pro-
= ioh
admiring visitors have climbed aboard
the ship. were quickly unshipped and
stored away. Water-tight shutters were
dragged out for the hatchways, iron buck
lers were made fast over the portfolios of
the big guns, and the guns themselves
were swathed in sleeves and hoods as ten
derly as an infant ashore is wrapped up
Tor a cruise through the park with pretty
nurse for q propeller. They were then
coated with Albany grease, so they would
not rust on being lashed by any bold wave
of furious sea. The steam cranes amid
ships picked up the steam-cutters and
small boats from the water, as though
they were SO many chips, and deposited
them softly in their cradles on the super
structure. At 9:45 the anchor was clear,
and with three stentorian blasts on her
mellow whistle, and Captain Howison's 8
grim visage peerlng occasionally from the
forward bridge, she moved.
"Sing hoy, our first cruise. was shouted.
The ship which made a maximum speed
of 1874 knots on her trial trip, the ship
which in The theater of naval construction
made the Cramps change their seats from
the orchestra chairs to the gallery, the
finest and most formidable battle-ship in
the world, was under way.
When passing the flagship Philadelphia
the guard was paraded and all men not
busy stood at attention.
1t was noon when the Oregon passed out
the gate. Great bodies move slowly. She
seemed to creep down the bay. The fer
ries Oakland and Newark saluted. The
crowds on their decks rushed TO the rails
10 see the stately spectacle of the Oregon
under way. And it was q stately spectacle.
Her white hulk, EN- mblematic of peace, the
cavernous, dark and frowning muzZles of
her great guns, eloquent OF war, tumult
and destruction even In their silence; the
white turrets almost contradictlng nature
in their indestructibiIity-a monster en-
gine of com bat EN- bodying the latest in.
struments of annihilation that science and
skill could deVise-slowly she swept on by
the defenseless merchantmen, at once
their protector and their destroyer, white
omnipotent among them.
: She sailed straight out to sea- Nobody
knew whittier the Oregon was bound-no-
body but one man. He had not told and
nobody dared ask him. 1t is a capital
crime almost for anybody to be inquisi-
tive aboard a man-of-var except a land
lubber. There were all kinds of guesses as
to where she would finally drop anchor.
The weather was cool and cloudy and
gentle breeze came along from the SOUTH
southwest. She steamed straight west for
an hour and then slaughtered away to
south. Then the guessing began in earn
est One suggested Santa Barbara Chan.
mel as the destination, as that affords
suitable range to try the big guns. A ju-
nior officer having pleasant recollections
ashore of the water carnival and the sum-
mer girl in her bathing-suit mentioned
Monterey Bay. Several wise marines and
prophetic tars winked knowingly, whis-
pered Callao or Guayaqull, where the big
fire was, or Chile, where the girls run the
streetcars and the climate is much like
that Of California.
A naval cadet, one of the bright and
ambitious young men provided by An
napoIis to be the captains, the commo-
dores and the admiraIs OF the future, saw
some connection between the recent de-
parture of the French man-of-war from
San francisco for Guayaqull and the cruise
of the Oregon and shifted war afar off,
He thought the Oregon might be heading
for Guayaquil to stand by and look serious.
The latter not very difficult thing for the
Oregon 10 do.
Meanw bile the Oregon kept on straight
course to the south. The sphinx-like COM
mander paced rne bridge and the land on
the port side did not disappear until it
passed from sight into the night. She
was steaming under two boilers and max
ing about seven knots an hour all day.
There was plenty Of time ahead and plenty
of provisions and coal aboard and no occa-
sion for burrying. The weather con-
tinued cool and cloudy all day, with a
light southwest breeze and smooth sea.
1t being Sunday the day was uneventful.
There were no drills or exercises to speak
oil except the regular morning and even
ing mastering and inspection at quarters.
lhe rollcall showed that notwlthstandlH
the fact that there are over 100 lsndsmen
ON board who, like the Oregon, had never
made cruise to sea before nobody had
ialen over the rail.
1he Or gon rode the sea steadily. No
matter how big ship is or how heavy she
Nay De she will roll some on the long
Htavy, swells of old ocean. The ship
4eeIeo o over occasionally to an angle OF five
degrees. but the pendulum in the pilot
mouse usually indicated from one to three
oegIeeS The Oregon may roll over to
lhiFly degrees and still be in no danger of
cdpf~Anc~ but heyond fhirfv da0rees vis-