The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-06-27
MOST CHARMING SIGHTS
The Illuminations of the Fleet at
Spithead.
GH0STLY AND FANTASTIC
Rockets Soar Into Blue and tho Awful
Roer Of Cannon Sends Chilly Feel
ing Up the Spine OF the Spec
tators Grand Spectacle.

Ryde, Isle Of Wight. 10 p. m, June %.
The illuminations of the fleet at Spit
head was one Of the most charming
sights Of a week of delighting specta-
Giles. The night was dark. and the wat
crs of the Solent were quiet. IL was all
ghostly. fantastic suggestive OF fairy
land and the world OF magic. The
brutal grimness OF all the enginery OF
destruction. savage looking guns. ven-
omous torpedoes-the veritable teeth OF
war-was lost In peaceful shadow and
softening gloom.
A minute before . o'clock the miles
OF waters showed only such lights as
are usually associated with shipping.
reds and greens Of port and starboard.
while lights OF mastheads. CLEANS that.
like tiny rows u diamonds. showed the
ports OF passenger craft with here and
there some parti-colored lights that
had been lii on private vessels before
the time. At y o'clock there was n
fash, a rocket from the Renown rushed
into the dark blue. and, bursting with
shower OF splendid stars. signailed
the lighting up Of the fleet. The stick
Of the rocket had not turned towards
the water ere the mighty fleet was sud
denly skeletoned In brilliant yellow
light. hulls. smokestacks. spars and
cordage being thrown into strong re-
lief. Light lines ran in graceful curves
along the sweep OF the monsters. now
ghostly gray In the sudden glare. and
from bow to stern. over the mastheads
were garlands OF incandescent light.
like 'jeweled necklaces hung upon the
horns OF night"
A few minutes later they vanished
with the suddenness Of their appear
ancc, leaving the spectators peering at
the place where they had been. Then
the darkness was broken again, this
time by numberless searchlights which.
with uncanny glare. like the eyes OF a
hundred cyclops, patterned the hcav-
ems as checker board with radiant
hands Later these eyes slowly
swept the gathered craft and the shores
beyond. as II seeking something to dis
cover or deyour Then they were all
shut OF. leaving the darkness more
visible than ever. a pause, and the
darkness was pierced by hundreds OF
signal rockets. soaring into the blue
with messages ~ jubilation.
The purpose Of this naval exhibition
was not 10 be overlooked. however. and
the might OF Brltain's ever-prepared
strength was again to he impressed
upon the staring thousands. A signal
rocket leaped from the Renown. and
now there was provided an exhibition
of what war would be like II ever an
immense fleet Of battieships and cruis-
ers should engage at night. A royal
salute Of go guns was fired from every
ship capable of firing II. Great guns
and small guns answered each other
In the prolonged roar. rising and fall
ing In Intensity as more or less OF them
fired together. IL was truly awful
Even the certain knowledge that ther,
we're no deadly missiles In the guns did
not prevent chilly feeling from creep
ing over many OF the civilian specta-
tors.
The foreign warships moored oppo-
site the British lines, Joined the can
nonade, and Ia the superstitious there
was from the deep throated guns OF the
United States. Russia. France and Ger
many note of defiance. resonate
resolutc answer, gun for gun. Yet all
was In honor Of Victoria. Then the
angry roaring ceased. much to the re-
lief OF thousands who were stopping
their ears. and the panoply OF unpleas-
ant smoke slowly drifted away. the
fleet again stood revealed In fairy lines
Of llghtness The gentle side OF things
was again put to the front to instill
into the minds of departing thousands
that while the dogs Of war were ready.
aye. ready" that after all. what the
leople came out To see was the "tri-
umph OF peace and the glory Of the
queen"