The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-06-27

All the warships viii be Illuminated this
evening with rainbow of electric lights
extending from the stem 10 the bow. over
the rnastbeads. Ia addition. the hulls Of
all the vessels present will be outlined by
electric lights
There win b. no moon visible. and the
effect Of simultaneous lighting up every
ship OF the gigantic feet. and switching
on may be expected TO be magical
On the occasion OF the visit Of the
Italian Squadron 20 splthead in 1895 when
they were welcomed by a fleet Of Eng
lsh ships. the electric Illuminating form
- one Of the prettiest features Of the
fetes.
The naval guests include Rear Admiral
u. r. II. Prince Henry OF Prussia. K. c..
Vice Admiral II. r. II. the Duke Of Genoa,
Rear Admiral Miller. L. S. ". and other
distinguished flag officers
Banquets. balls. garden parties. dock
yard wits and athletic sports, win be
included in the programme which 1t Is
supposed will hln the week subsequent
TO the review.
international exhibitions have become
common occurrences. and the SpIthead
review OF 1897 may be regarded as a great
Naval Exhibition from which the seamen
and constructors OF the various nations
win carry away much valuable informa-
tlon.
The waters OF the solent have previous
ly witnessed many magnificent reviews
OF the naval forces OF England.
on April q. 1886. at the close OF the Cri-
mean war great review was held there
when there were columns OF screw line-of-
battleships-at that period the latest de-
velopment OF naval power-of screw frig-
ates and covettes. a fleet OF side wheel YES
sells and OF floating batteries Of the
Merrimac type. while four squadrons Of
isO gunboats brought up the total number
OF ships TO 24o.
This fleet carried 3,O02 guns and was of
Spe7i horsepower. Admiral Sir George
Seymour was in chief command of this
line fleet which was reviewed by Her Maj
esty on board the royal yacht Victoria
and Albert" The changes In naval archi-
lecture which have taken place during the
last nifty years have swept away all these
wooden vessels. the classes TO which they
belonged no longer exist, the sole remain
ing vessel which still takes the seas being
the royal yacht Victoria and Albert
which today flies the standard of the
Prince OF Wales at the naval review.
Probably a more beautiful vessel OF her
class has ne, ,er been launched and the
recent announcement that the model OF a
new steel yacht 10 replace her had heen
ubmitted to the Queen was not read with
out regret.
The next great review held at Spithead
was on July Il, 1861. when Her Majesty,
accompanied by the Sultan of Turkey,
reviewed feet of wooden vessels ard
iron-clads (of which the most modern Of
the latter were the Minotaur Achilles,
Warrior, Black Prince, Bellerophon ana
Lord Clyde, under the command of Sir
Thomas Paisley. Bart, X, c. B.
on June %, 1873, the waters of spithead
were again the scene of a naval review
this time in honor of His Majesty, the
Shah OF Persia.
or August Is. 1875, Her Majesty inspect
ca the fleet at Splthead and on July g,
1887, on the occasion of the Queens jubilee,
a large fleet was again assembled there
and reviewed by the sovereign.
The most modern ships present on that
occasion were the Collingwood, Imper-
ieuse and Conqueror. The fleet was COM
posed OF 1884 vessels, the personnel of
~, 900 officers and men.
During the past decade enormous ad-
vance has been made both in the number
and construction of the ships OF the royal
navy, and this cannot better be eXempli-
fed than by the fact that Of the 81 battle
ships reviewed by the Prince of Wales, in
behalf of the Queen today, four only took
part in the Jubilee ceremony of 1887, whilst
OF the % cruisers present not one existed
In 1887. Needless TO say the 50 torpedo
boat destroyers are OF a class which has
only been introduced during the past five
years and which appears to be destined to
play very important part In modern sea
warfare.