The record-union., 1898-08-31
RECEIVING THE FLEET.
GRAND DEMONSTRATION BY
THE PEOPLE OF NEW YORK.
The Oregon Was the Most Popular
Exhibit in the Naval
Parade.

NEW YORK. Aug. 24.-"1t was the
first opportunity of the present genera
ton to see ships of war that were fresh
from battle,'' said a morning paper,
and this, in fact was the main reason
for the great, size of the human out
pouring to see Admiral SIMPSONS fleet
on the Hudson River last Saturday.
New York looks upon most of the
fleet as old acquaintances, the Oregon
in fact being the only exception. When
they lay off Tompkinsville few
months before the. opening of the war
they attracted small attention, and yet
to-day the population of the city goes
wild over them. If the armor-clads
had dropped to the earth from another
planet and their crews, instead of be-
ing plain, everyday American sailors,
were inhabitants of Mars or Jupiter,
they could not have excited greater or
more eager interest The people only
had three days notice of the expected
arrival of the fleet, yet the reception
they accorded it was a caution to Ger
! MANS Spaniards, or any other people
with unfriendly feelings toward Uncle
Sam. Everybody was desirous Of see
| ing the vessels that for the past few
| months had been constantly courting
destruction, and hurting it among the
forts and ships Of Spain with such
deadly effect
1t was on Friday night that the navy
| yard tug Nina put out past Sandy
Hook, carrying orders to the fleet that
was then steaming slowly up the Jersey
coast. In the meantime the Mayor had
| entered heartily into the spirit Of the
occasion, appointing a committee of re-
| ception on behalf of the municipal
| government and requesting all mer-
chants to close up their places Of busi
| ness on the day of the parade and give
their employees a holiday in honor of
| the ships return. Many of the large
concerns patriotically complied with the
Mayors request. Mr.. Starin generously
| loaned one of his steamboats, to the
committee; invitations to be present
were sent to the Governor, the Presi-
! dent and the people of the United States
generally, and the impromptu arrange
ments We're settled. Governor Black
| didn't show up, neither did President
Mckinley, but there was no doubt
about the people being well represented
Well, as is now history, the feet
| came in the harbor exactly on time
battle flags flying, guns booming sa-
lutes, and steamed up to the Statue of
Liberty, where they stopped to permit
! the flagship to take aboard five mem
bers of the Presidents Cabinet and the
Mayor and his committee Then the
procession struck up an eight knot gait,
steamed about that distance up the
| Hudson, and there saluted the tomb Of
| the man whose. words are engraved
upon it: "Let US have peace Then
| down again without pause to the Bat
| terry and hence to their old anchorag
off Staten Island
One of the many gratifying features
of the day was the cooperation of the
weather, feature, by the way, New
York isn't accustomed to in connection
with naval demonstrations. For scv-
eral days previous the sun had been
obscured and things looked black, but
on Friday the rain came to appreciate
what vas expected of it down below,
and did its duty one day in advance.
Saturday dawned clear, cool and gener-
ally well suited to the occasion.
People began to flock to Riverside
Park, to the fleet Of excursion boats
and tugs, by s in the morning, and
when the fleet. got to Tompkinsville a
| little later many of the excursionists
We're there to greet them. The fleet of
sightseers was constantly increasing,
and soon the police boats found them
selves lost in the shuttle, and, as usual,
the former managed things all their
own way The plan was for the war
ships TO proceed up the river unhinder-
ed by the other craft, who were to bring
up the rear guard. Some Of them did
this. most of them did as they pleased,
and it generally pleased them to see
| how close they could get to an armor-
clad without being sunk. OF course, it
was with the best intentions, and the
only harm done. was to the state Of
mind Of the officers who navigated the
warships and the tempers of those who
were trying to. see all they could from
the shore. Whenever the engineers
could save up sufficient steam the mer-
chant fleet would LET loose their sirens
in ear-sp1itting shrieks and the noise
these things can produce when hun
dred or so operate in unison may be
imagined when it is said that they often
| smothered the noise of the cannon.
Whenever the surplus supply of steam
was exhausted the strains Of martial
music could be heard over the water.
On the shore the crowds were dense.
| Every pier was packed early in the
morning, as was every roof that com
| manded view of the harbor or river.
| From the river one could see black
streaks upon the roofs of the taller
structures situated far from the water
front and upon examining the roofs
with field glasses they would appear
| covered with humanity. However,
! Riverside Park above Ninety third
street was the most popular ground, as
it was nearer the tomb where the sa-
lutes were to be fired. All Of Riverside
Park was black with people, and its
sloping hillsides presented a wonderful
sight from the river There it appeared
as though all of Greater New York
| millions of inhabitants had gathered.
AS far back as one could see the people
were massed and more were running
up every minute. Surely it was a spec
tacle which repaid the sailors for the
postponement Of their much longed for
shore leave; it certainly was one which
astonished the people themselves.
Every once in a while the people
| started to cheer and they made just
enough racket to give one an idea of
what the result would be were the
! whole congregation to give vent to
their enthusiasm at one time. Every
body was looking for the Oregon, which
by all odds was. the most popular ex-
hibit in the parade, the only difficulty
being that no one seemed to know just
which one was the Oregon; she, the
Indiana and the Massachusetts, being