Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-06-03
THE oREGoN's GREAT TRIP.

The dispatches OF yesterday gave an
account Of the arrival of the battle
ship oregon at the waters fronting
Santiago harbor on May 81, at which
time and place she Joined the fleet
which is blockadlng that position, she
left San Francisco on the end OF last
March under orders to join Simpsons
squadron and proceeded steadily, al
most unlnterruptedly, on her long voy-
age TO the waters of the North Al
lantic. distance of nearly $4,000 miles.
made up fully to that figure by the trip
from Key West, occupying from start
to finish two months and nine days.
During that time the vessel traversed
through every variation and almost
every degree of climate from equatorial
heat TO almost polar coldness. ana
from temperate to severe. The weather
grew gradually warmer as the vessel
plunged along through Pacific waters
until arriving at the earth's meridian,
Just OF the northern const of Ecuador,
after which the situation was reversed,
the temperature becoming gradually
but steadily cooler until Cape Horn
was rounded, where 1t must have
touched. If 1t did not go below zero,
then north along the South American
coast, emerging from the frigid climate
into slowly developing genialty, again
crossing the equator and running
through n zone of torrld heat back to
the recurring temperate conditions pre-
valling off the Caribbean Sea and then
the Gulf stream.
The ships of the line might well give
the oregon a warm and boisterous
greeting when she bore proudly yet de-
family down upon the scene of her
deadly activity to come No other ship
had ever accomplished 80 much in the
presence of such real and threatened
dangers without having one accident,
losing one man or in any way damag
ing its ponderous mechanism. Other
craft have at various times In the
worlds history made longer voyages
both as to time and the distance COW
cred; but no other has ever made a
continuous sail for more than half the
distance around the globe in the brief
period of seventy-two days. and none
other ever accomplished half as much
without having repairs to make or re-
placements to provide at the end of the
journey. The Oregon's machinery was
In as perfect order when arriving at
Jupiter Inlet as when leaving San
Francisco. ana she had no repairs to
make en- route. If this had not all
actually occurred, II 1t were not gen
orally known and some one skilled III
depicting events had written and pre-
scented 1t to the world, the story would
be ridlculed and wholly dsbelicved,
which goes strongly to confirm the
adage that truth is stranger than nc-
ton.
Among the wonders Of modern
achievement the battleship Of today
stands well to the fore. As q great
nshtins machine one would without
being otherwise shown think 1t n
clumsy, unwieldy, contrlvance; but
how different is the easel 1t Is not
perhaps as graceful In its outlines as
one of the first-class ships devoted to
commercial pursuits, nor In fact as
almost any other style of water craft;
out 1t possesses certain majesty as II
blows through the water, lashing it into
seething foam and filling the air with
lazzling, silvery spray that no other
vessel ever cqunled and that makes up
abundantly for any apparent lack Of
mere greyhound symmetry. Indeed,
some of the lighter and even larger
craft would be left astern by the bat
tleship, and In the matter Of cndur-
ance, as partly shown, none of them
Fan equal 1t.