Connecticut western news., 1898-08-25
HAIL TO THE HEROES!
THE VICTORIOUS FLEET WARMLY
 WELCOMED HOME.
sampson's and schloy's Battle Scared warships Received With Expressions of Delight as They Traverse the Waters of New York Bay and the North River.

Warshfps Received With Expressions of
 Delight as They Traverse the Waters of
 New York Bay and the North River.
 Admiral Sampson and Admiral Schiey
 and their hard fighting. straight shoot
 ing men came home in six steel war
 ships Saturday morning. and to them
 was accorded in the harbor of New York
 welcome so magnificent, so patriotic,
 so inspiring that naval history finds
 lew spectacles to equal 1t since men be-
 gan to fight at sea
 The president sent his cabinet officers
 to meet them. The mayor of New York
 and committee of distinguished citi-
 Eens told them of their country's pride
 and gratitude and gave them the keys of the city at its gate.
 The fleet approached the Narrows in
 .he following order. about a cables
 length apart: Flagship New York, ar- mored cruiser. flagship of Rear Admiral
 Sampson, commanding north Atlantic
 squadron. c3ptain F. E. Chadwick:
 Iowa, battleship, Captain Robley D. Ev-
 ans; Indiana, battleship. Captain H. c.
 Taylor: Brooklyn. armored cruiser. flag
 ship of Rear Admiral Schley. Captain
 F. A. Cook; Massachusetts, battleship,
 Captain F. J. Higginson; Oregon, bat "A. York was flying Rear Admiral Samp-
 sons blue flag. with two white stars. Her decks were crowded with her white
 clad crew, who lined up. silently ob- serving the animated scene.
 Fort Hamilton fired the opening gun
 of the salute. the firing being very de-
 liberate. Fort wadsworth followed.
 When Fort Hamilton fired the first gun,
 a small naphtha launch flying a white flag with the word "Lambs' fired the second gun of greeting directly under
 the bows of the flagship and then dart ed of. The flagship broke out a signal which was unintelligible to the lay ob- server, but 1t was probably an order to return the salute, which was obeyed by the Iowa. The bluff shores of Staten Is-
 land were crowded with people. cheer
 Ing and waving flags. Bunting was fly Ing from every flagstaff, and innumera-
 ble craft were crowded with eager pas sengers. who cheered frantically. The
 soldiers crowded the embankment of the
 forts, cheering and shouting. Smoke from the forts hung over the water. but
 was soon dispeiled by the light breeze. The fleet continued on up the bay
 without abating its pace. The Brook lyn in passing did not display the flag of Rear Admiral Schley. Her center funnel was seen to have a shot hole through the starboard side. The Brook ing was flying her battle ensigns. which looked strained and frayed, as If they had seen plenty of service. The squad ron approaching Tompkinsville, the New York saluted the battleship Texas. which lay at anchor flying the flag of Commodore Philip. The salute was re- turned by the Texas, and the fleet slow ly assembled off Tompkinsville. Then 1t proceeded up toward the North river in the same order, with the Texas in
 the rear, accompanied by an immense
 crowd of the river craft, leaving the
 St. Paul at anchor at her usual station off Tompkinsville.
 A Unique Demonstration- While the fleet was passing in the
 Narrows two explosions on the surface
 of the water near Fort Wadsworth of loose gun cotton or other explosive shot up immense columns of water about 100 feet high, which added to the novelty | of the occasion. The parade. which commenced at the Narrows at 9:8Q o'clock. was not stopped at Tompkins- l vile. but at 10:3o a. m. the Texas, the last of the seven vessels, took her place | in line. the full length of which extend- ed from Tompkinsville nearly to Gov | ernor's island.
 Moving up the North river, the war
 ships, seen through the maze of accom- panying craft, looked like huge spiders | traversing a web of marvellous beauty
 It was a web they in a degree had cre- ated. Thus the triumphal march con- | tinued up the turning river, through the banks of waving spectators. to the 1f Aa nrlr nalt hn monument to Grant. There the well
 come had its continuation in the roar Of guns and the cheering of a nation. The firing was kept up as the New York. turning over toward the Jersey shore began her way down the river | Each ship maneuvered likewise. and | when the shore guns were still booming the fleet was returning to the anchorage off Staten Island.
 But the welcome was not over. The river ana bay were still alive with the craft that could not see enough of the | immortal victoFs. As they went up, SO | they came down, with an escort of
 shrteklng boats between an endless vis-
 la of flags and amid a continuous cheer
 Hundreds of thousands turned out to
 view the parade. Almost before t was | known that tRe fleet was here Riverside paFk was CfOWueus anu ull tnc OpeH space opposite the points where the ships were to anchor was taken. There
 were no stands, no seats for the accom-
 modation of the thousands. All that had been done was to throw open the parks and allow the people to go where they wished.
 Five hours after beginning It's trium- phai passage up the North river, five hours almost unprecedented in the city's
 history in point of patriotic enthusiasm, the fleet lay at anchor off Tompkins- vile.
 There were many who compared last Saturdays pageant to the Columbian
 celebration in New York in 1892. In
 many ways 1t was greater-for the for
 msr water pageant appealed chiefly to | the eye, but this one filled the eye and moved the heart as well.
 The New York. the Brooklyn, the Ore
 gon and the Iowa appeared to have vast groups of admirers afioat who never wearied Of following them and shouting | joyously their praise of ships and ofii- | cers and men.
 | The dominant note of the occasion
 was patriotism and pride in the men | and the ships which have done so much
 to give this country a new place among
 the nations.