The San Francisco call., 1899-09-30

the watching crowd dawned on the
crews of the squadron. Every foot of
the city water front was mass of hu-
! manity The wharves, the ferry slips,
| the roofs of ferry and warehouse rose
one above another in solid blocks of
people. Above the lower structure of
| the water front every roof bore its liv-
! ing freight. Stores, old office buildings
and modern skyscrapers were crowded
with stands, tiers upon tiers or seats
| like an immense threaten whose roof
was the sky, whose Walls'were the sur
rounding hills and whose back drop
was the horizon of the lower bay. AS
the pageant moved majestically into
the Hudson it was seen that the
crowds still lined the water front ana
housetops thicker, if possible, than
ever, and stretching up the river along
the whole line of parade. The heights
of the Jersey shore were also crowded
with parti-colored masses of people
They were not such an unbroken rank
as along the wharves of the New YORK
side but wherever the wooded slope
broke into a clearing the slope was
blackened with people from crest TO
water line There was no possible way
of estimating the crowd. The morning
papers declared there were 1,oO0,OO0
visitors in the city. The impression
conveyed by the crowded shores was
that it would have taken that many IN
addition to the local population TO
form the concourse that watched the
water pageant The spectators might
have been computed in army corps,
certainly not by individuals.
I'm the Hudson pandemonium
reigned supreme. Aerial bombs broke
at intervals overhead in pufrs u
white smoke, and feathery canopy OF
steam hung over the advancing fleet as
hundreds of steam whistles screamed
continually The narrowing throat OF
the river crowded the advancing yes
sells together in an almost compact
mass. The broad arrow formation stlll
drove the head Of the column forward
unmolested through the ranks OF the
waiting vessels. Storm clouds that
had gathered down the bay followed
close in the pageant's wake. A sharp
wind bred whitecaps even in the mar
row river, and few raindrops pattered
on the decks. The glare OF an angry
skv turned the harbor behind the war
shins to molten lead, upon which the
gigantic figure of Liberty seemed TO
stand for a time and was soon sWal-
lowed up in a bank of gray haze. Then
the threatening sky relented.
The sun broke out ahead and painted
across the sullen clouds RAINBOW arch
that stretched from Manhattan to the
Jersey shore. 1t seemed DIT or ma
lures art work spread by klngly mir
acle at the opportune moment, beggar-
inp mans more humble efforts on shore,
hut forming a fitting arch of triumph
beneath which the victorious admiral
sailed to his triumphal anchorage.
The old Portsmouth's crew manned
the rigging as the Olympia passed, and
off Grants tomb the naval reserves on
the ST. Marys did the same. Round the
stakeboat the Olympia turned smartly,
her guns throbbing deep throated sa-
lutte to the resting place of another ma
tional hero. The other vessels OF the
white squadron swung around the St
Marys in turn, each saluting the tomb
though at the head of the line the sound
of further guns was lost in the roar Of
steam whistles. -
The turn of the parade broke the for
nation Of the police boats beyond re-
pair. The warships doubling back into
the mass of advancing boats threatened
for a time serious consequences, but the
OLYMPIA and her consorts safely drop
nefN anchor at last in reversed column
and the water pageant passed the ad-
nOliNa boats a.
anpeared as individuals and uncere-
moniously shouldered intruding vessels
out Of the line of march. The official
procession and its varied following of
tugs, launches, steam dredges and ex-
cursion boats rounded the ST. Marys
and came down the river in an indis-
aquatic mob that was still
passing long after the night illumina-
ton had begun.
From the time the British yacht Erin
started she certainly was the chief at
traction along the river front after the
Olympia had gone by and Sir Thomas
Upton was accorded an ovation all
along the line. To those on board the
Erin. decked out as she was with flags
of all descriptions, it looked as if the
American people were greatly pleased
with Sir Thomas and were delighted
with an opportunity to give him a
hearty welcome. They ran alongside in
tugs, barges, launches and big excur-
sion steamers and shouted all sorts of
complimentary things to him, while
the tail yachtsman on the upper bridge
of the Erin wore a smile all the after
noon and not infrequently called back