Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-09-30

Of craft. all swarming with people, cir
cling around. or pushing their noses
close up under the ship TO get a
glimpse Of the Admiral pacing the
quarter deck.
The bands aboard the excursion
boats played and the whistles and
sirens OF the other craft made the air
hideous by their shrieks. They kept
coming. coming in pairs and half doz-
ems, until they lay a dozen deep. resist
ing the charges OF the patrol boats in
their determination TO get up within
shouting distance. Their recklessness
was amazing. They ran across each
others bows, they rubbed against one
another, they pushed bow on stern, I'M
til further movement seemed paralyzed
by the inextricable confusion. 1t was
with great difficulty that the police
boats could clear a passage for the Ad-
miral's launch when he went off to re-
turn the official visit of the Mayor at
noon, and when he did step into his
launch, the patriotic shippers afloat
GRABBED THEIR WHISTLE
cords and made the hills echo with such
a blast as can only be heard when a
Yankee yacht crosses the finish first in
a race with foreign mug hunters. And
that was simply the prelude to what
continued throughout the day-an al
most continuous roa of steam whistles.
Meantime the vessels to take part in
the parade were massing over near the
Long Island shore, until the side of the
harbor became a tangle of stacks and
flags and frame work as far as the eye
could reach. The grassy slopes of
Wadsworth and Fort Hamilton, and
the wharves and shores of Staten ISL
and were covered with sightseers
watching the fleet below. The war
ships lay spick and span, ready for the
start, their FURNISHED metal flaming in
the sun, their sides white as virgin
snow. Between them and the shore
lay the low, long, lean wicked looking
torpedo boats, and still inside of them,
the graceful hotilla of revenue cut
tiers.
Aboard the Olympia the marines and
sailors had been seriously inspected
from the toe of the first marine to the
iaunty cap of the last sailor. All SEEM
ed a little dazed at the prospect before
them. and no doubt many would have
preferred a program involving a dupn-
cation of the Manila fight to the or
deal they were to go through. The Of
ficers of the fleet did not wear their
snowy uniforms. but were attired in
special undress' "a" as is technically
known in the navy. There were no
gold eDauletts, gold bound beavers and
Gathering swords aboard. This was by
the Admirals order and added but
another to the many evidences of his
unique modesty.
A brother and the widow
OF CAPTAIN GRIDLEY.
who fought the Olympia in Manila
bay, Colonel Franklin Bartlett, former
representative in Congress from New
York, and an intimate personal friends
OF the Admiral, together with three
newspaper men, were the only civilians
aboard. One of the naval guests was
the engineer of the Olympia when it
led the way past Corregidor Island. He
was given three rousing cheers as he
went forward to see the men.
Immediately after Admiral Dewey
returned from Sandy Hook, the wig
wager on the bridge signalled the
feet to prepare to get under way. The
gang ways were hauled up and the
booms rugged. An old quartermaster
hurried a small dark roll of bunting to
the main, hand over fist. 1t hung there
while the bugle sounded the call TO
quarters, and the marines were muster
ed aft. Then, just as the signal to
weigh was given, a pull on the halyards
opened the roll and spread the four
starred flag which Farragut flew as he
ran the fort in New Orleans. 1t was
the flag which he presented to Admiral
Dewey. As it broke. sailors at their
stations and the marines on the quar-
ter deck, greeted it with the hip, hip.
hoorah we got from our ancestors. The
flag floated proudly all through the pa
geant to-day. II is the most precious
possession of Farragut's pupil, and
when it is struck on Monday. it will
probably be forever as it is altogether
unlikely that Admiral Dewey will ever
COMMAND ANOTHER FLEET.
1t was exactly one o'clock, the hour
fixed for the start, when the fleet. with
anchors short hove, began to move.
The ships had swung to the flood tide
and were pointing down stream, but
with their twin screws they faced about
as on piyots and headed for the Hud-
son, followed by the long line of yes
sells in civic parade. When the ships
Strengthened out for their journey
across the upper bay, the spectacle
they made will eve be treasured in the
memory of those who saw it.
Admiral Dewey went I'D on the after