Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1901-02-07
WAS A MAJESTIC DISPLAY.
Great Naval Funeral Procession
Moves.
MANY SHIPS OF WAR IN LINE.
The German Naval Attendance Not So
Great as Had Ben Expec;ed-Aus-
trian Esich,rath One-s Insult to the

Cowes, Isle OF Wight, Feb. 1.-The
funeral started from Osborne at $40
p. m. The A'beIta, with the la e
queens body on board, started from
Cowes at 1855 p. m, with the great
naval funeral following.
The feet to pay the last honors to
Queen Victoria included the German
squadron, which was weaker than fl. S .
anticipated, including on.y the Bldel,
Victoria, Luise Jugd, Hagen and
Nymphe; the Portuguese Don Carlos
and the curious looking, ugly Frercl
armored cruiser Dupuy de Lone The
spectacle was imp. essive. Looking
from the southern pier, two lines OF
warshirs could be seen stretched away
into the remote haze. The day was
sullen. Snow fell fitfully and the col
ors of the British ships took on a
funeral hue. Great crowds Of spscta-
tors, subdued in their demeanor, swept
the Spithead anchorage with their
glasses or made a tour of the feet in
the small steamers which piled to and
fro.
In the indlstinct light the great line
OF British battleships looked most
imposing, but as a display of strength
the British feet collected could not,
Of course, compare with that which
assembled on the joyful occasion OF
the diamond jubilee. Several ships of
the channel squadron were absent, be-
ing detained by repairs, which will
not permit them to leave their base
ports. The immense Powerful and
Terrible, which attracted so much at
tention in 1897, were not here. Nor
were the foreign ships quite so inter
esting a lot. The Japanese battleship
Hatsuz is a decided advance upon the
Full, which represented the land OF
the rising sun in 1897.
The Germans dressed their ships in
gray, which melts wonderfully into the
haze when the weather is not clear.
Yesterday afternoon, for instance, it
was difficult to see their vessels from
land. Had it not been for the thick,
black smoke which poured from their
tunnels their presence might have
been overlooked. The French Dupuy
de LONE was just as skillfully dis
guised. Being black throughout, she is
a somber, but most business-like look
ing craft. At distance she seems
tiny compared with our battleships
and huge cruisers, of which the four
funneled Niobe is the finest represen-
tative, but closer at hand she is seen
to be mass of small turrets, each
with its long, wicked looking gun.
Moreover, she is so well protected by
armor she could probably give even
the Niobe particularly bad time.
1t is strange that, though the
French ship is ten years old she is
admittedly one Of the finest types OF
cruisers. We have nothing in our
fleet to equal her.
The torpedo-boat destroyers which
escorted the queens body had most
difficult task. The speed ordained was
six knots, and at this pace these small
craft were almost manageable and
the current is the source Of the great
est embarrassment under such circum-
stances.
Prince Henry of Prussia flew his
flag on board the Baden. The German
torpedo boats SO and SO were with the
fine squadron under his command.
They have created favorable impress
sion by the smartness of their evolu-
tons.
The spectacle as the naval cortege
moved was majestic in the extreme.
The very weather seemed to sympa-
thize with the occasion.