The Lewiston teller. (Lewiston, Idaho) 1900-1905, 1902-08-21
BRITISH WAR SHIPS PARADE
VIEWED BY KING EDWARD.
First Time Since His AccexsiOn-Pa-
ratlc Consisted of the Home Fleet
On1y-ThOusands of Spectators
The Day Opened Fine, but Ended
With Heavy Rainstorm and Gale.

me O0y OpeneO zine, nut c00e0
With Heavy Rain.torm and Gale.
Portsirt nth, Aug. ls-Kiny Edward
completed the program Of the coronation
festivities by reviewing the fleet Tor the
tirst time since his accession. From a
spectacular poin: of view the assembling
of hundred odd war vessels in the road
stead OF Spithead was a magnificent
show. but to those looking beneath the
brilliant veneer of paint and polish Ii
was evident that the fighting strength Of
the fleet was by no means formidable
The line Of ships was thickly dotted with
resented merely the home feet, not a
single vessel having been withdrawn
from foreign station to participate.
The day opened fine. There was an
immense influx OF visitors. The waters Of
the Solent were covered with pleasure
craft of every variety. from the tiny
canoe to the big excursion steamer, and
every vantage point on shore was COW
cred with spectators. At s a. M, in re-
Spouse to signal. the fleet broke out
flags. and in the space OF a minute the
lines of black hulls were transformed
into varicolored lines Of fiuttering bunt-
ing. Simultaneously the pennant of Ad-
miral Sir Charles Hotham, commander IN
chief at Portsmouth. was flung out from
the peak Of the Royal Sovereign, which
acted as flagship of the fleet. Five
other admirals' flags were also In view In
different sections Of the parade The Ave
lines in which the fleet was moored were
| located midway between the Isle Of
Wight and the mainland.
Nearest to the Portsmouth shore were
the special service vessels and yachts
and few distinguished visiting vessels.
headed by the conspicuous white hull Of
the japanese torpedo boat destroyer
Aschio. The next line was made up OF T.
| British torpedo boat destroyers. Then
there was line Of cruisers aud gunboats,
then double line OF battleships and final
| ly another line of cruisers. Another par
allel line nearest to the Isle OF Wight
was made up Of foreign men of war. In
Guiding two Japanese cruisers, the Assam ,
| and Takahago; the Italian armored
cruiser Carlo Alberto and the Portuguese
cruiser Carlos l. The precaution had
been taken to compel all the vessels pres
ent to burn smokeless coal, but as the
day advanced a haze spread over the
water and small craft frequently disap-
peared in banks of mist.
| At 1880 p. m. the lines Of the feet
closed. the gunboats drove all unauthor-
lied craft out of the forbidden area and
promptly at O'Clock the royal yacht Vic
toria and Alberta. with King Edward.
Queen Alexandra and other royal person
ages on board, slowly got under headway.
This movement was signaled by a gun
shot from the Royal Sovereign. and thou
sands of jackies swarmed over the decks
superstructures and fighting tops and
manned ship in honor Of their approach
ing ma jesties.
Then came the firing of the royal sa.
lutte. Amid the crash Of naval ordnance
the kings yacht moved slowly. accompa
MED by the royal yachts Osborne and AL.
bert and three others, escorted by a feet
of torpedo boat destroyers.s The king
who wore the uniform Of an admiral OF
the fleet, was surrounded by brilliant
stan. AS his majesty passed each shir
the officers and men cheered, and wher
the Victoria and Albert, after traversins
the lines, took up fresh mooring abreast
of the Royal Sovereign, the whole flee,
Joined in final roar of cheers for the
king. who then personally signaled tho
invitation to all the flag officers including
those Of the foreign ships, to join him or
the royal yacht.
Thousands Of persons who were expec
family awaiting the illumination OF thu
fleet at night not only were disappointed
but were drenched by a thunder storm
and rainfall OF almost phenomenal sud
| denness.
The illuminative decorations Of the towr
ball and In that vicinity. consisting o
balloons, were quickly ruined by rain an,
| wind, which blew half a gale.
The storm blew for half an hour. Afte
that the night was fair and the illumi
nation was carried out and witnessed o.
thousands who reappeared upon tn
shore.