The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-08-25
PILLSBURY SURROUNDED
BY ADMIRAL HIGGINSON
White Squadron Compelled to Surrender Uncon-
ditionaIIy to the Blue, Having SignaIIy Failed
Theoretically All the Vessels of the Enemy We're Destroyed by
the Superior Force of the Defenders.

sea, after maneuVering. headed
straight for Salem harbor- But the
desired vantage point was never
reached
When his boats had arrived off Mag
nolia they were sighted by the signal
station on Bakers island. message
was sent to the station at Rockport
here and the torpedo boat Barnes was
sent out TO notify the blue squadron.
The station here had been informed
that Higginson's battleships had been
sighted Off Gloucester and that later
they had returned to their berths un-
der the lee of Harper's island. The
Barnes commander was mystified,
! therefore, when, rounding Straits
Mouth. he saw no evidence of the pres
/ ence of the Kearsarge. On a hazard,
the Barnes was steered southeasterly
After Higginson's ships had cruised up
and down the coast they went to their
anchorage off Thatcher's island. At
] this time the officer on the deck of
, the kearsarge was Lieutenant Ray
I Stone. with Midshipman William d.
Puleston as the junior officer in COM
mand. In contrast to others, the
morning was clear and bright. On
the bridge a dozen jackies stood upon
the lookout. One of these was Daniel
Staehle, an apprentice of the first
class. He stood we'll forward peering
on the lee side. The flagship was just
falling down into a trough when he
notified the ensign at his side that he
/ could see the enemy. The officer of
the deck called Flag Lieutenant Evans
and Flag Secretary Bristol, and it was
but the work of a moment to inform
Admiral Higginson of the probability
that the time for decisive action was
at hand.
Real War Began.
1t was real war then. General quar-
ters were sounded. There was a quick
| rush of many feet, the manning of 100
posts, the clank of the anchor chain.
the ringing of bells. the giving of or
ders and a general clearing for action.
Not many moments passed before the
flagship was under way. steaminy at
fourteen knots, with the Alabama and
Massachusetts many lengths in the
rear. Some distance back was the
Barney. rapidly overhauling the ships
ahead.
At $40 O'Clock the three battleshir,s.
aided by the converted yacht scorpion,
which had come in from the south in
| time to be in at the finish. and the
Barney, which had overtaken the fleet.
| formed a horseshoe about the white
squadron, The citation among the men
| on board the blue squadron ran high
There was something pathetic in the
/ picture when Commander Pillsbury,
after he had signaled his surrender,
passed in his barge from the pier.
| walked up the staTboaTd EanEway of
the Kearsarge and offered his sword to
Admiral HigginSon.
Keep your sword. SIR said the
! senior officer his voice quivering in
/ spite of himself. 'I would not accept
/ the sword from so gallant a foe"
I And /. sir responded Commander
U lr-tx-
| nobler officer. sir"
Sought the Sideboard
This exchange of words ended the
| actual surrender. and at the invitation
/ of Admiral Higginson, Commander
! Pillsbury stepped down to the cabin
! of the Kearsarge, and here the two
| officers discussed in private the Incl
] dents of the days since the "declara-
! ton of hostilities" on Wednesday.
At the conclusion of the conference.
! Commander Pillsbury returned to his
J flagship. and not long afterward the
/ Prairie headed down coast A little
; ia er signals were given for the blue
squadron to return TO Rockport. Later
/ by the same system of communication
/ established and maintained so success
fully since Wednesday morning, mes
/ ages were dispatched to all points
! from Portland to Provincetown, order
I ing all the WarSnlpS OF the QeIenQlng
/ squadron to return to Rockport for
] further instructions and at the same
! time to collect on the way to this har-
I Dor all signaimen who had been de-
| tailed at both island and mainland sta
tions along the coast.
Admiral Higginson Pleased.
In an interview on board his flag
| ship Admiral Higginson expressed his
/ pleasure with the real work which had
! been done during the week. He said
! he believed that to some extent the
maneuvers had taught the navy its
points of weakness and strength durin e
a time of real action, and he believed
much good would come from the war
game.
The naval experts are discussing the
reason for Commander PillSbury's ma
neuver in steaming finally to the north
ward and coming TO anchor as he did
at A point off Magnolia and near GlOu-
cester harbOr, especially in the light of
7 the announcement that he had deter
mined to anchor in Salem harbor. and
the theory was advanced that the act
ing admiral of the white squadron
either had observed that he had been
sighted and decided to surrender rath-
er than to try at the last moment to
run unseen by Admiral Higginson into
Gloucester harbOr.