The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-08-24
HOWE WRITES IF NAVAL MANEUVERS Birmingham Man Took Part in
 Recent Expedition HE DESCRIBES MOVEMENTS From U. S. S. Indiana He Saw the Massachusetts Soon After She
 Struck the Reefs of
 Egg Rock.

Gerald Howze. the son of Judge A. A. Howze, is one of Blrmingham's most gro ,lising young men. He AS stldsirg ct the United States naval lead .my. MT. Howe Is now on board the battleship In- diana, cruising off the coast ot Maine. He writes very interestingly of his life aboard the ship. The following home letter has been received from him:
 Here I am still at Bar Harbor, await ing orders from the navy department. I have had some more lively experiences si' ce I last wrote-in fact, th's whole cruise has been quite lively.
 We saiIed from here. in compSay with the Texas. Massachusetts and three tor pedo boats August 8, as the white squad ron" or enemy-our object being to run into some port on the Maine coast and stay there eight hours before belng dis covered. We ran out to sea until We got about 300 miles southeast of Nova Scotia. and then turned around and headed tor Winter Harbor There were about twenty ships guarding the coast. so our chances veIe slim. We had the finest weather have ever seen at sea, except that it was too celd The moon would shine brightly every night. and, for fear of being discov- cred. we put out all our lights. Behind us was the Massachusetts. and the moon. behind her, cast long shadow right Ill front of the ship-most beautiful picture.
 Thick Fog.
 The night before our grand attempt a thick fog settled down. It was the very thing we wanted, and was so heavy that we could not even see the Texas, just fifty yards ahead. In order that we might keep our distance and not run her down. She trailed a piece of wood tied 10 a rope fifty yards long, and as long as cur bow was abreast of this wood we knew we were in our place. We put On forced draught about 3:3O in the morning and hsa6ed in, as near as we could jul 1ge in the fog, and made about fourteen knots an hour.
 At about o'clock the fog suddenly lifted and revealed to us the whole North At 1antic fleet. You can just imagine our surprise and consternation. They all. opened fire at once-the Kearsarge, A.i- miral Barker, in the lead, then the Hi nois Hartford and fifty others. Of course we were 'captureQ, so all nanQS nedQ sd for Bar Harbor and dropped our mud hoo.
 We went to a big dance that night given to both squadrons. We remained at an chor until noon Wednesday, when every ship here with the exception of the HarI. ford got up anchor for Oyster Bay. Ac- other beautiful sight was now before me Six large battleships, ten cruisers and ten torpedo boat destroyers, all in long lins, going to see the President. the com mander-i in-chief of it all. There were three squadrons. and two sections to each squadron. The Kearsarge led. the Illinois following. Then came the Alabama, the best-looking ship in the whole outfit, the Texas. Massachusetts, Indiana, Olympia Yankee Baltimore, Topeka and several others in line with the two torpedo fio- tillas, one on each side of the line. As we rounded the bar we ran into a thick fog, one of the heaviest have ever seen, which rendered navigation exceedingly difficult, as this harbor and channel is just full of rocks.
 When we came up from dinner I could barely see the bridge. About this time we changed our course, a lucky thing. for suddenly we heard the shrill screech of a siren-long blasts, then short ones-and we knew some vessel was in distress. Then from off our starboard bow and close aboard we heard the letter "S'' signalled by whistle. The letter IS" or PIP is the call number of the Massachusetts. the ves-
 Continued on Eighth Pase)