Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1903-05-25
FOR STRONG NAVY
PRESIDENT URGES ITS NEEDS IN
SPEECH AT TACOMA.
Secure Peace.-Speech Came a. q
Surprise..-TacOma in Gala Dress
to Welcome Him. ..His Trip on
the Sound.

Tacoma. May o. AS the precedent
stepped from his train in this city at
O'Clock this afternoon his saltue of 81
guns, not heard on Puget Sound for
many Yeas, doomed forth from the
revenue cutter McCulloch.
Then he and his party drove to
Wright park, where the commander
in-chief OF the army and navy deliver
ed speech which has Attracted more
attention through his advocacy OF
strong navy than almost any speech de.
livered on his Western tour. Before a
crowd which numbered many thous-
ands, for Tacoma turned out en- mass to
welcome the president, he made a
strong plea for an ever-increasing fight
ing force in the navy.
That President Roosevelt should re-
serve the topic of the navy until he
reached Puget Sound is regarded as
most significant, not alone by the peo-
pie OF Tacoma, but by those who form
members of his party. The speech
which he delivered here today came as
a surprise to those who have been fol-
lowing him since he left Washington
The weight of his words is great and
they were delivered in a stirring man.
ner.
When he bad finished speaking the
pres ident recognized Otto Winters, who
had been in his regiment during the
Cuban campaign, and greeted him most
affectionately before those in whose
ears the speech was still ringing. As Il
special favor to himself, and one, he
said, which he seldom asked, the lead
er OF the Rough Riders requested that
Winters be permitted to accompany
him in his carriage to the hotel, and
that he be member OF the party which
will board the steamer Spokane to visit
the navy yard OH the way to Seattle.
President Roosevelt at the conclusion
of the Wright park speech, laid the
cornerstone of the new Masonic temple,
after which he drove to his apartments
in the Tacoma hotel and rested for a
short time before preparing for an in
formal dinner at the home of Senator
Foster. The enthusiasm of the people
was shown in the cheering at the presi-
dents utteraHces, and at the sight of
his person in his carriage along the
street, but the demonstration was of an
orderly nature. The decorations in his
honor were many, and the pretty homes
of the city along the line of march we're
in gala dress. The lawns were set with
words of welcome and curious devices,
and the drive to the park through the
avenues of trees was most pleasant.
The president remarked the beauty of
the scene as he closed his address, and
stood gazing at the throngs of brightly
decorated people in the beautiful sun
light, scattered about the lawn and
partly hidden among the trees.
Probably 10000 people were on the
streets when the special train pulled in
at the Nineteenth street station. Crowds
had been pouring into the city from
different parts of the surrounding coun-
try all day, and the Grays Harbor trains
brought in q large contingent from the
western part of the state. People began
thickening on the streets in the fore
noon, and Immediately after the noon
hour the crowds became so densse in
the business districts that there was Il
perfect jam an hour before the presi-
dent was due to arrive
Seattle, May 23.-Seattle is now all
ready to greet the president, who is at
this hour steaming up the Sound toward
Bremerton navy yard, where he will
spend an hoour, after which he will
come to Seattle. Great numbers of
people are already here from the CUR
rounding country, and thousands more
are coming on special and regular
tains. The weather is as fine as it pos
sibly could be.