Evening star., 1904-03-18
THE MAYFLOWER HERE
RETURN OF OFFICIALS FROM
WEST INDIAN WATERS.
Observations Of the General Board of
the Navy-Guantanamo
as Base.

The naval yacht May1ower arrived in
Washington this morning after a trip of
several thousand miles to the West Indies,
having on board Admiral Dewey, Rear Ad-
miral Taylor and other members of the gen.
eral board of the navy, and Assistant Sec
retary Loomis of the State Depar .menr.
The trip had lasted just twenty-three days,
and the return voyage from Havana was
made under favorable conditions of
weather, the ship slipping around Hatteras
between two storms and coming up the
Potomac without difficulty. All the pas
sengers are well and seem benefited by
their trip.
The primary object of this voyage was to
enable the members of the general board
to see for themselves what progress had
been made by the navy in the maneuvers
as compared with those of last year, and an
excellent opportunity to do that was afford
ed by the rendezvous of the fleets off the
south coast of Cuba and in Guantanamo
bay.
Almost Perfect Naval Base.
The board was also anxious to see how
the naval works at Guantanamo were pro-
crossing, and particularly to ascertain the
possibilities of Bahia Honda as coalng
station The feet was found to be in ex-
cellent condition. and 1t Is. probable that
the board will take occasion officially to
stamp their approval upon the records Of
Rear Admirals Barker and Coghlan. Guam
tanamo is pronounced to be an almost per-
feet naval base. and the work VIII be
pushed at that point so as to put the navy
in possession Of what 1t has long desired
and which the collision between the Mis-
souri, and Illinois showed to be an abso-
lutte necessity. namely, big dry dock in
southern waters. The Illinois was COM
PEELED to steam 1900 miles to reach a dock,
while in a condition that might have i'm
periled the safety of the ship and crew.
1t was found that in Guantanamo bay
and on the naval station grounds there al
ready existed a natural depression Of the
coral rock that will require little work to
turn it into splendid dry dock.
Bahia Honda Likely to Be Dropped.
Not so much could be said for Bahia
Honda. The Mayf1ower did not venture to
risk the entrance to the harbor, and the
board was obliged to avail of the little
Eagle, which was there making surveys, to
reach the port. 1t was apparent that 1t
would require an expenditure of a large
sum of money In harbor improvements to
make the place available as naval sta
ton. And it is probable that the project
will be dropped
AS already indicated In the press dis
patches, the board found the conditions in
San Domingo deplorable, end that prac-
tical state of anarchy -exir@sd. The very
morning of the arrival of thu Mayf1ower at
San Domingo there had hes1 a battle. an
almost daily occurrence, ar-s as 1t was not
deemed prudent to pass snip through the
firing lines no landing was made at the
capital. which explains why the people there
were disappointed The board did however,
manage to visit in safety some other ports
where the conditions were better. Assist
ant Secretary Loomis had a long conference
with United States Minister Powell aboard
the ship, and he will make a verbal report
to the President and Secretary Hay upon
San Domingo affairs.