The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-09-03
President Reviews.
Largest Fleet


ceatinasd from IS ore
that were pre- ~ Iil' yards
had to have overtime work done on
them to put than n line The
naval system. however. worked.
smoothly and the vessels are All here
n lighting trim. There are forty of
them, from big battleships to tiny
submarines, not counting the Eve.
auxiliary ships, the secretary Of the
Nays flagship, the Dolphin. and the
cruiser Des Moiness which carries the.
Interested observers from foreign
countries. Upon. the forty ships are.
LIS guns, s12 officers, and 1925
men. Together they constitute a
most formidable display of naval
strength.
The ships began arriving early Sun
day morning and took up Their desig-
mated positions with intervals Of $50.
feet between each, with, tbe'r rrows
pointing eastward. The battlash1ps
and the cruisers were the first to ar
rive, followed by the monitors and
torpedo boats.
AS Commander-in.C Chief Of the navy
President Roosevelt was ready on
tina thissmorntng to proceed to the
review. He was on board his flag.
ship, the Mayfower, at 1890 and
promptlyat the scheduled time, 10:45,,
that handsome little vessel started on
her tour Of inspection With the Pres
ident were Secretary of the Navy Bon
apart. Assistant Secretary Newberry,
his naval aide, Lieut.. Commander Key
and few especially invited friends.
AS the Mayfower approached the
feet It presented a beautiful sight.
The vessels lay at anchor in three col
umns stretching almost as far as the
eve could see. From stem to stern
vari-colored flags tiutteret in the
breeze over each vessel giving them
a gala appearance. A picket line of
ships cutters each flying red flag,
and with crews Of man.o.wars' men
SURROUNDED the entire feet to keep on
the excursion steamers and yachts
which were present In numbers. AS
soon as the Mayf1ower reached within
signalling distance OF the feet the
Presidents flag was suddenly broken
out from the top OF her mainmast, Off
cially announcing his arrival. This
was the signal for which every cap
tain on every ship had been waiting
the six.pounder guns from the "a bat
tleships and cruisers in line began
belchfng forth smoke and flame in sa-
lutte to the Chief. This was repeated
21 times from each vessels until to-
tai of over 500 guns had been fired. To
this connection the AIayfower re-
sponded by dipping her flag.
The First to Pass.
The first vessel passed by the Pres:
ident was the cruiser Des MoInes sta
toned at the head and on the star.
board of the columns to be reviewed.
This vessel had been especially as
sighed to carry the foreign naval at
taches who wanted to attend the re-
view. There are only six Of them at
tached to the embassies at Washing.
tor md all OF them were present. They
arc Capt F. e. G. Ryan, representing
Great Britain: Lieut. Carlo Pfster.
Italy; Commander N. Taniguchi, Jap
an. The Des NIoines also had on board
members Of the Senate and House
naval committees who had been sent
special Invitations to be present in
the hope that the exhibition Of the
emciency OF the navy might induce
them to loosen up the Congressional
purse.strings for naval purposes next
winter.
Rounding to the head Of the assem-
bled feet while the road Of the guns
still continued the serious work OF the
day for the Mayflower began at exact
" eleven o'clock. For the first time
in the history of the American navy
the feet to be reviewed remained at
anchor while the reviewing officer, in
this case the president Of the United
States, sailed by them on his ship in
speeding them on both sides.
: Rear Admiral Evans flagship. the
Maine, was at the head Of the central,
or main, column Of the combined
squadrons. Passing the Maine on her
starboard or right, quarter the May
flower steamed through a long lane
with battaships and monitors on one