Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-10
GREAT TOW IS OVER
WITH GLACIER HOME
Steamship Which lowed Dewey
is Safe in Port. /
LONG HOMEWARD PENNANT
One Hundred and Fifty Feet of Blunt.
ing From Her Main Truck. !
CONGRATULATIONS
Regarded as the Most Remarkable
Towing Feat That Was Ever
Accomplished.
LONG HOMEWARD PENNANI
B0NAPARTE's CONGRATULATIONS
Special Dispatch to The Star.

NEW YORK, November 1O-After a vow.
age of more than "a 600 miles. the United
States supply steamship Glacier the vessel
which aided in towing the gigantic dry
dock Dewey from Chesapeake bay to the
Philippine Islands, reached port today.
From her main truck was flying a home.
ward-bound pennant 154 feet long
The rumber of feet of bunting in a home-
ward-bound pennant varies with the length
of time that a ship has been on cruise Ie
was nearly eleven months ago that the Ola.
cier and her convoy sailed from the Chesa.
peake. and her officers and crew were en-.
thusiastic over getting home again.
The Glacier was not pushed on her home-
ward trip She was allowed to loaf along.
After leaving Manila on August 16 the
supply ship touched at Singapore, Colombo.
Port Said and Joppa. where a flying trip
was made inland to Jerusalem short
stay was also made at the Piraeus, which
Is the port of Athens, and at Naples and
Gibraltar
The Glaciers officers and crew were re-
quired to work so arduously on the outward
bound voyage that the Navy Department
thought it only fair to let them take their
time coming home.
The Glacier, in charge of Lieutenant Conn
mander Bennett, set saii for Manila with
her convoy, the II COTTON dry dock Dewey,
on December % last. The collier Caesar,
the Brutas and the big ocean-going tug Po-
tomac composed the rest of the fleet, Of
which Commander H. Fl. Hosiey was the
ranking officer.
Something Doing All the Time.
The excitement began at the very outset
of the voyage. Before the big dry dock had
cleared the Virginia capes it narrowly miss,
ed collidng with the Norwegian steamship
America.
Bermuda was reached without further Inc
cident. But at Bermuda several seamen de.
serted. 1t was declared by the members
Of the crews of the various vessels that
the trip down the coast had been one Of the
most severe which they had ever expe.
rienced. And the sailors who had been pick
ed for the work were veterans and knew
what they were talking about. They said
that the rolling and bucking of the vessels
which had the Dewey in tow had been ter.
rife.
From Bermuda the little feet set out fox
Gibraltar. For some time it was not heard
from, and fears were entertained for the
drydock's safety. When two weeks over
due at Gibraltar the squadron of colliern
and supply ships. still tugging along with
them the Deweys ungainly bulk, turned
up at Las Palmas. in the Canary Islands,
where a stop was made for necessary re.
pairs.
Several times during the voyage across
the Atlantic the hawsers that held the Dew-
ey to her consorts had parted and she had
been adrift To get fresh hawsers stretched
had been a work of the great difficuityS
for the breaks n the cables occurred when
the weather was thick and heavy, and
when stiff head wind had added TO the
great strain the hawsers were under
Only Four Days on Canal.
The passage of the drydock through the
Suez canal was watched by nautical ex-
perts everywhere with the keenest interest.
Some of them had predicted that the dry.
dock would experience the greatest difff-
Guilty in achieving the passage of the IA
nous waterway that links Europe and Asia
together, but the trip through the canal
proved comparatively easy, and required
only about four days.
The officers in command of the American
vessels received many compliments upon
the way in which they had handled their
ships
The Dewey reached Singapore on June n.
Just before reaching that port the drydock
once more broke away from the Glacier
and the Caesar, hich had her in tow, but
was again recaptured.
Commander Hosley set sail from Singa-
pore for Manila on June q. On July 10 the
Dewey and the escortng fleet were sighted
off O.ongapo, in the Philippine Islands,
where the Dewey was to be permanently
stationed
Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte at once
cabled to Commander Hosley his congrat-
ulations on the notable achievement. II was
the most remarkable towing feat that was
ever accomplished.