Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1907-07-18
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From Our Regular Correspondent.

A""' o"' heShlai correspondent,
AT last it has been settled that.
the battle-ship squadron is to be
sent to the Pacific Coast. This
decision has been annoucned off.
clally by the Navy Department
and it is a little curious to see
that ou the very day of the an
nouncement in Washington. Sec
retary Loeb at Oyster Bay was
giving out an authoritative state
inent that no such move was
contemplated. Now of course the
government would not keep so
important a person as Secretary
Loeb in ignorance of it's inten-
tions, and there is but one infer.
ence to be drawn from the Incl.
dent, namely, that it was a mis-
statement that might have been
characterized by a shorter and
uglier word.
Ii Secretary Loeb does notlook
out he will get himself into the
same class with Assistant Secre-
tary OF State Robert Bacon, one
time partner in the firm of j. p.
Morgan & Co., of New York. AS
sistant Secretary ofState Bacon,
is a very wealthy and fashiona-
bic young man and is just the
sort of an understudy that Sec
retary Root wants to take visit
ing princes and other notables
off his hands. But as a source of
misinformation as to the things
that are going on in the State
Department he has not hereto
fore been equalled. Heit was who
gave out the famous statement
just after the jamaican earth
quake that there was no friction
between Admiral Davis and Gov
ernor Sweetenham. The same is
Sues of the papers that printed
his statements had all the cor
respondence of Admiral Davis
and Governor Sweetenham in an
adjoining column. Also the day
news was received of the killing
of the Japanese seal poachers on
the Island of st. Paul, Mr.. Bacon
announced to all callers that the
report was entirely unfounded al
though the telegram bearing the
information had just been sent
10 him by the Department of
Commerce and Labor where the
news was first received. Mr.. Ba-
con also announced three days
ago that the story of sending the
battle ship squadron to the Pa
cific was q complete fabrication.
Ii Secretary Loebe is starting in
to emulate this record, he is elect
ing to travel in swift company.
The journey OF the battleships
from the Atlantic to the Pacific
will be the greatest naval move
fnent ever attempted by this gov
Grnment and only equalled by the
ill-fated fleet that Russia sent to
Japanese waters two years ago.
The English squadron in their war
games arouud the British Isles,
sometimes brings into play more
ships, but for the size of the ships
and the length OF the voyage, the
movement has never been sur
passed. There was actually more
Ships in Rogensvinsky's squad
ron when he went from the Bal
tic to the Sea of Japan, but the
squadron went in two sections,
took an inofdinately long time
making the voyage, and was not
the equal OF Che American feetin
Sighting power at any time
The question OF q route for the
squadron has been discussed BY
the Naval Board at some length
and a decision has been made in
favor OF Cape Horn. The route
through the Suez Canal is about
/, 900 miles longer than the trip
around the Horn and besides
this it would bring the squad
ron almost into Japanese waters
and would look d little too much