The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-06-17

An address was made by Governor
Hoch on the deck of the battleship. in
which he presented to Captain Vree-
land the magnificent silver service.
Governor Hoch and the Kansas
state officers were met at 1 p. m. to-
day at Recreation pier, between Mar
ket ana Chestnut streets, Philadelphia,
by government tug, and taken down
the river to the navy yard at League
Island, where the battleship lies. The
trip consumed about 45 minutes. and
the exercises commenced about 2
o'clock.
address,:
Among the rich legacies left to the
Am merican people by their heroes and
patriots history has embalmed none
more brilliant or more precious than
the imperisha BILE annals furnished us
by our navy. The achievements of
our navy prove the old proverb, that
Truth is stranger than fiction" and
bravery and marvellous success. What
American student can read without
a thrill of national pride the story of
our naval conflicts during the dark
days of the Revolution when we grap-
pied on the high seas with the greatest
naval power of the world as we grap-
pied on land with the greatest military
power in the world. Although the
royal navy 6Xco6Qed ours IN numD0r
of craft and in armament, in the
ratio perhaps of ten to one, yet the
superior maneuvering and valor of our
officers and men more than divided
the honors of that great struggle on
the sea- and when the long unequal
contest was over we had nearly 1000
British ships, including many warships
with their cargoes and crews our
trophies of victory
Equal to Every Emergency.
1 L, Il,
great power our achievements were
relatively greater even than this. In
all our wars our navy has been equal
to every emergency and has crowded
Thrilling indeed is the story with
which our navy has enriched the
pages of history. Do you ask me for
a single sentence that has inspired the
most struggling souls in all the walks
of life with new courage? Then,
give you the immortal utterance of
the dying Lawrence. Don't give up
the ship" Do you ask me for the
most noted instance where victory was
wrested from the jaws of defeat?
Then, 1 tell you of John Paul Jones
whose precious dust has but recently
been returned to us. When the cap
tain of the British ship in that awful
midnight battle said to his sinking
antagonist, Have you struck your
colors?" the intrepid American an
swered, st have not yet begun to
fight, and followed by ms courageous
crew clambered from his own sinking
shin aboard the Scraps and hand to
hand contested for the mastery until
the British crew surrendered. Was
good news ever couched in stronger or
more striking phrase than Perry's i'm
mortal announcement. 1--WE have met
the enemy and they are ours ?" Was
daring ever better exemplifed than by
Farragut lashed to the rigging of his
flagship in Mobile bay. or by Hobson
and his associates in Santiago harbor? ?
Is there a more graphic or more thrill
ling recital in history than the battle
in Hampton Roads between the first
two armored ships. the Merrimac and
the Monitor But perhaps after all
The most remarkable chapter in tn
annals of all naval warfare is the mar
velous story of the achievements of
our navy in the late Spanish American
war. What a magnificent chapter it
ICxa,atira11ad or, Ssa,zera i