The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-12-15

purpose is to furnish supplies from a
shaft 10 can OF machine Oh and to see
that all the little material wants that any
great ship, not the men, may need are
furnished.
The fleet IS to be divided into two
squadrons and four divisions Admiral
Evans viii command the fleet the first
squadron and the frst division Each
squadron will have eight battle ships. and
each division four.
Rear Admiral Thomas VIII command the
second squadron and the third division
Rear Admiral Emory viii command the
second division and Rear Admiral Sperry
viii have charge Of the fourth division.
Commander Hogg will have charge Of the
auxiliary division Of small craft
Preceding the battle feet there has been
send ahead q fiotilla of six torpedo-boat
destrOyers. They viii be passed by the
battle fleet in the Pacific Ocean between
Punta Arenas and Callao.
Itinerary of Fleet.
The fleet leaves Hampton Roads on De
cenber 16. 1t win arrive az Trinidad on
December q and remain until December
%. II Is expected that nothing will be
done there except 20 coal the ships Some
Of the officers may take a trip 20 the cele-
brated pitch lake, where the asphalt that
paves a large part OF our streets comes
from, but 1t is not likely that any shore
leave VIII be granted to the sailors
The distance from Hampton Roads 20
Trinidad is 1850 miles. and with the ex-
ceptiOn Of the run from Magdalena Bay
TO San Francisco. about 1.5O0 miles. will
he D.. oh.
Christmas viii be celebrated at Trinidad,
type aboard ship
Then it viii be hustle TO get coal in
the bunkers and start for Rio This VIII
be the longest run of the voyage. a dis
trance Of 300 miles. The fleet will arrive
there on January II and the stay Will be
ten days. Shore leave will be granted 20
the men, probably about 5000 at a time.
Crossing the Equator.
On the trip down from Trinidad the
equator will be crossed. High jnks will
be the order OF that day. More than one
half of the sailors have never crossed the
line The sailors were preparing for the
fun Of initiating the greenhorns long be-
fore the ships left the ports where they
were overhauled.
Every one who has not crossed the line.
be he officer. sailor, or marine, will get
his good" 1t is expected that the bazing
will occupy a good part of the day. 1t
Will be a day Of fun such as the Ameri-
can navy has never seen.
From Rio the ships will sail on January
p for Punta Arenas. a distance Of 2,22S
miles. arriving there on January 81
Punta Arenas is a desolate port of about
Zoo people, well inside the Straits Of
Magellan. Patagonia Is on one side and
Terra Gel Fuego on the other Of the strait.
Nothing but coaling will be done there.
Leaving there on February 5. the really
dangerous part Of the journey will begin.
For nearly 400 miles the ships must steer
through crooked straits. without chance
Of harbor or of anchorage It is neces-
sary 70 start at midnight so as to reach
the most dangerous part Of the trip by
daylight All that day and that night
will be occupied in getting into the Pa
cifc, when there will be comparative
safety.
Such names as Useless Bay and Desc
lation Island are found along that reach.
II is said that out of the fifty-two wrecks
in the straits In about ten years exactly
twenty-six Of the vessels lost had names
beginning with the letter c. Some Of the