Albuquerque citizen., 1908-04-15
TORPEDO BOATS
MAKE DARING
7 RIP
They Have Good Record for
"Trip Through Pdtdgonidn
Passages.

san Diego. April 15.-The voyage
Of the great battleship fleet around
South America is hardly to be COM
pared with the daring feat of the six
torpedo boat dcstroyers which fol-
lowed it. although the chief public
interest has been centcred in the
larger vessels
The destroyers reached Magdalena
bay shortly before o'clock on the
evening Of Saturday. April 4. In the
gathrung darkness, the low-lylng
black hulls were not visible from
where the fleet lay at anchor. But
"a they came on into the bay, steam
ing at a rapid speed, their identity
was soon disclosed. Immediately two
bright signal lights on the mainmast
of each battleship betokened the ap-
pruach of men of war.
BY : o'clock they were at anchor.
lying here and there under the lee
of the big battleships. Commander
Cone went aboard the flagship Min
nesota at once to make his report to
Admiral Thomas. Tall and thin and
bronzcd with the heat of the tropical
suns, ne looked fully the part of the
daring destroyer fighter. Admiral
Thomas greeted him in his cabin.
Gone Promoted on the Way.
Young man, why are you not in
proper Uniform was one of the
first questions the admiral propound-
ed. as he surveyed good naturedly the
tall officer as the latter stood, cap in
hand
Cone was dressed in the service
uniform of lieutenant He had
been promoted to the rank of lieu
tenant commander since leaving
Hampton Roads
IL haven't had a chance to put on
the other stripes. admiral" he said
in reply.
81 congratulate you upon your pro-
motion" concluded the admiral, as
he grasped the officers hand and
shook it warmly
Commander Cone then began the
rccounting of some Of the features of
his voyage. The destroyers had had
no glimpse of the battleships since
shortly after leaving Punta Arenas
when they separated, the destroyers
taking the inner course. through the
narrow island channels, the battle
ships sweeping far out to sea. The
trip OF the six small craft through
the Patagonian passages was filled
with adventure.
Thrcugh the Patagonian Isles.
we steamed for days through the
narrow channels, a thousand miles
long said Commander Cone, "thC
passages being barely wide enough tC
let Us through. The waters were cold
from the jutting glaciers and filled
with broken cakes Of ice. The boats
took on all the ice We needed fol
days from over the side
9TH" precipitous cliffs Of the snow
covered mountains rose beside US tC
height Of thousands of feet. seem,
ing sometimes to almost close over US
We Threaded our way through thcs,
islands. the other dcstroyers follow
ing the lead of the Whipple as W,
came along in single column.
we had as a pilot Hcutenan
commander of the Chilean navy. H,
steered us through the narrow defile.
and over the perilous places withou
the slightest mishap. Frequently a
night We would come to anchorag,
on q narrow shelf of rock wher,
there would be barely room enough
for all the boats II crowd together
This shelf would be- but a slende
ledge. outside of which the bottom
dropped sheer hundreds of fathoms
beyond all possible anchorage.
Natives Nude in Cold Weather.
I'VE went ashore in various place
and mingled with the natives Al
though the weather seemed cool to u