The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-09-04

|-cable follows this and reeves through
the bullnose or hole Mt the bow Of the
destroyer, the thimble on the end pass.
ing over the pelican hook, of special
large design. This hook is so made
that in case of danger small pin can
he removed and allow the hawser to
| slip off, and passing ont of the bull.
nose, casts the destroyer adrift. A
complete set of gear was carried for
each vessel.
Courtesies exchanged.
After the West Virginia had made
fast, Captain Corwin p. Rees, com.
mandant of the Honolulu Naval Sta
tion and Lieut.. Commander Moses,
captain of the yard, went aboard and
paid their respects to Admiral Swim
burne. Presently Mrs. Swinburne, who
arrived on the Manchuria, and had the
distinction of megaphoning her admiral
husband as the passenger liner passed
the fleet in midocean, came on. When
the Tennessee entered port Admiral
Sebree Immediately went over to the
West Virginia and reported to Admi-
raj Swinburne.
This exchange of courteses was mi
nutely observed by the crowds, who
were impatient to spread out over the
wharves for closer inspection of the
warships. Their curiosity was graft
fed after the local officers had finished
their formal calls.
Then a red pennant at the fore of
| the Maryland attracted attention.
Then it was learned that this pennant
with black disc in the center desig-
mated the Maryland as the champion
| oh Of in bnN
won the pennant trophy at Magdalena
Bay last March. The Maryland is
head of the class of vessels having
turrets, so this honor gives them prece-
dence even over the big battleships
Admiral is Satisfied.
| Captain Oliver, chief of staff aboard
the flagship West Virginia and the
Admiral's IS aide, Lieut.. Poteet, received
the many visitors who came aboard
with extreme cordiality, and the press
was afforded every opportunity to get
all the information available. Lieut..
Poteet stated that the cruiser was pret-
ty good ali the way down. On the first
day there was storm when the feet
did not average more than six or seven
knots per hour. After that, however,
the vessels made ten and eleven knots.
No other storms were encountered, thus
indicating that the storm which struck
Honolulu on Monday was local. Dur.
ling the entire trip the engines of the
torpedoboat destrOyers were ''loose, -
that is the throttles were open but the
engines practically furnished no speed
whatever, the engines revolving only
about forty-eight to fifty turns.
As to the towing test both Captain
| n nd cta hot =
could not be more satisfactory, and
the Admiral had expressed himself sat
isfied with the results. Outside the
breaking of the tow lines of three or
four vessels, and due entirely to wear,
not strain, there was but one accident
About the fourth day out signalman
aboard the West Virginia missed his
footing while on duty on the after
bridge and fell overheard. The flag
ship fell out of the line, boat was
lowered and in four and half minutes
the man was picked up, something of
n record rescue.
Wireless Works Far.
The officers were entirely satisfied
with the record of the wireless system
of the fleet, and particularly with that
of the flagship which handled all the
long distance messages. The transmit
ter and receiver aboard kept in com
munication with the Pacific coast until
1900 miles had been run out, when all
communication was suddenly cut off
They wondered why no word came
from Honolulu and were not aware that
their messages had been received her,
at all until Tuesday night when the
local Naval Station announced that il
n was in touch. Mr. Balch of the Inter
!. Island Telegraph Company, who wen
|, aboard tO discuss wireless matters Will
o the chief of staff, announced that tn,
: Kahuku apparatus was not ready t,
r transmit messages yet. but the receiv
= ing end was o. X. and it had lstene'
,. TO the West Virginia when that vesse
+. was about 1900 miles distant. The nigh
Z. that the West Virginia was calinI
n Table Bluff, Cal, on which occasion tn
o Kahuku station "caught" the mes
II sage, the West Virginia was $50 mile
r from San Francisco. The first tim
Is the West Virginia found herself i
m wireless touch with Honolulu was abou
n $3.50 p. m. Wednesday when Admra
= Swinburne notified Captain Rees tina
"a he would arrive in Honolulu at !
a. o clock noon yesterday.
" Buzzed Like Bees.
m When Manager Balch of the Intei
re Island Wireless Telegraph Compan
re visited the flagship yesterday it Wa