The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-29
AMEM0RABLE EVENT
WILL. BE FLEE1,s VISIT TO Aus- TRALrA.
Preparations Have Been Made To En- tertain. American Omeers And saf1ors In The Grandest
 ~ Of Style.

Melbourne, Aug. 2e.-The approach ing visit of the American fleet to the capital of the Australian commonwealth promises to be the~ most memorable military event in the history of Aus tralia-
 The welcome to the American off cers and men by the people of Aus tralia which begins at Auckland and which sydney win continue. will reach its climax here. The Federal. State and municipal authorities have been busily planning to receive the fleet for about two months. Many commit tee meetings have been held to ar- range the details of the reception. Private organizations are also eager ly cooperating with the authorities to give the Americans cordial well come.
 The Salvation Army will charter a steamer and, accompanied by several of it's best brass bands. will proceed to the heads at the mouth of the har- Dor to welcome the fleet upon its arr rival on Saturday. August 2s. Inter est in the reception has extended far into the interior of the country. Upon receiving invitations. which already have been accepted by Admiral sper- ". deputations of ofiicers and men will visit the cities of BAltarat and
  tertained by the municipal authorities of the same cities.
 The problem of transportation dur ing American week" has engaged the serious attention of the government. The visit of the American Meet coin cides with the annual fair of the Royal Agricultural Society. during which each will be held under the auspices of the Victoria Racing Club. In view a "a AyN nnn Hf fpaf4<% the railroads are having old passenger coaches which had been put out of use as antiquated. repaired for services. The government has decided to run special excursion trains, at unusually low rates, from all the districts of the State. to Melbourne from the 18th to the 26th of August. and to sell ex- cursion tickets on the ordinary trains for the rest of the month.
 Several thousand soldiers will arrive here from various parts of the country to take part in the parade and 1.500 members of the fire brigades of varf- ous cities will come to join in the torch light procession. Some A.5on cadets from various military Schoois are to be provided with free strans- portation to the capital The kssthori- ties are expecting fully 10000 visitors to Melbourne during American week" AZ OltB Clby anu ltS 5aUufbS naoa a population of about 500.ooo. 1t may be expected that the streets of the city will be thronged to their fullest capacity. Hotels and boarding houses are preparing to entertain overflow guests at private houses. The public ertertainment of the Americans will be on more extensive scale than has ever been known here. The State gov- ernment alone expects to spend about $50, GOO in entertainments, not to men, ton the expenses of the Federal gov- ernment and municipalities composing "Greater Melbourne"
 The illumfnations will be upon an unusually splendid scale. The parlia- raent house. the general postofice, the yarious ministries, the town hall and many other public buildings will be lavlshly illuminated. The words YAus- tralia Welcomes America" will Do la zoned from many of them in colored electric lights. One novel feature planned for the day of the public pros cession ia the dressing and grouping of many school girls in such a way as to represent the union jacks and the American and Australian flags. Upon the arrival of the fleet at Port Philip Heads about noon on August 2s 1t will at once proceed up the bay, where 1t will be given a marine well come. all the craft in the bay signal ling its arrival by a concert of steam