Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-15
ANCHOR At
SAN DIEGO
GILLETT GREETS THOMAS ON
BEHALF OF STATE
ROUND OF GAY FESTIVITIES is
BEGUN
Admirsls and Other Officers Guests
at Banquet-Thousand of Or.
anees Distributed to
Enlisted Men
BY Associated Press.

BY Associated Press
SAN DIEGO. April 14.-The Aneri-
can battleship fleet sailed home todav
on a summer sea. Sapphire waters, re-
hecting the deep blue of cloudless
southern sky; tropical islands jutting
boldly out of the ocean in the path of
the western horizon, mile of sandy
each crowded with enthusiastic pa
triots proud to welcome the navy to
California, and the green lawns and
towering gardens of Coronado formed
the setting for the most notable marine
spectacle the west coast of the United
states has ever known.
In four regularly intervaled columns.
with hagships leading abreast and
pointing the way to the first home
anchorage the fleet has found in it's
four months of cruising around the
soutnernmost end of the western hem
isphere, the sixteen ships swept into
the sheltered cove of the sea behind
the towering headlands of Point Iona
and halted for four days of merry
making for men and officers.
" SdlIOfTid
Governor ]. N. Gillett was here off,
cially to welcome the fleet, and his call
upon Rear Admiral Thomas, command
ing in the absence of Rear Admiral
Robley d. Evans, who took the fleet
out of Hampton Roads last December.
was repaid during the afternoon. Local
committees also went to the Conneeti-
cut TO tell Admiral Thomas and
through him all the men of the fleet,
how glad the people of California are
to see such splendid representation
of the American navy as the battleship
fleet constitutes.
Tonight Admirals Thomas, Sperry
and Emory and the commanding Of
ficers and members of the various staffs
were entertained at an elaborate but
informal dinner at the Hotel Del Coro-
nado.
1t was their first taste of hospitable
functions which have been planned in
their honor all the way to San Fran
cisco and beyond. Coming after the
decidedly limited fare offered by the
desolate country surrounding Magda-
lena bay the dainties set before the
officers today were relished.
The beauty of the day spectacle
when flashing signals and wonderfully
executed maneuvers brought the
ships to anchor in the lazy-rolling
Pacific waters was revealed tonight
when for three hours every vessel was
outlined in fire. Thousands of incan-
descent bulbs were strung along sdeck
lines, up military masts, far out on the
signal yardsarms, up and down the
Iuge tunnels and down to the waters
edge at stem and stern.
In FairyIike Form
In fairylike form the ships stood out
against the night, and in letters six
feet high the name of every vessel was
spelled across it's forward bridge. The
glow of the lights flooded the sea for
thousands of yards away, the cleaning
outlines shimmering in phantom-like
reflections. During half an hour of
the period of illumination a search
light display was made, adding in
finitely to the wonderful effect.
The flashing shafts of powerful white
light were sent dancing over the waves,
playing now and then on the crowded
beach of the brilliantly illuminated
hotel, then reaching far away to the
south to conjure from the night the
peaks of the coastal range of noun
tains which are the boundary line be-
tween Mexico and the United States.
During all this radiant display the
old lighthouse marking the rounding
point to the north-Point Loma's lonely
beacon-flashed it's alternating red and
white signals in domestic simplicity
and wholly unmindful of the spectacle
the coming of the ships and their IL
Elimination afforded. On shore scores
of red signal fires were maintained
throughout the evening as welcome
signal, and above all, high in the
reaches of the sky, shone brilliant
southern moon, hurrying it's way to
romantic fullness. The thousands who
iourneyed from San Diego to the
beaches of Coronado to witness the ar
rival of tho fleet remained to view the
beauties offered by the night.
Vessels Drop Anchor
The fleet let go it's anchors-ell
splashing in the water with stimuli
taneous precision-at 12:47 p. M, just
thirteen minutes before the announced
hour of arrival. For two hours the
ships had been in sight and their COM
ing had been watched with wonder by
the waiting throngs. So engrossed
were the people in the beauty OF the
scene that they forgot to cheer.
The people of California are not so
we'll acquainted with the navy as they
would like to be, and the cruise of tho
battleships to this coast has been Iona
looked forward to. Never before have
armor clads of the Connecticut type,
displacing more than $4,000 tons OF
water in their occupancy of the sea,
been seen along the Pacific coast, and
the occasion of their first visit is to be
made a memorable event wherever they
touch a port or cruise close enough to
the shore to be seen by the citits and
resorts that skirt the edge or the coast.
The splendid condition of the ships
was manifest in every way. Outward
1v they were the same sparkling, i'm
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