Amador ledger., 1908-05-15
THE BATTLESHIp FLEET.
An IMPOSING Siuht. The Greatest
Fleet Ever Assembled Is the
Pacific.

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dred residents of Amador county
visited San Francisco last week TO
witness the incoming of the great
battleship fleet, and the imposing
ceremonies incident thereto. Of
these probably one hundred were
from jackson. At the same ratio,
reckoning the population of tie state
outside of San Francisco, at one and
half millions, California must have
contributed nearly five hundred thou
sand persons to help swell The throngs
that gathered round the city by the
Golden Gate on that OCCASION From
outside the state there must have
been between fifty and one hundred
thousand more. Added to these the
| men belonging TO the fleet over
twenty thousand-it will be seen that
the advent Of the battIeships meant
more than doubling the population
and consequently the business of San
Francisco for several days. Indeed,
there can be no doubt that from
business point of view, it meant more
than this for the city, as nearly Gall
the strangers we're we'll supplied with
money, and spent their money
literally during their brief stay.
And they we're we'll repaid for the
visit. Such an event comes but
seldom. In fact it has never before
been presented to the American
people. San Francisco put on its
best gala attire for the reception of
the fleet and the crowd of sightseers.
For city just rising from the ashes
of the greatest calamity of the world s
history, her magnificent display was
as noteN orthy as the grandeur Of the
naval display.
The editor of the Ledger watched
the movement of the big warships,
twenty in number, from the top
perhaps the best point of view among
all the hills of the city. 1t is the
closest to the water front, and as lofty
as any of them. From this point one
has a view of the entrance to the
gateway of the bay, and by little
shifting of position could watch the
vessels from their entrance into the
harbor to the time of their anchorage
in treble line beyond the ferry de-
pot. The hill itself was a closely
packed mass of humanity. All the
standing room was taken up; in some
cases the visitors took up their posi-
tions early in the morning SO as to
make sure of securing an advantage
GUS place. 1t was estimated that
fully ten thousand persons viewed the
fleets entrance from this hill alone.
The fleet, consisting of the sixteen
battleships composing the Atlantic
fleet, with seven or eight torpedo
boats, also nine cruisers comprising
the Pacific squadron, sailed through
the bay in single file, except that the
torpedo boats kept on the off side of
the battleships, apparently as a sort
of escort. The battleships and
cruisers we're easily distinguishable,
the former being shorter and having
! three smokestacks, while the cruisers,
designed for speed as we'll as war
purposes, were provided with four
SIN okestacks, and were considerably
longer than the other class. All the
vessels we're painted white, except the
torpedo boats, which were black, ard
little of them showed above the water
line.
The vessels steamed slowly but
gracefully to their appointed places
of anchorage, keeping about 400 feet
apart. There was nothing of war
like character to the panorama, other
than the salute by the forts, and the
answering guns from the vessels. AS
they steamed on they we're greeted
with vociferous cheers from the
throats of fully one million persons
/ that lined every available spot on
either side of the bay, and the waving
of flags. 1t was a spontaneous out
burst of patriotic enthusiasm.
In the evening the warships were
brilliantly Illuminated with myriads
of incandescent lights, and for the
first half hour manipulated their
searchlights, the whole presenting
picture never to be forgotten.
On Thursday the sailors from the
warships had their time. They were
augmented by the soldiers-infantry
cavalry aud artlllery-the whole pro-
cession comprising from fifteen to