Los Angeles herald., 1908-05-07

lures of the first evening of the fleets
stay. The days that are to come viii
be crowded with a variety of enter
tainments for the men and officers ol
the visiting squadrons.
The fleet threaded its way through
the crowded harbor, past the islands
and ferry lanes and reaching far over
to the Oakland shores. turned at last
when opposite Hunters point and
pointing backward toward the Golden
Gate to face the incoming tide, steamed
slowly into anchorage formation. The
battleships, having the right of line,
were first to let their anchors go.
The sixteen veterans of the Atlantic
cruise augmented the battleships re-
cruited here for the remainder of the
trip around the world-the Nebraska
and the Wisconsin-occupy the two in
side lines of the four columns of ships
now in the harbor; the armored cruis-
ers of the Pacific feet have the line
| nearest the Oakland shore, while the
little black destroyers of both the At
lantic and Pacific flotillas are berthed
close in toward the San Francisco
water front. The parade and the ma
neuvers were made without the slight
est hitch anywhere or the suggestion
of an accident. The excursion feet
was kept out of the warships' pathway
by patrol of revenue cutters and all
ferry service was suspended during the
parade.
Evans In Command
Rear Admiral Robley d. Evans. COM
mander in chief of the Atlantic fleet
and just now in command of the as
| sembled ships of both oceans, stood on
the after bridge of the Connecticut as
the famous flagship led the way
through the harbor's gate and until
she came to anchor at the head of the
battleship columns. His presence gave
fitting touch to the close of the first
great stage of the cruise.
His active naval career is to close on
Sunday next, when he formally will be
relieved from command. Both because
| of illness and the death of a faVorite
grandchild. Admiral Evans will be un-
able to participate in any of the func-
| tionS planned in honor of the officers.
He probably will ridt at the head of
the great land display which is to be
made tomorrow with more than 5000
| bluejackets and marines in line.
| Always a harbor ofpicturesque beau
ty, San Francisco bay today provided
wonderful setting for the most re-
splendent of the many marine pictures
| the white fleet has ever painted.
The flash of sun from behind the for
bidding clouds of the misty morning
gave the finishing touches of sparkle
and color to the scene.
| The Atlantic ships lay at anchor all
last night off the San Francisco light
ship. with the twinkling lights of the
Farallone islands plainly in view. \
| fog closed down during the dawn and
was still lowering over the ships as
they got under way at IL o'clock this
morning.
The cleft in the rocky coastal range
marking the harbor entrance was not
visible 70 the fleet as the navgators
laid their course toward the waiting
city. The thinning clouds. and the
growing strength of the climbing sun
soon wiped the mist away. however,
and when four miles away in the ocean
| the ships came into full view of the
| thousands lining the shores.
To the north of the gateway Mount
Tamalpais, raising its peak $500 feet
| above the sea, was crowded with the
early risers who had sought this place
of vantage to view the spectacle of the
| fleet in miniature.
Fort Baker Thronged
Fort Baker, on the Marin shore,
with its fifty-ton guns mounted higher
than any weapons of similar weight
| in the world, also was thronged with
sightseers.
Near the entrance the sloping Marin
shores all the way from the heights
down to Zine point, marking the north
point of the inner gate. were fairly
covered with enthusiastic thousands.
| The cannon on the Preside and of
| Fort Baker doomed national salute
of twenty-one guns as the Connecticut
passed within the headlandS OF the
gate.
The compliment, never paid before
between the two branches of the serv-
ice was returned by the Connecticut
amid loud cheers from the people on
shore The great white puffs of smoke
belchng in the cliff-hidden guns of
Fort Baker added another wonderful
touch to the days enduring picture.
AS the ships passed Fort and Lime
points and entered the bay, the rolling
hills of the city lay to their right. On
al of these-on famed Telegraph hill
Mob HILL Russian hill and all the 9TH
ers of a bundled names-the people of
the city and their hundreds of thou
sands of visitors stood and stared.
They saw the splendid cruisers of
the Pacific fleet lift their anchors from
behind Angel island and slip carefully
| down to the line marked out for the
| battleships and then, as the visitors
! from the east had passed. the West
Virginia. flagship of Rear Admiral
| Dayton. in command of the Pacific
| fleet, turned skillfully into perfect
| alignment just in the rear of the Wis
| consin, the last of the eighteen bat
| tleships stretching in a long line before
| the city. The West Virginia was fol-
| lowed by her seven sisters, by the
! Charleston and by the torpedo craft
of the western station.
! They took their places 400 yards
| apart, just as the battleshipS
| formed their column, and there was
| but one uneven break in the far-flung
column
Cruisers Superb
The cruisers never Appeared to bet
ter advantage than in contrast with
the battleships. The West Virginia
lowered far above the Wisconsin, and
her 502 feet of water line made the 36S-
foot battleship look almost like a
pgmy.
The long cruisers with their sky
reaching masts and four buff tunnels
are without doubt the handsomest
ships in the navy. Their lines are
grace itself, but their eight and ten
inch guns would be of little use against
even d ship as old as the Wisconsin,
which, with her four 13-inch turret
weapons and sixteen inches of armor,
could lie we'll without the cruisers
range and pour destroying shot into
her Vitals.
The ships as they sailed into the
bay were dressed only at the mast
heads. big American flags flying at
fore and after trucks and at the peak
of the gaffs.
The blue nag of Admiral Evans
Connecticut was followed by the red