The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-04-12
TOOK THE INNER COURSE
Commander Cone Recounted Some Of
the Features of His Voyage-The
Destroyers Had Had No Glimpse
Nof teh Battleships.
MAGDALENA BAY, Mex, APPS,

-" 1"li INSps -NPli ~ nv WI PSu
hotilla Of six destroyers commando,
by 1t. Commander Hutch | Cone
arrived in Magdalena Bay from Aca
pulco Sunday evening at eigh
o'clock The fotilla following til,
example OF the fleet was one da,
ahead of its schedule here. 1t re
quired three days to make tht
run from Acapulco at an average
speed of Is knots
The destroyers appeared in the en-.
erance to the bay shortly after seven
o'clock in dense cloud OF black
smoke. In the gathering darkness
the low-lying, black hulls were not
visible from where the fleet lay at
anchor, AS they came into the bay
steaming directly for the feet at high
speed, their identity was soon dis
closed, Immediately two bright
signal lights on the mast head of each
battleship beckoned the approach of
the men OF war. At eight o'clock
they were at anchor lying here and
there under the lee Of the big battle
ships Commander Cone went
aboard the flagship Minnesota tc
make his report to Admiral Thomas
Tall and thin and bronzed from
tropical sun he looked fully the part
OF the daring destroyer. Admiral
Thomas greeted him in his cabin.
Young man, why are you not in
proper uniform" vase one of the ad-
miraPs first questions porpounded,
as he surveyed good naturedly the
tall officer as the latter stood cap in
hand. Cone was dressed in the SER
vice uniform OF lieutenant and he
had been promoted to the rank of
Lieut.. Commander since leaving
Hampton Roads.
81 have not had a chance to put
on the other stripes, Admiral" he said
in reply.
q congratulate you on your pro-
motion" concluded the admiral as he
grasped the officers hand and shook
it warmly
Commander Cone then began the
recounting Of some Of the features OF
his voyage. The destroyers had had
no glimpse Of the battleships since
shortly after leaving Punta Arenas
as the destroyers took the inper
course through the narrow island
channels, the battleships sweeping
far out to sea. The trip of the six
small craft through the Patagonian
passages was filled with adventure.
I'VE steamed for days through the
narrow channels, a thousand miles
long" said Commander Cone" the
passage being barely wide enough to
let us through The waters were
cold from the jutting glaciers and
filled with broken cakes of ice. The
boats took on all the ice we needed
for days
"The precipitous cliff as from the
snowclad mountains rose besides to
the height OF hundreds of feet. We
threaded Our way through these is
lands, the other destroyers following
the lead Of the Whipple as we came
along in single column We had
as pilot a lieutenant commander OF
the chilean navy. He steered us
through the narrow defiles and over
perilous places without the slightest
mishap, Frequently at night we
would come to anchorage on a mar
row shelf of rock where there would
be barely room enough for all the
boats together on it. This shelf would
be but a slender ledge outside of
which the bottom dropped sheer
hundreds of fathoms, beyond all pos
sible anchorage.
"We went ashore in various places
and mingled with the natives. Al
though the weather seemed cool to
us, the costums of the natives were
scant enough. Sometimes they wore
nothing at all. Sometimes we would
find on the shores thousand of wild
ducks. We finally shot away all our
ammunition but until that happened
we had all the fresh meat we re-
quired.
We've scraped the bottom of the
the trip from Hampton Roads. The
Arethua or Mother of the Destroy
ers as she was called, was not able
to keep the fast pace set by the de-
stroyers, and frequently held them
back, The destroyers carry only
about $50 tons coal each and require