The Montana plaindealer. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1906-1911, 1908-05-29

troll of the Pacific feet. Rear Admiral
Dayton, commander in chief OF the Pa
cifc fleet, outranks Admiral Sperry.
and as soon as Admiral Thomas blue
flag was run down on the Connecticut
he became senior officer in command
of the combined fleets.
Thomas Retires October I.
Although he will not retire until
| October mex Admiral Thomas has
ended his active naval career of nearly
AZ years. He served as second in com
mand to Admiral Evans during the re-
cent trip of the Atlantic feet, and
by reason of the illness of the COM
mander in chief had to all the
social and official duties incident to
the call of the battleships at the
various South American ports.
AS the feet was steaming into Rio
Admiral Thomas received a wireless
message from Admiral Evans telling
of his illness and asking that Admiral
Thomas represent him in receiving and
paying official calls, etc. At Rio, at
Punta Arenas, at Callao, Lima, Magda-
lena bay and at all of the California
ports at which the feet stopped, Ad-
miral Thomas attended all of the
official functions and made all of the
official addresses.
To Admiral Thomas loyalty to the
commander in chief, to his tact, per
~sonality and -graciousness of man.
ner, the officers of the feet attribute
much of the success which attended
/ the cruise.
Under orders from Admiral Sperry
the bronze battleship target practice
5 trophy was transferred from the bat.
tleship Illinois of the Atlantic feet to
the armored cruiser Maryland Of the
Pacific feet, and the trophy pennant
of red was broken from the foretrucb
! of the latter ship,
= The Maryland will receive the Spo
J kane silver trophy cup offered by the
, citizens of that city for the winner Of
: the target practice for first class ships
!" The cost of the cup, $500, was raised
by private subscription.
Seven battleships will go into dry
dock at the Bremerton navy yard mex
month after the Atlantic feet ends it
cruise among the cities of Puge
sound. These seven ships composI
most of the second and fourth divi
sions of the fleet, the Georgia, New
Jersey, Rhode Island and Virginia o
the second division, and the Illinois
Alabama and Kearsarge of the fourtl
< division.
~ The Atlantic fleet will be repre-
" scented in its entirely on its norther
tour, with the exception of the ALI
bama and Maine, which will have t
stay to so into drydock at Hunter
point. The Alabama docks May .
and the Maine May %.
- After the torpedo fotilla ends il
present visit at Sacramento it will sa
down the Sacramento river to Mar
~ island, where a stay of a few days wi
be made before the little wal vesse.
take their run up the coast to Por
80 Iand, Ore.
II The ~battleships set sail for Pug,
90 sound Monday morning at 10 o'cloc
W Fleet Departs.
90 The Atlantic feet of battleship
after II days of naval ~pageantry an
merry-making in San Francisco, sal
Monday morning at 10 o'clock fl
Puget sound, arriving at Seattle {
May q. One-half the ships will doc
~ at Bremerton navy yard while nor
and the others will return here for
.OS pairs and painting beneath the wat
~ line. Orders call for the reassembliI
,65 OF the fleet in San Francisco not lat
,22 than July 3. On July 7 the feet sal