Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-02-23
The Presidents Speech.

ne TTe5iuSHtS SECCSHs
The President said. on the Connecti-
cut:
Admiral Sperry, officers and men of
til bait cship fleet:
over a year has passed since you
steamed out of this harbor, and over
th5. worlds rim and this morning the
hearts OF all who saw you thrilled with
pride as the hulls of the mighty war
ships lifted above the horizon. You
have been in tn" Northern and the
Southern hemispheres; four times you
have crossed the line; you have
steamed through all the great oceans;
you have touched the coast of every
continent. Ever your general course
has been westward: and now you come
back to the port from which you set
sail. This is the first battle fleet that
has ever circumnavigated the GLOBE
Those who perform the feat again can
but follow in your Footsteps
The little torpedo tiotilla went with
you around South America. through
the Straits of Magellan to our own
Pacific coast The armored cruiser
squadron met you and left you again
when you were half way around the
dction of the prophets of failure. In
all your long cruise not an accident
worthy of mention has happened to a
single battlcShip. nor yet to the
cruisers or torpedo boats. You left
this coast in IL high state of battle
efficiency. and you return with your
efficiency increased; better prepared
than when you left. not only in per
S"nnel, but even in material. During
your world cruise you have taken Nour
regular gunnerN practice. and skillet
though YOU were before with the guns
yau have grown NOR" Sklful still; ara
through practice you have improved
in battle tactics. though here and ther"
is more room for Improvement than IN
your gunnery. incidentally, | suppose
could hardly say that one measure or
Your fitness must he your clear recoss-
milton of the need always steadily to
strive tn render yourselves more fit;
if YOU ever grow to think that YOU arc
fit enough, YOU can make up No'r
minds that from that moment you Wtii
begin to go backward.
AS a war machine, the fleet comes
back in better Shap" than it went out
In addition. you. the officers and men
of this formidable fighting force. have
shown yourselves the best of all posSi-
Bile ambassadors as heraldS of peace.
Wherever YOU have landed you hav"
borne Yourselves so as to make us ut
home proud of being your countrymen,
You have shown that the best type of
fighting men Of the sea knows how to
apnear to the utmost possible add
vantage when his business is to behave
himself on shore. and to make a good
impression in foreign land. We are
proud of all the ships and all the men
i'm this whole feet, and we welcome
YOU home to the country whose good
repute among nations has been raised
by what you have done.
old point Comfort, Va. Feb. L.
The boom Of the sunrise gun echoing
over the rroat of picturesque old Fort
Monroe marked the beginning Of
daN that added another chapter Of
thrilling beauty and interest to the
historic waters of Hampton Roads.
first made famous by the battle of
the Monitor and the Merrlmac 1t re-
Guired Il vivid imagination to look
back today over a span of 40 odd years
to picture the fury of that deadly con-
fict between the two first ironclads of
their day and to compare their tiny
strength with a modern battleship of
TIE. class of the Connecticut.
In the battlcship and cruiser squad
rons that filed ny the Mayflower to-
Guy and saluted the Presidents flag
at thc main of the graceful little cruis |
e. Yacht. there We're represented 800.
400 tons of water displacement. Every |
battleshir in commission in the navy !
had place in the long line There |
were 20 Of the heavily bclted battle !
being among the original 16 !
that sailed away II months ago. The !
only vessel missing from the line to- |
iay was the Alabama She came home .
with the Maine last October and both
of these ships had the distinction of /
going all the, way around the world. |
even if they We're excluded from the
feet itself The Maine served today as
flagship of the squadron of vessels sert
to meet the incoming fleet and as the
dispatches e/already told. she was
greeted at sea with all the enthusiasm
IF an old friend. The Alabama is in