Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-23

ing with her to make their way
through the gray banks of mist.
But the Mayfower safely reached her
| anchorage, off the lightship that marks
the trail of the Horseshoe shoals, and
took up a position in almost the iden-
tical spot where, fourteen months ago,
the president bade the departing YES
sells godspeed on their momentous
journey.
Promptly at the hour set for their
arrival, IL a. m, a flash of flame and
puff of white powder from the for
ward bridge of the Connecticut marked
the beginning of a day of sa1utes that
reverberated over the dancing waters
of the Roadstead, with a continuous
| roar that suggested the din of actual
battle
In addition to the salutes fired sew
| eral times in honor of the president and
almost in the midst of the difficult
maneuvers of swinging the ships into
anchorage position, a tribute to the
father of his country was not for
gotten.
In Honor of Washington
At noon, in unison with the cannon
showing their muzzles over the crowded
ramparts of Fortress Monroe, the fleet
fired salute of twenty-one guns, each
ship letting go simultaneously.
The first glimpse of the ships today
by the president and his guests on the
Mayfower and the thousands who jour-
neyed down to the Virginia capes on
the greatest fleet of excursion vessels
ever seen in Hampton Roads, was when
the black crosses formed by the signal
yards at the mastheads loomed above
the horizon.
The day was overcast and gray, so
the naked eye could scarcely distinguish
where water and ship began. The
smoke from the fleet mingled with the
loW-lying clouds and hung like a pail
over the approaching vessels. But
gradually the white hull Of the buff
superstructure Of the Connecticut, lead
ing the long column of returning bat
tleships, and their escort, took form out
of the mist.
Only the leading ships in the long,
straight line were visible when the
flash of the cannon from the flagship
started the salute to the presidents s
flag, flying at the mast of the May
flower.
The salute was caught up by every
other vessel in the far flung column,
which seemed to disappear down the
near distance of the close-drawn hori-
zon. The flashes of red fire burning
through the mist appeared to extend
far over the earth's rim.
The roar of the cannon at the height
Of the volley was deafening, but the
noise died away at the finish like dis
tant thunder, the nearer ships finish
ing the toll of guns some moments be-
fore the echoes of the last. shots by
the trailing escort were heard.
Heaviest Ever Assembled
In the wake of the sixteen returning
battleships were four other battleships
of the home station and five giant
cruisers. In. the matter of the battle
ships it was the heaviest fleet ever
gathered under the flag.
The escorting ships were garbed in
the new gray prescribed for all the
vessels of the navy and appeared at a
distance to disadvantage alongside the
white and buff vessels of the worlds
girdling squadron.
The latter vessels, as they go to navy
yards for docking and such minor re-
pairs as are needed, at the end of this
memorable voyage of $4,000 miles, will
join the company of Stay-at-hOmeS in
their dressing of neutral gray and one
of the distinctive features of the Amer
lean navy will be thing Of the past.
Tonight the fleet once more at home
rests in two long lines. The vessels
were brilliantly illuminated during the
evening, the outline of their hulls, their
masts and their towering tunnels being
painted in the brilliant fire of electric
bulbs against the black background of
the night.
Ashore the admirals and the captains
of the fleet, together with two score or
more officers, were guests at the an
nual banquet of the Navy League, of
the United States.
Scene of Historic Battle
The boom Of the sunrise gun echoing
over the moat of picturesque old For
Monroe Y>lrn6 tho hncrinniY7cr nf
the day 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 Merrimac.
1t required a vivid imagination to
look back today over span of forty
odd years to picture the fury of that
deadly conflict between the two first
ironclads of their day and to compare
their tiny strength with modern bat
tleship of the class of the Connecticut.
In the battleship and cruiser squad
rons that filed by the Mayfower and
saluted the presidents flag at the main
mast of the graceful little cruiser
yacht there were represented 420 490
tons Of water displacement.
Every battleship in the navy had a
place in the long line. There were
twenty of the heavily belted vessels,
fifteen being among the original six
teen that started away fourteen
months ago. The only vessel missing
from the line was the Alabama. She
came home with the Maine last Oc-
tober and both of these ships had the
distinction of going all the way around
the world, even if they were excluded
from the fleet itself.
The Maine served today as flagship
of the squadron of vessels sent to
meet the incoming fleet, and as the
wireless dispatches already have told,
she was greeted at sea with all the
enthusiasm of an old friend.
The Alabama is in reserve at the