The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-23
FLEET At HOME
AFTER VOYAGE
AROUND WORLD
continued frem Paae 1.

ter. said the president, but want
TO see next year a target practice I'M
der conditions in rough wafer
The bluejackets on the after-bTidSc
started to cheering. winch ives caught
up by the white-gloved officers.
For il you ever have to fight, con-
tinued the president, YOU cant choose
your water.
Cheers by the Sailors.
Again the men burst into cheers. Tar
set work is the subject nearest the
sailors heart to1sv. The men are en-
thusiasnc on anything appeTtainius TO
it. and the rivalry between the different
ships both az record and battle practice
is intense. The men cheered again
when the president declared that this
was the first battle Ieet ever to cir
cumuavigstc the globe. and that any
other nation that ever attempted
similar performance must follow the
footsteps of America.
You have done the trick, he eN-
claimed. and tho quick response OF the
men brought slad sEIil" to the speak
cr's lips.
"Other nations may follow" repeated
the president, but they have got TO 80
behind"
The cheering broke out afresh when
the president declared of the cruise
that nobody after this will forget that
the American coast Is on she Pacific
as well as OF the Atlantic" When the
president mad concluded and was about
to he "pined over the side to continue
his round of flasships. q member OF the
Grew proposed three cheers and I'll
ger" They were given with a visor
that fairly swept the chief executive
off his feet. and As ne bowed acknowl-
edgment. he exclaimed. IF there we're
enough of me, I'd cheer for you
Day Was Disasresabls.
The day of the fleets homecoming
was cold and gray. A-drizzling down
pour of rain formed an early morning
| fog that threatened seriously to inter
( fere with the arrangements for the en-
| try and review. The MayffoWeT in the
night had had d perilOus journey down
I the lower Potomac and through the
| Chesapeake bay. for scores of excursion
craft from Washington and Baltimore
were striving with her to make their
way through the sray banks of mist.
| But the Mayfower safely reached her
anchorage off the lightship that marks
| the tail of the NHorseshoe shoals, and
| took up a position in almost the identi-
cal spot where fourteen months ago the
president bad5 the departing vessels
/ God-speed on their momentous journey,
And promptly at the hour set FOR their
arrival, IL a. m, the flash of fame and
| a puff of white powder from the for
ward bridge of the Connecticut marked
the beginning of a day of salutes that
lreverberated over the dancing waters
of the roadstead with continuous roar
/ that suggested the din of the actual
/ battle. In addition to the salutes fired
| several ffr1pe fr, honor IF rho -1racfdpnf
/ 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 forgotten.
| Exactly at noon. in Unison with the
cannon showing their muzzles over the
| crowded rampaTts of Fortress Monroe,
+ the fleet fired a salute OF twenty
guns, each ship letting go simultan-
| eously.
The Fleet Sighted.
| The first glimpse of the ships today
by the president and his guests on the
Mayflower and the thousands who jour
neyed down to the Virginia capes on the
greatest feet of excursion vessels ever
| seen in Hampton Roads. was when the
black crosses formed by the signal
yards at the mastheads doomed above
the horizon. The day was so overcast
and gray that the naked eye could
scarcely distinguish where water and
sky began. The smoke from the feet
mingled with the low lying clouds and
hung like a pail over the approaching
vessels. But gradually the white hull
and the buff superstructure of the Con-
necticut, leading the long column of
returning battlssnips and their escort.
took form out of the mist.
only the leading ships in the long
1T. - l..
flash of the cannon from The flagship
! started the salute to the presidents
| flag flying at the main mast of the
MdyflcWer.
The salute was caught up by every
ether vessel In the far-fluaE column.
| which seemed to disappear down the
near distance OF the close-d draw hnri-
zon. The flashes of red fire burning
through the mist appeared to extend
far ever the eaTth's rim. The rOaU of
the cannon at tae height o. the vol
Icy was deafening. but the noise died
away at the finish like distant thun-
der. the nearer ships finishing the tolls
of guns some moments before the re-
ports Of the last shots by the trailing
escort were heard.
Escorting Squadron.
In the wake Of the s'xteer returning
! battle ships were four other battle
! ships of the home station and five
giant cruisers. In the matter of bat
tie ships it was the heaviest feet ever
gathered under the flag. The escortius
ships were sarbed in the new gray pre-
| scribed for all the vessels If tie navy
and appeared at d distance TO disadNan-
| tage alongside the white and buff YES
sells of the world-girdling squadrons. The
latter vessels. as they go to navy yards
for docking and such minor repairs as
are needed at the end Of this memoir
able voyage of $4,000 miles, will join
the company of stay-at-homes tn their
dressing of neutral gray. and one of the
distinctive features Of the American
navy will be thing Of the past.
The fog OF the morning and the In
cessant rain of the later day did not
deter any of the thousands who had
planned to visit the ocean beaches and
the shores of the bay and Toadstead
Old Point Comfort never held such a
throng as today. and strong detail OF
artillerymen from Fort Monroe was
ready to keep the crowds from pushing
those I'm the front rank line of specta-
tors overheard into the sea.
| Cheer-laden breezes swept from the
shores out to the incoming vessels. The
old Point dock was black with rest
less crush of people as the long column
of ships drew near. Swerving far out
into the 'roadstead, the Connecticut led