The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-03-10
Earmesl Of Greetings For the Most Formidable Collection OF Sea Fighters Ever
Gathered Together Under the American Flag As They Drop
Anchor In Hampton Roads After a A. 900 Mile Voyage.
B~ATTIESHIPS WHICH HAVE ENCIRCLED The GLOBE REVIEWED BY PRESIDENT
ROOSEVELT As THEY STEAM BY I'M LINE SEVEN NILES LONG
Is Ships All Fit For the Battle Line As When They Sailed
Ia Months Ago Fire Salute.

| cream of the United States Navy, a
line seven miles long of the finest
fighting ships u skill has been able
to produce.
AS they came up the broad reach
Of waters to man-o-war anchorage
| and fired their salutes to President
Roosevelt, the spectacle was n to
remember, the chartered and govern
ment craft carrying sightseers and
| official visitors and the thousands OF
persons who crowded every vantage
| point ashore were ablaze with en-
thusiasm. They cheered, threw up
their hats, and capered like school
boys. What they saw was sufficiently
inspiring to stir the most phlegmatic.
When the ships reached the an
chorage grounds they formed In col
] umns of divisions in lines lying al
I, most east and west, the Connecticut,
| Admiral Sperry's flagship and the d.
| yisional fagships lying at the western
| extremity of the lines and almost
under the shadow Of gray old For
tress Monroe, a picturesque survival
Of an older fighting day. 49,
Aboard the ships as they steamed
slowly past the Maylower the admir-
ais and captains were at their sta
tions on the bridge; the trim marine
guards were in line at attention, and
blue-jackets massed in ordered array
forward. They had completed a per-
Torrance with credit to themselves
| that had filled many minds with grave
apprehensions when it was begun.
AS naval men, they had accomplished
a feat that sets a precedent IN the
annals of f1eet-voyaging.
The only battleship that started
away with the feet and did not re-
turn with it is the Alabama, which,
with the Maine, came home last Oc-
tober. The Alabama is now In New
York Navy-Yard. The Maine acted
as flagship of the squadron of vessels
that went out to greet the homecom-
ing fleet.
Taking the places Of the Maine
and the Alabama In the fleet proper
were the Nebraska and the Wiscon-
sin, which were built on the Pacific
Coast and Joined the fleet at San
Francisco. This was their first ap.
pearance in an Atlantic port.
Not too much stress can be laid on
the important part wireless telegra-
ply played in the operations and
progress of the fleet. No previous
American feet has been able to main
tain such perfect communication,
which means unity of action, as the
present one. Valuable experiments
have also been made with wireless
telephones.
Already Lieutenant Commander
Hutch I. Cone, fleet engineer, has
been commended for ability in CO.
ordinating the engine room systems
throughout the command. He is an
expert on coal economy and was ap-
pointed at San Francisco after tax.
ing the torpedo iotilla through
safely.
Tens Of thousands Of cheering
Americans, on shore and on excursion
steamers, greeted the fighting men
and fighting ships that have circum.
navigated the globe in fourteen
months and given to all nations a
more definite idea Of the strength
and of Uncle Sam.