The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-14
THE RETURN OF THE FLEET
By Frederic ]. IiasLin.

only the recent earthquake troubles n ttaiian waters caused any changes
 in the year-oId plan. and these were
 made in accordance with the altrufsm or nation that would send it's ships
 to suecor those fin need and divert the
 provisions intended for the fleet to
 .he more Immediate needs of the home-
 tess starving thousands of Sicily.
 Leaving Norfolk in winter time the
 ships rushed through eight seasons of
 summer and winter before they reach
 ed san Francisco. and returning again
 on winters. day they will have the
 memory of the Mediterranean summer
 only three weeks behind them. Puck,s
 putting q girdie about the earth in
 Forty minutes is a tame feat cofnnarod
 to that of the Atlantic fleet ana fts fourteen months achievement. The snips kept an ordinary cruising speed of ten knots an hour without interrur- ton TOT from eight to fifteen days, and call for from i've to ten days.
 Christmas they spend on Trinidad where New England Christmas trees and tropical palms adorned ship and mess table New Years Day was spent on the coast of Dutch Guiana. The middle of January they arrived at Rio Janeiro to be guests of the city. Two hundred and fifty miles on the coast or Argentina the sixteen invincibles were met by a fleet of four Argentine cruisers. and as the Atlantic fleet fell into line. with Argentine flags display ed and guns firing salutes. the most unique mid-ocean ceremony ever Known to the civilized world was witnessed.
 In the tracks of Magellan they passed through the straits, slxirting bleak, un- nann1aA In -f~ 6 A. Of the far southern seas, and passing the last stage of the journey n a dense fog. And this one million doIl- ar's worth of steel lighting machinery. with It's resident population of I6,OO0 souls weathered the treacherous straits and arrived on the western side un-s ruffled and unscathed.S Al Punta Arenas. the southernmost town in the world. they stopped again to coal, and in the shadow of gaint glaciers the men watched the sun set at ten at night and rise again four hours later.
 A Chilean cruiser met the fleet far down the Straits, and led 1t to Val paraiso where in and ont of the big harbor the ships passed in reyiew.l Chilean sailors in white spelled out the word welcome" on the steep hill- side near the city.i Out again on the Pacific without touching shore, they beat long the coast until they made callao in late February. There were bull ffghts and other Latin American diversions. and with the bunkers fun Of coal. they headed eight days later for Magoarena Bay where the Paci- fic squardron was at target practice. Then they came to San Diego in April. when the men saw home soil for the first time in their long rush 6f 14.000 miles.
 Into San Francisco Bay the fleet sailed in May. a fleet bigger than the entire navy of any country in the world save Great Britain. France anu Ger many. From the Pacific coast and a bit of rest there. they went to Hon. olulu. passing close inshore as they rounded Molokai. in order that the lepers in exile there might see the great wonder. They then. went to New Zealand. and to Australia. where at Sydney 5000 school children in a solid mass represented the crossed flags Of Great Britain and the United States. and where provincial authori- ties bestowed true AnRlo-Saxon hos- DitaIity. In Manila Ray the ahina o,.4