The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-02-23
CRUISE
IN HISTORY ENDS

Continued from Page One.
thing else the President said. for these
returning sea wanderers were proud OF
their ships and what they had accom-
piished. and they felt that they had rea-
son 20 be. as they looked around all the
great floating fortresses lying 10 in the
roadstead-
Formation Is Powerful.
It was a powerful formation, although
not As large numerically as the war
ship assemhlagc that participated in
the San Francisco demonstration. In San
Francisco Bay there were eighteen battle
ships and eight armOTed cruisers There
we're other small naval craft which
brought the total Of Uncle Sans war
ships UP to forty-tvo IN to-day's review
ing ships there were % battle ships. 2
armored cruisers. and scouts, 3 as
against IS IN san Francisco; that IS. in
the main feet. The smaller craft to-day
numbered about a dozen. so that the
entire naval demonstration here was not
quite 50 large as that Of san Francisco.
The combined feet to-day. however. was
more powerful in gun strength. and
hence il Is proper 10 SAY that Il was the
greatest gathering OF American war ships
ever seen
Il is hard 20 tell just where 10 begin
the story Of the navy's greatest day in
tine Of peace. Perhaps the best place TO
begin IS at the beginning The whole
affair was full OF Incident and spectacular
effect Il started from the personal
standpoint Of the feet Al 915 o'clock this
morning. when the battle ships and the
ships with them steamed toward the door
way TO home. guarded by Cape Henry
and Cape Charles. They had come TO-
the nautical phrase is. seven hours BE-
fore on the Southern drill grounds Of the
navy. a dozen miles beyond the cspes-
Just about the time The battle ships
we're starting the Maynower. with Presi-
dent Roosevelt aboard. was dropping
anchor near the point known as The
Tail Of the Horseshoe q few miles IN
side the capes and eleven miles from
Fort Monroe
The morning brought signs of threaten
ing weather. and yesterdays promise OF
another beautiful DAY became uncertain
as 20 fulhnmen1. The navy wives and
the others who looked out 81 their win
dovs 70 see what was in store. saw a
heavy overcast sky. with some fog Of IN
the east. where the sun was coming up.
But when they consulted the Weatherwise
they found comfort fl the information
that II was merely the morning mist.
which the sun would dissipate soon
Mist MARRIED the View.
The sun worked hard. but vas not sue
cessful For a time II seemed that it
would get the better Of the unpropitious
weather conditions. but along about Il
Z O'Clock. when the excursion boats. yachts.
/ and tugs. that had carried thousands Of
/ spectators. were on their way 10 the
scene Of the opening ceremonies. q few
I drops Of rain fell After that the sun
gave II up There were showers occasion
( ally, but always there vas TIE Ieaden
/ sky. with cloud hanks all along the hori-
zon. The rain, when It came. was cold. but
! not heavy. It was not so bad II one had
made up his mind TO make the best Of
/ things
( The Mayfiower had come down from
Washington with a big party aboard. In
addition to the President and Mrs. Roose-
! welt. there were the Secretary Of the
( Of state. Robert Bacon. the Assistant Sec
rotary OF the Navy and Mrs. Herbert l.
{ Satterlee. Representative and Mrs Mich
3 olas Longworth, Mrs. Henry Cabot
4. Lodge. Miss Ethel Roosevelt, Miss New
berry, Miss Isabel Hagner. Commander
William s. Sims. the Presidents naval
aid. and Mrs. Sims; Capt. Archibald "
Butt military aid TO the President, Eer-
nit Roosevelt. and Quentin Roosevelt.
Near the Mayflower the United States
dispatch boat Dolphin anchored. She
/ carried members Of the Naval Committees
of the Senate and Of the House OF Rep
/ reseutatives. Behind these was the
/ United States lighthouse tender Myrtle
4 She had as passengers the Secretary OF
] Commerce and Labor and Mrs Streus
their son-in-law and daughter. AR and
/ Mrs. Hochstadter. Of New York ant
.! Theodore /. Weed, chief clerk Of the De-
partment OF Commerce and Labor.
Big FIotiIIa Present.
A big flotiHa Of all kinds Of craft fol
lowed the Mayffower out 10 her anchor
age. There was the Old Dominion Lin,
steamer Brandon. from New York ait,
a crowd Of members Of the Nay League
and their families. The steamer Wash
ington brought from the National Capita
about 800 Senators and Representatives
with their wives and their daughters, ant
other people From Norfolk came, after
ward, steamers and yachts Other steam
ers dropped down from Baltimore. anC
Richmond sent some. Gov. Swanson. o.
Virginia, and party we're aboard the Gen
Maury. out OF this port vent the bigges
crowd Of unofficial craft ever seen II
Hampton Roads
People who live hereabout wondered
where all these steam vessels came from
Most Of them were loaded down with PEG
Die. who carried flags and had good lunl
power. Every one Of them was deco
rated with signal flags and other bTigh
bits Of bunting. The MsyfioWer. the Dol
phir. and the Maple were decorated also
The little YanktOn. which had accom-
panied the fleet around the world and ha1
come home ahead OF it. was in the line.
Just after four bells was struck On TIT
government craft. which means 10 O'Clock
in landIubbeT English, the watchers O
the welcoming fleet saw some tiny speck
outlined against the horizon. Through
the mist they looked Ike hare aide
bushes. Pretty soon the word was passes
that the sticks were the masts OF tn
battle ship Connecticut. flagship OF Rea
Admiral SpeTry. commandments o
the armorclad feet. Sure enough the,
we're.
Connecticut Leads.
The Connecticut, leading the long iini
Of her fellows, began to loom up into tn
semblance Of vessel Of war. Then othe
alder sticks appeared, and these later o.
took the shape and form of hattie ships
Within half an hour or so the leading
vessels Of the feet we're n plain sight