The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-23
GREATEST WARSHIP CRUISE IN ALL HISTORY BRILLIANTLY
 ENDED AT FORT MONROE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1o

a similar performance must follow In the | footsteps of America.
 You have done the trick he exclaimed and the quick response of the men 1 brought a smile to the speakers lips Other nations may follow repeated the President but they have got to go be- i hind.' The cheering broke out afresh when the President declared of the cruise that nobody after this will forget that the American coast is on the Pacific as well as on the Atlantic"
 When the President had concluded and was about to be 'piped over the side" to continue his round of the ships, a member of the crew proposed three cheers | and tiger; they were given with a vigor that fairly swept the chief execu- tive off his feet and as he bowed acknowl- edgment he exclaimed:
 If there were enough of me, I'd cheer for you"
 Day Is Cold and Gray.
 The day of the fleets home coming was cold and gray. A drizzling down. pour of rain followed an early morning fog that threatened seriously to interfere with the arrangements for the entry and the review. The Mayflower in the night had perilous journey down the lower Potomac and through Chesapeake Bay, for scores of excursion craft from Wash ington and Baltimore were striving 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 shoals and took up a po- sition in almost the identical spot where, 14 months ago, the President bade the departing vessels God speed and prompt ly at the hour set for their arrival II a. m., flash of flames and puff of white powder from the forward bridge of the Connecticut marked the beginning of day of salutes which reverberated over the dancing wa ters of the roads with continuous roar that suggested a din of actual battle
 In addition to the salutes fired sev- eral times in honor of the President and in the midst of the difficult maneuvers of swinging the ships into anchorage position, a tribute to the father of the country was not forgotten. Exactly at noon in unison with the cannon showing their muzzles over the crowded ramparts of Fortress Monroe, the fleet fired a salute of q guns, each ship letting go simul- taneously.
 First Glimpse of Ships.
 The first glimpse of the ships today by the President and his guests on the Mayfiower 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 hor- izon. The day was overcast and gray. The smoke from the fleet mingled with the low-1ying clouds and hung like a pail ove rthe approaching vessels. But gradually the white hull and the buff su- perstructure of the Connecticut leading the long column of returning battleships and their escort, took form out of the mist
 Only the leading ships in the long straight line were visible when a flash of cannon from the flagship started the salute to the Presidents flag, flying at the manmast of the Mayfiower The salute was caught up by every other vessel in the far-hung column, which seemed to disappear down the near dis tance of the close-drawn horizon. The flashes of 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 distant thunder, the nearer ships iin- ishing the toll of guns some moments be- fore the echoes of the last shots by the trailing escort were heard.
 Greatest of All Fleets.
 In the wake of the l6 returning bat tleships were four other battleships of the home station, and five giant cruisers. In the matter of battleships 1t was the heaviest fleet ever gathered under the flag The escorting ships were garbed in the new gray prescribed for all the ves- sells of the navy and appeared at a dis tinct advantage alongside the white and buff vessels of the world-girdling squad rons The latter vessels as they go to navy yards for docking and such minor repairs as are needed at the end of this memorable voyage of 45,0O0 miles will join the company of stay-at-homes in their dressing of neutral gray and one of the distinctive features of the Amer ican navy will be thing of the past.
 The fog of the morning and the in- cessant rain of the later day did not de- ter any of the thousands who had planned to visit the ocean beaches and the shores of bay and roadstead.
 old. Point Comfort never had such a