Daily Arizona silver belt., 1909-02-17

l spectacular cruise around the world, the sixteen battleships of the United States Atlantic fleet are steaming today in leisurely fashion towards the anchor age grounds of Hampton Roads, from whence they sailed just fourteen months ago During these months of record
 steaming the heavily armed fighting vessels have travelled approximately 45,- 900 miles and are returning in condi- tion still fit for ia frolie or a fight. " The cruise has been veritable expedi- tion of the seven seas and tasks here tofore deemed impossible for the modern ironclad have been accomplished with an ease bordering on the commonplace.
 The stories of the cruise have been succeeding chapters of receptions, ban quets, balls and ,merrymaking, but back of all this relaxation and entertaining
 in the hospitable ports of the two hem ispheres has been test of men and material which has placed the American navy in an enviable position before all the world, The engine room efficiency in the longer legs of the journey-de veloping new and unexpectedly wide steaming radius for battleship; the facility in following the motions of the flagship in the fleet, squadron and divisional maneuvers which came with constant experience at sea, and above all the marvellous records made at the targets in Magdalena and Manila Bays tell of the real work and the substantial accomplishments that have marked this most notable of peace demonstrations among the navies of the world.
 The previously arranged schedule of the journeys from port to port had been adhered to in remarkable manner ex. cept in two instances when violent storms made full speed too dangerous and uncomfortable. To offset these lapses from punctuality the fleet has made some of it's longest runs two whole days ahead of time. None of the under takings imposed upon the ships or men have been too difficult. The cruise, how ever, was not inaugurated without ser ious misgivings at home and abroad. Victor NJ. Metcalf, of California, was secretary of the navy when the cruise began. After the ships had set sail from Manila with homeward bound pen nants flying, MT. Metealf said:
 "When the purpose of giving this assemblage of battleships the privileges and advantages of practical cruise was announced, criticisms from high technical quarters were heard. It was suggested that the undertaking was too monumental; that battleship is too vast and complicated piece of mecha- nism 10 send around the globe on any ordinary occasion; that dangers more than multiplied with numbers in such case; that disaster lurked on every submerged ledge and was borne on every unknown tidal current; that the skele- ton of some of the ships would doubt less be left in the Straits of Magellan that, if the fleet should succeed in rounding South America it was reason ably sure that the individual ships would, one by one, arrive with maehin- cries loose and almost unserviceable, with crews reAecting the demoralized condition of the MATERIAL, and that woeful spectacle of failure would thus be presented.
 "As to the MATERIAL, the cold facts are that the ships have practically taken care of their own repairs on this cruise. The repair lists turned in at the Cavite Naval Station were negli gible."
 That the experience gained on the cruise will be of intending benefit to the navy is indicated from the fact that probably one;half of the entire personnel of the naval establishment participated in the epoch-making trip. Three of the sixteen captains who sailed in command of vessels are returning home as rear-admirals. Eight other captains are returning in command of the same ship on which they began the journey of the world. From rear-admi- ral down to mid-shipman the training has been such as no other naval cruise ever afforded. Among the enlisted men the training has been even more valu- able Landsmen shipped just before the start and utterly green in the ways of the deep, are coming home an integral part of wonderful fleet efficiency and loyal believers in all that the American navy stands for. Desertions on the trip have been few The men have taken pride in the cruise and it will be a constant boast with them that they started to the west from Hampton Roads and came home with prows still turned in that direction. They know the world is round, and they know what it is to work and play over 45,0O0 miles of the watered surface of the globe.
 To Rear-Admiral Charles s. Sperry, a strict disciplinarian, man of few words, but recognized scholar and constant student of the higher arts of naval science, fell the task of direct ing the fleet on all but the first 14,000 miles of it's journey. Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, now retired, took the fleet out of Hampton Roads on Decem- Der 16, 1907, and although illness soon after the start confined him to his cabin