The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-15
BATTLESHIPS
NEARING HOME
AFTER CRUISE
Details of One of the Most Re-
markabIe Trips OF a Mod
ern Fleet.
VESSELS RETURN FIT
FOR "FROLIC OR FIGHT"
TASKS HERETOFORE DEEMED
IMPOSSIBLE PROVED EASY
OF ACCOMPLISHMENT.

old Point Comfort, Va. Feb. 14.-Half
nav across the Atlantic ocean on the
Isl long reach of their spectacular
rruise around the world. the sixteen
i,sttIssbips Of the United States Allan
tic fleet are steaming today IN leisureiy
sssbior toward the anchorage grounds
Of Hampton Roads, from whence they
called lust fourteen months ago. Dur
iog these months of record steaming,
Inc heavily armored fighting vessels
have travelled approximately $4,000
miles. and are returning in condition
still fit for "a frolic OF a fight" The
rr,,isa has been a veritable expedition
Of the seven seas and tasks heretofore
deemed impossible for the modern iron
clad have been accomplished with an
ease bordering on the commonplace.
The stories of the cruise have been
succeeding chapters of receptions. ban
gupts. balls and merrymaking, but back
of ali this relaxation and entertaining
IN the hospitable ports Of the two hem
ispheres has been a test of men and
material which has placed the Amerl-
can navy in an enviable position before
all the world. The engine room eff
cheney in the longer legs of the journey
developing a new and Unexpectedly
wide steaming radius for a battleship;
the facility in following the motions of
the flagship of the feet, 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 substan-
tiaI accomplishments that have marked
this most notable of peace demonstra-
tons among the navies of the world.
Schedule Adhered To.
The previously arranged schedule of
the journeys from port to port had
been adhered to in remarkable manner
except 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 its longest runs two
whole days ahead of time. None of the
undertakings imposed upon the ships
or the men has been too difficult. The
cruise. however, was not inaugurated
without serious misgivings at home and
abroad. Victor NJ. Metcalf of Caiifor-
MIA was secretary Of the navy when the
cruise began. After the ships had set
sail from Manila with hOmeward bound
pennants flying, Mr.. Metcalf said:
When the purpose of giving this as
semblage of battleships the privileges
and advantages of a practical cruise
was announced. criticisms from high
technical quarters were heard. It was
suggested that the undertaking was too
monumental; that a battleship is too
vast and complicated a piece of mech
anism TO send around the globe on any
ordinary occasion: that dangers more
than multiplied with numbers in such
a case; that disaster lurked on every
submerged ledge and was borne on
every unknown tidal current: that the
skeleton of some of the ships would
doubtless be left in the Straits of Ma
gellan, that. il the fleet should succeed
In rounding South America it was rea-
sonably certain that the individual
ships would. one by one. arrive with
machineries loose and almost unser-
vicesble. with crews rejecting the de-
moralized condition of the msteriel, and
that woeful spectacle of failure would
thus be presented.
As to the materiel, 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 negligi-
bic"
Benefit to Be Derived.
That the experience gained on the
cruise viii be of unending benefit TO
lne navy Is indicated from the fact
mat probably one-haIf of the entire
personnel of the nava! establishment
participated in the epoch-making trip.
Three Of the sixteen captains axho
sailed iii command of vessels are re-
turning home as rear admirals Eight
other captains are returning in COM
nand of the same ships on which they
'eSan the journey of the world. From
Continued on Page 5.