The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-02-22

uo t' lOIut vi DeluS yOul
countrymen. You have shown thai
the best type Of lighting men Of tho
sea knows how TO appear to the ut
most possible advantage when his bus
1neSs is TO behave himself on shore
and to make a good impression In d
foreign land
We are proud of all the ships and
all the men In this whole feet and VIC
welcome you home TO the country
whose good repute among nations has
been raised by what you have done.
Old Point Comfort, Feb. 22.-The
boom of the sunrise gun echoing over
the moat of picturesque old Fortress
Monroe marked the beginning of day
/ that added another chapter OF thrilling
! beauty and interest TO the historic
y waters of Hampton Roads. first made
famous by the battle of the Monitor
and Merrimac. II required vivid i'm
agination TO look back today over a
span of forty odd years TO picture the
fury of that deadly conflict between
/ the two first ironclads of their day,
] and to compare their tiny strength
with a modern battleship of the class
of the Connecticut.
In the battleship and cruiser squad
rohs that fled by. the Mayfower today
and saluted the Presidents flag at the
mainmast of the graceful little cruiser
yacht, there were represented 420,4 ,490
tons of water displacement
Every battleship in commission in
( the navy had place in the long line
There were twenty of the heavily belt.
ed vessels. fifteen being among the
original sixteen that sailed away four
teen months ago. The only vessel
missing from the line today was the
Alabama She came home with the
Maine last October, and both of these
ships had the distinction Of going all
the way around the world, even If they
were excluded from the feet Itself.
The Maine served today as flagship Of
the squadron of vessels sent to meet
the incoming fleet, and as the wireless
dispatches already have told, she was
greeted at sea with all the enthusiasm
of an old friend The Alabama is In
reserve at the New York navy yard.
The strangers in the feet today were
the Nebraska, which replaced the
Maine, and the Wisconsin, which re-
placed the Alabama. Both these YES
sells were built in the Pacific. Both
joined the feet at San Francisco and
today made their first appearance in
an Atlantic port. The battleship fleet
and its escorting squadron Of four bat
tleships and five cruisers arrived at
the southern ocean drill grounds fifty
miles off the Virginia capes, yester-
day, and while there, made ready for
krn 10
news that the feet was almost within
sight of the shore caused intense inter-
est in oil the cities bordering Hamp-
ton Roads, and today at the first
streaks of the coming day, residents Of
( Norfolk. Newport News and
| other nearby places began TO
make their way to some previously Sc
lected point of vantage along the bor-
ders Of the ocean OF bay
Virginia beach, Offering one or the
| first opportunities for glimpse Of the
| incoming squadrons, was sought by
! thousands. The ramparts of Fortress
! Monroe were black with spectators.
and wherever place could be found
along the water front, the eager on
lockers were gathered
| The battleships picked up their reg
/, ular cruising speed OF ten knots an
hour early this morning. Brass work
was polished to a degree of uneQualed
| brilliancy and wherever paint work
| had been marred on the journey home.
! fresh coats of white and buff applied
yesterday made the ships as imma-
culate as they were on that beautiful
| day In December. 1907. when they sail
| ed away on world cruise
When the battleships pointed their
! prows at daylight for the gateway of
the roads. the Mayflower. with the
President and his party OH board, was
steaming down Chesapeake Bay To the
anchorage at the tail of the horseshoe,
a channel leading around Thimble
Shoals-where fourteen months ago
the President had stood on the bridge
of the same trim little vessel to re.
View the outgoing feet, and bid 1t
God-speed on Its epoch-making jour
ney. On that occasion the President
said the sentiment meant simply the
! sending Of homogeneous body of war
ships OH an extended practice cruise.
IL was matter Of ordinary duty, he
declared, and while he was present to
witness the sailing In his capacity as
commandcr-in-c chief of the army and
navy. he did not consider the event
one of sufficient Importance TO requiro
speech or other special ceremony.
Today with their splendid record of
achievement and victories of peace be.
hind them, the sixteen battleships
came home to welcome and to a
ceremonious greeting which could