The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-11-03
GREATEST FLEET.
IN HISTORY IS
REVIEWED
BY President Taft on the Hud-
son River
80 VESSELS IN LINE
Following the Review the Fleet Scat
tered to Their Regular Winter
Stations

New YORK, NOV. O-f ItSH HUN NO
transcontinental tour OF 1900 miles,
during which he received senatorial
pledges, which seem to indicate the
early ratification OF the treaties OF
peace and arbitration with Great Brit
ain and France, President Taft re-
viewed yesterday from the wind
swept bridge of the historic little
cruser-yacht MayAower in New
York harbor the mightiest line of
fighting craft ever assembled under
the American flag The president in
dictated in all of his speeches in adj
vocacy of the treaties OF peace that
he entertained no fond delusion that
by convention, war could Immediately
be made thing OF the past lie de-
clared that the treaties were step in
the right direction; that the armed
camps of Europe were looking TO the
United States to lead in what might
prove to be a great world movement
toward the goal OF peace, but that
for a long time to come the sugges-
ton OF disarmament would have no
force
Yesterday Mr. Taft let it be known
that he would continue to urge upon
Congress the necessity OF building at
least two great uperdreadnoughts a
year until the Panama canal is in
actual operation. The canal, he de-
clared, would double the efficiency of
the navy and from that time on one
battleship a year might suffice to
keep the American navy in the fore
front of the worlds military powers.
Thousands of people joined with
the president in honoring the 80 YES
sells which lay at anchor in the Hud-
son. Twenty-four first-class battle
ships were in line, grimly gray and
with ammunition rooms fairly burst
ing under the weight Of millions of
pounds of powder and she'll Sur
rounding this burly column-sullen
in its self-reliance-were armored
cruisers, yielding but little in power
and weight to their more formidable
sisters OF the battle class; scout
cruisers, slender but fast: meteor
like destroyers, green wasps of the
sea; 1.-THE torpedo boats, which seem
ed spiderlike in their stealth; sub.
marines, barely visible above the
waterline, and the rank and file Of au-
/ Hillary vessels that serve as tenders
to the fleet There were SO in all,
the original plan Of having l02 ships
/ in line having been curtailed by the
absence Of three torpedo boats.
AS If the exhibition of prepared
ness and power pictured in the an
chored armada were not all sufficient
20 of the battleships toward the close
OF the day picked up their anchors,
turned in the teeth OF the gale, and
swept proudly out to sea. The presi.
dent watched the passing pageant
in impressed silence. AS the big
fighting ships steamed by, with foam
crested waves spreading from their
armored bows and clouds OF black
smoke swirling from their tunnels
the sun was near its setting and they
spoke with crashing guns the last OF
a long series OF salutes which had be
gun with the early morning and had
been all but incessant throughout the
day
The review had been the most bril-
liant in the history OF the country
and on its conclusion the great feet
dispersed and the various ships
wendell their way to their home sta
tons to await the call to winter
maneuvers in southern waters. The
setting for the review was splendid
natural marine amphitheater. The
fleet lay on the broad bosom of tn,
Hudson, walled in on either side Of
the towering buildings OF Riversid,
drive and the preclpitous cliffs o.
the New Jersey palisades.