The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-11-15
GREAT GROWTH
| OF THE NAVY,
Since the Columbian and the
Dewey Parades.
SHOWN BY REGENT REVIEW.

Against 1o2 In the Line Which Pass
ed Before President Taft at New
York Mobilization.
1t is most surprising as well as in
q teresting and instructive to compare
I the great assemblage Of 102 ships
4 which recently was reviewed in the
4 Hudson river by President Taft with
+ former reviews, such as that held in
celebration of Admiral Dewey's return
in the Olympia, his flagship, in 1899
and that other memorable review in
4 April, 1898, which marked the Colum-
bian celebration. The figures on these
reviews make comparison of Ameri-
can naval strength possible which is
astounding and highly satisfying TO
many enthusiasts.
1t shows that for the Columbian eel
ebration, to which all the great pow
ers sent one or more ships, the United
States was represented by squadron
of twelve ships, the flagship being. the
protected cruiser Philadelphia. Rear
Admiral Gherardi, and including til"
4protected cruisers Chicago, Atlanta
and Yorktown and the dynamite cruiS-
Ter Vesuyius.
The American ships in this review
were greatly outnumbered by the total
humber of foreign representatives pres
lent. The comparison of this dozen o.
small ships compared to the imposinc
show of battleshipS, to say nothing C.
the large cruisers and other vessels OF
the present feet, gives a good idea o.
the remarkable growth of the navy IL
the last eighteen years.
But the little American feet which
President Cleveland saw at the time
of the Columbian celebration contain
ed the nucleus of the modern fleet that
assembled in the Hudson. The Chira-
go, Atlanta and Yorktown, with the
Boston, formed the famous White
squadron, which was the first preten
Eious group of armored vessels Duilt
by this country. They were ready 70"
Sea in 1885 and went abroad at thai
ime to show our English cousins what
Uncle Sam was doing in the way of
constructing modern warships.
These vessels were built at the yard
bf John Roach in Philadelphia at a
cost of something over 100000 for
he four. The Chicago, which was the
largest, was of 4,500 tons displacement
hnd made a speed Of sixteen knots. In
her main battery she had four eight
inch guns and eight siX-inch guns.
The Boston, Atlanta and Yorktown
were Of 5000 tons each.
Very small indeed would these ships
bf war look in comparison with the
hew Yankee Dreadnoughts, which are
poo feet long and of $4,000 tons dis
placement.
The Dewey parade, little more than
six years after the Columbian review.
showed that we had made marked
strides in naval construction. In fact.
I'VE had just put a grand old power out
bf commission on the sea, and we were
rather chesty. But even the shov!Ir
made in '03, when President McKiulef
reviewed the ships, seems meager
when the figures are compared to those
bf the present fleet.
AS a squadron of welcome to Ad-
niral Dewey there lay off TompkinS-
Fille at that time the armored cruise?
New York, flagship of Rear Admiral
Sampson; the first class battleships In
llama and Massachusetts, the second
lass battleship Texas and the ar
nored cruiser Brooklyn, all of these
Tessels having been in the Santiago
Fight. Also in the review which fol
Owed were the Chicago of white
Bquadron fame, the Marietta and a few
bther gunboats and half dozen of our
irst torpedo boats This feet, which
welcomes the hero of Manila, repre-.
ented a great part of our naval
" strength at the Spanish war stage,
and in comparison it made the fee
i ecently in the Hudson look rather
XaSt.
The Grant monument review Cf
j hpril, 1897, was made up of a goo3
nany Of the ships that appeared in the
r Dewey celebration. In the Hudson
Fulton festivities of two years ago a
orecast was given of what might be
= lone in the way of mobilizing a big
+ american fleet. But the total number
= II American ships in that review was
'nly about third of the number in
he recent one.