The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-03
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT SEES FINEST FIGHTING MACHINE
 THAT AMERICA EYER KNEW
CONTINUED FROM PAGE D

power launch in which he rode bobbed bout periliously In the rough water, but Mir. Taft as good a sailor as a traveller by land, did not mind the tossing. The Mayflower's guns boomed g. salute as the President left the yacht and when his flag temporarily was hoisted on the Connecticut the other vessels took up the noisy token of trI-
 bute and respect and for the second time their guns spoke in unison.
 Call Brief
 The presidential call on the flagship l waj brief and formal and the last of the 1 sail,s had scarcely finished their 21 guns | when the cannon of the Connecticut sent cut fresh white puffs to indicate tha. the | President had passed again over the | side. Once more the fleet followed the | flagship in its salutation to supreme au- l thority.
 | When MT. Taft returned to the May | fewer and climbed to the forward bridge ! the wind was fairly bowling in the rig 1 gjne. He was well muffled up in great | coat and needed every ounce of its
 warmth. His silk hat constantly was in danger of being carried away, but MT. | Talt held on to 1t grimly until the May | flower, steaming up the river against the | full force of the blow, had begun to pass 1 the ships of the line. Then MT. Taf. 1 domed his hat in answer to the strains | Of tl,e national anthem, which came from
 each vessel, and the rigors of naval for
 naiity scarce permitted him to don it
 again for full hour and half The | little Mayfiower as she moved in and out
 among the gray clad men of war was at l fenced by two low, rakish little torpedo | boats. A round trip of the fleet completed, the Mayf1ower came again to anchor off 1 West Twenty-third street to permit the Pi esident to further review the ships after | they had gotten under way.
 Tie ships had been pointed up stream | al, morning In the swing of an ebbin I tide. It was intended that they should not get under way until the flow had changed and their prows had been point | ed toward the wider waters of the lower bay This would have made maneuvering
 the many vessels in the close confine of | the river comparatively easy task For more than an hour past the sched-
 ule time the President waited for the tide to change and for the advance of the | moving fleet. Under the influence Of the gale Blowing out of the harbor, however, the cub continued undiminshed. A little more than two weeks ago President Taft erlived In San Francisco harbor where | the Pacific fleet lay at anchor. It was l lons past nightfall when he started over the pay, but the ships of the fleet had off clally delayed the setting of the sun for | an hour that they might salute the chief 1 ma agjstrate.
 | The navy Regulations do, not permit
 the firing of salutes after sundown. It seemed today that nature was retaiating for this liberty with her time table, and 1 by no official order could the drift of she tide be turned.
 Giving up hope at last for an early l change in conditions. Rear Admiral Os- terhaus. in command of the fleet. flashed orders to get under way. The gay dress
 ing lines which had Tapped and futtered throughout the time, came tumbling to the decks. and the military masts and ynrdarms of the battleships stood out again in all their gaunt barrenness. The exhibition of sean,anship involved
 in turning the massive vessels practically
 in their own length against wind and tide has never been equalled in the navy ana called out great praise from the President and the naval officials aboard the Mayflower.
 The maneuver successfully completed
 the fleet began to move. As the leading vessels picked up speed the water could
 be seen to whiten at their bows. and when they passed the Mayfiower they were bowling along at fine pace The steam ing column flung farther than the eye
 could reach in the haze of the late aft ernoon, presenting a fitting picture to close the notable occasion.
 The throbbing ships, only 400 yards apart. however. had neither terrors nor paramount right of way in the judgment
 of number of ferryhoat captar' in the harbor. who from time to time drove
 their non-respecting craft across the bows
 of an oncoming ironclad. Happily there were no collisions to mar the pageant. Taft's Statement Following the review, President Taft issued the following statement:
 Those who saw the fighting fleet which was assembled in New York harbor coulN not fail to be struck with it's prepared | ness and with it's high military efficiency | and must have been proud of it's per sonnel.
 '"The demonstration has its educational value in arousing patriotism, in increas- | ing the general knowledge of and inter- est in the navy, in Illustrating the ability l to mobilize on short notice and in show
 ing the skill of the officers who turned | the whole fleet in the Narrows in the | river, and sent 1t to sea again at the | rate of 14 knots per hour.
 The equipment of the fleet is excellsnt except as to the number of destroyers and cruisers and coliers in proportion to l the whole number We had in the fleet 22 destroyers and to meet the full re- ouirements there should have been ap- l proximately 100 destroyers or an-ayer- | age of four to each battleship. It is true 1 that there has been a marked improve ment in the type of coliers and fast cruisers in our navy, but it is also true that we have not a sufficient number. "In addition to building great battle- ships, other nations are building ,,nor- | nous high speed cruisers of 2S knots an
 hour, and it is believed that our navy should be similarly equipped Unless
 navy is maintained at the highest possi- ble state or efficiency it is a needless ex- travagance. 'I am more than ever convinced of the
 desirability of comforting upon the com | banding officer of our fleet the title of admiral or at least of vice admiral At present the ranking officer is rear ad-
 miral, and this title is not common su-
 rate with the importance of the fleet
 "At the review of the German fleet at Kiel. a smaller number of ships was ur,-
 der the command of full admiral two
 souadrons were commanded by vice ad-
 nirals and each of four divisions was
 commanded by rear admira.''
 President Taft after the review here
 this afternoon left tonight for Hot
 Springs. Va, where he arrives early to-
 morrow morning for four days rest be-
 fore going to Cincinnati and thence into
 Kentucky and Tennessee He will reach
 Washington November F and stay there
 for the winter. r
 While the fleet reviewed by the Presi-
 dent today was the most powerful ever
 gathered in one American command It was
 not such homogeneous fighting forcv
 as that composed of 16 battleships that
 sailed around the world three years ago.
 It reflected rather the transitory stage
 cf the American navy-the passing from