The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-07-29
NAVAL REVIEW
CONTINUED from page seventeen)

CONTINUED from page seventeen.)
trained, the most highly disciplined.
They will not fail us in the hour of
need, though all the latest theories OF
naval construction turn out to be false.
1t was early when the Soudan crawled
through the lines, and Jack and jolly
were still in their Stacks putting last
touches to their house in order. To us
landlubbers it seemed that they were
painting the lily, trying to perfect per-
lection. Barefooted and bare-legged,
they swabbed spotless decks, removed
non-existing specks of dust from milk
white canvas wind screens, and pol
ished breech-blocks and brass work
which already shone bright as the
mirror of truth. But the navy is never
satisfied that things are well; they
must be ever trying to make them
better; that is how their standard of
excellence is maintained.
Foreign Warships.
The Soudan turned along the line of
the foreign warships that have come
to salute the King and do honor to-
his fleet. Their crews cheered us as
we went, the smart, sturdy Japanese
with much energy, the Germans some
what stiffy, the Turks awkwardly,
the Swedes and the Danes in quite
English fashion, and the French with
a warmth that made our pulses tingle.
The fine blueiackets of the Danton
crowded the rails, and, led by the
officers on the bridge, greeted us with
round upon round of hurrahs. Unfa-
miliar flags caught the eye in the
midst of much bunting; the pretty
blue and white of Argentina, the drag
on on the yellow ground of China,
the blood-red Ottoman ensign, with
the star and crescent iN white; the
Austrian naval flag, very much like
that of Spain; the German equivalent
to our white ensign; the Greek flag,
Unfortunately large. The white Swedish
u ul5Gl blOOu OuG dllLOAlo ANl lllOi =
somber British companions; so did the
grey Turk a smart ship which says
something for the work that British
officers are doing in the Ottoman
navy. Denmark sent a coast defense
ship, so low in freeboard that her
decks must always be awash. Russia
was represented by the big, many
gunned 'Rossiya,' whose seamen gave
us a most friendly welcome. The crew
of the Spanish 'Reina Regente' were
noticeable for being dressed in white.
Our berth lay behind the Turkish
cruiser, three-quarters of mile away
from the place, on our starboard bow
where a buoy marked the anchorage
for the royal yacht. We had been
trying hard for the last hour to take
in the details of this enormous spec
tacle; now We were able to look upon
it as a whole, but l confess myself un-
able to describe it adequately-the
beauty of it, the vastness, the signiti-
canoe. There were, counting these
double lines as one, five lines of
British warships, each six miles long,
stretching from east of Southsea Cas-
tie to beyond Osborne Bay. The lines
were a mile in depth. 1t will give an
idea of the vastness of the review
area if say that it covered about
twenty square miles of water, and that
the kings yacht, in making a double
tourney through the lines and return,
ing to Portsmouth Harbor, steamed
twenty-five miles.
A Beautiful Spectacle
The anchorage at Spithead is the
most famous, as everybody knows, of
all that the British navy has ever
used; it is also one of the most beau
tifully situated. To the south are the
rounded, luxuriously wooded hills OF
the Isle of Wight; on the north, the
golden sands Of Stokes bay, the yellow
ribbon of Southsea beach, the roofs
and spires and towers of Portsmouth
bosomed in trees, and backed by the