Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1912-10-19
PRESIDENT TAFT REVIEWS
FIFTEEN MILES OF WARsHiPs

NEW YORK, Oct. 15.-Never be-
fore has such an armada been brought
| together for review in American wa
tiers as that represented by the Is.
mile-long string of war vessels that
| filed past President Taft and Secre-
tary of the Navy Meyer on this, the
GROWING day of the great mobilization
of the great Atlantic fleet The aggre-
gate tonnage of the craft exceeded
! 1000 as compard with 576,634 tons
represented in the naval mobilization
here last year.
Dressed from stem to stern in riot
of bunting, the gray lines of the war
ships, with a background formed by
the high shores of Manhattan on one
sides and the New Jersey Palisades
on the other, made magnificent spec
| tacle. Scores of thousands of specta-
| tors viewed the scene from both
shores and from the docks Of befiag-
ged excursion craft that swarmed as
close to the ships as the police boats
would permit. The excursion craft
gave the patrol boats plenty of work
| They added many touches of color to
! the scene, however, and afforded thou
sands of people an opportunity for
close view of the great naval spec
tacle.
1t was nearly noon when the little
white Mayfiower, with the Presidents
blue-crested flag at the maintruck,
| took up her position in the upper bay
close by the Statue of Liberty. Aboard
the yacht were President Taft and his
| family, Secretary of the Navy Meyer
and a large party of invited guests.
the latter including senators, repre-
sentatives and foreign military and
naval attaches from Washington. An
other official party was aboard the
dispatch boat Dolphin. which took up
position near the Mayfiower.
Several hours were consumed in the
exchange of official visits and in the
final arrangements for the great par
ade of the gray armada that for near
" a week had swung at anchor in the
Hudson. Finally the booming of a
gun announced to the thousands of
waiting spectators that the great ma
val spectacle was about to begin.
The battleship Connecticut, flagship
of Rear Admiral Osterhaus, comman-
der-in-chief of the fleet, led the line
down the river and out into the har-
Dor Following the Connecticut came
the latest and greatest battleships of
the United States Navy, the now SUI
perdreadnoughts Arkansas and Wyo-
ming. The dreadnoughts Utah, North
Dakota, Delaware, Michigan and South
Carolina looked fully as formidable to
the lay spectator as the Arkansas and
wyoming. The older type of battle
ship was represented by the Missouri,
Maine, Illinois. Wisconsin, Alabama,
Louisiana, Kansas, Vermont, New
Hampshire, Virginia, Nebraska, Rhode
Island, New Jersey, Georgia, Mime
sofa, Ohio, Idaho, Indiana. Massachu-
sets, Iowa, Kearsarge and Kentucky.
In addition to the mighty array OF
battleships the line included armored
cruisers, scout cruisers, gunboats'
mine-laying ships, torpedo boats, tor
pedo boat destroyers. water tenders,
naval tenders. golfers, repair boats,
despatch boats and submarines.
Three of the ships in line-the Mas
sachusetts, the Indiana and the Iowa
had taken the shot and she'll oil
Cervera's fleet at Santiago. while an
other historic vessel, battle SCARED
one, was the old cruiser Baltimore
which saw active service with Ad-
miral Dewey at Manila
AS the ships filed past the May
flower they kept up constant roar OF
salutes. The bugles sounded -four
. ruffies." the signal for the bluejackets
to man the rails, while the quarter
decks were black with officers and
marine guards. Relocated bands on
the five fiagships of the fleet played
the national anthem, while "be suns
whistles" piped out the order OF the
day.
After passing in review OF the Presi'
dent at IL knots an hour and reaching
for the open sea, the fleet was TO De
disbanded. some of the ships return
ing to Southern waters while others
are to depart for their several home
stations to prepare for the winter
maneuvers in the South.
The feet reviewed by the President
was not only the most powerful ever
gathered in one American COMMAND
but was also equally remarkable as a
homogeneous fighting force. In com
parison with the similar event OF last
year today's mobilization demonstrat
ed, to all appearances, considerably