The sun., 1918-12-27

at s o'clock or so, breakfastless but not
caring because of the show they were
to see. The flivver Joined fleet OF
parked cars. Its owner looked hard in
the direction of Staten Island for long
time. lie finally ventured remark to a
stranger who seemed to be In the know {:
Fleet expected soon?" he asked.
THE feet is going by right now" the
learned one answered. Narrow as Is The
Narrows Il is wide enough to let 10000
ton dreadnought slip through secretly IN
such a snowstorm, which particularly
afflicted Brooklyn. The whole ten went
by-flve miles of them as they moved
and nobody could see them.
staten Island. likewise heavily laden
with people ncar the waters edge, all
keyed IN by the expectancy OF Witness
ing the greatest spectacle in the navy's
history. had only a little better luck.
Outlines, silhouettes OF ships they saw.
that was all But from phantom to
phantom flashed something bright and
visible The Morse lanterns were wink
Ing TO one another as the ten great
creatures, so full OF life, y% so lifeless
crept steadily northward 10 the open
bay guided" away UP there in front by
an invisible balloon.
sengoing Christmns Tree Aboard.
The Battery seawall has held
greater multitude than was assembled
there this time, but this one was great
for all that There was much busting
of tlcketed men and women hustling to
board the fleet OF observation boats. Tho
Mayors COMMITTEES of Welcome had i'm
pressed not only the police boat Patrol
but the freboat Thomas Willett, the
ferryboat Queens and the Taurus OF the
Iron Stea nboat line.
The Patrol had tho largest seagoing
Christmas tree yet reported II was
twenty feet high. Among its passengers
were Grover Whalen. the Mayors secre-
tary Rodman Wanamaker, chairman Of
the welcome committee Mrs. Hylan and
Miss virginia Hylan, Sir Frank Bar
uard. Governor OF British Columbia Ell
bert II Gary, Police Commissioner En-
right ard his bride. Mr.. and Mrs. Will
lam r. Hearst Comptroller Craig, sew
eral borough Presidents. Police Jnspec-
tors Cnderhill and Dwyer, Mrs. Gurnee
Mum, Rodman Wanamaker's daughter
Mrs. Lydig Hoyt Mrs. Charles F. Muir
ply, wife OF the Tanmany leader and
ever so many moro notables. The police
band played and buffet luncheon pro
vided by Mr.. Wanamaker was served at
IL O'Clock.
The narrative must be continued as
one saw the review and inspection from
the converted yacht Xarifa, where were
gathered newspaper and magazine men
from near and far and a group Of ar
lists headed by Charles Dana Gibson.
who as the pictorial division Of the Com
mittee on Public Information have been
posterizing the war and the money cam
palgns and who were now on hand to
see that the warships behaved as adver-
tised
MaTaower Heads Floti1Ia.
The clean Wilderness OF the Mayfiower
caused that beautiful yacht 70 stand out
| in the prevailing obscurity. She was an
chored 500 yards from the Statue Of Lib
| erty. ard at respectful distances from
her were moorcd the rest OF the fiotilla.
The Mayfiower carried the Secretary of
the Nays flag and the yacht Aztec
the flag Of the Assistant Secretary OF
! the Navy-Franklin ID. Roosevelt being
aboard
| Midget submarine chasers or subma-
r!ne patrol boats, lettered IS. G. l26," or
"S. +. a." and so on. scurricd about in
! the manner OF the busy Insect that glides
1 forever over the surface NJ country
| ponds and is known 10 children as the
water skater These little gray speed
devils were the policemen OF the day
and right well did they police, seeing
that no other ship ventured past the sa-
cred though undesirable line that
marked tho edge OF the lane through
which the dreadnoughts were TO steam
! From the %arifa one could see Ellis ISL
| and and the Statue Of Liberty plainly
| Governors Island fairly well. New Jer-
| sey's waterfront partly and Manhattan
not at all Manhattan's towers Tor once
were modestly yelled.
Fog Causes Collision.
! Mostly the snow melted as fast as II
! FELL but on the cool bronze shoulders nj
| Liberty II collected and became visible
40 that the goddess wore n white stole
| In addition to her normal patlna, and her
| crown was silvered TOO. The snow and
fog together also caused the submarine
chaser Sc to bump into the hospital ship
! Gosnold. They drifted and chung TO-
| gether until IL developed that neither
was seriously damaged
| The Arizona, biggest OF tho returning
war monsters except for her twin. the
| Pennsylvania. was due abreast of tn
| Mayhower at 10 O'Clock, AS showing
the minute accuracy Of the nRvy's uavi-
! gators il should be noted that It was
precisely 10 o'clock wnen the Arizona
made good. Four bells was sounded at
| tho precise moment when the first OF the
/ dreadnoughts made its bow to the Sec
( rotary OF the Navy. for whom this also
Was The Day. He stood on the iorwa I'd
deck OF the Mayfiower, careless Of the
snow that sw!rled around MS new silk
| hat beaming like proud daddy of good
| ships as the Arizona, moving at n ten
knot gait like al! Its comrades. paid lis
| respects
Guns salute Secretary.
! From its saluting guns. one 70 port
! the other to starbuaTd-or At the left
ard right. as Mr.. Daniels would have Il
1T started its salutation simultane-
ously with the Changing 90 the -four
bells, And Mt the same moment the
! Ari2ona's band. sounding through Tho
cottony mist and snow as II it were con.
CeHled somewhere, offered 1.-THE sta!
Spangled Banner" So II passed on its
way toward the North River, its small
guns speaking until nineteen shots haC
been fired. its band sending the anthem
Of terror freed America over the face
Of the waters Rut ono must lament
that the Arizonas tunnels ypoutet
hardly any smoke at all. After all
what is a picture OF lie on the rollins
deep without that tran OF seethinG
black smoke. which no battleship shoult
be without?
The oklahoma, second in the process
sion. has even bigger guns than The
Arizona-fourteen inch, "a aKains
thirteen inch, but like the Other his
guns yesterday they hadn't thing I,
cay. But as the Oklahoma was dolul
tho proper thing in the way OF rca
martial smoke emission an eSpeciallS
! good word must he said FOR Isr