With the Battle Fleet Part 18

In solemn state the ships pa.s.sed the uncovered President. He received then and there such a tribute of honor as no other President of Chile ever received. He saw a collection of warships such as no other South American President, with the exception of President Penna of Brazil, ever saw. He had the satisfaction of witnessing a friendly tribute such as no other nation ever received from the United States. Whatever was the effect upon the President and the people of Chile, it thrilled those on the American warships.

For a mile or two beyond the Chacabuco led the fleet and then it turned and fired a salute to the American flag as it headed back to Valparaiso.

The Connecticut answered with twenty-one guns for the Chilean flag, signalled to resume the cruising speed of ten knots--and the spectacular call on the President of Chile and the people of its chief seaport was over. Altogether nearly 800 guns were fired in the saluting. It was like the roar of a battle.

In ten minutes after the Connecticut had fired its salute to the President and before some of the American ships had begun theirs Admiral Evans sent this message to Admiral Simpson on the Chacabuco:

_To Admiral Simpson_:

The Commander-in-Chief of the United States Atlantic fleet begs that you will convey to the President of the republic in the name of himself, officers and men, their appreciation of the honor he has done them in reviewing the fleet. Please add to this my personal expression of highest regard. In saying good-by to you, Admiral Simpson, may I express the hope that we may meet again in the future, and let me convey herein to you the sincere thanks of myself, officers and men of the Atlantic fleet for the many acts of courtesy you have extended to us. We wish you good health and all success.

EVANS.

Then Admiral Evans sent this to our Minister, Mr. Hicks, on the Chacabuco:

_To Minister Hicks_:

I beg that you will express to the President of the republic the thanks of the officers and men of the Atlantic fleet for the many gracious acts of courtesy we have received from the representatives of the Chilean Government since reaching their coast. I am sure that the people of the United States will fully appreciate the courtesies and that they will go far toward cementing the friendship between the two nations. With expressions of highest consideration for you personally, I remain, yours sincerely,

EVANS.

In five minutes the replies were being heard in every wireless room of the American ships. This is what Admiral Simpson said:

_To Connecticut_:

Many thanks for your very kind message which I will convey with the greatest of pleasure to the President, and my personal thanks for your good wishes in regard to myself and officers.

They join in their good wishes for Admiral Evans and send a hearty farewell greeting to the Admiral and his officers and men and wish them all a most successful and prosperous voyage.

SIMPSON.

Mr. Hicks said:

_To Admiral Evans_:

Your message just received. I will deliver it to President Montt immediately. Kindest regards to you and your officers.

The whole review was all that any one should ask for and I am proud of the fleet. Good-by and good luck to you.

HICKS.

Then Admiral Simpson sent this greeting from President Montt to Admiral Evans:

_To Connecticut_:

The President instructs me to thank Admiral Evans for his very kind message and for having brought the American fleet to Valparaiso and to express to him his admiration of its splendid appearance. He further requests me to express to Admiral Evans his sincere hopes that his health will continue to improve and his personal desire that he may arrive at his destination in perfect health.

SIMPSON.

This was followed by this message from Minister Prato of the Army and Navy of Chile and it pleased Admiral Evans immensely:

_To Admiral Evans_:

The Minister of War and the Navy, in the name of the republic of Chile, thanks profoundly Admiral Evans for the delicate courtesy of his salute in Valparaiso and congratulates him, the Admirals, Captains, officers and crews under him, for the splendid demonstration given us to-day of seeing the power and discipline of the fleet under your command. With many cordial wishes for a pleasant voyage and also for the recovery of your health at an early date,

BELISARIO PRATO, Minister of War and the Navy.

To this greeting Admiral Evans sent the final message of the day through the Yankton:

_To Yankton_:

Transmit this to the Minister of War and the Navy Prato. The cordial welcome extended by the officials and citizens of the Republic of Chile has met with our deep appreciation, and I am sure that it will be a source of great gratification to the people of the United States when they learn how you have greeted us. It was a great pleasure to be reviewed by your distinguished President, and it gave me the greatest satisfaction to extend to him the same honors that were extended to the President of the United States on leaving Hampton Roads. Hoping that my action of to-day may in some small way draw closer the bonds of friendship which unite the two great republics and thanking you most gratefully for your personal expressions,

Yours most sincerely, EVANS.

It was a good day's work, and even if it did cause the fleet to lose a day in the run to Callao in addition to the one lost in Punta Arenas in answering the courtesies of the Chileans, no one begrudged the delay.

The appearance of the city of Valparaiso was a distinct disappointment to those on the fleet who had not seen it before. Its name means a Vale of Paradise. Was it intended as mockery? One travel writer has said that nature never meant that a city should be planted there. The hills come down so near to the water that there is room for only four or five streets parallel with it. The city is strung along the harbor for more than two miles. To find other room for itself it has to climb steep hills and build homes on terraces. The streams have made great gullies, or barrancas, in their courses to the sea, and these gulches give a disjointed appearance to the place. There seems to be no continuity about it. It is irregular, tilted here and there and most of the hills have to be overcome with steep railroads, like those which climb the hills of Pittsburg or Cincinnati. A line of railroad with English carriages runs along the waterfront. The railroad finds an opening, not visible from the harbor, where it may escape the girdle of the hills.

There seem to be few houses around the waterfront.

There was little or no color in the buildings. All seemed to be made of grayish mud. There was no visible verdure in the town. The hills were brown, as if blighted by a great drought. All was bleak and bare and dusty. The place looked barren and almost cheerless. A greater contrast to hill and mountain adorned Rio de Janeiro, the last large city we saw, heavy with its mantle of green, could not be imagined than this sun-baked, brown collection of dull-colored buildings const.i.tuting a great seaport. The effects of the earthquake of last year could be seen here and there with a gla.s.s. Walls were broken and buildings toppled over. This added all the more to the forlorn appearance of the place, but it gave point to the exuberant welcome which its people gave to the fleet.

The day before the fleet sailed into Valparaiso harbor it had a little celebration, somewhat unusual on the high seas, that was strictly American. The cruiser Chicago, bound for the Atlantic from San Francisco, met us. Wireless signals had been exchanged and about 3 o'clock in the afternoon the smoke of the Chicago could be made out on the horizon. An hour later she was approaching the flagship. Then she saluted the Admiral's flag. Every ship had been told to show pa.s.sing honors. The guard was paraded, the rails manned and the band was on the quarterdeck. The fleet and the Chicago almost drifted by one another. As the Chicago pa.s.sed down the line the band on every battleship played "The Star Spangled Banner." When the bars were finished on the Louisiana the band struck up "Home, Sweet Home." The long homeward bound pennant of the Chicago seemed to have an extra flutter in it as the notes sounded over the smooth sea. In many a man's throat there was a gulp.

After the fleet had pa.s.sed the Chicago hove to and lay for a quarter of an hour, all its men gazing as a fond relative after another for which fate had decreed a long separation.

It was a pretty ceremony, and it furnished food for naval thought. There was the first steel ship of the United States navy, the flagship of the White Squadron of more than twenty years ago of which Americans were so proud. She seemed a puny thing beside any one of this fleet. The earliest and the latest in modern American warship building were presented to the eye. And what an advance! Still the Chicago presented a smart appearance and her 8-inch guns, with which she holds the navy record, told that she was still useful and she could hold up her head proudly. Every one was glad she was still in existence. Right then and there many a young American naval officer got a better idea of the growth and strength of the navy than most of his books and his study could reveal to him.

Whatever may have been the motive that impelled President Roosevelt to send this fleet on its long journey to the Pacific--whether it was to dare j.a.pan to resent it or to serve notice on that nation to be good; whether it was for political effect on the Pacific Coast in the hope of rounding up delegates for some one candidate for President or electing some man United States Senator; whether it was in accord with some suggestion perhaps that Secretary Root made in his trip to South America; whether it was simply a desire to be spectacular; whether it was a sincere belief that the navy needed just such a cruise to fit it for its best work and the Pacific was as much ent.i.tled to see how it could be protected as the Atlantic; whether it was for any or all of these, and all have been suggested in print--whatever it was, let this be said as to the unexpected and to some extent unforeseen advantages that have resulted:

The Monroe Doctrine is to-day more of a living, vital thing with the nations of South America because of the cruise of this fleet than it has ever been since President Monroe penned its words.

CHAPTER X

PERU'S WARM-HEARTED GREETING

Gracious and Artistic and Inspired by Cordial Friendship-- Sailors in the Bullring--Work of the Matadors Considered From a Nautical Point of View--Interchange of Good Wishes by Admiral Thomas and President Pardo--Charms of a City That Survives From the Middle Ages--Trip 15,000 Feet Up the Andes--Remains of Pizarro--Journalistic Compliments and Official Entertainments.

_On Board U. S. S. Louisiana, U. S. Battle Fleet_, OFF CALLAO HARBOR, Feb. 29.

Peru remembered!

Almost as trite as the saying that corporations have no souls, or that politics makes strange bed fellows, is another that in international affairs the friends of yesterday may be the foes of to-day, and that nations, as nations, have no memories. If it is true, Peru is the rule proving exception. Her gracious welcome to the American fleet, from the first acclaim of greeting to the last farewell, was marked by a sincerity that was peculiar in the exchange of international courtesies.

There was reason for this. Of all South American countries none is more devotedly the friend of the United States than Peru. In the time of Peru's direct distress, when the h.e.l.l horrors of war left her plundered, sacked, pillaged, as no nation in modern times has been despoiled; when she was bereft of nearly her entire population of early manhood; when dynamite and the torch were employed in a heartless exhibition of brutality to mark as permanently as possible the pathway of a mocking conquerer; when the vandalism of victory even destroyed the trees of botanical gardens, robbed altars of decorations, cut paintings from frames to make bonfires, pillaged the savings of children, destroyed civic utilities for the sake of wanton destruction; when the conqueror struck the most terrible blow that a conqueror can strike, the violation of the sanct.i.ty of homes--and be it remembered that the women of Peru are declared by all authority to be the most beautiful, proud and high spirited in the world--when all this was done, the first nation to comfort, to advise, to shield was the United States.

True, once or twice the United States seemed to falter and Peru almost cried out with bitterness because of it, but there was another handclasp with sincere words of real friendship back of it and Peru emerged from her trial grateful and steadfast. That was a quarter of a century ago and Peru said she would remember. Her hospitality to the great American fleet proved that she did. She is no longer poverty stricken. She is fairly well-to-do and things are looking better all the time. She lives in comfort. She even wears colors occasionally. She has young men again and their energy is making for prosperity and advancement all around. To the American fleet Peru said as plainly as could be: