A Golden Fleet Thrills New York.

New York Times 100 years ago today, October 13, 1912:
Mighty Armada in the Hudson Transformed at Night Into a Vision of Fairyland.
ENDS A DAY OF PAGEANTRY
Sailors and Marines, Marching Faultlessly, Parade in Fifth Avenue in the Afternoon.
OFFICERS ATTEND A SMOKER
Mayor's Committee Entertain Them at Astor While Sailors Enjoy a Feast in 69th Regiment Armory.
    When the sun went down and darkness settled over the Hudson River last evening, a golden fleet came into being. Amid the shadowy outlines of the shifting river traffic and out of the gathering mists at a signal from the flagship, the warships emerged in a new and brilliant significance. From Thirtieth Street to Fort Washington Point and beyond, the current was turned on for myriad lamps strung on every vessel. There were wandering thousands gathered at the river front as every mast and funnel and turret was outlined in gold. To a salute from all the whistles of the river craft, echoed by all the automobile horns on Riverside Drive, the illumination began.
    Thus, with the Hudson aglow for miles, the evening of the first day of the official ceremonies planned for the mobilization in these waters of the greatest fleet ever assembled under a single command in the history of this country was inaugurated. Later in the evening 600 officers departed from the ships and betook themselves to the Hotel Astor, where the Mayor's committee of three hundred members entertained them at a smoker. The same committee was host at a smoker given to the enlisted men in the spacious armory of the Sixty-ninth Regiment at Twenty-sixth Street and Lexington Avenue.

Mayor Reviews Parade of Seamen.
    This followed an afternoon in which the doings of the fleet divided the attention of New York with the echoes of the battle waging on the diamond in Boston. Down Fifth Avenue, in faultless marching order, 7,000 marines and sailors paraded by the Public Library, where they were reviewed by Mayor Gaynor for the city, Major Gen. Thomas R. Barry for the army, and Rear Admiral Hugo Osterhaus for the navy. Before the review, which came to a close soon after 3 o'clock, Admiral Osterhaus and other officers of the fleet were guests at a luncheon arranged in their honor at the Union League Club by the Mayor's committee.
    To stand last evening, as many thousands stood, leaning on the iron rail of the viaduct beyond Grant's Tomb, was to look out upon a river lined with mighty ships, agleam with thousands of electric lights. As far as you could see to the north or to the south, they stretched, those close at hand brilliant, with each bulb a piercing point of light, those in the middle distance glowing more softly, and those far in the distance, but a faint rose glow in the enveloping darkness.
    Beyond were the countless points of light that outline the New Jersey shore, and here and there, darting over the surface of the water, the tiny lights innumerable of the smaller river craft. But at first glance you did not see them. You only saw the great warships outlined against the night. As you looked it seemed as though this fleet was one of golden galleons that had come from some distant and more romantic land, bringing with it some of the carnival spirit which the imagination always associates with scenes of great beauty.
    All tendency to recall the hammering in the shipyards that fashioned the warships died out. All their association with war and carnage, all thought of their terrible and blasting power for harm fell away, and to those who watched from the shore it seemed only as though a flotilla of pleasure craft had come into the Hudson from another land and another age. Surely a prince in golden barge should come from that fleet to meet a waiting princess at the shore, while gayly costumed folk should sing and dance and strew roses in their path.

Thousands See Illuminated Fleet.
    But the thousands that hung over the rail at the viaduct and sauntered the paths the length of Riverside Drive were just New York folk jostling each other for a better point from which to see their warships gathered in the river. Below, between them and the water's edge, was the soot and the noise and the smoke of the New York Central tracks, and the only singing was the hoarse hawking of sundry threadbare individuals who chanted out the fact that envelopes of picture postals of the fleet could be bought then and there for 5 cents. This morning it will be no fleet of gold, but the gray, grim, forbidding warships, that persons will see from the shore. But to-night will come, and with it the darkness and the coming again of the golden fleet.
    Yet all the carnival color and spirit was not on the water. Some of it had come to the shore, and Riverside Drive to Grant's Tomb was strung with lights: ropes of lamps that banished the darkness from the walks and afforded in themselves a thing worth seeing as they twinkled away into the distance.
    Here and there, picked out in letters of light, were the names of men whose memories were great in the history of America's navy. This honor was done to the first Admiral of them all, John Paul Jones, and his name was the first that you saw as you turned from Broadway to Riverside Drive. This honor was paid to Worden of the Monitor, whose little grandson has been wistfully, eagerly looking at the warships this week and reiterating his vow that the years to come will see him enrolled at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. It was paid to the memories of Farragut, Porter, Cushing, Perry, Sampson, Schley, Decatur, Dahlgren, Evans, and Lawrence.

Historic Slogans in Letters of Light.
    And on the viaduct, the constantly shifting crowds paused to read the phrases written in electric bulbs; phrases that when they were uttered thrilled their generation and forever tingle down the ages. Thus those ringing words that Paul Jones signaled to the Commander of the Serapis from the battered, blood-drenched Bonhomme Richard, when they asked, him if he was ready to surrender:
    "I have not yet begun to fight."
    And thus after more than a century had passed, the calm words of Dewey in Manila Bay:
    "Fire when you are ready, Gridley."
    All this was the shore illumination done by the Mayor's Committee. Judging from the meagre displays of last evening, their spirit was not matched by the residents of the Drive. Their repeated appeals for co-operation to New Yorkers whose homes face the river seem to have had scant attention. Here and there a flag fluttered but it seemed as small as a pocket handkerchief patched on the huge wall of a towering apartment house. Of lights there were none, save the countless lighted windows, from which the dwellers gazed out upon the illumination.
    It was impossible to estimate the number of persons who went to Riverside Drive last evening to see the fleet. By 9 o'clock the crowds on the viaduct were obliged to move along the broad footway as slowly as the crowd drifting out of a theatre, and the arrival of every Subway train at the stations in upper Broadway, as far as Fort Washington, sent a stream of persons to add to those already at the river's edge. As for the Fifth Avenue busses, there was no getting a seat on or in one. Bus after bus, loaded with passengers, speeded by the corners in Fifth Avenue without stopping. All the seats had been taken at their starting station in Washington Square.

A FEAST OF FUN FOR OFFICERS.
Smoker at the Astor, the Best Ever Given in This City.
When on the vast and briny deep
You follow duty's call,
The nation may securely sleep,
For you protect us all!
But while you're absent from your ships
And duty lags awhile.
    Put flowing cups unto your lips
    And join us in a smile!
    Put flowing cups unto your lips
    And join us in a smile!
        Here's to the health and preservation.
        Hipp, hipp, hurrah! Hipp, hipp, hurrah!
        Of the defenders of our nation!
        Hipp, hipp, hurrah! Hipp, hipp, hurrah!
                (shout:) Hurrah!

    The smoker given to the officers of the Atlantic Fleet by the Mayor's Committee at the Hotel Astor last night started off with this song. The gathering surpassed any similar affair ever arranged in New York, and when it was over there was not an officer present from the Commander in Chief of the fleet to the most recent graduate of Annapolis who did not carry back to his ship a warm feeling for this city. More than 700 naval officers were present, and they all had a good time. The smoker began early and lasted until late. There was just enough to eat to make the beer welcome and not enough to take the attention of the guests from the songs and fun-making of the evening.
    The grand ballroom of the Astor, in which the smoker was held, was bedecked with flags and flowers. There were blue pennants in honor of Admiral Osterhaus, and red ones to mark the presence of Admirals Ficke, Usher, Winslow, Fletcher, and Knight. The beautiful blue flag of the marines was in evidence, with the flag of the President and that of the Secretary of the Navy. The four-starred blue pennant that only Admiral Dewey has the right to use was also included in the decorations.
    The souvenirs were pipes and tobacco pouches. The pipes were of French briar ornamented with solid silver bands and the pouches were of the best leather that could be procured. On both pipe and pouch was engraved in golden letters: "The United States Atlantic Fleet."
    R. A. C. Smith, in the absence of Mayor Gaynor was in charge of the function and he was the busiest man in New York. He did his work well and everything from the first song to the last number in the long vaudeville programme passed off without a hitch. The officers sat six to each table with a civilian or two sandwiched in between. The flag officers were at one table and the junior officers at the others.
    There were sixteen numbers in the vaudeville part of the programme, and it included some of the most popular performers in New York. Many songs were sung, and of them a dozen were written for the occasion. All the guests had copies of the songs, and they all joined in the choruses, even one Major of marines, who is famous throughout the navy for the extent to which he lacks a musical ear.
    Soon after the smoker started the air of the Astor ballroom was thick with tobacco smoke and good-fellowship. As it began in song, so did it end; and this is the last verse of the last song:

"When you leave our harbor, and you sail away
Sailor boys, sailor boys,
Don't forget you're always welcome as the day,
And we always like to have you stay;
We will ne'er forget the men that we have met,
From Dewey down, in our old town,
And we'll all keep tabs on you,
When there's something big to do,
To your trust we know you all
Will be true.
              CHORUS.
Osterhaus, we cheer the fleet and you, Sir!
And our navy, loyal, brave, and true Sir!
One flag, one country, that we dearly love,
Sailor boys, sailor boys;
Where the old flag flies our ships protect us,
Freedom's flag is for all a fine prospectus,
Here and there, everywhere,
In the dark days and fair,
Our country is our hope and our prayer.

    Among those present were Robert Bacon, naval constructor; J. E. Bailey, the man in charge of the construction of the super-dreadnought New York; Major Gen. Thomas H. Barry, U. S. A., commanding the Eastern Division of the Army on governors Island; Edward J. Berwind, Irving T. Bush, Capt. Frederick L. Chapin, U. S. N.; Capt. George R. Clark, U. S. N.; Maurice K. Connolly, George C. Boldt, James Creelman, Col. Adelbert Cronkhite, U. S. A.; George Cromwell, John D. Crimmins, Julian D. Fairchild, Robert W. De Forest, Rear Admiral Frank F. Fletcher, U. S. N.; Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, U. S. N.; B. J. Greenhut, J. B. Greenhut, Lieut. Col. William G. Haan, U. S. A.; Capt. John Hood, U. S. N.; Columbus O'D. Iselin, Gen. Brayton Ives, Capt. Marbury Johnson, U. S. N.; Capt. Frank W. Kellogg, U. S. N.; Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight, U. S. N.; Gen. Anson G. McCook, Henry Morgenthau, William C. Muschenheim, Courtlandt Nicoll, Rear Admiral Hugo Osterhaus, U. S. N.; Commander William W. Phelps, U. S. N.; Gen, Horace Porter, Charles A. Schieren, Theodore P. Shonts, Henry W. Taft, T. Suffern Taller, Egerton L. Winthrop, Rear Admiral Cameron McR. Winslow, U. S. N., and Police Commissioner Rhinelander Waldo.

THOUSANDS CHEER SAILORS.
Men of the Fleet Make a Splendid Showing in Land Parade.
    A throng estimated at upwards of half a million persons, saw the parade yesterday of the marines and sailors of the Atlantic Fleet, the first of the official ceremonies marking the mobilization of the greatest fleet assembled in the history of the American Navy. Until the very end, everything connected with the parade of the bluejackets and marines moved without a hitch.
    Then as the sailors of the super-dreadnaught Arkansas, who were the last in the column, disappeared down Fifth Avenue, the crowd at Forty-third Street and Fifth Avenue got beyond the control of the police, under Inspector Lahey, and broke through the police lines in an attempt to get to the reviewing stand where the Mayor, Cardinal Farley, Admiral Osterhaus, Gen. Barry, and other distinguished men, were waiting to take their automobiles. There were three stands in front of the Public Library, the centre one being the reviewing stand. Those on either side of it were reserved for friends of officers and members of the Mayor's Committee.
    On the reviewing stand, at Fifth Avenue, in front of the Public Library, between Forty-first and Forty-second Streets, were Mayor Gaynor, Admiral Osterhaus, and Major Gen. Barry of the Army, who were the principal reviewing officers. Others with them on the stand were Cardinal Farley, Rear Admirals Winslow, Usher, Fiske, and Knight, Capt. Hugh Rodman of the battleship Connecticut, E. J. Berwind, Capt. Eberle, commanding the Torpedo Flotilla, President Finley of the City College, President Fairchild of the Union League Club, Herman Ridder, Col. W. A. Mann, U. S. A., Capt. Frank K. Hill. U. S. N., Col. Robert M. Thompson, Walter L. McCorkle, Lieut. Rufus Zogbaum, Jr., Commander L. R. De Stegeur, U. S. N., Capt. A. Gleaves, U. S. N., and R. A. C. Smith.
    The reviewing party reached the stand at 2:10 P.M., and twenty minutes later, on time to the minute, the head of column of sailors and marines came into view, north of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The crowd was expectant, and for a while was very enthusiastic, but toward the end, despite the splendid showing of the marchers, the enthusiasm died down somewhat. At the end, however, when the men from the new super-dreadnoughts Wyoming and Arkansas passed, everybody got to cheering again, and the parade ended as it began with a wave of enthusiasm.
    Without a break in the long line, every man marching as rigid as a goose-stepping German, the red-coated marine bands playing their best, and the Utah's goat marching along as if he owned all New York, the 7,000 sailors and marines of the fleet showed New Yorkers that on shore, as on the sea, they know the business of war. It was an exhibition of perfect marching, and there were few in the great throng that lined both sides of Broadway from Ninety-sixth Street to Fifty-ninth Street, and thence across town to Fifth Avenue and down that avenue to Twenty-fifth Street, who did not go home convinced that if the fate of the Nation ever depended on the men of the fleet, those men would not be found wanting.
    Sweeping down Fifth Avenue, the parade came, and as it neared Forty-second Street the tall, gaudily clad Drum Major of the marine band lifted his baton, and a moment later one of the finest sea bands in the world broke into the strains of a lively march. The crowd yelled and shouted, and the throng that was packed a hundred deep in Forty-third Street, east of Fifth Avenue, made a desperate effort to rush the police line. Mayor Gaynor stood up and lifted a warning finger, and the police shoved the mob back.
    Then the Mayor lifted his hat, and everybody started to clapping and shouting. The band came by in perfect alignment. Among the musicians the onlookers saw many little brown men. These men, some of whom played horns and other reed instruments, were Filipinos, and all were regularly enlisted in the Marine Corps.

Ovation to Admiral Fletcher.
    After the band come Rear Admiral Frank F. Fletcher, clean-shaven, slight of build, and looking every inch a sailor. With him and marching directly in his rear came his staff, consisting of Lieut. Commander H. R. Yarnell, Lieut. S. C. Hooper, Lieut C. S. Rowan, and Pay Inspector C. F. Bonnafen.
    "Hello, Fletcher, how's your land legs," a navy officer who was not of the reviewing party shouted as the Admiral came marching by. There was just the sign of a smile on the face of the flag officer commanding, but that was all. "Eyes right," the officer in command of the first company shouted and a hundred clear-eyed young men focussed their gaze on the Mayor, their own Commander in Chief, Gen. Barry, and the other distinguished men in the reviewing stand. There was not a single misstep noted among the thousand and more men who made up the marine regiment yesterday. Not one man walked faster than another. They marched in perfect time and the intervals between the companies were the same. It was pleasing to the thousands who watched them to note that there were no halts due to the slower marching of some organization ahead as is generally the case in land parades.
    It would have been hard to decide which of the marine companies marched the best and showed the best training. It looked to the casual citizen to be a tie in which all twelve companies figured. The officers carried themselves in true military form. It was noted that among those officers there was one whom many seemed to know. That was Capt. Harllee of the Florida, who is a native of Florida, and who is famous as a trainer of championship rifle teams.
    As the last of the marines passed down the avenue the first file of sailors came into view. They marched with a lively step behind another band for which the navy is famous.
    At the head of this, the first bluejacket command, marched Capt. Henry B. Wilson of the dreadnought North Dakota. The officers, it was noted, were all in service uniform, blue uniforms with white caps, leather leggins and white gloves. The sailors likewise appeared in blue with white caps. They carried rifles.
    The sailors from the flagship Connecticut led the way, and a finer body of seamen never called for the admiration of a New York crowd. They swept by with a step that was graceful and easy, and their alignment was perfect. There was a pleased look on the face of Admiral Osterhaus, for while all the ships are under his command, the Connecticut is his sea home. As for Capt. Rodman, the commander of that flagship, who was also in the reviewing stand, his face was wreathed in smiles, for those men were his very own, and he didn't care who knew it.
    The Florida's men came into view next. They represented the flagship of the first division of the fleet. They, too, were a fine-looking body of men, who could hold their own with any land organization, and Admiral Fiske of the Florida poked Admiral Usher in the ribs and said something to him, at which they both laughed.

The Utah's Goat Popular.
    The Utah's men came along after the Florida's, and the men from the ship that bears the name of the Mormon State got a welcome that seemed to be just a bit heartier than the one accorded to the men of the two preceding ships. The reason was not far to seek. Right behind the commanding officer of the detachment marched a little brown goat. He is little, but he is also well along in years, and his wisdom is in keeping with his years. He is the same little goat that raised such a rumpus at the Polo Grounds last week in the game between the Giants and the Yankees. A big sailor marched with "Billy" and saw to it that the mascot kept his place in line. Everybody on the grandstand, including Mayor Gaynor and Cardinal Farley, showed an interest in the goat.
    After the goat came the men from the Delaware, the men who in the year just passed won the most coveted of all naval trophies, the red pennant, with the black ball in the centre, which is the official emblem of battle efficiency awarded annually by the Navy Department. One of the Delaware's men bore a small efficiency pennant, for, as an officer of the ship explained, they wanted everybody to know that the Delaware and not the Michigan held the pennant now.
    The men from the Michigan, from whose mast the efficiency pennant was displayed last year, came along next. They looked just as happy and just as efficient as the men who had taken the coveted piece of bunting away from them. Alter the Michigan came the bluejackets from the dreadnought North Dakota, and that closed the first regiment of sailors.
    The sailors of the Arkansas ended the parade and then came the rush on the part of the crowd to get close to the reviewing stand, where they could get a closer view of the naval officers.

Luncheon to Fleet Officers.
Mayor's Committee Entertains Them at Union League Club.
    Admiral Osterhaus, the flag officers of his fleet, the battleship commanders, and other naval officers were the guests of the Mayor's Committee at a luncheon at the Union League Club yesterday. Samuel W. Fairchild, President of the club, presided at the luncheon.
    Before the luncheon a reception was held in the main lobby of the club by the members of the committee. As Rear Admiral Hugo Osterhaus and the members of his staff arrived they were announced by an attendant. The naval officers were received with much applause. As Gen. Barry, Commander of the Department of the East, with other prominent army officers arrived they were warmly greeted by the club members and the members of the Mayor's Committee. One of the last of the guests to arrive was Mayor Gaynor, who came in an automobile accompanied by Police Lieut. Kennell. As the Mayor entered there was a demonstration in his honor.
    After the luncheon President Fairchild of the Union League Club delivered an address of welcome to the naval officers. Following the President's remarks brief addresses were made by Rear Admiral Osterhaus, Rear Admiral C. McR. Winslow, Major Gen. Barry, U. S. A., and Mayor Gaynor.

SERVICE FOR JEWISH SAILORS.
Dr. Mendes Preaches at Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue.
    Special services for the officers and enlisted men of the Atlantic Fleet were held in the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue at Seventieth Street and Central Park West, yesterday morning. The Rev. Dr. H. Pereira Mendes, the rabbi, preached the sermon, in the course of which he referred to the great fleet now mobilized in the Hudson. In his sermon Dr. Mendes said:
    "A mighty war fleet is in our waters. A tomb looks down upon it, eloquent with the message, 'Let us have peace.' The Hebrew and many a Christian longs for peace through the ideal adjustment of a tribunal."