p men ranging over the
ships all night turning out every light not in actual and immediate use.
Perhaps the most important effect is the keen hunt for defects in
the machinery causing waste of power. The Yankton by resetting valves
increased her speed from 10 to 11 1/2 knots on the same expenditure.

All this has been done, but the field is widening, the work has only
begun.

* * * * *

C. S. SPERRY.

When I left the Presidency I finished seven and a half years of
administration, during which not one shot had been fired against a
foreign foe. We were at absolute peace, and there was no nation in the
world with whom a war cloud threatened, no nation in the world whom we
had wronged, or from whom we had anything to fear. The cruise of the
battle fleet was not the least of the causes which ensured so peaceful
an outlook.

When the fleet returned after its sixteen months' voyage around the
world I went down to Hampton Roads to greet it. The day was Washington's
Birthday, February 22, 1907. Literally on the minute the homing
battlecraft came into view. On the flagship of the Admiral I spoke to
the officers and enlisted men, as follows:

"Admiral Sperry, Officers and Men of the Battle Fleet:

"Over a year has passed since you steamed out of this harbor, and over
the world's rim, and this morning the hearts of all who saw you thrilled
with pride as the hulls of the mighty warships lifted above the horizon.
You have been in the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres; four times
you have crossed the line; you have steamed through all the great
oceans; you have touched the coast of every continent. Ever your general
course has been westward; and now you come back to the port from
which you set sail. This is the first battle fleet that has ever
circumnavigated the globe. Those who perform the feat again can but
follow in your footsteps.

"The little torpedo flotilla went with you around South America, through
the Straits of Magellan, to our own Pacific Coast. The armored cruiser
squadron met you, and left you again, when you were half way round the
world. You have falsified every prediction of the prophets of failure.
In all your long cruise not an accident worthy of mention has happened
to a single battleship, nor yet to the cruisers or torpedo boats. You
left this coast in a high state of battle efficiency, and you return
with your efficiency increased; better prepared than when you left, not
only in personnel but even