ten in the
morning
This Board was composed of statesmen , professional men , and business men of established reputation ; but it is not certain that any of them knew the difference between a Stephenson link of an engine and the club link of an anchor chain . However , they worked hard and wrote a voluminous report of fifty printed pages , which , covered with dust , is lying with fifty other similar reports in a pigeonhole at the Navy Department . On Wednesday occurred the great day for Helen Blunt . At ten in the morning she was in the receiving stand gowned beautifully in simple white , and carrying a huge bunch of American Beauty roses . Soon martial music was heard , and then the brigade of midshipmen was to be seen across the parade ground , marching with its precise military stride . Then loud vibrating orders were carried to the ears of ten thousand spectators and bugles rang out their harsh notes . In exact unison the seven hundred midshipmen , who had been in column of squads , wheeled into line , and marched steadily to the front until they were within a hundred paces of the reviewing stand , where they halted .