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Further evidence of Republican confidence and forehandedness came with the announcement of the President-elect's preinauguration tour of South America, one continent where he has never been. Before leaving Washington, Nominee Hoover had asked President Coolidge for a battleship to go on. Last week the White House announced that the U. S.S. Maryland, new and fast, had been assigned. President-elect Hoover lost no time conferring with Rear Admiral Thomas Washington, commandant of the Mare Island Navy Yard (near San Francisco). The departure: at once, from San Pedro, port of Los Angeles, Calif. Probable itinerary: Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, then either over the Andes by train or back to Panama and through the Canal on the Maryland, to the Argentine, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela. Duration: two months. Object: goodwill, trade relations, discovery, experience, inspection of U. S. consulates and commercial attaches.
Said both Americas: "A coup!"