The evening world., 1894-02-28
IS The CHART WRONCi.
Kearsarge's Navigator Lyman
Makes a Startling Assertion.
Believes Roncador Rect Is 5 Miles
Out Of Its Mapped Position.
Court OF Inquiry Resumes It's Inves.
tigation of the Corvette's Wreck.

Additional interest was lent to the
proceedings to-day of the Court Of In.
quiry. which Is investigating the loss OF
the United States corvette Kearsarss.
on Roncador Reef. by the fact thai
Lieut.. Charles II. Lyman was to take
the stand.
Lieut.. Lyman was the Kearsarge's
navigator, and 1t was upon his ~calcula.
lions on that fatal February day h a
Commander Heyerman depended for his
latitude and longitude.
1t was expected that Lieut.. Lyman
would have some little difficulty In ex-
planning why he was nearly seven miles
out Of his course at the time the grand
old corvette ran head-on into the white
water which marked the location Of the
treacherous reef.
The court assembled at 1890 O'clock
and Admiral Gherardi called for ordss
a few minutes later. Rear Admiral
Stanton and Commander Heyerman,
whose testimony was taken yesterday,
were both present to listen to the read
ing OF the record of the previous day's
proceedings. which. in accordance with
the rules governing Naval Courts Of
Inquiry, was undertaken by the Judge.
Advocate.
1t took Judge-Advocate Kelley an hour
and a half to read the testimony taken
yesterday, Commander .Heyerman was
then recalled to the stand. .
He was asked what had become Of the
cipher code book. He said that one Of
the gig men took It ashore and that Z
ment at Washington.
Commander Heyerman was asked II he
mad had time to take soundings after the
white water was sighted. He wers
"why2' was Admiral aherardrs quss-
ton rather SHARPLY put.
an hour. and we were within a half mile
OF the reef; In the four minutes It took
had fS run Time ths 10 setf tR m,'1 Th , mos1d n nSan adsigs
machine In working order. It would
have been useless to attempt It."
Lieut.. LYMAN was then called to the
stand.
Lieut.. Lyman Is a man OF marked per-
sonality. He IS apparently about forty
hve years old; and although not above the
average height has a commanding pres
ence.
4 high, intellectual forehead and .
pair Of kindly blue eyes are his ,principa!
mustache partially hides a fairly firm
mouth. y
His appearance is not that of a man
at critical periods.
He said in answer to the Judge Advo-
Gates questions that his name was
Charles Huntington Lyman. and he had
been in the navy twenty-seven years.
He was asked to identify, the .'rcugh''
log book, the official navigation book,
Gulf of Mexico and various charts.
charge OF the Bear and Thetis in the
at this juncture. He was an interested
listener during the examination Of Lieut..
Lyman.
assertion that since the wreck OF the
Kearsarge he had reason to believe that
Roncador Reef was from three to i've
miles TO the westward OF Its position ~
He thought this from the results o.
an observation taken twenty minutes
camping on the key: observation were
taken by other officers with results
which confirmed his calculations.
the c%hronometer used in making the oS.
servations on the key had been damaged
in taking 1t ashore. The chart used was
Lieut.. Lyman thought that the methods
OF taking latitude and longitude were In
those days not as accurate as now. Z
the enc Corvette rSet en wsre. According nse9 to Sn Lieut. IDsrc
Lyman, in perfect condition previous to
Feb, 2 He had tested them before
Asked as to the navigation equipment
OF the Kearsarge. he said that II was
ample. All the instruments Were good
except the night seXtant and the binocu-
lar glasses, both having been in use for
about 6 years. The lieutenant then de-
scribed the method of taking the latitude
and longitude three times a day.
He had reason to believe that his cal-
culations were always correct. He al
ways went over them carefully a secon
time and then two naval cadets checked
them all over. =
Cadet Mccormick aided him usually
in taking sights.
A recess was then taken. 3