The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-03-06
CURRENTS ABOUT R0NCAD0R.
Nv EXPERT BEFORE TBE KEARSARGE
COURT or IADUIRK.

Old CHARTS Of Curr-nt- - th.Cspibbsaa sea
Declared TO Re Errons ous- About All of
the Testimony In the Inqslry u Now In.
,The testimony before the Kea rsarge court Of
inoNiry is now practically all in. and after the
sesshon this morning Il 10 pro babls that tho
CO will be ARA aged an Immediately
forwarded to the Judge Advoc ate-General at
Washin,'ton Commander TIeyerman aud
Iieut Lyman desired to summon as witnesses
Can't. Lock wood and First Of1lscer Sorensen OF
the steam ship City OF rnrA The steamship Is
not due in this port for abOutStwo weeks. The
court decided yesterday that the evidence be-
fore Il bearing on the currents ofthe Caribbean
sea near Roncasior Reef In sufficient for tho
purposes Of the inquiry. and that the testi-
mony OF the two officers OF the City OF Para IL
not OF enough i'm portance to warrant delay
In the proceedings
Tho proceedings yesterday began with the
Identification and correction OF testimony
given By previous witnesses Judge Advocate
J. u. J. Kelley then read several documents
received from the NAVY Department regarding
Roneador Reef and the currents In that neigh
borhood. One thing they made clear was that
cart paiIIee who commanded the steamer
hguan. which was wrecked with Warner Mil
lara party on Roncador on March ~. 1891.
found currents contrary to those expected.
The substance OF the communications was
that in the archives Of the Photographic OF
fee there il nothing TO show that the plotting
OF Roncador Reef is not so nearly correct as to
he beyond criticism based on the methods OF
navigation.
Iisutenant. Commander J. L. pilsbury OF
tho Boston Navy Yard was then called In be-
half of the Captain and navigator Of the Kear-
sarpe He has been about thirty-four years In
the service and is an expert on currents OF the
Caribbean Sea- having made moro than nifty
nnchorages there for the purpose OF taking OBJ
seryations. lie was fve years In command OF
the United States steamship Blake. the survey
steamer. In reply to questions. he explained
the various currents Of theCaribbean Sea with
their directions and force. Between Jamaica
and Honduras. he said the surface currents
set south Of wost. gradually changing in the
.ub-ourrents to north OF west These observa-
tions were taken from the surface to depth
Of 200 fathoms ami Commander Pillsbury
found that changes OF direction did occur
Il believe" he said. that the Honduras
branch Of the current flows toward the south.
its width depending on tho strength OF the
wind and between the south branch anu
where II flows westward there Is decided
eddy. on Hatteras, outside the limit OF the
Gulf Stream. there is current flowing In the
reyerse direction almost as strongly as the.
stream itself On the borders oil all currents
there are variable currents ,,o-.a.,r..s
only. 90 miles IN width when they were charted
The n best chart OF the general circulation
chart issued since December last" he said
The whole system Of the currents was then
This statement was OF decidedly unexpect.
was redoubled. The witness drew one OF the
new charts from his pocket and laid It on the
'"' Do you mean" asked Admiral Gherardi.
that where currents were north and west they
mean. sir. that the change was made be-
cause the other system was erroneous was
Lieut.. Lyman. through the Judge Advocate,
asked Commander Pilsbury II counter cur
rent could be met along line q i shSSis run n
those shoals The witness replied that It
could. The old question Vas then s asked as as
Snans north and west =, 0 q chi, 4 t the
il might was the. answer.
Upon what do you base the statement =
ga. and . current has happened to change to
right angles, There was no change OF wind.
p 9ss hs S 81 MsIse than tse
Ocean. A complete and radical change Is pos
o oH sI sh SG. ne on q the break
the sea and the TRANSPORTATION OF waves, built
SSessp no sbau Roneador Reef Would not ds
tscted by those aboard }; ,S ship until the vessel
Lieut. Commander Crownin shield OF the
Navy Yard was summoned next Commsnder
Heyerman succeeded him In command Of the
ind Comm ander Crowninshield testified to his
accuracy in observation and his care OF instru-
Lieut. Bowman. who has been busy for .
week with the charts and log Of the kearsarge.
partms me- q naviss zion At the Naval Academy
Tor three years. His written testimony was
s ~ sna eaaSu
positions Of the Ksarssrge from Feb l until
the ship struck. The Judge Advocate asked
Would the course of the ship. west south
esdor Reef I no currents were eonsidsred3"''
1t probably would. narrowly" was the
Now. II the current had been north and
west, What would have been the circum-
The ship would have cleared the reef"
n"And II tho current was south and east Dir.
She would have struck"
called lieut. Waiiins. Mr.: lyman asked, him
the navigator on Feb. ..
Il only know" he replied; what Com
Lyman ask for steam. When Commander
Aeyerman came on deck Just before 3 o'clock
O'clock that the engines be started. but that Il
would not b done until after the afternoon OBJ
Why wa. steam asked for,
In order that Roneador might be picked up
When Naval Cadet stitt was called to the wit
ness chair he was asked what he knew about
the finding OF one Of the keaIsarge's sea
chests on Old Providence. He said that he was
notified on "Wednesday morning. Z little less
had found the chest Old Providence Is eighty
miles 10 the west OF RoneAdor. and the trip Of
the chest was made In about four days at q
very rapid rate. Cadet Stitt said he had no
doubt that the chest belonged to the KearsArge.
Again was Commander HeysrmAn asked 70
take the witness chair and he was piled with
questions concerning the naval gulations. He
said hs never for one moment doubted that the
observations aboard the RearsArgs were taken
personally by the navigator
Are you not as commanding officer. sup
posed TO have q check on the work OF the nAyi-
Eator2" asked Capt. Miller.
Il do not onsider Ii necessary to employ q
check unless i suspect the accuracy OF his
work. In that case should take the obserya-
lions myself"
This concluded the work OF the day. The
Judge Advocate said he had no other q usstions
10 ask and that the evidence was all in. He
slipped over TO the table occupied By Com
mander HeyermAn and Lieut. Lyman aud
said
h,aC darW anlf