The evening world., 1894-02-28
LAST EDITION.
IS The CHART WRONG?
Kearsarge's Navigator Lyman
Makes a Startling Assertion.
Believes Roncador Rect IL 8 Mile,
Out Of Its Mapped Position.
Court Of Inquiry Resumes It's Inves-
tigation of the Corvette's Wreck.

Additional interest was lent to TIA
proceedings to-day OF the Court of In
ouiry. which is investigating the loss o
tho United States corvette Kearsarge,
on Roncador Reef, by the fact that
Lieut.. Charles II. Lyman was to take
the stand.
Lieut.. Lyman was the K~earsargea
navigator. and 1t was upon his calcutta
lions on that fatal February day that
Commander Heyerman depended for his
latitude and longitude.
It 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 order
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 days
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 test mony taken
yesterday Commander Heyerman waa
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 1t ashore and that II
was expressed on to tine Navy Depart
mcnt at Washington. Il
Commander Heyerman was asked n he
had had time to take soundings after the
that he had not. Ar
"why?' was Admiral Ghsrardrs ques-
'ioR rather SHARPLY u ,,,.
we're running at the rate of eight. knots
an hour, and we were within a half mile
Of the reef; In the four minutes It took
had time to get the Thompson sounding
machine in working order. It would
have been useless to attempt It."
stand.
Lieut.. Lyman is a man OF marked per
sonality. He Is APPARENTLY about forty
five years old. and although not above the
average height has a commanding pres
ence.
A high. intellectual forehead. and
facial characteristics. A sweeping blond
mustache partially hides a fairly firm
mouth.
His appearance Is not that of a man
who would be likely to make mistakes
at critical periods.
He said in answr r to the Judge Advo-
| titfH Uu'F u tldl nts HdUuc WdH
Charles Huntington Lyman. and he la
been in the navy twenty-seven years.
He was asked to Identify the rough
the book Of sailing directions of tn;
Gulf Of Mexico and various charts.
Commander Schley. who was IN
Greeley relief expedition. caIne into court
at this juncture. He was an interested
listener during the examination Of Lieut..
Lyman.
The witness made the rather startling
assertion that since the wreck of the
Kearsarge he had reason to believe that
miles to the westward Of its position as
shown on the chart.
He thought this from the results Of
s In ,o pSS ,bs tRars aaEsn st 1wSRty and m'n Mh',:
taken by. other oficers with results
which confirmed his calculations.
the chronometer used in making the OBJ
servations, on the key had been damaged
in taking It ashore. The chart used wal
Lieut.. Lyman thought that the methods
OF taking latitude and longitude were in
those days not as accurate as now.
The four chronometers msed on board
the corvette were, according to Lieut..
lyman. in perfect condition previous. TO
Feb, ? H." had tested them before
Asked as to tho navigation equipment
Of the KearsarGe. he said hat II was
ample. All me 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-
scrihed 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 second
time and then two naval cadets checked
them all over.
Cadet Mccormack aided him usually
in taking sights. "
4 recess was then taken.