The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-01-21
thin As AIR.
Dunrayen's Charges Hadn't the
slightest Foundation.
THE DEFENDER CONTINGENT Full
LY SUSTAINED.

The Proper Thing for Dunraven Is To
Only Thing That VIII In Any Way Go
to Reinstate Him inAmerican Opinion
The Lords Humble Appeal for Mercy.
New York, January 20.-The Herald
this morning prints in four pages a por-
t1on OF the evidence taken by the special
committee appointed by the New York
Yacht Club to investigate the charges by
Lord Dunraven
The evidence is SO oyerwhelm ingly con-
elusive that it renders superfluous the re-
poit of the committee itself. It admits
of only one verdiot-that the charges are
utterly and totally false.
The testimony given at the hearings
of the committee was taken down stero-
graphically. 1t makes more than 500
pages of printed matter.
Lord Dunraven's charges. as Is seen
by perusal of the testimony, were based
solely on misleading observations by him
self and others who were associated with
him on the Valkyrie. The deductions of
fraud which he made from .them were
pro=sd to be utterly false by an over
whelming n1taas of testimony offered ON
behalf of Mr.. Iselin by those who spoke
with absolute knowledge.
In the face of such superabundanoe of
irrefutable proof, much of which was
given after Lord Dunraven had sailed for
home, even Mr.. Asquith, would not as.
sumo the responsibility of stating that
Lord Dunraven would still persist in be-
lieving that his accusations were true.
In one important particular Latham A.
Fish of the America CUP committee, fat
ly oontradicted Lord Dunraven. In an
other weighty matter, A. Cass Garfield
and Archibald Rogers, also mem bers of
the cup committee, gave testimony in
which they were sustained by corrobora-
tive evidence that was diemetrically op-
posite to that given by Lord Dunraven on
the same subject.
Lord Dunraven's testimony was begun
by the presentation by Mr.. Asuith of a
sworn declaration, in which the CUP
challenger related how he noticed, as he
supposed. changes in the Defenders i'm
mersiOn on Septem ber z, and of his con-
yersation with Mr.. Fish of the CUP oom-
mittee.
Mr. Asquith's examination of the noble
lord was very brief, and then Mr.. Choate
took him in hand. He was soon found
ering in deep water and made a pitiable
exhibition. 1t was clearly shown that
the foundation or his charges was sus-
pioion alone, and that he had nothing
whatever on which to support them
Mr.. Gennin came next, and then Mr..
Asquith put in evidence several affidavits
from members of the Valkyrie's crew,
going to show that until II. 80 o'clock at
night, or later. September 6, the Hattie
Palmer was lying alongside the Defender,
and that work was going on upon the
Defender throughout the night previous
to the first race.
One witness declared that at midnight
the Hattie Palmer was lying about 100
yards from the Defender when, as a mat
ter of faot, she was two miles away. This
finished the case for Lord Dunraven,
Mr. Choate in his opening address said
in part:
least, do not know what view the COM
mittee may have taken of it, that upon
the evidence that has been furninshed by
Lord Dunraven practically the whole
matter rests upon his observations by
eyesight, aided as it is by Mr.. Glennie's
much less definite observation by his own
eyesight, upon which he hardly feels that
reliance can be placed.
A mass of testimony was then given by
Herreshoff, A. Cass Garfield, G. Oliver
Iselin, members of the Defenders crew
and others, who proved conolusively that
no lead had been surreptitiously placed
on the Defender.
After Lord Dunraven's departure for
England, his counsel, Mr.. bAsquith, put
in evidence a statement which he had
prepared in behalf of Lord Dunraven. 1t
read yery much like plea for meroy at
the hands of the committee.
1t began by stating that Dunraven had
not appeared before the committee in any
sense as n prosecutor. but only as a wit
ness. In one paragraph credit was SEEM
ipgly sought for Lord Dunraven's gener-
osity in having voluntarily given all
the assistance in his power to the COM
Jnittee'' to investigate statements that he
held could neither be proved or disap-
proved.
But this was the particular paragraph
concerning which the committee asked
Mr.. Asouith for some explanations
s'The fact that on the evidence of his
own investigation and the statements
and investigation of other persons known
as Skl1loQ ydODbSluoHs WuOb0 names ne
gave TO the Defenders representative on
the valkyrie and whose names were re-
ported to the representatives of the cup
committee, he firmly believed that the
Defender was immersed deeper in the
water in the race of September 2, than
she was when measured for the race on
September q.
Mr. Phelps wished to know if this
statement implied that Lord Dunraven
still believed in the truth of his charges,
despite all the evidence to the contrary
that had been adduced, or whether it was
intended merely to indicate the state OF
his conviction up to the time he left the
committee.
Mr.. Asquith said in response that he
could not undertake the responsibility OF
deciding just how much Lord Dunraven'.
convictions would be affected by the evi
produced. subsequent to his depar
ture, but he would consent to modify the
| statement so as to make it read "be
| lieved" instead Of "believes. :"
| This put Lord Dunraven in the position
of being responsible for his convictions
as to the truth of his charges against tn,
| Dpfopdor onIu VT, to rniIdor Co+-rJou