The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-08-31
C0NFERS
WITH PRESIDENT.
Talked About Work of the
Porto Rican Commission.

Washington, August 26 Rear
Admiral Winfield S. schley reached
Washington at 4 10 O'Clock this af-
ternoon over the Pennsylvania rail
road He was quickly noticed at
most of the stations along the line.
and throughout the trip was greeted
by cheering crowds When the train
pulled into the depot here he found
compact mass of spectators which
filed the depot and overfowed out
iato the train shed. The admiral and
Mrs Schley, when they appeared,
were greeted with cheers and shouts
Of "Hurrah for Schley " Everybody
joined in the shouting and the depot
attaches crowded about the admiral
and insisted on handshake. At the
gates the crowd increased, and amid
deafening cheers the admiral and biz
wife, the former with hat off, pass
ed through two solid lines of people.
A lieutenant and squad of police with
difficulty cleared passage way TO a
cab, which was in waiting Through
mass of vehicles that had been
drawn up by curious drivers, the cab
pulled into Pennsylvania avenue and
proceeded directly to the Shoreham
hote! There were groups of cheers
along the way and cavalcade of
cyclists formed voluntary escort.
The admiral stayed only few min
utes at the hotel and then drove over
to the navy department, where, with
out preliminaries, he reported direct
ly to Acting Secretary Allen
The latter accompanied him over
to the White House, reaching there
at 4.5o The President gave him
cordial reception. He thanked the
admiral, as he had Admiral Sam Oson,
for the success of that memorable en-
gagement of July Sd, and took oc
casion to say that it was that battle
which brought about the surrender of
Santiago
The President then entered into a
discussion of the work Of the Porto
Rican commission, to which the sd
miral has been appointed He went
over with him the general instruc
tions which will guide the body in
the arranging for the evacuation of
the Spanish from the island.
The President thanked him in be
half of himself and the nation for his
brilliant services on that day. and
asked him to describe the battle,
which the admiral did at length.
During most of the conference,
which occupied about an hour, As
sistant Secretary of State Moore was
present.
On leaving the President the admi-
raj drove to his hotel He said his
health had improved greatly He
will have another conference with
Acting Secretary of the Navy Allen
to morrow morning and probably ear
" in the afternoon will leave for New
York
Although considerably better be is
not yet well and said tonight be ex.
pected to leave here tomorrow to
visit relatives in Maryland, which
probably will consume several days,
after which he will go TO Connecticut
until ABOUT time to start for Porto
Rico Some ship other than the
Brooklyn, he said, would be selected
for this purpose, as the flagship was
about to undergo needed repairs
The admiral, during the evening
talked briefly of some of the princi
pal incidents Of the fight which led
to the destruction of Celveras squad.
ron and of some Of the other im-
portant matters Of interest at this
time, new features of which he said
were recurring to him as time pass
ed by
He said: "It is MY opinion that the
Spanish admiral might have escaped
with possibly one or two Of his ships
had ne adopted different tactics in
coming out of the harbor. Had he d!
verted the course of his ships, send
ing some to the east and others to the
west, i, is my belief that he might
have escaped with one or possibly
two Of the vessels Such course
naturally would have compelled US
to separate our feet. and some OF
Cervera's ships might have been able
TO have reached Havana ~