The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-11
FIRED THE LIEUTENANT.
Col. Ray Demanded His Absence on
the MlnnewaSka.

Col. Ray Demanded His Absence on
the MinnewaSIxa.
Lieut.. Grifite. first officer of the trans
port Mlnnewaska, which is to carry the
Third Regiment to Santiago, was yester-
day discharged by Col. Patrick H. Ray
for INSTRUMENTATION, and the quartermas-
ters department was notified of the fact.
The discharge grew out Of the alleged
outright refusal of Lieut.. Griffite to obey
an order given him by Maj. Willis of the
quartermaster's department, who was in
sPecting the transport
1T is true that the first officer of the
Minnewaska has been discharged" said
Col. Ray when asked about the matter.
Il do not know his name and neither
have I investigated the circumstances
which led TO the rupture between him and
Maj Willis. The only thing 1 know is
that il was reported to me that the officer
had refused TO obey an order. and had also
refused to leave the ship when ordered to
do so. [ thereupon discharged him for in
subordnation. and ordered that he retire
from the ship. In view of
the fact that he previously
refused to leave the vessel I ordered that
a guard remove him In case he did not re-
tire within an hour"
It was not necessary TO resort to this
extraordinary recourse, however, as Lieut..
GrIfflte quietly left the Minnewaska with
out persisting further. He could not be
seen for a statement Of his side of the af-
fair, and the reason for his alleged 1efu-
sal TO obey the order s,not exactly known.
From the general trend of talks with some
of the Third Regiment officers, however,
it seems he was not inclined to recognize
Maj. Willis superiority and the Circum-
stances apparently strengthen this theory.
The Minnewaska was first inspected on
her arrival by Col. Ray, Maj. Willis and
others as a result of which a number of
changes were ordered. The next inspection
was by Maj Willis yesterday, when the
order which caused the trouble was given.
What the order related TO is not known,
though 1t is said 1t was to remove some
sort of unclean4iness about the main deck
Of the ship. Whatever the order, 1t seems
to have been either offensive to Lieut.,
Griffite or he did not recognize Maj. Viii
lis right to give 1t. The temporary alb
sence of the captain, by which Lieut. Crit
fife was left in charge, may also have had
something TO do with the complication
After the order was DISC
beyed however. Maj Willis is
said to have repeated it, and when
Lieut. Grlfite refused to obey a second
time he was ordered to leave the ship. A
controversy had arisen by this time, in
which the right of the regimental officers
to exercise such control over the Mime
waska was strongly disputed. It seemed
clear some one was acting under misap-
prehension, and while the dispute grew
rather spirited, 1t was not understood any
Inn MA Inv
the officers.
Desiring TO carry the matter no further
al that time. Maj. Willis retired, and at
once reported the circumstances to Col.
Ray, who was somewhat displeased over
the manner In which the first officer had
acted In not obeying the order. AS soon
as the NTinnewaska arrived, she went I'M
der command of Col Ray, and her Off
GERS are therefore subject 10 such COM
mands as they may receive from him. But
this seems not to have been understood
by Lieut.. Grifite.
1t is Col Rays intention to have things
arranged on the Minnewaska according
TO what he believes best for his
men, whose welfare and comfort
are first with him, and
he therefore ordered the discharge OF
the lieutenant and that he be required
10 retire from the ship within an hour
otherwise a guard would be detailed to
wait upon him. When this notice was
given, Lieut. Grffite did not demonstrate
further, but took his leave.
The quartermaster's department will
probably take steps at once to fill the va
cancy by promotion. Just when the or
ders Will be received is not known, but
Col. Ray does not believe there will be
any delay on account of the necessity for
prompt action. In his report he only
stated Lieut. Grihite had been discharged
for refusing to obey an order
The affair created a little stir in the
regiment because 1t was not much known
Little was said about ii at the time 1t
is regretted by Col. Ray, though he could
take no other action under the circum-
stances All orders to the Minnewaska
proceed through Col. Ray, however. and
characterization, such as that alleged
could not be INDUCED by him.