The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-24


BungIing on the Part of the
Commodore, Though 1t Is Inti-
mated He Did Not Reach Santa
go as Early as Sampson Expected
Taking of the City.
WASHINGTON, Oct 23.-The navy
department has made public that por-
tion of Admiral Simpsons report COW
ering the conduct of the feet under his
command in its operations in the West
Indies for about two months prior to
the destruction of Admiral Cervera' 8
fleet on July 8. It is made I'D largely
of official dispatches and the move
ments of the fleet, with explanations
and comments by the admiral
The report is dated Aug. 8, on the
nagshlp New York, and begins with a
statement of the determination reached
by the navy department to send a
squadron to the Windward Passage
for the purpose of observation because
of information received of the sailing,
April 20, of Admiral Cervera's SQUAD
ron from the Cape Verde islands. On
the voyage eastward from the naval
base at Key West, which began May 4.
Admiral Sampson reports there were
experienced endless troubles and delay
because of the inefficiency of the two
monitors accompanying the other ships
and which had to be taken in tow
Their coal supply was so small that 1t
was at once evident that they must
either frequently coal Or be towed The
admiral says:
Had the sea been rough or had the
enemy appeared at this juncture' the
squadron would have been in a much
better position for an engagement had
the monitors been elsewhere. Suisse
quently when enga ging the batteries Of
San Juan it was evident that their
shooting was very bad. Owing to the
quick rolling of these vessels even in a.
very moderate sea they were unable to
lire with any degree Of accuracy"
Among the kilograms received by the
admiral from the department at Wash
ington, when off Cape Haytien, was
the following:
Washington, May 6.-Do not risk or cripple
your vessels against Notifications so as to
to prevent from soon afterwards successfully
fighting the Spanish feet composed Of Pc
layo, Carlos ", OQuendo Vizcaya. Maria
Teresa, Cristebal Colon, four deep-sea tor
pedo boats, if they should appear on this
side. oro
MOVE TO SAN JUAN.
On May there was a consultation
on board the flagship, and the admiral
said he decided to stand onto the east
ward as far as San Juan, Porto Rico
on the chance of finding the Spanish
squadron in that port, where, if they
were not successful in destroying it.
1t could be at least bIockaded and held.
The squadron arrived off San Juan on
the morning Of May IL, and the bonn
bardment of the place ensued. Regard
ing his action at this place the admiral
says:
ut was clear to my mind that the
squadron would not have any great
difficulty in forcing the surrender Of
the place, but the fact that we should
be held several days in completing ar
rangements for holding 1t; that
part Of our force would have to be left
to await the arrival Of troops to garri-
son it; that the movements of the Span
fsh squadron, our main objective. were
still unknown; that the flying squad
ron was still north, but not in a posi-
ton to render any aid; that Havana,
Cervera's natural objective, was thus
open to entry by such a force as his.
While We were a thousand miles dis
tant, made our immediate movement
toward Havana imperative I thus
reluctantly gave up the project against