Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-09-22
CAPTAIN FACET ON
 OUR WAR WITH CUBA
Hs Says cervera Made Great Mistake When He Attempted to Es-
 cape From Santiago.

Washington, Sept. 22.-Captain AL fred Paget, the British naval attachee, assigned to observe operations during tbe recent campaign in the West Indies enragements, is here assembling a largo mass of material gathered in Cuba and <mDpementing this with official data hot being supplied by the navy depart. #uent. He will spend most of the fall rathering together material for his re- bort to the British admiralty, which Fill be an exhaustive treatment of the naval branch of the campaign with con. Adorable attention to the military ranch owing to joint operations of the Two branches during several stages oi he war, particularly the siege of Santi gO
 Speaking informally of some of his Excavations, Captain Paget said it had Been shown quite clearly that the naval ranch Of t.lo It. Ter sA9H.G have com lete control of nil army transportation B sea He points out that this was the raotiee the world over. In the British @ryice all transports are under the con. tol of the admiralty. It was not until Do troops were on land had the army Authorities the right to assume direction . affairs. This practice is in general with all large countries, par hcularly those having colonial posses aons and could be adopted with advan- Hge by this country, in Captain Paget's Xpinion, as much confusion of transport ston and landing of army and supplies MS due to the inexperience of merchant Explains of transports and to the direo- Don of all sea transportation by the army pther than by the navy.
 Captain Paget's report will devote much attention to the destruction of Mmiral Geryera s fleet. as this was the nam naval incident of the war. He is curing from the navy department pmpete reports of the gunnery of merican ships with view Of showing @e importance of the "man behind the pn. Captain Paget's personal views " that Admiral Cervera' s sortie was ost f0olhardy venture, which cannot justified by naval standards, even Hpugh ordered by the admirals s superi- According to Captain Paget's views most effective use Admiral Oervera pld have made with his squadron was pave dlsmantled them of all the light. gnns, particularly the quickiring and Iled over these guns and men over General Toral for use in defending eity. These quickfire guns some 100
 ofe, distributed along the entrench- p's and handled by trained men of squadron, would have been able to am deadly fire on the American Ance.
 ptain Paget expresses the belief such move would have made San.
 practically impregnable. He has 2ouot that starvation and disease ! nave broken down the Spanish
 'se In time, but Oervera's guns
 nave held the town from defeat
 sauit. In case of sortie from the
 oaptain Paget shares the view
 leiican naval officers, but the sor- ouid have been made at night. If
 p1ed In daylight, the Spanish
 enouid have directed their attention 4 Amerlcan transports, as they fur
 vulnerable point where great could nave been wrought Capt.
 maintains that the Spanish policy
 nave been to rush at our ships,
 tnem unawares before steam
 Y got up, and taking the risk of 4 iong as some damage was infiict-
 na s.1 this plan been adopted he
 might have resulted i'll ram- ,d pr sinking one or more of our
 ain Paget speaks highly of our
 'ueshlps and cruisers, particu- ' 'ose now on stocks, which, he ,, mined critically through plans
 'cihcations. He says foreign
 Apsrts long ago recognized that
 rs warships could be built in the
 o'ates although he does not ad- our ships yet excell or even
 use or British build h this as aoh a prominent American naval
 cently told Captain Paget the
 'ssr New Orleans, bought in ( turing the early stages of the
 q revelation to the authorities z lar as her guns and arma-
 concerned.