The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-22
HAS DONE ALL 1T COULD.
GOVERNMENT ACTION IN PROSE-
CUTTING THE DAUNTLEsS.

Near NavaSsa, to Cuba, Carrying,
Among Others, Col. Nunez and Gen.
ROIOR.
The libel OF the United States against
the tug Dauntless involving forfeiture
Of the tug. should the charges of violations
of the navigation laws be substantiated,
was assigned for trial in the United States
court yesterday
The attorneys in the case and a large
number of witnesses were here, and it was
expected that the case would be heard I'M
til showing was made upon which Judge
Speer granted a continuance. The owner
of the tug, William A. Bisbee of Jackson
vile, Fla, is represented by Hon. ]. e.
Hartridge of Jacksonville and Messrs
Charlton, Mackall & Anderson. BY APP
pointment of the court Mr.. A. j. Corvatt
Whitfield is associated with the district at
torney, Mr.. Marion Erwin, in the prosecu-
lion of the case. This firm legally repre-
sents the Spanish government.
Mr.. Hartridge made the motion for the
continuance on the ground of the neces-
sary absence of the owner, Mr.. Bisbee,
who has recently had a surgical operation
performed and whose presence is neces-
sary to the proper conduct of the case, and
also on the ground of the absence of Mr..
Walter G. Charlton, who is engaged in
the trial of the Carter case.
Mr. Erwin fought the motion strenuous
~, and when Judge Speer decided to grant
a continuance asked that commissioners
be appointed in order to take the testi-
mony of the witnesses who are here, be-
cause Mr.. Erwin thought he might not be
able to get hold of some of them again.
One of the witnesses for the government,
at one time sailor on the Laurada, which
is said 10 have transferred men and arms
to the Dauntless, is now in the Klondike
hunting GOLD, and another is in China.
Where others might go Mr.. Erwin did not
know, and he was anxious to have their
statements recorded.
Judge Speer granted the request of the
district attorney and Mr.. ]. N. Talley was
appointed special commissioner to take the
testimony of the witnesses present. In the
presence of a counsel for all parties the
testimony was taken in part in the United
States court room yesterday afternoon.
w. G. Lyon, who was agent for the
Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad
Aug. r. 1896, at Woodbine, at the time the
Dauntless is said to have carried this ex-
petition to Cuba, was the first witness
sworn. He testified that on the date named
a lot of freight was received at Wood
bine consigned to a boat. He did not
know The name of the boat The name
of the party to whom the freight was
consigned he was unfamiliar with, as IL
was a man who did not live in that sec
ton. He identified the Florida Central
and Peninsular freight receipt book, which
he stated at one Time contained a descrip-
ton of the freight in question, with the
name of the consgnee and weights. But
the pages upon which there had been the
description of the freight and the name
of the consignee had been torn from the
book. This had been done, he said, since
he left the service of the road.
Julian N. Smith, the next witness, is the
present agent of the Florida Central and
Peninsular Railroad He identified the
freight book which had been shown 70
Lyon. He was shown the place where
the pages had been torn out, but said
he knew nothing whatever about it, and
did not know how the pages came to be
torn out, unless it was as the result of
a storm which blew offs the roof of the
depot and damaged a large number of the
papers contained in the office
William B. Burnett, the bridge tender at
the Satilla river. testified that on the
night in question, about 10 o'clock a tug
boat came up the river nearly 10 the
bridge; that freight was unloaded from
cars to the boat by something like forty
or fifty men, who spoke in a foreign
tongue, and he was unable to understand
them; that the freight consisted of boxes
about three and one-half feet long, and
| bags that the work continued until about
o'clock in the morning following, when
the tugboat with men and freight aboard
put to sea; that one of the employees of
the road came there the next day and said
a package of guns had fallen overheard
and that the package was fished up and
found to contain five Winchester rifles
which were distributed among certain en-
ployes of the road, one of them going to
him.
Lonnie c. Herring, an employee of the
Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad
at the time, was on the bridge on the
night in question, and testified to sub
stantially the same facts. The bow and
stern of the boat were covered with can
vass, so that her name cou4d not be made
out.
Il. f. Coney, coal dealer of Bruns-
wick, who formerly acted as agent for
the owners of the Dauntless, and through
whom the tug was sold to W. A. Bisbee
testified that he received a communication
from Lee Lom, captain of the Dauntless
send lot of coal out to the tug at Bruins
wick bar on Aug. 10. On that day he
sent out fifteen or twenty tons of coal in
sacks, which was delivered to the Daunt-
less just beyond the bar.
Capt. L. M. Roberts of the tug Inca
which carried the coal out to the Dauut-
less on that occasion, testified to that fact
and said he had some conversation at the
time with Capt. LON from his pilot house
but did not ask him where he was going
and LON did not tell him.
Joseph S. Nichols of PHILADELPHIA
proved, perhaps, the most interesting wit.
ness of the day. He was mess steward on
the Laurada at the time, he said and left
Philadelphia with that steamship for The
island of Navassa, arriving there on Aug
20, 1896 AT the request of the captain. he
told the first mate to hang out fonr white
shirts as signal to the tug Daunt,ess
which was done and the Dauntless an
swered the signal. The tug then came
alongside. The cargo of the Laurada con-
sisted of lot of boxes and bags which
he said. contained arms and ammunition.
The witness said he knew 1t was tina
Dauntless, because he caught glimpse of
the name on the stern of the tug when