The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-06-23

rectlon in Captain Chadwick's letter,
anent the Hodgson statement:
The typewriter o Of the state
-ment of Captain Chadwick and Lieu
tenant Commander Hodgson, given TO
the press yesterday was in error in the
following points: About one-third from
the beginning where published state
ment reads: 1 intended him to under
stand there was danger of running into
the Texas. He said "all right or
words to that effect; l cannot repeat
verbatim. 1t should have read: 1 in
tended him to understand there was
danger of running into the Texas. He
said: all right, the Texas must look
out for that" or words to that effect;
l cannot repeat verbatim.
Following the statement of Lieuien-
ant Commander Hodgson respecting the
events that occurred on the bridge of
the Brooklyn July 3rd, the navy de-
partment today made public the fol-
lowing report from Captain Chadwick
of his examination of Lieutenant Com
mander Heilner:
Sir: In obedience to the orders of
the secretary of the nav I have the
honor to make the following report Of
oil SAdIllllldLIOH I'll LlCulCldlL IA
mander Heilner with respect of his
knowledge of a conversation reported
ito have occurred between Rear Admiral
Schley and Lieutenant Commander
Hodgson, during the action of July 3,
1898. Lieutenant Commander Heilner
states as follows:
"'At one of the early sessions of the
board on the ships positions during the
action of July 3rd, L strongly express
ed my doubt as to the B~rooklyn's posi-
ttinp hafpra To0a lin tho 1nnn &c 1oi6
down by Mr.. Hodgson, several other
navigatOrs, Mr.. Comfy and Mr.. Schu-
etze, 1 i know, sided with me. Mr.. Hodg-
son and l, on this particular occasion,
walked up and down the port side OF
the cabin of the Brooklyn in which the
board was sitting. 1t is my impression
that Mr.. Hodgson claimed that thu
Brooklyn was LOO yards from the lead
ing Spanish ship when the turn was
made. The board, / think, put it later
at 1,4OO yards. Mr.. Hodgson told me
that he felt certain they were closer
thar 1,400 yards, and that their standi-
meter gave 500 yards. He said: We
wer so close that Schley gave the order
hard aport.' L said to him.: You
mean st~arboard, do you not? The
commodore said: NO, 1 mean port; We
are close enough to them now
Mr.. HOdgson then said he called
attention to the position of the Texas
and told the commodore he thought
there was danger of running her down.
The commodore replied: Damn the
Texas, let her look out for herself!
This conversation was reported to me
on several different occasions.
Everything | say now was contain
ed in Mr.. Hodgson's statement. The
words may have been a little different.
He may have said Don't you mean
starbOard, commodore" instead of the
first phrase0logy. He certainly said:
We are near enough to them now and
also Damn the Texas; let her look out
for herSelf!'
He repeated this conversation to me
at least three times during the sessions
of the board, because every time a
discussion arose, I REQUIRED to the po-
sitiOn given by him which l did not
think correct. I placed no dependence
on any observation by the standime-
ter or seXtant during gun fire. My eX-
perience was that during the action, I
could not get a single observation Of
the standimeter on which l could place
any confidence, though 1 was using
two standimeters and had a man in the
coming tower with cleaning material,
whose only duty was to try to keep the
glasses clean. With the utmost care
this could not be done l tried keeping
the standimeter under my coat, but 1t
was of no use. 1 mention this as a
reason for the doubts which brought
up the discussion
The report as published was prac-
ticalIy the conversation as repeated to
me.
Lieutenant Commander Heilner ap-
ponds his signature as an attestation OF
the correctness of the foregoing as
herewith giVen.
Very respectfully,
IF. E. CHADWICK,
Captain, u. S. N.
."L. c.. Heilner, Lieutenant Command
er, u. S. N.
"To the Commander-in-Chief."
AGRICULTURE AT THE SOUTH.
The industrial commission today con-
Jinued it's investigation of the agri-
cultural conditions of the south. Mr..
J. Polk Brown, president of the agri-
cultural society of Georgia, was the
first witness. He agreed with Mr.. Bar
rett, who testified yesterday that the
condition of the agriculture in the
south was more depressed than it had
ever been. More people were plough
ing barefooted and ~barebacked than
ever before. He agreed with the late
Henry Grady that the fault was not
with the soil or the climate, nor, as
many had claimed, was it entirely with
the tariff. One of the most prollhc
causes of the trouble was in the tact
that cotton was practically the onfy
crop. Education, he considered, was
not sufficiently practical. u snouIo
teach people to do manual labor. so
far as the colored race was concerned,
there was no opening for them in trade
or the professions.
THE NEGRO AN INCUBUS.
Mr.. Brown dwelt on the presence of
the negro as the special cause OF the
want OF development of the south. he
regarded him as retarding the indus
tries, moral, religious, social and agrl-
cultural development of the section,
and he felt that if they were absent a
better class of labor would take their
place. The more the negro was paid
the less efficient he was as a 1aborer.
Mr.. Brown wanted the race separated
from the whites and colonized either in
this country OF elsewhere in the interest
of the southern states.
The great obstacle in the way of the
development of the manufacturing in
terests was the want of money.
Mr.. Brown advocated diversified