Evening star., 1900-09-26
WHAT HOBSON DID SAY
HAD NO IDEA Of TRYING TO BE-
LITTLE DEWEY'S WORK.
Spaniards Scuttled Their Ships, but it
Was American Firing That
Caused Them to Do 1t.

| Lieut.. Hobson of Merrimac fame, who
has just returned from his work in the
orient, passed through Washington today
on his way to Alabama to visit his rela-
tives Before starting south he reported at
the New York navy yard, where he has
been ordered as assistant. to Constructor
Bowles in charge of construction work.
He obtained leave of absence for the pur-
pose of visiting his family. While here Mr..
| Hobson again reiterated his denial of any
| intention to reflect upon the work of Ad-
miral Dewey's fleet in his Vancouver inter-
view concerning the injuries sustained by
| the Spanish ships at Manila.
| Mr.. Hobson has never received the reward
which the Secretary of the Navy recon-
mended for his heroic work in Santiago har
| Dor. The Secretary recommended that he be
| advanced eight numbers for that exploit,
| and 1t is probable that the recommendation
will be renewed in his annual report. 1t is
understood that Mr. Hobson, who has a
| fondness for line duty. would prefer to be
transferred to the line and have his adj
vancement made there instead of in the
staff, and it is probable that an effort will
be made to comply with his wishes in that
respect.
He SAYS that the Vancouver interview, in
| which he was quoted as belttling Admiral
| Dewey's victory, was distorted. He says
that he will call on the admiral at the first
| opportunity.
| There was an interview all right said
Lieut. Hobson. Il gave it at Vancouver
| and did not see it in the papers until got
| to Montreal. l can assure you that what l
| saw was so distorted that 1 did not recog-
| nize it as my own. l did not think that
| those who knew me would believe that l
said what was attributed to me- and at
| first l was inclined to laugh at it. 1t was
| not long before I saw that it was no laugh
| ing matter. The whole fabric of that silly
| yarn was formed out of the following in
| cident:
| LAS soon as I arrived at Vancouver !
was approached by a correspondent who
| asked me about the Spanish warship which
/ had been repairing at Hong Kong. Among
other things / said that the interior of all
the sunken ships was very much warped,
| that the metal work was rusted and that
altogether, the vessels were in a sorry con-
dition. Did Dewey do that? l was asked
/ replied that the seven months submer-
sion and not Admiral Dewey was respon-
| sible for what l had described. 1 then ex-
planned that the Spaniards had sunk their
vessels by opening the sea cocks. l also
explained that 1t was the shell fire Of Dew
| ey's fleet that made them do this You
have seen the result of this interview.
II feel that great injustice has been
done me. l never had the slightest inten-
| ton of belittling Admiral Dewey's victory.
1t cannot be belittled, and 1, who have been
| on the ground, and who have spent months
appreciate more fully than many Americans
| just what grand victory 1t was. never
knew there was any question but that the
| spaniards scuttled their own vessels But
we all know why they did so. They
| they had to. would they? The warships
| had plenty Of holes in them. For instance,
| the Don Juan De Austria had thirty shell
| injuries. which, think, argues good shoot
and the rest gave undubitable evidence of
q good peppering As regards my statement
| that Admiral Dewey did not sink the Span
/ {at a IN yvh kn0Us apvthfuQ
| about modern warship well Anows that
| they cannot be sunk 10 smooth sea by
direct fire. OF course, am not now speak
| ing Of torpedoes or the explosion of maga-
zines. But, az a matter Of fact, you may
riddle q warship and set her on fire. and
yet she will float because below her water
/ line she remains intact. Admiral Samp-
sons squadron did not sink Cervera's squad