The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-08

At that time the smoke was so dense could not see anything. and I supposed that the New York, being away. the Brooklyn was steaming ahead of the slower vessels. He stepped out of the coming tower and exclaimed to me: Whats that off our starboard quarter ?
 "1 looked in that direction and saw the heavy bow of a ship and said: That must be the Massachusetts,
 He said: No, it could not be the Mas cashusetts; she has gone to Guantanamo. said: It must be the Oregon and he remarked: God bless the Oregon said: Well, am very glad to see her. The or egon was at that time about, I should say, four or five hundred yards on our starboard quarter at full speed. We con tinued in that position until the Brook- lyn's speed begun to increase as we got up steam, and we probably drew little further ahead from the Oregon. She never was that close to us again as l re- member The Oquendo, shortly after, Tell out and went ashore. The Colon grad ually drew ahead and also went ashore.
 "I remember very well the time that the Viscaya blanketed her from our fire. This chase was continued in that direction un- til. when off Accerradoras, the Vascaya ported her helm and ran inshore some seven miles, After passing the Viscaya. we steamed ahead and ceased firing. The men were allowed to come out of the turrets, one at a time, to get breathing spell, although, of course. all guns wrre manned and everything ready, but the gaining upon the Colon was very slow.
 Chase After the Colon.
 "At :15 when the Viscaya stood in for Acceradoras the chase was continued then after the Colon. I knew 1t must be six or seven miles away until we grad ually began to gain. I remember keep ing the state at work on her, although the 13, 900 yards would not register on the steadiometer. I remember at one time telling Commodore Schley that it was within about 13000 yards and my recollec- tion is he told some one to signal the Oregon to try one of her railroad trains , At any rate, shortly afterward, the Ore gon fired one of her 13-inch shells which fell short. Then we tried with S-inch shells and they fell short. The Oregon was signalling to us the fall of our shot and we signalled to her the fall of her sot We continued to fire with the Ore gon, she with 13 and S-inch guns and we our S-inch guns. I remember seeing one of the 13-inch shells of the Oregon fall well ahead of the Colon and one of our S-inch shells apparently fell inshore of the Colon. At that time the Colon ported to helm hard aport. Previously to this she had ported her helm once or twice apparently seeking a soft spot on shore. She fired her lee gun and hauled down her flag. I pulled out my watch. It was exactly 1:15 We then ceased firing and slowed down and orders were given to get out a boat. The captain was ordered to go aboard to carry terms to the com- manding officer of the Colon. On account of steam having been cut off and there being some trouble with the boat, we were some little time getting the boat out. In the meantime. We had slowed and as rapidly as could be accomplished one of the cutters was finally gotten out, crew put in. Captain Cook went in the boat and boarded the Colon. I think he probably had a mile and a half to pull
 "At any rate, we had our guns trained on the Colon at this time in case of treachery or any act of that kind on her part although saw her throwing breech locks overheard, I did not suspect any thing of that kind"
 How far was the Oregon from the Brooklyn?"
 'From 1000 to 1,5OO yards on the star board quarter"
 The witness, in reply to questions. con- tinued his report of the battle. He said that at the beginning of the fight he had given the range at 1,4OO yards. but that after the loop it was about 2,400 or 2,500 yards.
 The Bearing of Schley.
 MT. Raynor-What was the bearing of Commodore Schley during this engage ment or any engagement in which you saw him?
 His bearing and manner, with respect to an officer of his rank and station in the naval service. were naturally those of a commander-in-chief of a naval force on that occasion. The witness said the com mander had occupied place on the plat form around the coming tower during the engagement. This he said. was a position of danger as the Commodore was there always in full view of the enemy's ships"
 RaYnor. that the Brooklyn ran 2.000 yards away from the enemy's ships in making her loop
 The witness replied: Any witness who made that statement, although he may have stated what he thought had occur red. was absolutely mistaken"
 How far did she go from the enemy s vessels?"
 "She must have gone about GOO yards to the southwest, as that is about the distance at that speed"
 Did this turn interfere with the Brook lyn's ability to keep up her fire ?"
 Ut did not. She continued to fire from her aft turrets."
 'Did you ever see the Indiana during the engagement"
 ''I did not. The smoke was very dense in the direction of the Indiana"
 At this point Mir. Raynor questioned the witness at length concerning his report ed colloquy with Admiral Schley during the battle off Santiago in which the com- modore was reported to have said:
 Damn the Texas"
 Mir. Raynor asked the witness if 1t was not Captain Cook who had given the order to port helm"
 The reply was that Captain Cook might have given the order to the man at the wheel
 Mir Raynor then asked:
 Did Commodore Schley give the order to port the helm?'
 "eH did" was the reply.
 Was the helm at port?"
 "I guess so. Captain Cook says so."
 Objection was made by Captain Lemly to the use of the words "I guess" by the witness. but Admiral Dewey said the form was immaterial and asked that counsel should not interrupt.
 Continuing his tatement in his response to MT Raynor's question, the witness said that when his conversation with Commodore Schley had occurred on the