New-York tribune., 1901-10-26

/ dition at that time. The order was gi, ner con-
sast and west, two or two and One-haIT $50 20
] from Aguadores to Companies. Back OF sases ssa.les
ago. like most OF the 1rts on the soutbarSd SdnIl-
or CUBA. there were high hills There NJ. sue
taoieIand e two hundred or two hundred and r "a
rect nlSh, and back of { at to the west v..y
peak five thousand feet high and 70 fba vas a
ward was another four thousand feet in hsi1s,
ana maybe more These peaks We're usad a.
bearings in locating our positions as
At night invariably took couple AZ t,..
In toward the shore Going east we turned r,.s
the starooard helm, and going west we turnsa
with port helm. There was never a nigbs .L
i did not look out for the picket boats Satora, Ia,
went to bed. and always saw them. T cov,s
see them through glasses. and many times
could dlStin guish the outline Of the Lara -.
could see the MORO and the entrance 10 fi,a tSa
harbor. The fact that this blockade of eysn
fuegos and also the blockade OFF Santiago -~a.
sufficient is borne out by the fact that nS vs..os
{ entered or escaped during that time. e'
THE COLON RECONNAISSANCE
Coming to the reconnaissance of May 81. "A.
miral Schley said:
On the 31st. while the Brooklyn and the Mar.
blehead and the Texas were eoaling. trans.
ferred my flag to the Massachusetts, and dafar
mined that ] would develop the fortifcations
because Of information which we had on boars
from the Hydrographic Office-my innnrasSias
now is it was rather undetermined. I think nna
stated that the batteries wer old. and another
stated that Krupps were mounted. The general
belief, however, was that all Of the southern
places were very heavily fortified. In f.. wa
knew very little about the effect Of higher pow
cred artillery. eitL on shore or aboard shin
and feeling that I ought to know something
about the Notifications which defended thai
place, determined to go in and take advantasa
of what / believed to be the longer range -
guns and develop fully what these defencss
were. and incidentally. if we could get shot
into the Colon, that was lying exposed some
what. TO do it.
I think we were lying in a position perhaps
four to five miles TO the westward. The steam
ing in was at slow speed transferred my flag
named seven thousand yards. and went on board
the Massachusetts,. When I boarded her il was
near the dinner hour. and Captain Higginson
suggested that We postpone until 1 O'Clock the
going in to develop these batteries. I assentsd
TO that. After the meal we went to quarters
and steamed in pretty nearly head on There
was not much opportunity for anybody to seek
cover behind turret. unless he got behind the
protecting plate which a guard to the en-
trance to the rear. Some weight has been laid
upon the fact that we we're in white clothes I
would like to invite attention TO the fact thar
that was matter which controlled entirely
for my squadron and it was about the onlv
suitable dress for that region.
The persons who accompanied him when h.
went aboard the Massachusetts. the Admiral
said, we're Lieutenants Sears and Wells and
George E. Graham. the Associated Press cor
respondent, who. he said. had insisted upon ac-
companying him. notwithstanding his protests
DENIES SEEKING SHELTER.
Once on board. he engaged in conversation
with Captain (now AdmiraD Hgginson he
continued:
1 was not excited nor nervous. for need not
have undertaken the reconnaissance If I had not
desired TO do so. I had some regard for those
standing on the turrets. thinking they were ex-
posing themselves to danger from shock which
was unnecessary to them, though I was diff
ferently circumstanced, and so expressed nv
self. Commander Potts is entirely in error in
saying that / took advantage of cover. That
did not do. for was not concerned about myself.
I Speaking of the range OF 1000 yards. the
+ Admiral said that Commander Potts had him
i self reported on that range. and that he (Ad-
mIral Schley) had not known for several days
that the range had been altered. and he added:
/ The moment we began firing the shore bat
teries responded. some Of them using smokeless
powder. There quite stream OF projectes.
and I was impressed with the idea that they
must be from guns of 6 or inch calibre. The
shot from the Socapa battery evidently reached
the feet. Some went over our ships. and
went beyond and over the Vixen. which was half
a mile distant
/ WOULD NOT RISK HIS SHIPS
The strength of the batteries being established.
it would have been military folly 70 have risked
the battleships further to fire from those shore
batteries under my instructions. II we hal
lost one two Of our six or seven vessels the
loss would have been very great disadvantage.
and il might have invited attack. with dis
astrous results. I thought it better policy TO
save the ships for wider and better use, and
subsequent events justified the decision.
/ Here the witness abruptly turned from thu
} bombardment of the Colon TO a discussion of the
! coaIing question. He said that his instructions
: had been to coal on every possible occasion. H
/ quoted and put in evidence a number Of dis
! patches giving the Instructions Of the depart
| ment this question He told Of the receipt
| OF a number Of dispatches from the depart
ment which had been brought by Captain
| Cotton He was sure that the dispatches could
4 bofO Az
{ miral in answer to questions by Mr. Rayner,
testified that when he received these dispatches
| he had already discovered the Spanish feet. He
/ had also surmounted the difficulties about coal
/ ing and had so informed the department. He
I went back and narrated the Incident Of the
| capture by the st. Paul of the RestOrmel the
! English collier bound for Santiago. Captain
Sigsbee had reported that the collier had been
\ captured on May 90. off Santiago. Sigsbee's
letter mentioned the fact that the Restormel
/ had touched at Porto Rico and Curacao and
/ that he had sent her to Key West, adding; I
! have seen absolutely nothing of the Spanish
: fleet" Now said Admiral Schley, that
was the only information I recall from
| Sigsbee'
! Mr. Rayner-This letter was delivered by Cap
tain Sgsbee personally?
My impression is yes" answered Admiral
| schley.
AS TO COALING PLACES.
/ on the 31st he received he thought. by way or
press tug. from Port Antonio. the dispatch from
| Admiral Sampson dated May 80 congratulatlns
him the location of the Spanish fleet. IN
reply to questions by his counsel Admiral Schles
explained that Cape Cruz was an exposed place,
100 miles from Santiago. and he did not resaru
1t as an available place for coaling. some Oh
the smaller ships might have been sent there'