Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-09-30

AT what distance off the mouth of
! the harbor were the Massachusetts
| the Iowa and the New Orleans during
| the firing on May 31?'
Il can only judge from the effect of
their projecties. l judge they must
have been from the Colon about five
| miles. l estimate now. | never meas
ured it. that the distance from the
| Moro to the Colon must have been 1900
| or 1900 yards
Did Commodore Schley at any time
prior to May - consult with you about
| the possibility of coaling large ships
| at Cape CRUZ"
| II do not remember that he consulted
with me. l told him l though ships
could coal under Cape Cruz from the
oath. the morning l reported"
Lieutenant Commander w. H. II.
Switzerland. who commanded the con-
verted yacht Eagle during the Spanish
war. followed Capt McCalla. He tes-
| tilted that he had first fallen in with
| the flying squadron on May -. when
| the squadron was steaming toward
| Cienfuegos Under Capt. McCalla's or
| ders he gave his information concern
| ing the situation at Cienfuegos to the
| Scorpion for the commander his mes
| sage being as follows:
| We left Cienfuegos on the night o.
| he 10TH at Which time. as we lcafn.u
| rom insurgents. the only NeSStiS lnSid
! The hlrbor were two gunboatS and seN
| raj CannonicrOS.
| Commander Switzerland alsp told ot
| his return to Cienfuegos on May II an
| If accompanying the Marblehead t
| shore TOR the purpose of communicating
with the insurgents. Returning, Capt
| McCaha sent him at full speed IN ad-
| vance of the MarhlehCad to notify tn
| commander Of the squadron that CervC-
| a s fleet was not inside the harbor. HI
| lad, he said. delivered this information
| bout , o'clock
| AT this point the court took recess
| or luncheon. When the court rcc"nVen
| d Capt Lemly read the agreement b.
| ween himself ana counsel Tor Admira
| ,chleV as Ia the portion OF the logs OF
| 'ertain vessels 10 me presented The
| Judge advocate then brought in Lieut.. c.
| B. Barnes. cipher expert Of the navy de-
| oartmcnt. for the purpose Of explaining
| The discrepancies between the dispatches
| If Admiral SChiey saying he could not,
| much to his regret obey the orders of th'
| department., as it was prepared by tn
| admiral and as printed by the depart
| ment.
| Mr. Rayncr objected IL the calling o!
| lieut. Barnes while Commander S"Ither-
| and'S testimony was incomplete. His
| objection was sustained. and Cammana":
Sutherland was recalled. DeScribne
| he cruise from CicutucScS to Santiago.
le said that from midnight If May = |.
he afternoon OF tho 18th the Eagle mao
| made very bad weather. This was due &C.
he fact that the sea- had II long roll,
which was very trying I" the yacht, a.
he vessel was then ont-third fun Of Wa.
| ter
~ little after o'clock of the 18th
when about = miles from Santiago, h,
| said. Il was called alongside Inc flag
| hip and the commodore directed I.c I
90 to PORT Antonio for coal. and to re
| lort rought weather SoUth Of Cuba. N
| answer. substantially. was that ALREADY
rad three days coal. a. much a. the
Marblchcad. meaning as muCn in proper
ion. The commodore told me that | hd
lot coal enough tor his purpose ana iii
! rectcd me to carry out his orders.
| II then asked him again very earnestly
% let the Eagle remain with the flee'
ma coal from the collier t!c very cGIr-
| ,eoIs!y replied 10 ne tnat hc either much
regretted. or else was very sorry. he
,ould not let me do so, tho Eagle had
not coal enough for his purpose, and
again directed me to proceed, which |
lid, after communicating with my dIvlS-
ION commander.
| How much coal did the Eagle have"
| Not less than 2 tons.
''Of course, the Merrimac was with the
| squadron, was she metz?
| She was.
Was the wind and weather practi-
cable for the Eagle to so alongside the
| Merrlmac TO take COAL
| Without any doubt.
| Why did not you do this?'
1t was not in my power, because
| had no authority.
| Was anything else said between you
and the commodore at this tme?"
| NO. l was so disappointed | did not
\ care to say anything else
At the conclusion of Commander South
erlands testimony. Lieut.. Barnes. the
cipher expert, was again called Pending
his appearance, Mr. Hanna made a stats-
ment concerning the two versions of the
Schley dispatch Of May IS He referred
to the fact that not only the tranSla ton
of this dispatch. but also the translation
! of a navy department dispatch of May %
| had been called into question.
Mr. Hanna. however, gave his especial
attention to the Schley message, saying
There is no more important paper be-
fore the court than this telegdam, and
, order to weaken its terrible effect, there
have been introduced on the record here
r suggestion that the dispatch, print
= ed by the government is not correct. We
- propose to show that that dispatch. as
printed in the appendix to the report OF
e | the chief of the bureau of navigation fol
n ls9S. is precisely, word for word. as tina
dispatch was received by the navy de
partment from the wires and confirmed
n by the telegraph company. We propose
d to show, further. that that dispatch, a.
received by the navy department, was ci
: pner WORD for cipher word as it left tn'
e West Indies''
4 Lieut. barneS was then shown ant
identifed the cipher code book of tn,
harvard. which vessel during the wal
e was under command of Capt: now AID
L miraD Cotton. This was the vessel which
d carried Schley's dispatch to Kingston t,
be there cabled to Washington.
Lieut.. Barnes said he was familiar will
d me departments cipher CODE and hat
e MADE Translation of the dispatch pre-
Sehted. lie then read his translation an
WAS questioned concerning it by Mr. Han
e ma: Tne witness declared that the dis
II patch from Schley to the department o
MAY y. ls!S. saying that he (Schley
could NOT, much to his regret obey IL,
d orders OF the department. as printed i,
q tne orlcial reports was q correct transIa
, ,,oh oil the message as forwarded from
the Harvard at Kingston.