The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-10-25

We all wore more or less. heavy blous'
suit 1 met him at the gangway. 1 was yer,
glad to see him. as he was of course. Il
see me. The first thing 1 asked Sigsbee
when he came over the side, and I wan
to say before I make this statement thai
do not believe that Captain Sigsbee woult
misstate anything for his commission.
do not believe that he is capable of stating
what is not true. I think in this instance
his recollection Is at fault, and not his
ve-acity.
Il said to him: Captain. have you got the
Dons in hereg He said: No: they are not
in here. have been in very close He said
They are not here: they are only reported
here said to him: Have any OF the other
vessels seen them. the Yale or the Mime
apolis? He said: No: they have not; they
have assured me so.' and that was the as
surance to which I referred, when 1 spoke
of the assurance Of such men as Wise and
Jewell and Sigsbee.
No. / do not believe that any of these
men would misstate the fact They did no,
communicate verbally with me, but 1 as
sumed. from the conversation with Sigsbee.
that he was bearing to me the assurance
of all of them At the same time, Nunez
was aboard. and he and had a converse
ton in Spanish. Among other things l
said: 'Nunez. what do you think of the re-
port that these people are not herer We'll.
he said. I do not believe that they are here
at all. because the channel Is very narrow.
The buoys have all also been removed We
have to make the turns very quickly and
the channel is very crooked. II they had a
tug or a most favorable day, perfectly
smooth weather. I do not say that they
might not get In, but do not believe they
are there now
He said he had been plotting sixteen or
eighteen years. We subsequently found he
was very expert pilot. and rendered us
valuable service.
My habit of life not only in principal
command OF squadron. but also In COM
mand Of ship. was to assume the responsi-
bility and the danger Of censure of any
movement. but was never willing, under
any circumstances, to be participant in
giories that I would not divide That was
the general principle upon which acted in
this matter. I did not call any council OF
war. The Information which these people
gave me led me to infer that tho telegraphic
information was ruse. similar to that
which was telegraphed from Cadiz that the
squadron had returned to Cape Verde"
Continuing. the Admiral said: IF any OF
us at any time made any mistakes during
the campaign Of Santiago, or elsewhere. it
was in supposing that the Spaniards would
ever do right at the right time
At this point Admiral Schley described
the movements of his squadron about San
tiago. saying that he had considered the
move eastward to be unwise. 1t would
not have been wise to uncover Santiago.
He said their movements every minute OF
the day were known In Havana
''Just as We approached Santiago on the
2eth. the collier Merrimac. which had been
giving US a good deal Of trouble. broke dowE.
was not a very profitable thing to have
with the squadron II We met the enemy. so
I first determined to send her to Key West
with the Yale. It then occurred to me that
II l sent her to Key West and she was
taken. We would be out a collier. and the
Spanish. II they were in. would be In SO
much coal. So determined. therefore, on
meantime inquiring as to the coal supply Of
each of these shipa"
SIMPSONS DISPATCH
WAS NEVER RECEIVED.
Continuing his discussion Of tho coaling
situation. Admiral schley said that q liberal
supply was necessary. Tho enemy would
not come toward the Americana but would
60 In the other direction. Speaking Of the
collier Merrimac's breaking down, he said
this accident rendered coaling out of the
question. II don't. believe any prudent
commander would have attempted to send a
ship alongside an unmovable collier to take
coal. The risk would be too great. The re-
sponsibility was mine. and It was too great
to take the chances. / coaled at the earliest
possible moment"
With reference to the arrival OF the Har-
ward on the eth. and his conference with
Captain (now AdmiraD Cotton. Admiral
Schley said that he had never received the
dispatch representing In positive terms the
presence Of the enemy at Santiago. II never
saw IT," he said. with intense earnestness.
Il never saw II. and am sure that Cotton
never delivered II to me. II he had done SO
1t would be among my papers. and 1t would
have burnt itself into my memory 80 that
Fever could have forgotten it,
Admiral Schley also referred again to his
conversation with Captain McCalla, saying
that McCaila did not testify to the whole
conversation. and then discussed his dis
patch to the Navy Department regarding
the disobedience Of orders. He said that as
translated this message was essentially DIFF
ferent from the dispatch as he had framed
It. He contended that there had been no
disobedience: that he had complied with or
dsfs in returning to Santiago. and held that.
would relieve him Of this charge.
At this point the court adjourned.
The morning session was devoted to re-
ceiving testimony from forme. wit;
nesses. Who bad been recalled; and
In the blockade has been much discussed
Commander Harlow's testimony was clear
was close enough to shore at night. during
the blockade on Santiago. to have detected
the enemys vessels had they attempted to
escape. He described the part Of the Vixen
Commodore schley. while he looked Ill and
worn. did not appear to be nervous or ex-
cited. He also testified that the Vixcaya
had attempted to ram the Brooklyn.
CLARK OF THE OREGON
REVIEWS THE CAMPAIGN.
Commander Harlow was succeeded. Just
before the noon recess, by Captain C. z.
Clark. who commanded the battleship Ore
gon In the Spanish American naval cam
The large audience manifested signs Of in
terest az the Captain of the Oregon ap-
preached the witness stand. Admiral Dewey
the table to administer the oath. Captain
Clark at hrst spoke in an undertone and
was two or three times requested to raise
his voice. This he did az he progressed and
Of the Court: At the request Of Mr. Rayner
he began description OF the battle Of July
8, AZ follows:
coming out our feet closed in at once to
attack them. each ship being ordered to
keep her head directly toward the harbor
entrance. The Spaniards turned to the west
ward wa in pursuit. Both k sides % opened enc fire
promptly and fired rapidly. Denee smoke
,o tns making it DIFF
''The Oregon ran between the Iowa and
Texas, and the next ships to the westward
in our line, and soon after We sighted four
spsth the tms TSsy hs9 ssineS 70 much
eround that Believed they had beer, been
successful In attempting to escape, but II