The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1901-10-23

-
place, and was at the time headed to
the eastward about as much as the
Brooklyn was to the northward. The
official chart putting the Texas well
inside the Brooklyn and the Iowa,
he said, was contrary to his observa-
tion.
The last of the courts questions
was concerning the relative positions
/ of the Brooklyn and the Oregon dur
ing the chase of the Spanish ships
up? the Cuban coast. The Oregon was
not, he said, so near the Viscaya as
was the Brooklyn, but might have
been nearer the Oquendo. "We were
always nearer the Colon during the
chase,,'' he said, "nearer during she
chase and at the surrender
Lieutenant Commander Sears was
then excused and Commander Mason
was called as the first new witness Of
the day.
Commander Mason, detailing the
siege of Cienfuegos, said that on the
first day of their arrival the vessels
were kept in column and about sun
down steamed in slowly to within two
or three thousand yards of the entrance
and then slowly out. The blockade
was between three and seven miles.
Referring to the blockade of Santl-
ago, the witness stated that the vessels
were in column, steaming slowly per
pendicular to the north and south line
of the harbor at a distance Of from four
to six miles. .
Nj. Raynor asked the witness how
many times he had seen Commodore
Schley under fire, to which he replied: !:
During all the engagements.
"What was his general conduct,
manner and bearing on these occa-
sions?" Mr.. Raynor asked.
Excellent in every particular; he
was calm, collected and brave. -
Asked to give brief account Of the
battle. of July 3, Commander Mason,
after giving the preliminaries, said ::
"When saw the leading ship of the
enemy coming out, I gave the order,
Clear the ship for action What was
done to the engines I do not know,
although my impression is they were
started at once. AS soon as l reported
the battery to Capt. Cook in the con-
ming tower, asked him if we should
commence firing. He replied: Fire
as soon as you are readyH' l lmmedl-
ately gave the order to Lieut. Simpson,
the senior officer of the forward turret,
to fire as soon as he could, giving him
range Of $500 yards. [ think the
first gun was fired within five minutes
Or very close to five minutes after the
first alarm. The rest of the battery
took up the fire at once and continued
to fire on the port bow until the
ranges commenced to get down to l, 800
and 1,600 yards. I asked Capt. Cook
as to which way he was going round,
it being necessary for me to know on
account of changing the battery below
shifting from one side to another. He
answered that he was going with the
port helm. I gave the necessary orders
on deck and went below.
"As I arrived in the after
cabin the after 5-inch gun was fired
for the last time on the port side and
the starboard gun took up the fire i'm
mediately. The starboard battery
then was engaged for the first time.
The range at the time we turned as
far as can remember was l, 400 yards,
although ] have a recollection, OF
l, 100 yards being sent to me once.
After swinging around the range
went from 2,4Oo to $500 and 5000
yards. -
Commander Mason told Of the sur
render Of the Colon and the movement
of. the Brooklyn to intercept suppos-
ed Spanish warship, which turned out
to be the Austrian cruiser Maria
Teresa, and the court asked number
of questions.
In reply to these Commander Mason
said that beyond sending men aloft
and having Capt. McCalia go ashore
no effort had been made by the flying
squadron to determine wheteher the
Spaniards were in the harbor at Glen
fugos; that he: knew of no American
ships being. between the Brooklyn and
the Spanish ships when the Brooklyn
was turning. to starboard July 8. that
when the Spanish feet came out of
the harbor the Brooklyn was near her
regular blockading position which was
5000 yards from the Moro; that en-
the voyage from Cienfuegos to Santi-
ago the feet had been delayed by the
smaller vessels, especially the Eagle,
and but for these vessels better speed
could have been made; that he had
observed the bombardment of, the Colon
from the foretop of the Brooklyn as
she lay coaling several miles away and
had noted that some Of the shots from
the American ships fell short while
one at least of the shots by the Span
iards fell outside of the American YES
sells: that be had concluded from this
engagement taht the guns Of the Span
ish shore batteries were of calibres not
to exceed six or eight inches.