The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-10-25

The COaling Question.
Taking up the coaling question he
said that it was absolutely impossible
to coal On May 25.
II watched the situation closely and
felt that l was more capable than any
other man of judging the situation in
that respect. On the 26th the weather
was still rough, especially in the morn
ing"
He told also of sending Commander
Switzerland away with the Eagle, and
said that it was done because Souther-
land had signalled that he was danger
ously short of coal. He said Switzerland
had neither protested against leaving
nor insisted that he could coal. He
regretted the necessity as I did, but it
was impracticable for him to coal. He
might have taken on a little coal in
boats, but he would have used it as
fast as he took it on"
Referring to his course in leaving
Cienfuegos, he said it was laid so as to
give him the widest horizon.
MY course projected would have
carried me to China if there had been
no islands in the way"
He spoke of the necessity of acting
upon his own responsibility, of having
to act without having any private in
formation from Havana. Therefore |
had to do good deal from guesswork.
Sometimes l was right and sometimes
wrong"
Admiral Schley then told of meet
ing the dispatch boats St. Paul, Min,
neapolis and Yale. He said at that
time there was a heavy sea on. He re-
membered Capt. Cook saying to him
on the passage over that he had never
seen more motion on the Brooklyn and
that some of the youngsters were sea-
sick.
SchIey ExOnerates Sigsbee.
Capt. Sigsbee came on board and I
think my recollection is almost vivid
| enough to describe his dress. I rec
! ollect distinctly that he had on rubber
boots and an old blockading cap, which
we all more or less wore, a heavy
blouse suit. I met him at the gang
way. / was very glad to see him as
| he was. of course, to see me. The first
thing 1 asked Sigsbee when he came
over the side. and l want TO say be-
| fore 1 make this statement, that I do
not believe that Capt Sigsbee
would misstate anything for his COM
mission. 1 do not believe that he is
! capable of stating what is not true. 1
| think in this instance his recollection
| is at fault, and not his veracity.
said to him. Captain. have you got
the Dons there he said, No. They
are not in here. have been in very
close He said. They are not here
they are only reported here l said to
him, Have any of the other vessels
seen them, the Yale or the Minneap-
olis?' He said, No, they have not :
they have assured me so..' and upon
that was the assurance to which | re-
ferred when / spoke of the assurance
of such men as Wise and Jewell and
Sigsbee.
Now, I do not believe that any of
these men would misstate the fact
They did not communicate verbally
with me, but / assumed from the con-
versation with Capt. 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 con-
versation in Spanish. Among other
things l said, Nunez, what do you
think of the report that these people
are not here?' Well he said L do
not believe they are here at all, because
the channel way is very narrow, the
buoys have also all been removed. We
have to make the turns very quickly
and the channel is very crooked II
they had a tug on most favorable
day, perfectly smooth weather, / do
not say that they might not get in,
but 1 do not believe they are now
there He said he had been plotting
sixteen or eighteen years. We subse-
quently found he was a very expert
pilot and rendered us valuable service.
schIey Explains His Rule.
my habit of life not only in princi-
pal command of a squadron, but also
in command of a ship, was to assume
the responsibility and the danger Of
censure of any movement, but I was
never willing under any circumstances
to be a participant in glories that
would not divide. That was the gen.
eral principle upon which l acted in
this matter. I did not call any coun-
sci of war. The information which
these people gave me led me to infer
that the telegraphic information was a
ruse similar to that which was tele-
graphed 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 San
tiago or elsewhere, 1t was in supposing
that the Spaniards would ever do right
at the right time"
At this point Admiral Schley de,
scribed the movements of his squadron
about Santiago, saying that he had
concluded the move eastward to be I'M
wise. IT would not have been wise to
uncover santiago. he SdlQ lnat their
movements every minute OF the day
were known In Havana.
Just as we approached Santiago on
the 26th the collier Merrimac. which
had been giving us a good deal of trou-
BILE, broke down. | determined that an
unmanageable collier was not a very
preferable thing to have with the
squadron II we met the enemy. so I
first determined to send her 10 Key
West with the Yale II then occurred
70 me that II I sent her to Key West
and she was taken we would be out a
collier. and the Spanish, IL they were
outside. would be in so much coal"
The HetrOErnde Movement.
In this connection Admiral schley
explained his .retrograde movement
so-called, to the westward. saying that
he had not considered the economical
aspect OF this step. as the economical
features could never be taken into com
slderatiOn IN military movements. lie
had. he said. made careful inquiry as
10 the coal supply Of the various ships
and had turned over In his mind tho