Evening star., 1901-10-30

Il
Q. L am only relating, of course. to the
inquiry A. l recolect that 1 happened to
be on the upper deck and was talking with
one of the officers.
Talk with Capt. HiGEinson.
Q. Now, VIII you excuse me? I am going
to ask you about that, but now I am refer
ring to the 31st. A. I talked about many
things. L recollect his asking If we would
not defer the intended bombardment until
after the crews dinner, which, of course,
acceded to- We went up on deck and into a
chart house. There was conversation
about the reconnaissance and from all that
l can recollect there was no difference, and
Capt. Higginson agreed that we were doing
about what was necessary. l recollect that
Mr.. Potts told US we were within range.
After that l do not recollect with any dis
tnctness that there was any material mat
ter talked about. l recollect having the sig
nal made from there to the New Orleans to
attack the batteries, but l do not recollect
the signal about going in closer. / don't
recollect any signal of that sort at all.
@. Now do you find that signal? A.
don't find it. or a number of signals made
during the day of the battle. The only way
l can account for that is that these sig
nails were written up afterward. Some of
them perhaps were forgotten. A man in
battle has not a pencil and paper except
the press correspondents.
.. L want to ask you about that signal
Tor the New Orleans to fire on the batteries.
A. L cannot find it, but am distinct in my
memory that l gave that order. Whether
1t was wigwagged or sent otherwise / do
not know.
Mr.. Rayner remarked: He has asked
about a signal from the Massa chusetts.
Now if there is signal record book he is
entitled to look at it,
The judge advocate: well, these signals
were made from the Massa chusetts, it is
true, but not as the Massachusetts but as
the flagship. They are really part of the
records of the flagship, and I think it is in
evidence that the staff of the then commo-
dore went on board with him and they
made the signals
Mr.. Rayner-".Have you a record of the
signals of the Massachusetts,?
The judge advocate-'I do not know of
any
Mr. Rayner-"I accept whatever state
ment, of course, you make in this matter"
Lieut. Washington of the judge advo-
Gates office, who was sitting by said there
was record of the signals of the Massa-
chusetts. The signal book was given to
the witness and after perusing it for some
time he said: Il that the Massachu-
s-tS opened on the Colon and the New Or
leans on the batteries, So that would seem
to bear out the facts"
The judge advocate-'I think it is in evil
dence that she did
The judge advocate asked the witness re-
gardinS the signals that were made from
the Massachusetts after it became his flag
ship, May 81 on the occasion of the recon-
noissance. when the Colon was fired upon
AT IL 20 a m, on the 31st, the Massachu-
setts signaled the squadron: "Massachu-
sets, New Orleans and Iowa will go in
after dinner at distance of 1000 yards to
fire on the Colon with the s. - and 13-inch
guns; speed about - knots
@ tBy the judge advocate): Do YOU re-
cal that signal? A. l see it, here in the
record 1t is matter of official record I
must accept it. L think that is my signal
booI.
An examination did not show that this
signal was in the signal book of the Brook
lyn.
Mr. Rayner asked whether it was possible
to get the signal record book of the Massl-
chusetts, and the judge advocate said he
would endeavor to find it, if possible
@ You ordered the range at 1000 yards
that day Was this range measured from
the Colon or from the Moro? A. | did not
really think at that time that the Colon
was so lar IN the harbor. or up the harbor,
as she subsequently proved to be- OF
course, L left the measurement of it en-
tirely with the captain and navigating cffi-
Ger, and L remember that Mr. Potts spoke
OF the range, but 1 do not know that he
made a report to me, or it was not made
until after my telegram had gone to the de-
partment. 1t was not until then that a re-
port was made showing that the range
was actually greater.
Letter to Senate Committee.
The witness was further questioned in re-
lation to statements made in his communi-
cation to the Senate committee and to
orders from the department relating to at
tacks made by the squadron on land bat
teries He was asked whether he had
stated in his communication to the Senate
committee the substance of all the orders
bearing on that subject. He said that there
We're great many things that he did not
state in that letter because as he explained
the other day, it was prepared hastily, and
ne mad only few days to do So He said
when he looked back upon it he was sur
prised that he had made it as complete as
1t was, in view Of the haste with which it
was prepared
The witness said that even up to july IL
the department showed its great solicitude
in regard to the vessels of the fleet and
lnterdlcted the exposure Of battle ships to
any attack upon Santiago de Cuba for fear
of injury. He read a letter from the de-
partment, which is printed in the appendix.
stating that the commanding general of the
army urged the of the fleet in securing
the surrender of Santiago, but while leav-
ing this matter to the control of the com
mander-in-chief stated that United States
armored vessels must not be risked to the
fire of shore batteries.
Exposure of the Vessels
The judge advocate in reading one OF
these letters in regard to the precautions to
be taken against exposure of the vessels OF
the fleet to shore batteries and suggesting
that a close blockade and the use Of tor
pedo boats might do for the same purpose
read such portion as he thought was per-
tinent, but he was promptly interrupted by
Capt. Parker, who said: Go on and read
i do not propose to read the whole
book, replied the judge advocate.
You stopped in the middle of SEN
tence." retorted Capt. Parker.
I have read these particular instructions
and l have read that qualification on the
subject that it might be accomplished by
a close blockade and the use of torpedo
boats
Mr.. Rayner remarked that the court
would read the rest of it, and the judge ad-
vocate replied that. of course the court
had already read it half dozen times, but
Capt Parker again insisted, saying: NO
they have not
The judge advocate then asked the wiz
ness If he found the statement in that re-
port that he had read, and Admiral Schley
replied:
Il found that with the still further quail
hcation that the lack of docking facilities
makes 1t iDadvisable to take that risk"
The judge advocate then questioned the
witness in regard to the reconnaissance oil
May 81, and asked him whether in his re-
port OF June /, 1898, he mentioned spe-
cihcaly any purpose to sink the Colon
lie replied that he did not.