Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-10-09

Continued from page ~

day. given to this interrogatory. He
then said:
Il, of course, am very sorry that
ever so far forgot myself as to write
letter containing such Incorporate
language. 1t was not written exactly
for publication but under great provo
cation at the time. In that letter l did
not accuse this newspaper of lying for
printing that statement. In fact 1t was
to absolve it from lying that l gave
the paper authority to use my name
for the correctness of the gist of that
statement. The lying was in the mat
ter of the fact that the commodore dis
played such trepidation and coward
ice on the Brooklyn the day of that bat
tie that he ran from the Spaniards and
took the Brooklyn to the southward
and away from the fight. in order to
detract from the credit of the fame of
the commodore in that battle; that
they wished also to detract from TIE
credit of all the officers of the Brooklyn
on account of the glorious parts they
took in that days fight. 1t was the
words to that effect that l character
lied as lying. There was no lying in
verbal correctness of the words. So l
did not characterize the paper as liar
for printing that colloquy.'
Lieut.. Commander Hodgson being
excused Commander Wainwright was
called. Capt. Lemly began his exam
ination by drawing from the witness
the fact that he had been a member
and laterly senior member of the board
which had officially acted in making
the chart showing the positions Of the
American and Spanish ships at SANTA
go. The witness told how conclusions
were reached by that board.
He said: When l reported as senior
member of the board, the board of
navigators had sketched chart be
fore them with the number of positions
sketched on it, which had been deter
mined by them, starting at different
periods first when the ships came out
and afterward when they went ashore.
Each navigator, as near as possible
would put the position of his ship at
that time. Then there was a great
deal of discussion as to the relative
positions. OF course il was possible to
get any position by bearings and there
W DIS iiptHlfiS hiipN II tDoul lllt
positions We also knew that the dis
tances in the chart were somewhat in
correct and the final decision of the
board was to reconcile each one as near
as possible. but none of the positions
We're considered exact positions. The
impossibility of getting bearings even
if we had a correct chart was apparent.
but it gave general idea of the posi-
tions of the vessels during different
periods of the battle
Mr.. Rayner asked if it was true as
had been officially stated in the report
that the positions were assigned from
unknown bearings. The witness re
piled that that statement was inccr-
rect; that they were established from
estimated bearings
Asked by Mr. Rayner about the
places assigned to the Brooklyn and
Texas while the former vessel was
making her loop, Commander Vain
wright said he did not consider them
correct. For myself" he said Il was
never satisfied with the places as
signed"
Who, in addition to yourself was not
satisfied" asked Mr.. Rayner. II
would not like to say" responded the
witness. Il know that the navigator
of the Texas was not, for one. l think
none was satisfied except the naviga-
tor of the Brooklyn and l don't know
what he was
But Notwithstanding you were all,
including the navigator of the Brook
lyn, dissatisfied you signed the report"
That is correct"
On redirect eXamina ton Command
er Wainwright said that he did not see
the Brooklyn on the day of the battle
off Santiago. Questions were put by
the court and answered as follows:
Were the positions of the ships as
shown on the chart in question OBJ
tanned from testimony taken by board
or from a general discussion by the
members of the board?' almost en-
tirely by general discussion by the
members of the board Capt. Chadwick
and Capt. Cook appeared and discussed
the matter with the board
What orders if any We're signalled
by the Brooklyn to the fleet during the
Engagement of July 80" II saw none"
Mr.. Rayner: This does not mean
that no signals were displayed does it,"
NO, u uOtS Ilot.
BY the Court: Did anyone of the
Spanish vessels change her course to
the southwark as if intending to ram
one Of the feet?" II saw no signs of
it
Commander Wainwright was then
excused and Lieut. NJ. l.. Bristol. form
er watch and division officer on the
Texas. was then called. He had only
related the arrival of the Texas at
Cienfuegos and detailed conditions
there when the court took recess for
luncheon.
Lieut. Bristol continued his testimony
at the afternoon session. Speaking o..
the blockade of Cienfuegos. he said thai
during the day the ships lay from five
to 10 miles from the shore, steaminS III
nearer at night. He observed. he said.
the signal lights on the shore near Cier-
fuegos but did not understand their sig
nificance. With respect to coailns, ne
said that on one occasion while OFF Glen
fuegos. Capt Philip signalled to the flag
ship that he considered it dangerous to
put the collier between the Texas ara
the Iowa. meaning by that. said tn"
witness that it was dangerous to col
Iier to put it in between two battieshipS
regardless of the we3 ther. He also toid
of the injury to the Texas in coalins
while off Santiago but said 1t was not
due to the weat ther. The witness also de
l., ,.,ff Go nti .,tn