The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-10

Bristol completed his testimony begun
yesterday, and three new witnesses were
introduced. They were Rear Admiral
Henry c. Taylor, w.o as captain com
manded the battleship Inuiana during
the war with Spain; Lieutenant Com
mander Templ!n NJ. Potts, who was nav
1gator of the battleship Massachusetts
durlng that period, and Lieut.. Edward f.
Lelper, who was on the New Orleans
durlng the war, the last named being
still On the stand when the court ad-
jcurned for the day.
Admiral Taylor related incidents of the
battle of Santiago ON July g. including
the Brooklyn's famous turn He said
that none of the Spanish ships had
made any effort to ram the American
vessels when they came, out of the har-
Dor at Santiago.
Commander Potts testimony dealt es-
pecially with the bombardment of the
Colon. Answering a question from Judge
Advocate Lemly as to the conddct of
Commodore Schley during the engage
ment, he said it was that of a man labor
ing under great mental excitement. and
Oh man who was anxious to discharge
as soon as possible a disagreeabIe duty.
Lieut.. Leiper expressed the opinion that
the Spanish shore batteries at Santiago
had not been at any time formidable.
During Commander Potts examination
Mr. Rayner- secured permission from the
court to introduce as evidence the or
der of Secretary Long to Admiral Samp-
son, dated April 6. in which he was ad-
! monlshed against the exposure of the
American vessels to the fire of strongly
fortified ports. The paragraph in that
order which he especially wished to have
considerer reads as follows:
BE CAREFUL OF THE SHIPS.
:, The department does not wish the yes
| Sets of your squadron to be exposed 10
| the fire of the batteries at Havana, Santi-
| ago de Cuba or other strongly fortified
| posts IN cuba, unless the more formid-
| able Spanish vessels should take refuge
within those harbors. Even in those
cases, the department would suggest that
rigid blockade and employment of our
torpedo boats might accomplish the de-
sired object, viz: The destruction of the
enemy's vessels, without subjecting ua-
necessarily our own men-of-war to the
fire of the land batteries
This dispatch also contains the follow
ing order:
THE department further desires that in
case OF war you will maintain a strict
blockade of Cuba, particularly at the
ports of Havana, Matanzas and. if pos
sible, of Santiago de Cuba, ManzaniIlo
and Cienfuegos.
SCHLEY ON RETIRED LIST.
Notwithstanding today marked an i'm
portant turning point in Admiral Schley's
career, being nothing less than the date
of his transfer from the active to the
retired list of the navy he was in his
accustomed seat within the railing of the
Schley court of inquiry and gave his
usual attention to the proceedings of the
court. The retirement of Admiral Schley
is In accordance wle-- law, he having
reached the age of sixty-two years. 1t
was generally remarked that he did not
look his age
The
began with the reintroduction of Lieut..
M. l.. Bristol, formerly watch officer
on the Texas, as witness. He was under
cross examination when the court ad-
journed last night, and Mr. Rayner con-
tinued his questions today.
Mr.. Rayner began his examination of
Lieut.. Bristol with questions concerning
the accuracy of the stadimeter for the
measurement of distances at sea- He
asked if he would rather trust his own
visual observation for a 4,000-yard range
than the instrument. Witness stated that
the stadimeter was more accurate for
distances below 1000 yards than above
that distance. At that distance he would
make several observations for contirma-
ton of visual observation.
''The error" he said, becomes greater
the greater the distance
could you give me- asked Mr.. Ray
ner, "a point from which it would be
entirely reliable
Yes" was the reply, 'at zero it is
absolutely accurate.
Witness considered the sextant much
more reliable in measuring the distances
between ships.
He had, he said, taken several observ-
ations with the stadimeter just before
the Spanish fleet came out of the har-
Dor, ana had checked these with the
sextant. He found the distance from the
Morro to be 5,1OO yards.
TIE CGENFUEGos BLOCKADE.
Lieut. Bristol was also questioned by
Rayner concerning the distance out Of
the blockading ships at Cienfuegos, but
he declined to change his estimate of
yesterday that it was from eight to ten
miles distant from the haTbor
Mr.. Rayner said: Il will read YOU
Commodore Schley's report as to the
blocade off Cienfuegos. He said: "A
line of blockade was established about
four miles off shore, and at night an
inshore line was maintained. consisting
variously of the Scorpion, Dupont and
Castine, the last namd vessel arriving
on the 23d, conveying the Merrimac'
If you are right the commodore has stat
ed what had not occurred when he says
"A line of blockade was established about
four miles eff shore at Cienfuegos' That
is not a correct statement of the COM
modore's, is it?"
The statements I make are what I
thought and what believe to be right
I do not question other peoples word
Now refresh your recollections with
another report. The statements you have
made that in the daytime the squadron
lay off Cienfuegos from six to ten miles
and during the night from eight to ten
miles. Without questioning either Com
modore Schley or yourself when I read it
in his official report, do you still stand
on your statement, about six to ten
miles?'
.I have to stand by my statement"
Speaking of the weather during the
cruise of the flying squadron, from Cien-
fuegos to Santiago, witness said there