The Washington times., 1901-10-03

the New York's press copy book, the
Dear Schley" letter of Admiral ssmp..
son dated date Key West May 20 ISIS. lsSS, abd tbd
McCalla memorandum. CThe judge adyo-
cate will endeayor to prove that the Du-
nont delivered the "Dear Schley' letter
to Admiral Schley at Cienfuegos on May
p and not on May %.
Mr.. Rayner read from Admiral Schley 5
letter to the Senate that he had received
the McCalla memorandum on May -, anu
asked the witness 10 show by his recordS
auything to indicate that 1t had gone on
May 90 but the witness could not DO IL.
In the spic and span new UNIFORM anu
looking very young for man OF ms ms
rank Lieutenant Commander AieNahueI
Sharp ir took the stand to tell what ne
knew Of Admiral Schley's conduct of the
south coast Of Cuba while the witness
a converted yacht. He had come nome
from Europe where he was serving on the
training ship Hartford, to testlty IN the
case To the first questions put by Mr-
Hanna. he said with the Vixen's log be
fore him that on May "a, 1898 the day
the FLYING Squadron left Cienfuegos for
Santiago, there were very heavy rain
squalls, and that in the squally weather.
small craft, did not make as good time
as larger ships, but there was nothing in
the weather that caused him to slow down
or TO delay the progress of the other
ships. He did not. he said, remember aHy
signal from Commodore Schley's flagship
suggesting delay on account of the Vixen.
and testified that his vessel was not in
urgent need of coal at the time.
Q.-In the bombardment of the Colon
on May 81 were our vessels exposed to any
serious danger2
A.-Three shots fell close to us. One
shot struck about 100 yards ahead. One
md tN-fl
yards off on our port quarter II either
of those shots had struck us IT might have
caused some trouble.
The witness said that the vixen WAS
then Just behind the Iowa.
Q.-Either before or after the engage
ment did you at any time hear Connlo-
dore Schley make any statement or give
any order bearing on the subject of the
bombardmeHt?
A.-Yes. on, the 31st Of May ! heard
Commodore schley. say The admiral VIII VIII
seen by Commodore Schley on May %,
but he did not attack her until the 3lst.
This statement of Lieutenant Commander
Sharp was presumably brought out to
Indicate that Schiey did not take any
steps TO destroy the Colon until he heard
that Sampson would arrive on the next
day.
The s'Loop'' Question Again.
Lieutenant Commander Sharp was ques-
toned about the Brooklyn's famous
loop" and described what he had seen
of it. When he first saw the Brooklyn.
he said, she was heading about south.
the direction away from the shore, close
to which the Spanish ships were running.
He said that after the action he had gone
on board the Brooklyn, taking with him
a copy of notes taken by Lieutenant Har-
low. of the Vixen. These notes said that
the Brooklyn had turned with her port
helm, thus taking the Brooklyn away
from the direction in which the Spanish
ships were going. and marking the begin
ming of the famous loop which the
Brooklyn made.
Il said The helm was put to port the
witness testified. 'Hodgson spoke up and
said: You are mistaken-to starboard.'
| said: No. to port, and he said. l can
prove it to you: look at this chart. |
said: 4 don't want to see the chart l
saw the Brooklyn "
Q.-In the discussion was 1t conceded
finally that the helm of the Brooklyn had
been put a-port?
Al am not positive. My impression.
however, is that it was finally conceded
that was correct.
Q.-Nhat was the object of this discus
sion in the Brooklyn's cabin?
Ave were simply going over the
notes of my executive officer, Lieutenant
Harlow.
Odd those notes indicate that the
Brooklyn had swung to the port helm?
Al cannot say that they did. but
remarked that she had, and there was
general discussion of the matter
Cross-examined by Captain Parker
junior counsel for Admiral Schley. Lieu
tenant Commander Sharp said that
Schley's big vessels maintaining the
miles of shore. while the Vixen was
closer in. He thought that the vessels
had never been twenty-five miles of the
port
One of the most important features of
the enquiry was then taken up. 1t had
been claimed before the Court Rssempled
originally that Admiral Schley attorneys
would show that there had been changes
made in the Navy Department volume
of wa dispatches known as the "Ap-
pei>d.x' prepared under the direction Of
Ad i,iraI Crowninshieid, in notes taken by
Lie utenant Harlow. the executive officer
of the Vixen, during the battle of July
9, and that these changes made the
Brooklyn less prominent while the orig
inal notes showed her to be the foremost
ship on the occasion. Under cross-exam-
ination by Captain Parker, Mr.. Sharp
told Of taking a manifold copy of these
notes to Commodore Schley. He iden-
tilted what he believed to be a copy of
these notes.
Odd these notes state the truth
about that battle?
A.-Lieutenant Harlow took them. am
not prepared to say whether they were
absolutely correct or not in every partic-
they are essentially true There may be
mistakes in them, and probably there are.
The judge advocate directed Lieutenant
Commander Sharp's attention to discrep-
ancies between the copy of the notes held
by him and the copy Published on board
the Brooklyn. In connection with 1t the
witness said:
While i was writing my report of the
action of July / said to Lieutenant Har-
low. i desire a copy of your notes taken
during the action To accompany my report
to the admiral His reply was. These
notes Were taken for the representative
Of a newspaper on board the Brooklyn.
and / viii have to make some changes in
them. / said. Very well; | wish the
ward submitted to me notes written In
script which / read over. and enclosed
within my report to the admiral"
How the Changes Were Made.
This statement showed that the notes
sent to and printed on the Brooklyn had
been afterward corrected by Lieutenant
Harlow before they were sent to the
Navy Department. and apparently cleared
the skirts of the Bureau of Navigation,
which printed them In the appendix for
the charge of having made changes. But
ii did not clear up the mystery of how
Lieutenant Harlow was made to say in
the notes written by him and printed on
the Brooklyn certain things which are
contrary to the statements contained in
his official version sent to Admiral Samp-
son, and through him to the Navy De-
partment The subsequent testimony of
Lieutenant Commander Sharp helped to
throw light on the subject.
Captain Lemly handed the witness a
paper, and Mr.. Sharp recognized II as the
pamphlet containing Lieutenant Harlow's
notes printed on the Brooklyn Then Cap
tain l.emiy handed Mr.. Sharp the paper
previously Identified by him as a facsim-