The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-11-07
REMARK ABLE TRIAL
REACHES ITS CLIMAX


Raynor said he regarded as one of the
most important developments. When
the Adula did not come out the next
day as her skipper had agreed to do,
Admiral Schley was still rather con-
firmed in the belief that Cervera was
in Cienfuegos
II want to say right here" continued
Mr.. Raynor, that as brave a man as
McCalla is and as daring and fearless
soul as he is he never pretended to
land any boats on the Cuban coast
and he was around there eight days.
This is not a criticism of him, but to
show that no other man attempted to
do it,
Mr.. Raynor next devoted his atten-
ton to the messages delivered by the
Eagle to Commodore Schley when the
latter was enroute to Cienfuegos and
met Capt. McCalla's sub-squadron re-
turning to Key West. Telling of the
landing of the Scorpion to intercept the
Eagle he said: where Is the mega
phone message Of Commander South
erland2 Is it still in the megaphone,
or Is it vibrating upon the tropical
breezes of the seas? Switzerland must
have either gotten the wrong end OF
the instrument, or perhaps the instru-
ment was like the stadimeter, and was
not correct in recording sound for a
distance Of more than 80 yards At any
rate the message that the Scorpion did
receive and which has been sent to US
by Commander Mark from the Philip
pines was what? That there was an
insurgent camp in the vicinity Of Glen
fuegos? Oh, no. That a signal mad
been agreed upon with the friendly ma
tives? Oh, no. These were all mystic
ries that it was not proper to commun-
icate to the commander Of the flying
squadron. Instead of that a dull thud
fell upon his listening and anxious ear.
No news of the Spaniards' was the
thrilling intelligence that he received
and, with 1t, the Eagle and her mega
phone went on her way rejoicing"
In this connection, Mr.. Raynor re-
ferred to the testimony of Lieutenant
Hood He thought the lieutenant had
put himself in place from which 1t
was impossible for him to extricate
himself because he had condemned the
commander-in-chiefm more severely than
he had criticised Admiral Schley. He
could not, he said, believe what the
lieutenant had said concerning the mes
sages, written and verbal, which he
had carried to Commodore Schley from
Admiral Sampson. 1t was inconceiva-
BILE that the commander-in-chie would
give him a dispatch outlining his I'M
certainty as to the presence of the
Spaniards at Cienfuegos and, at the
same time, would give the lieutenant
verbal message saying he was positive
they were there. Without impugning
any officer of the American fleet, Mr..
Raynor declared Admiral Schley was
an unfortunate victim of circumstances
that left him in total darkness as to
the location of the Spanish fleet.
Concerning the question of coaling at
sea, Mr. Raynor read the testimony Of
several witnesses to prove the great
difficulties such a task involved He
said all they wanted to prove was that
Admiral Schley was honest when he
informed the department Of his in
creased anxiety regarding the coal sup
ply and that he acted according to the
dictations of his own conscience. He
said the question was not how long the
fleet could have remained off Santiago
on blockade but what the fleet could
have done had the Spaniards come out.
He was prepared to prove that one
ship could not have followed the Span
iards six hours, and have had enough
coal left to return to Key West.
Coming to the reconnaissance of May
81, Mr.. Raynor contended that it had
been Commodore Schley's chief inten-
ton to develop the land batteries and
in this he said, he had been eminently
successful. He claimed that the man
who was in command at such time
should be given great discretion for he
must necessarily know more of the
situation than the gentlemen who make
out battle plans at home ON charts with
compass and lead pencils, and direct
other people thousands of miles away
how to fight a battle.
Mr.. Raynor referred sarcastically to
the testimony of Lieut. Bristol. saying
among other things, His vision was a
divine inspiration. Sextants and stad-
meters, compass bearings, government
measurements and photographic plates
were all dim and obscure in comparison
with the miraculous power of his I'M
aided vision, which lit up and illum-
ined the entire harbors of Cienfuegos
and Santiago, with the unerring precis-
ion of the morning sunbeams
Government experts with mathe-
NAUTICAL accuracy had measured the
heights of Moro Castle and Zocapa
Battery, but down they went 100 feet
when they encountered Bristol's mirac-
ulous eye"
Mr.. Raynor next came to the consid-
Grafton of Admiral SIMPSONS inter-
view with the commander of the flying
squadron, especially referring to Ad-
miral Schley's testimony relative to the
directions of Admiral Sampson with
reference to attacks upon land batter
les. He also referred to Capt. Chad
wicks testimony in this connection, and
said that Admiral Schley's statement
being affirmative, was much more en-
titled to credence than was Capt. Chad
wicks, which was negative. He said
Capt Chadwick had given testimony as
to only one statement that was made
in that interview which could have
been uttered in 80 seconds while
Chadwick himself had admitted that
the interview lasted nearly rs minutes,
and Admiral Schley had placed the
time at three-quarters of an hour.
Mr.. Raynor said he thought Capt.
Chadwick had been forgetful, but that
no charge could be made against him
on that score. Admiral Schley, how
ever, who had given positive testimony,
would be guilty of perjury if his state
ment was not true.
"They must have talked about some
thing" he said, land what would they
be more likely to have discussed than
the guns on the south coast of Cuba,
whittier Commodore Schley was then
bound?"
Mr.. Raynor commended there was no
ground for censure in connection with
Admiral Schley's conduct in the affair
of May 81 He said he had done no
more than to exercise the discretion al
lowed to a commander-in under
such circumstances.
Reverting to the blockade Of Cienfue-
gos, Mr.. Raynor said Capt. McCalla
had admitted on the stand that he him.
self had disobeyed orders in not leav-
ing the Eagle off that port when he left
for Key West. He did not, he said.
mean to criticise Capt. McCalla, but If
he was not to be censured for disobe-
dience of orders why, he asked, should
Admiral Schley be?
Mr.. Raynor then came to speciflca-