The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1901-10-30
ADMIRAL SCHLEY'S TESTIMONY.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE THREE

ne eOBmS 10 nave TCmemDBCCu
good dea that was sal by me, but to
have forgotten u good deal that be
should have done"
He told OF the report the Adula
brought TO the effect that the Spanish
feet ha arrived ana later left S ,ntiago
which he said Client color to his own
belief at ha iue."
CoALING AND SIGNALS
Admiral SchltN salu mat lie Ibid alt
the coaliug hat was prsc cable or pos
able. With the latter experiences of
the war, after we gIt hold OF golfers
that were ry much better fitted to re-
slst shock as we'll ss TO deliver this Goa
rapidly, " tn h It experience | nigh
have coaIed On days of worse weather.
1--WE ha great many accidents
about which no men ion has Oeen
made, because they came after the
period of time. One of he GOLFERS bad
10 60 TO New York absolutely smashed
in. The Merrmsc ad several holes
pune ed through her and n portion of
the upper " ks Of The Sterl az was n-
tuTet bu, We managed with more ex-
periebce to do little better than WI
did at first There was 4lways at Glen
fuegos a rolling swell and vessels with
projecting spouson or projecting guns
were always in dang r. | recpllect in
one case later, one OF he six FOUNDER
guns o. the Brooklyn wa bent at an
angle o. 30 degrees by coming in coll
sion with oue OF hose collier. la
ether words the p.oblem presented to
me at Cienfuegos was one that troub-
led the nsvlts OF the void throughout
all me-" Ga The arrival of g plain
Mccall on NJ ~ "a when the G ptaiu
same aboard be asked Have you seen
~ signals2"
~ said, What do you mean?' He
then ask if had see three lights at
night al d three horses in the day time.
II said | had seen the lights and he
said, They are trying to communicate
with YOU | expressed surprise and
asked who bad made the arrangements.
HcCalla replied that be had d jne 70.
asked y they had not been commuui-
safe to me, but that he did not know.
then tod him to make search OF the
shore, which he did, reporting tn 1t the
Spanish fl ct were not there"
Ills Information had been received
at four P NJ, May "a, and toward s.x
o'clock the squadron formed column
and steamed toward Santiago.
mo knowing whether there were
any insurgents to the west of this place,
not having communicated to me any
idea that there Was system of signals
arranged with them, though 1 asked
the question, the Withdrawal of the
squadron Of Capt. McCala and the
failure OF Lieut.. Sutherland to give me
that information, was directly respon-
sible for The delay in communicating"
COURSE AT SANTIAGO.
Admiral Schley tesufi d that the
weather on the voyage to Santiago was
dirty spray coming freely through
port holes twenty feet above the sea.
He kept his vessels together, holding
the faster vessels for the slower, the
squadron proceeding as unit. 81
boln," he said, "that to do other wise
would be uumilitary and unwise in
changing base with a fl ct. / hold that
useful auxiliaries and supplies should
never be abandoned except under the
greatest necessity"
In the matter Of coaling he said it
was absolutely impossible to coal en-
May %. 81 watched the situation
closely and felt that was more capable
than any other man of judging the sit
untlnb III Iudt IeeptCI.
He spoke of the necessity of acting !
upon his own sponsiblity-of having
to act without having any private iu-
formation from Havana. Therefore | |
had to do good deal from guess work. |
Sometimes l Was right and sometimes
wrong"
Capt. 81. sbee's answer to his inquiry
rs he came aboard the BROOKLYN. |
Captain, have you got the Dons in
herer' was, NO. They are not in
here. L have been in very close.
They are not here, they are only re-
ported here.' l said to him have any |
Of the sother vessels seen them, the |
Yale or the Minneapolis2' He said
No, they have not; they have assured |
me so.' And upon that was the assur-
ance to which referred when:I spoke
Of the assurance Of such men as Wise
and Jewell snd Sigsbee. Now 1 do
mott believe that any Of these men
would misstate the fact. They did not
communicate verbally with me, but l
assumed with the conversation with
Sigsbee that he was bearing TO me the
assurance OF all Of them.
He detailed the convers ltion the Gu
bon pilot, Mr., Niz, who said ~ do not
peiieVe tney are mere AT all ald gave
his reasons for this belief.
Admiral Schley explained the cir
cumstances OF the retrograde move
nent, the disabling of the collier Mer-
rimac, the uncertainty as to the where
abouts Of Cervers, the necessity for
fuel in cruife of the kind the squad
ron was sent on, the difficulty of coal
ing in the open, the surmise that the
dis Jatch from Havana that the Spanish
feet was 10 Santiago, like similar dis
patch earlier in the campaign that the
feet had returned to Cape Verde,
might be ruse, which with manv
other conditions then existing suggest
ed the expediency Of the retro
grade movement. The fuel question
was predominant. Considering the I'M
manageable condition of the collier
Merrimac the risk to the safety of
ship trying to coal from her would be