Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1901-10-25

were very neavfly fortified ana Inai
his confidential instructions. which he
delivered to me verbally were that
we were not to risk our battIeships
against the fortified places OF the
coast until after the Spanish squadron
had been disposed Of Ny recollection
now is that ne told ME it was at Cura-
Goa. The impression left upon my
mind was that IL was somewhere In
the Venezuelan gnlf ana that Il was
supplied with ammunition and stores
destined to Havana and that that
was undoubtedly the point i was to
reach He said that his Information
was that the orders Of the Spanish
fleet to reach Havana or some point
IN railroad communication with it
were imperative and that he believed
and thought that Cienfneg0s would be
the point, as that came under the ac-
eeptatlon of the order more directly.
We looked over maps, and | must say
/ agreed with him. | could not i'm
agine that anyone who had studied
the military situation Of the island at
hll could have supposed that Santiago
would have fulfilled any Of the condi-
tions Of the instruction We had a
tfslh gDSGtdEfs / bOl4 B4iii That L Idu
been ordered to report for duty to
Admiral Remey, and that, imagined.
necessarily meant himself, and that
| wanted to assure him at the outset
that | should be loyal absolutely and
unreseryedly, to the cause we were
both representing. Captain Chadwick,
who was present. don't remember
whether all the time or not-said: OF
course, commodore, any one who has
known your character would know
that it would be impossible for you
to be otherwise than loyal | asked
the admiral if there had been estab-
lished any means of communication
with the insurgents. whether there
were any pilots or whether any local
ity was known where they were to be
found. He told me that he did not
know, but that when he got the stu
alton better in hand he would com
municate with me, but that he thought
it would be better for me to start as
early as we could get away and block
ade Cienfuegos. | said very well;
that | was prepared, of course, to 90
anywhere, | then went aboard my
own flagship in order to hasten the
operations of coaling. While there
the Algonquin came out, bearing an
order from the secretary of the navy,
through Commodore Remey, directing
me to go off Havana. | signalled to
the admiral to know whether or not
he understood that my orders were
to go off Havana. He replied by sig
nal that he understood that his com
ing to Key West modified my orders
and that | should be prepared to carry
out the orders we had agreed upon
in the afternoon. | do not remember
whether that was on that afternoon
or in the morning, but it was before
left for Cienfuegos."
The next move on the part of the
flying squadron, he said, was from
Key West to Cienfuegos, Cuba.
Quoted Order No. S.
Later the witness quoted Admiral
SIMPSONS order No. 5, not falling to
point out as he went along that in
this order the admiral had said:
After | have the situation more in
hand | will write you and give you
any information that suggests itself.
The first event of note on the voy-
age toward Cienfuegos occurred, Adj
miral Schley said, after he had been
out from Key West three or four
hours. 1t was then that he met Cap
tain McCalla, in charge of the sub
squadron, with the Marblehead at its
head, which had been doing duty on
the Cuban coast near Cienfuegos,
whittier the commodore, with his fly
ing squadron, was bound. He told
how MeCalla had sent the Eagle to
communicate with the flying squad
ron. Admiral Schley also mentioned
that the Scorpion had been sent to
intercept the Eagle for the purpose of
securing whatever information she
might bring. After little" he said
the Scorpion returned and reported
through the megaphone, think,
identically as is reported in his log,
which was all the information he
gave us. The Eagle afterward passed
close enough to the Brooklyn to hail
her by the megaphone and repeated
that there was no news. | was on the
quarter deck The thing seemed to
be almost burned into my mind, but
after what | have heard | begin to
think that maybe | was mistaken
Asked About Places to Coal.
The admiral also related his meet
ing the CINCINNATI and VeSuviuS the
next morning off San Antonio. Cap
tain Chester, in command of the Gin
cinnati, came aboard the Brooklyn,
and among other things mentioned by
Schley, he told of asking Chester If
he knew of any place that would be
favorable for coaling where fairly
smooth water could be expected He
said nothing more than the informa-
ton given by the charts and suggested
place some 80 miles to the eastward
on bank or to the southwark on ar
other bank, coaling upon which would
be problematical and dependent en-
tirely upon the state Of the weather
and the sea.
In response to a request from Mr..
Rayner, Schley said that one Of the
places that had been recommended by
Captain Chester for coaling was to
the southwark of Cienfuegos, in the
open sea. Il did not agree" he said,
that that would be a good place to
coal, because the conditions in or
binary sea would be aggravated in
shoal water"
Admiral Schley placed his arrival
on Cienfuegos at near midnight of
Nov 81 un to1I of !,