The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-09-27

tant that they should be correct he
would admit the delivery Of sne dis
patch on the 9th, but the coetentlon
was that the other dispatches yere de-
livered on the 31st. He called the Ad-
miraPs attention to the fact that one or
the dispatches which he had lsalo ne
delivered on May 9th had been dated
at Washington as Of that da5. inns
is the dispatch in which secretary
Long had instructed the commsnder as
to the Importance Of determining e1-
plicitly whether Cervera's fleet was IN
Santiago harbor. The admiral said
that if he had said that this Gspatch
was delivered on the 9th he hat made
mistake-that it was delive'ed on
the 31st after his return from Kingston.
The admiral said, however, thathe was
certain that ne had delivered more than
one dispatch to Commodore Sclley on
the 9th. He said: Il deliveed to
Commodore Schley two dispaunes on
the morning of May 9th. 1 think 1t
probable that amoung the DISPATCHES
which 1 spoke of having han6d him
on that date there may have betn some
which were addressed to me ant not to
him which contained information such
as I thought he should have. OF the
two dispatches addressed to him, one
was from Admiral Sampson and the
other from the navy department."
Admiral Schley concerning ths coal
supply of the fleet on the 9th, admiral
Cotton said that Admiral Schby had
expressed great anxiety on that point
such as any commander wouE have
felt he said, under the circumstances.
At this point Mr.. Raynor referred to
the previous remark concerning coalins
in the open sea on the 9th. He said.
'I understand you to have said that
after reading dispatches the commodore
made signals inquiring the amount of
coal. Did you see the answering sig
nals?"
Il did not" responded the witness.
You stated you could have coaled
from the Merrimac on that day. Why
did not you do SOP"
I'm the first place, had not authort-
ty to coal. In the second place, l was
going for coal, which I could receive
within twenty-four hours, and in the
third place, coal was more needed by
the fleet than by the Harvard"
Did you ask the commodore for per-
mission to coal?"
II did not
Mr.. Raynor attempted to have Ad-
miral Cotton say that his conversation
with Admiral Schley concerning Lieu
tenant BealPS proposition to go ashore
and communicate with the insurgents
had occurred on the 31st instead of the
9th of May. The witness said that this
might possibly be the case, but that
to his best recollection the conversation
occurred on the 9th. Mr.. Raynor ex-
planned that Admiral Schley Lad on
the 31st sent another man ashore to
communicate with the insurgents
which would explain Admiral Schleys
declination of Lieutenant BeaIFs prop
OSitiOn.
The witness said that up to May 24.h
I,o Il l.
Spanish fleet within the harbor at San
tiago, nor did he know of any other
officer who had that information at
the time.
On redirect examination, Admiral
Cotton said he was satisfied that he
had told Admiral Schley of Lieutenant
Beall's proposition on the 9th, because
he would have considered that he was
remss in his duty if he had not given
the information at the first opportrni-
ty. He had then had before them the
order of the department to Commodore
Schley to ascertain the facts concern
ing the presence of the Spanish feet
in the harbor.
Mr.. Hanna asked Admiral Cotton
concerning dispatches received by him
on May 25th. He said he had received
a dispatch on that date from Admiral
Sampson telling him that the Span
to proceed there and communicate with
Admiral Scbley. The witness read a
copy of the dispatch which he had re-
tanned and said that if he had evei.
given it to Admiral Schley it had been
on May 9th.
This dispatch was written May 22nd
and received May 25th and has not
heretofore been made public. 1t reads:
''The Spanish squadron at Santiago;
If previous to May 10Th scout off San
tiago. Communicate with Schley if he
they) moves west. Schley is expected
May 24th at Santiago from Cienfuegos.
Telegraph me from Nicholas Mole to
Key West if he (they) move east, and
leave letter for Schley Then go to
santiago to meet him. 1 shall be at
Cay Francis with squadron. If two
scouts are available one should keep
track of the Spanish squadron"
A DISPATCH SUPPRESSED FROM
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION.
Mr.. Raynor here raised the point. that
the document read was a copy and not
the original. He also called attention
to the fact that the document had not
been printed in the official reports of
the navy department.
An animated controversy followed in
which Mr.. Raynor commented upon
the Tin his opinion) inaccuracy of
the department reports. He demanded
the original dispatch, saying: This is
an inquiry and not a prosecution, and
you are here to protect and vindicate
Admiral Schley as much as We are"
Ultimately the original cipher dis
patch was found, and Mr.. Raynor then
said that he would accept the copy
which Admiral Cotton said had been
made by Lieutenant Beall.
CAPTAIN WISE ON THE STAND.
At 5:25 o'clock Admiral Cotton vas
excused and Captain William c. Wise,
who was in command Of the auxiliary
cruiser Yale was called to the witness
stand. He told of his reconnoitering
about Santiago harbor on May end
previous to the arrival Of the flying
squadron He said he had not been
able to see anything Of the Spanish
fleet.
captain Wise said that when on May
18th he approached the flying squadron,
twenty-one miles off Santiago, the fleet
had started upon its retrograde move
ment- He came up with the Texas and
exchange signals with Captain Philip,
telling him that he believed the Span
1sh squadron to be inside the harbor
there.
Mr.. Raynor objected to this testimony