The age-herald., 1901-10-30
ADMIRAL SCHLEY PARTLY ANSWERS
 LEMLY'S QUESTION

Not unless Captain Parker does" re- piled Captain Lemly.
 T am satisfied if the admiral is," ob- served Captain Parker.
 Captain Lemly then continued the cross examination.
 Which of these signals indicate solici- tude?' he asked.
 T should say all or most of them," re- piled the witness.
 In reply to a question the witness said that the Merrimac had signasled her &C., cident on May 26 at 6:15 of that date and at that time he was headed toward San tiago.
 Referring to the beginning of the west ward movement at that time, Captain Lemly called Admiral Schley's attention to the fact that he Admiral SchleyO had said in his testimony in chief that as soon as the sea had calmed down. he had begun to coal, considering himself better able to judge than any other officer. Cap tain Lemly then had the witness examine the log of the Brooklyn for the purpose of bringing out the fact that during the day of the 18th the barometer was rising, breeze dying down and the sea becoming calmer
 Notwithstanding these improved con ditions did you steam twenty miles to | the westward that day before attempting l to coal?"
 l After looking at the log the admiral l said that according to that memorandum
 he had steamed eight miles. Further the
 admiral stated that they had been obliged
 to steam three or four knots further than 1 they would to overtake the Yale which 1 did not respond to the Brooklyn's signal. 'Tn your testimony you say you did l not disobey when you started westward because you returned to your station be- | fore further action. Am 1 rlght?' Yes"
 Reasons for Retrograde Movement.
 Upon receipt of the instructions did you not. nevertheless, leave your sta- | tion?'
 Yes, for these reasons: First, because l Captain Sigsbee, who had a scout placed in front of Santiago harbor, informed me that he did not believe the Spanish l fleet was there. Second. because Nunez, 1 the pilot, told me he did not believe the enemys fleet could enter the harbor. l Third, the order Mo- ' with the accom-
 panying memorandum in which Admiral | Sampson minimized the importance of
 this squadron being there and the fact | that the departments telegram, Whlch i rached me on May 27, was so ambiguous
 in it's terms. It authorized me to coal 1 at Gonaves, Hayti, or at Cape Cruz, Con ,ivas being to the eastward, and knowing
 that Admiral Sampson was at Kay Fran l els in the Bahama channel to the north, | 1t occurred to me that if the Spanish
 squadron. was extant, the proper strate- 1 gical move was to go to the westward i and not to the eastward I was author
 ized in the same telegram to move as Tar
 west as Cape Cruz. provided that coaling
 had been possible there" R.H
 "I did not go to Cape Cruz within 50 | miles, think. felt that the move west | was strategically the proper one with a
 determination to coal as quickly as pos
 sible, and that the efficiency of my squad | ron as a unit was only equal to the ef-
 ficiency of the commercial supply with | the lowest one that composed 1t These
 were the motives which caused the move | ment The ambiguity of the telegram of | the department, I think. manifests itself | almost at once because 1t states first | specifically that all the departments in- l formation indicated so and so. That Is | the Spanish fleet was still at Santiago. It
 pointed out a place which at that time
 was not accessible, and lastly it looked
 to me to determine and report whether | the enemy was in port or not.
 Captain Bemly: And you were satis- fled from these without taking any steps whatever to ascertain if this order or these reports were correct?' q ascertained for myself through the medium that the department had placed | there to keep me informed. Those scouts reported very idrBeiy hhe the caFahS VI | an army, and If they were unreliable they l should not have been placed there. must have relied upon what they said. | Reminded by Captain Lemly that Ad- miral Sampson had thought that when | Commodore Schley had left Cienfuegos
 the enemy would leave Santiago, the ad- | miral replied:
 "Of course If I had gone to the east ward and exposed the westward. there might have been serious consequences" Dispatch Ambiguous. | He spoke of the dispatch of the de- partment indicating that the Spanish fleet as still at Santiago as ambiguous, and said the information that there were Cubans were five or six miles west of