The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1901-11-07

cal time and the action of Commodore
Schley In abandoning his station be-
fore Santiago, thus, as he, himself
states, falling to obey the department. s
orders, caused grave anxieties in our
national councils" ~. %s....- !.
Mr.. Hanna expressed the opinion
that the commodore's statement that
he could ascertain nothing certain
concerning the enemy" disposed oil
the controversy respecting Captain
Sigsbee's report to the commodore and
the statement of the pilot, Nunez.
Question of the Coal Supply.
Taking up the coal supply of the
fleet as required by Specification 6 OF
the precept, Mr.. Hanna said:
From testimony of commanding
and other officers of the Brooklyn, the
Iowa, the Massachusetts, the Marble
head and the executive and other Of
flcers of the Texas, and from the
steam log of those vessels, it would ap
pear that as fully and completely as
any fact can be shown by evidence, it
has been established that the flying
squadron was on May 27, 1898, fairly
well equipped with COAL"
Specification was next considered
This requires an inquiry as to whether
every proper effort was made to cap
ture the Colon as that vessel lay in
the harbor at Santiago and referring
to it Mr.. Hanna said:
with respect to this specification,
1t seems sufficient to say that when
the flying squadron arrived off San
tiago on May 29 the Colon was dis
covered in plain sight. lying about
1000 yards to 1900 yards inside of the
Moro, moored stem and stern, ap-
parently with awnings up, and that
she so remained during the 29th, 30th
and 31st of May and until the morning
of June l." In this connection Mr..
Hanna referred to the reconnaissance
of May 81, during which the Colon was
bombarded and said that during this
action not one of our ships had the
Colon under fire for total period of
more than five minutes and the Colon
was not struck"
Certain cautionary orders. some of
them confidential in their character,
issued by the department to Rear Ad-
miral Sampson have been cited as for
bidding the exposure of vessels to the
fire Of batteries and as justifying
Commodore Schley's conduct of the So
called reconnaissance of May 81. AS
suming that the substance of these or
ders was communicated to Commodore
Schley by Admiral Sampson at Key
West on the 18th of May, 1898, it is
clear that they have no application to
the conditions existing at Santiago on
the 31st of May"
BrookIyn's Loop Discussed.
Mr.. Hanna said that beyond the
Brooklyn's turn, the battle of Santiago
was not involved in the inquiry. He
said that according to the weight of
the testimony no disposition was man.
ifested by the Spanish shin to ram the
Brooklyn. With reference to the testi-
mony concerning the possibility Of col
lision with the Texas Mr. Hanna call
ed attention to the fact that the two
vessels in closing in moved on con-
verging lines. He said that Captain
Cook and Navigator Hodgson evident
ly had observed Commodore Schley's
movements on the day of the battle
from different standpoints. Mr.. Han
na said beyond peradventure the prog
ress of the Texas was seriously inter
fered with. He quoted Captain Evans
of the Iowa and Lieutenant Nicholson
of the Oregon to sustain the conten-
ton that the Texas came to stop.
Thus, he argued, a battleship not only
was imperiled, but delayed by the dan
ger of collision at this critical time.
The loop of the Brooklyn was, he con-
cluded, the only movement of that day
that had called for any explanation.
After recess Mr.. Hanna continued
his remarks concerning the BrOOklyn's S
loop, contending that it was not made
to avoid the Brooklyn being rammed,
as there was no such effort at that
time. He quoted Commander Vain
wright's testimony to the effect that
the Brooklyn's turn left a gap for the
escape of the enemy.
Mr.. Hanna also discussed the re-
ported colloquy between Commodore
Schley and Lieutenant Hodgson, which
forms the tenth count in the precept
in which Schley was reported to have
said during the turn, Damn the Tex
as" This remark, Mr.. Hanna said
showed a lack of interest in another
ship of the fleet. He expressed the
opinion that there was much to sus
SAAAA
incident. This closed Mr.. Hanna's
address, he having spoken about four
and one.half hours.
Parker Begins His Address.
Captain Parker then began his ad
dress in support of Admiral Schley
He stood at counsels table and spoke
in clear and distinct tones.
.'I doubt said Captain Parker, III
the naval history of the world presents
or ever has presented a case OF the
Importance and character of that II
which we have so long been engaged
I doubt if a tribunal more exalted II
|. the character of the persons who com
/ pose it has ever sat in judgment upor
a brother officer. doubt If an officer
with the lifelong character and stand
ing and conduct that Admiral Schley
has always displayed, was ever called
upon before to ask an investigation O.
his conduct as a victorious command
er Of a. fleet.