The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-15

vessels arrived. When it was possible ne
said. they were always coaliug. and the
remainder Of the vessels kept the forma-
zion. with the Brooklyn leading. Occa-
siOuaIy they went near the entrance.
once within mile Ot the entrance. From
that the distance off shore varied to four
miles At right the effort was TO
| Keep about the same arrangement. with
the Dupont inside IN, line with iuetruo-
| uous 90 keep a clos. watch of the harboT
entrance and 20 let tho fleet know If any
! thing happened
Q.-Give. the incidents Of the arrival OF
Captain NcCaIIa
A-CIptIin NCCalla boarded Us upon
his arrival and mad an interview with
the commodore. The commodore told me
That Mcta-lI had hroJ ght an mjyrpreta-
ton of the signal lights he had seen on
/ shore, and that be- had sent him TO com
/ munlCatc with tho Insurgents
G-1lFy us the circumstances Of the de
pariure from C!eufgcEus.
As soon as Captain McCaul returned
ne reported To- the commodore AMI hCu
INSTRUCTIONS were given 20 get the squad
| ron m shape 10 leave. 1 think 70 was
I ShpIiE after clock when he b. San
to E't the squadron in formation
0--State the conditions of the sea and
I the weather during the voyage from CieE-
iu- guS To- Santiago.
The weather on the first day and
night and on the next day was bolster
Gus with a heavy sea.
J C.-WaS there anything that impeded
the progress Of the squadron.
! A--Iht heavy sea lnteTferCd with the
progress of the Ed dgle very materially and
! 10 some extent with the Vixen, and the col
Her was stopped some time Tor repairs.
{ Continuing the witness described the in
/ cide1t Of the Marblehead sighting; a vessel
which was supposed To be- an clemy's
I ship This. he said. caused another de
I lay. as The ships We're stopped while an
{ examination was made 20 ascertain what
/ the strange ship was. Finally the Marble
head threw her searchlEhJ upon the yes
! sci and discovered that she was not an
/ en,my's ship.
Q.-From your observation would ft
/ have been safe TO have coa}ed the Massa-
! chHSejtS and the Texas at any time be-
/ fore the Z5th Of May2
/ A--NO. IL would not
The Santiago blockade.
Q.-Do you know anything about the
! blockade AZ Santiago. and can YOU give
/ us any information concerning IT.
/ A-Ihe commodore had talked with me
/ several times informally as 20 which
I form Of blockade was the best under the
3 circumstances. He concluded that a
! moving blockade would be the best and
/ that was the form Of blockade used. We
I always had picket boats inside the line
/ M Marblehead and the NixeI were used
loT lhiS purpose The bio -kade was
I maintained at varying distances. The
/ distances We're adjusted 10 meet the con-
/ dltouS from time 70 time. They varied
/ out and in. as an estimate ] should say
from three 10 five or six miles When
the weather was thick we went close in.
and at night We Were. closer IN. Some
( Lh-eS we turned with the Stdrboard helm,
; and sometimes with the port helm
! TOW ABOUT the reconnaissance Of
! May 81, did YOU know anything about the
I strength Of the batteries before that
/ time?
ships i'm the Reconnaissance.
A--Some of the documents which we
/ had received from the usual sources
stated that the batteries were rather for
mldablc. with modern guns. and others
I said that they were Of no account. There
i fore. We knew little about them. As
/ result Of the reconnaissance I made up
my mind that they were stronger than
Z some OF the papers said and weaker than
/ some OF the others had stated they We're
7 The commodore said he wanted 70 know
/ what the batteries were. and that he was
/ going 10 take what ships were not coal
ing and 60 In, and that the range had
Z been uNed al 100 yards Commodore
! Schley transferred Eis flag from the
I brooklyn 10 the Massachusetts for
/ the reconnaissance He directed
/ Captain HiEEIusOn To make preraratf tfcr-s
/ 70 pass in front Of the batteries and draw
/ ihflf Ire al once Captain HiRRinsJn de
INJURED, and requested q dtIav until after
dinner. and the commodore asscnted
I During the wait consulted with the nav
l lgatcr. at the request Of the commodore
] regarding the distances After dinner the
/ squadron was formed. with the Massa-
] ChuSetts leading. the New Orleans follow
ing ana NE Iowa third. while the Brook
I lyN ana Eh~ Texas, / think. were COaIiuE
/ outside The Vixen remained with the
] Leet Tor part Of the time Tho cO-urnO-
! dore told me 20 have her keep out OF
I range hut her captain was rather arr hi
I uous TO gct under IRE. However. after
l a Whue she pulled out. The navigator
I told Captain HiGEinson about the time
{ that we were on the Ec. At the mo-
/ ment that the Colon was in sight the for
/ ward gun Of the MasSachuserr.s auauad
Z hre- We passed up and dowu-up once
/ before turning out The c0mno6ore thau
/ appeared 70 be satisfied and gave the or
der 10 return 70 the blockade.
J Q.-What position did the cornr1odor.
/ and Captain HigginsOu occupy during
I that timc2
A--Captain Tigginson was IN the con
. ming tower. and the commodore was on
the platform on the outside
. Potts.
A,-Yes; was with him a large part
Q.-Did YOU hear any conversation he
/ had with the commodore
! A--NO, sir
The Scent of Coming Battle
Q--Comina down 20 the "a day OF july.
cid you notice any suspicious movements
! I'm the Harbor Of Santiago2
] A-Nes. There was an unusual amount
. Of smoke. We could only attribute IL AT
{ the time 10 the burning OF a cOnsidcra bIe
amount % powder There was as s-.v
/ an unusual disturbance Ia the evening
: there were heavy fires To the westward.
] They were of such precision and regu-
I larIty that they had the appear rance OF be-
/ ing signals The Occurrence was very
/ unusual
! Q-Was any message regarding this
| sent to the ships by the Vixen
! Al DO not remember that the Vixen
! communicated that 10 the feet There was
1 a message sent about this circumstance.
| however. TO the cOmmander-in-chief
/ (SamTsOuy
The Dash of the Spanish Fleet.
/ Q.-Coming down to the battle of July
/ 3. viii YOU kindly state what occurred.
/ from your observation and knowledge
Al was in my room when the men
\ were ordered 10 their quarters / heard
I tho cry Of the executive officer Clear
! ship for action" ! knew what that
meant and ! ran TO the quarterback and
Tauidly glanced over the squadron TO see
{ the situation and then looked toward the
/ entrance and saw the enemy escaping 1
met the commodore and heard MIN give
i the orders 10 clear the ship for action
and to close IN. All Of these signals
were mace. l then ran around 10 the
coming tower, getting there about the
| time the cOmpodOre arrived there.
From there / had a good view or the en-
| trance. our ship was heading at the
/ time, / should say. 10 the westward Of
north. not ou her regular heading, which
was northeast by north The engines had
| been started and she was gaining way
and swinging toward the enemy The
first vessel was the Maria Teresa. As our
more way. and 70 me tho Teresa appear
| ed LYt 10 hold an exactly steady course