The Washington times., 1901-10-26

Geographic once, my IMPRESSION hoN iS'
was rather uncertain. l think one state
rnent said that the batteries were old ana
another that Krupp guns were mounted
The general belief was that the harbor
was heavily fortified. In fact we knew
very little about it or of the artillery
which the forts contained. Feeling that
/ ought to know something about the for
tifications which defended that place.
determined 10 go in and take aQNanlase
of our long range guns ana utttloP VIII
was there; and incidentally, u we CouII
get shot into the Colon. which WAS iNlnS
somewhat exposed, to do it. thlnk We
were lying in position four or nVe miIes
70 the westward | transferred my nag,
named 1000 yards as the rang ana went
on board the Massachusetts,. W heh Sot
on board it was near the dinner hpur anu
Captain HigginsOn suggested tnal We
POSTPONE until l oCluCS going IN II dt-
velop the batteries. and / asseut'd 20 tliaL
Then after the luncheon was over We went
to quarters and steamed in pretty near
head on There wasn't much "Ipai tuilIly
for one to seek protection.
Some statement has been mace ftSaIH-
ing the fact that white uniforms Nsl.
worn on that day. That Was q Natt,4
which / controlled entirely IN my squad
ron, and il was about the oA.y sA.ta]--
dress for that climate at that time. /
took with me my Tag lieutenant, M
Sears Lieutenant Wells, Mr.. MCCauley,
and Mr. Graham, the correspondent uI
the Associated Press, Who was most car
TO dissuade him from going. but he plead
ed so earnestly that j finally consented.
l felt that one who wasn't pad for hght-
ing ought not be exposed, ana thonGhl
would spare him. But he got on board
and went.
While on tie Massachus5 It's, before gN-
ing to quarters Captain HiESinson and
had talk over the matter. | did not teel
excited at all or nervous If l had felt
that way ] need not have unIt rtakel II
Some OF the mon were standing on tIg
forward turret Of the lS-iuch gun ana
said to them that l would not take po-
sition of such exposure. You do not nave
to do II and ! have to- / was upon the
platform surrounding the coming tower
Mr. Potts is entirely in error in saying
that took advantage Of any protection
at ALL That is not the fact ! dld not
feel the occasion nor necessity Ter aSins
it. 1t was with regard for the others
rather than myself that I made the sl;go
gestion. ] gave the distance rs I,u'J
yards. Mr. Potts reported to Captain ing
ginson in my hearing that we were on
that range, and Captain Higginson re
ported to me. / told him 10 take up lii1
position as directed. ] never knew unth
afterwards that there was any variation
in the range. Th heavy guns We're dl-
rected at the Colon and the signal vas
made TO the New Orleans to engage inc
batteries. My recollection no" Is thSt
she did.
The ships Under Heavy Fire
About the moment we began firing, the
batteries
the Socapa and the Moro itself opened
IN There was a sIope to the westward
,,non which there was battery firing
smokeless powder. from vhic'I l crJld
onIv see the flashes. There was a storm oil
nroiectiles coming over us. They Impress
"a me as being guns Of s or i-inch cailore.
There were many that passed over lAe
squadron The Vixen was iEiHs
half a mile outside, and Il aitI nSlt
,ba bsrbor but ! assumed that
tney were firing at random oteI u
Mills. The Socapa unguesu0a-'.! It.tCl- II
ed US and went beyond Us. 90 lot A'ioN ,;
vhether their guns were superior or loS
but the fact was that they uli 20 pty"LV
us ! felt that if We lost one or we ~
our ships, or had one or two % tht N.s-
sells of our squadron injured, tile s4'tH
ron then only consisted OF ilNS OF SLN
ships we would be at a great HlS3sns H4--
tage and probably might have laflteu az ~.
attack which would have had dlsa5trou5
results / felt that the lalSe lhlstss -. -
and the wiser course would BE- 20 prevent
that. if possible. ana save the shlis loF
better use, as subse l-itlS ~ Nstvtv ti ~, ,,,,
/ would call attention Al this time 70 tle
despatches which weG= sent from the Dc
partmcnt with tgasd to coalns, atauhs
that we should take on coal whenever
Here Admiral Schley read . number Of
the dispatches from the collection OF oes
patches in regard to coaiing IN sissahi
that on the morning Of May - he had
slirmounted all difficulties ana iita 20
notified the department by a despatch
sent by the Yale CT,
westward of Cape Cruz on the so-calied
retrograde movement, was not nearer
than eighty mics
some Officers Mistaken.
Resuming his statement. Admiral
Schley said:
A-Now, the evidence already given
shows that some Of those officers who
have testified wlre mistaken. The lndi-
ana, for instance. to,ay has plate on
her deck showing that she was struck
by a shell that aIn:os- wrecked the ward
room It must have been fred from
gun larger than 81 5-iach gun. There were
a number Of 5.lJTt3Es. and il is possible
that this shell may have Desn Iled from
one of them Ih-.e ~yi. Hiey shells. II
not more, that passed completely over
the feet, and the ire -hey kept on Us
was lively at one t5-@e- On the Sjth-l
think in the als,IEo0G-tne New
Orleans reported 10 ne Captain
TO sink collier il he mouth Of the har-
Dor and also gave some verbal czp!aHa-
tions Of matters t!I-t t57 admiral dssiI-
ed me TO know Of -Sg&- wnIle aoa
think that Captain Fc.str would desire
TO do anyone an injustice, yet / deh
think he has stated all the couversatlon-
such position that the vt sscl5 could be
easily handled and signals InaH'pul"ten'
He spoke of advising me TO keep in closer;
And on the very next day he teieSraphed
me that they would ire on us al the
range We then were
The Arrival of Sampson.
On June Admiral Sampson arrived He
brought with him the New York the Ore
gon and the Mayfiower. I went on board
and he was very cordial and seemed glad
TO see ne. ! explained fully TO him the
situation. and he seemed 10 be glad 10
find things as they We're
At this juncture Captain Lcmly inter
posed an objection to the character Of
testimony, claiming that It was beyond
the scope Of the precept. After whie-
pered conversation the Court permitted
the witness TO proceed. Admiral Schley
resumed:
Al heard no word Of complaint from
Admiral Sampson about the blockade we
were maintaining. and supposed every
thing satisfactory. ] turned the com
mand over to Admiral Sampson, but my
squadron was not broken up until June
j. or -.
At this juncture Mr.. Rayncr arose and
PLAIN TALK