The San Francisco call., 1901-10-02

matter. 1 think that either the court or de-
tense should allow me to express under cath
what l really said. Whether l expressed that
belief not it may be technically right
interfere with me, but according to the ethics
OF the naval service l think the defense ought
TO permit me to answer that question:
I'VE have no objection to that" said Mr..
Raynor.
4 have given an answer to that question.
l have said nothing about my belief"
Mr.. Hanna-Ine portion OF the question to
which | should like to have you give an ex-
plicit answer is whether you assured Com
modore Schley that you believed the Spanish
heet was not in Santiago.
there" l said 1 had not seen It. "
Did you give him any assurance which
would point In that directionr'
Il made known first my orders from the
Navy Department which stated that the Span
Mr. Hanna then read letter which Cap
tain Sigsbee had on May 26 written to Com
modore Schley reporting the taking Of the
Pilot Nunez from the Jason and the capture
of the British steamer Restormel as prize.
He said in that letter:
mo news here. / have seen absolutely moth
ing Of the Spanish feet" He reported also
that the Restormel had 2400 tons Of coal
had a said ifa he @ WaS bound @ @ for "s santiaEo 0e
Mr. Hanna also read a number of letters
among them being one from Captain sigsbee
to Commodore Schley written from Mole St.
Nicholas. May %. in which he said to the
commodore:
He also informed him that there a
number Of kilograms at the Mole for him. but
LndL none OF LneIH were URGENT. ne tOlu IHo
commodore that the department expected him
to exercise great efforts to keep in coal.
the clause: do you are doing and you will
do right" What was the flying squadron doing
at the time you wrote that letter?
That based the tenor of the cipher
telegrams found at the Mole from the com
ment. urging that the Spanish squadron be held
and that every effort be made to coal ship.
At that time the flying squadron was off San
STAYING and also believed it was the in
tention of Commodore Schley to coal his ships
off that port l left Santiago on the morning
of the day on which that letter was written
At that time the weather was very fine and I
had twice urged upon Admiral schley the i'm
pOrtance of taking advantage of that particu-
lar kind of weather. stating it better than
any we had had during my stay off the port. .
Captain Sigsbee also said that when he had
boarded the Brooklyn on May 26 Commodore
Schley had told him he was bound for Key
''Did he ask you II you believed the Spanish
fleet was in the harbor Of Santago?"
II don't remember him putting the question
The witness recalled signal from the flag
Sampson that one-half of his squadron is out
of coal ="
Mr. Raynor then questioned the witness
bis sbip Being sent to the Vicinity Of santfaeo
was to- II possible locate the Spanish fleet He
said that he had first seen the Spanish vessels
in the harbor at Santiago, but that when he
reported the fact he found that the squadron
had already made the discovery;
made by Captain Sigsbee, saying:
"In this report off Santiago de Cuba, made
at 10 a. m. May 90, you say: We were then
steaming at full speed from Mole ST. Nicholas.
Haiti. and we'll IN toward the coast after
number of vessels to the westward and at
once made for the Santiago entrance believing
it possible that the strangers were the Spanish
squadron approaching that port All I want
to ask is this: When you saw the smoke after
chasing a number of vessels to the westward
and when you made for the Santiago entrance
on the morning of the 29th you thought that
this a Spanish squadron approaching the
port p
mo, I thought it might be the Spanish
squadron. l did not say they were approaching
the port"
Yes you say approaching the port.'P'
You must remember 1 had no definite in
formation whatever
did you ever megaphone the press boat
Summers H. Smith that the Spanish fleet was
not in the harbor at Santiago?"
Never. One of the press boats hailed me-
saving that Schley had the Spanards bottled
up at Cienfuegos. l replied that we had had
them bottled up at Santiago for week"
Mr.. Raynor attempted to quote a statement
from Admiral Sampson the effect that Cap
tain Sigsbee had said May 20 that the fiy-
ing squadron was bockading Santiago twenty
five miles out at sea. but objection was made
to bringing Admiral Sampson in and Mr. Raw
asked Captain Sigsbee whether he had
made that report to any that date. The
witness replied in the negative
In reply to question as to the condition Of