The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-11-02
trouble about that. When we come to
that bridge we will cross it,
ScoveTs Talk with sigsbee.


was in command, off the shore at San
tiago. There was a conversation with
Capt. Sigsbee through the megaphone,
and he himself had used the mega
phone in conducting the interview.
The witness said the Somers N.
Smith was about 70 or 100 feet from
the st. Paul during the conversation.
"Give us as nearly as you can the
words of that conversation" said Capt.
Lemly.
1--WE had been sent to find Commo-
dore Schley, and the first question, of
course, was Where is Schley?' and the
answer from Capt. Sigsbee was, You
will find him in the Yucatan passage
and then, inasmuch as our boat was
very slow, 1 asked him to advise me
whether he thought we could catch
Commodore Schley if we followed him.
and he stated, Yes The second ques-
ton was, Where is Cervera?' and in
answer to that Capt Sigsbee did not
speak for a moment. He consulted
with somebody on the bridge of the
ship, and then answered, I am not
sure, but we caught an English col
lier trying to sneak into the harbor this
morning. That was all the conversa-
ton remember to have had with
Capt Sigsbee personally. Other men
on. the boat had some conversation
with him.
did Capt. Sigsbee at any time dur
ing the conversation inform you that
the Spanish squadron was not in San
tiago?"
He did not tell us that the Span
iards were not there"
Mr.. Scovel said that he had effected
three landings on the southern coast or
Cuba for the purpose of communicating
with the insurgent Cubans during the
campaign.
| On cross-examination Mr.. Scovell said
that he had been at the megaphone
| part of the time. He could not say
whether others on board the press boat
had talked with Capt. Sigsbee.
''Then," asked Mr.. Rayner ARE you
prepared to say on your oath that no
one in your boat asked Capt. Sigsoee
whether Cervera was not in the mar
Dor at Santiago?"
eft is possible" was the reply that
a conversation might have taken place
on the part of some one else, but as
the Smith was a small boat and as
| conversation must necessarily be in a
loud tone of voice, l think l would
have heard it if there had been any.
care you, then, prepared to say that
the testimony of Mr.. Hare, in Whlcn
he said that Capt. Sigsbee had sald
that the Spaniards were not at Sanu-
ago is false?"
mo. l am not prepared to say that
his statement is false and that no such
conversation took place. but l can
swear that nothing of the kind was
said while I was conducting the con-
versaton, and I conducted the prlncl-
pal part of it
Mr.. Scovel was then excused, and
/ a number of witnesses of yesterday
were called for the purpose OF making
corrections in their testimony.
Capt Chadwick, while under recall,
said in response to question from Mr..
Rayner that there had been practi-
| cal abrogation by the Navy Depart
nnent of the precautionary orders con-
| cerning the bombardment of Spanish
| shore batteries in order to permit the
bcmbardment of San Juan, Porto Rico.
He added that in his opinion there had
been a general abrogation of the order,
but Mr.. Rayner objected to the giving
| of opinions.
Hood Tells of His Report.
Lieut.. John Hood was questioned on
| the point made by Admiral Schley in
| his testimony that the commanding
| officer of the Dolphin had filed with
| the Navy Department memorandum in
| which he said, speaking of Hoods re-
turn from his mission to Commodore
| Schley while the latter lay off Cien-
| fuegos: Hood says a good many Off
GERS do not believe the Spaniards are
there Cat Cienfuegos) at all, but they
can only surmise."
| In reply to a question as to what
| report he had made on which such
| memorandum could have been based,
| the witness replied:
| "I reported to the commanding Off
Ger of the Dolphin that l conversed
with a number of officers and that l
did not believe myself, nor did many
of the officers believe, as far as l could
make out, that the Spaniards were
| there, that there was no reason for be-
lieving they were there, and that 1
thought Commodore Schley had con-
WINGED himself they We're there on very
slender grounds"
Mr.. Hanna: did you or not make
any report to the commanding officer
of the Dolphin which would warrant
the use of language embodied in that
memorandum"
ranting stronger language than that"
Mr.. Hanna: How did you get the
notes in reference to boarding the
Adula?"
Lieut.. simpsons Report.
II never boarded the Adula. I re-
turned to the flagship Brooklyn after
| collecting the mail, under Commodore
Schley's orders, about IL o'clock. Just
as came on board 1 met Lieut.. Simp-
son of the Brooklyn who had boarded
the Adula and had his written report.
/ asked him to let me see it, as there
might be valuable information in It,
which he did. I then told him
wanted a copy of 1t to take back TO
the admiral, as there was, in my opin-
ion, very valuable information in 1t.
Simpson and myself went to the execu-
| tive officers office. and he read the
notes over. He had the executive Off
GERS writer make a copy for me to take
| back to the admiral as valuable infor-
| nation He had just come out from
making his report to the commander
of the Flying Squadron. That as
| quoted in the appendix is an exact copy
of Simpsons boarding report to the
ommander-in-chief of the Flying
| Squadron"
Lieut.. Hood said in reply to a ques-
tion from Mr.. Rayner that he had not
boarded the Adula, and that the notes
which he had carried back TO the Dol
phin were those made by Lieut.. Simp-
son. hence IL was Lieut.. Simpson and
not himself who boarded the British
ship.
Lieut. Hood was then excused and
| number OF kilograms and official dis
patches, which have heretofore been
put In, were introduced at this pont
for the convenience Of counsel.
Court adjourned at i2:45 p. m. until
Monday.