The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-10-11

n man VINO was SuIeT1US unQST
ment, mental excitement, of ore VINO
had a disagreeable duty TO perform and
performed it reluctantly and tried TO
get through with it as soon as ne
could
THE CROSS EXAMINATION.
Mr.. Rayner then began his cross ex-
animation:
WHO was the captain of your ship?
he asked.
Francis ]. Higginson.'
Il want to read you what Captain
Higginson says about Commodore
Schley's manner and bearing upon that
occasion. He says: His manner was
that of a chief He ieft
a different impression on your MIND
| from what he left on Captain Hisgin-
sons mind them
APPARENTLY"
Had Captain Higginson opportunity
to observe him on that OCCASION
Not as well as did"
why was that?''
Because Captain Higginson was In
| the coming tower and | was outside.
Did not Captain Higginson have any
conversation with the commodore III
| that time?".
From time to time. yes"
| What do you mean by mental excite
| ment?"
'I quoted conversations that l nal
| Inc DrSC InlnS was Tie dppdI Slll
ETY. of Commodore Schley about using
| the coming tower. Secondly his stat
| ing that at a distance of five to SIX
| miles men standing on the forward ID
| inch turret were conspicuous objects
Did the commodore use the coming
tower?"
'I did not see the commodore go into
| the coming tower. To the best of IIy
| knowledge, and belief he did not. he
| was outside the coming tower and be-
| tween the coming tower and the heavy
| plate that protects the manhole in the
| coming tower. My preconceived idea
| of Commodore Schley previous to that
| occasion was so entirely different from
| the impression 1 received on that day
I concluded that he certainly was under
| a tremendous mental strain
| Have you any other facts form
| which you base your statement to the
| court that he was laboring under excite
ment except the facts which you have
| given?"
Eyes When Commodore Schley
| came on board the Massachusetts he
| stated in distinct terms that he was
| going in to destroy the Colon. The
| Colon was not destroyed. When he
left the ship he called it a 'reconnois-
| ance, drawing the fire of the batteries
and developing their weakness or
| strength"
| do you gather from that that lie
| was laboring under great mental ex-
| citement?"
From that and from circumstances
| have already stated from my obser-
| vation of him from the time he came
| on board the ship until he left
! Suppose you were made aware of the
| fact when he entered into that engage
| ment he was under the regulations of
| the navy not to engage shore batteries
| if there was any danger of the shore
| ha Prinn1irO the ChjnS would
| you say if you knew of that that he
| was still laboring under great mental
| eXcitement?''
| 'I cannot answer that
Captain Lemly objected to the intro
| duction of the navy departments or
| ders as evidence, but the court decided
| that they could be put in.
Mr.. Rayner then asked concerning
| the weather on the trip from Cienfue-
gos. and the witness said that on May
25th. it had been what is called dirty.
| There was an eastern wind and a mod
| crate sea- rough for small vessels.
| Referring to the Spanish shore bat
teries at Santiago, Commodore Potts
said they would have been no menace
to armored ships passing them.
| At the suggestion of Judge Advocate
Lemly and in accordance with the de-
cision of the court Mr.. Rayner here
formally introduced as evidence the or
der from the navy department concern
ing the exposure of the American ships
to the fire of shore batteries.
| QUESTIONED BY THE COURT.
| The cort asked questions as follows:
| "Can you give the distance the large
vessels were from the entrance to Ci-
enfuegos on the early morning of either
the 22nd or the 23rd of May?"
| 'I do not recollect any being nearer
than I have said. four or five miles.
did not measure the distances there"
| What efforts were made by the vcs-
| sis of the flying squadron prior to the
arrival of the Marblehead to determine
whether or not Cervera's squadron was
! in the harbor of Cienfuegos."
| None that 1 ever knew off,
| Referring to the range of the guns
for that day Commander Potts said the
| range given previous to entering the
engagement was 1000 yards, but he had
increased it to $500 yards. then to 5000
yards and finally to 10000 yards. Only
! one shot which had been fired at the
American fleet had impressed him as
being at all dangerous. That fell near
the Massachusetts,. Soon after that
the commodore had given the order:
Put your helm to starboard and lets
get out of this He said he had seer
| no shore batteries at Cienfuegos.
| LIEUTENANT LEIPER ON THE
STAND.
| Lieutenant Leiper described the born
| bardment of the Colon, saying that The
| first shot from the Massachusetts hac
| fallen outside the MORO, and notwith
| standing the range was increased al
| the shots fell short Of the Colon. There
were. he said, no orders either to fir:
| at or make the observations of The
batteries.He thought all the shots from
| the American ships had fallen short o
| the Colon. The witness said he hat
seen no evidence of the presence o
| large or powerful guns in the shore bat
/ teries and was of the opinion there Wer
none to exceed six inches in calibre.
Lieutenant Leiper was still on til
stand when the court adjourned for til
. day.
Now iS the Season when the small