Waterbury Democrat., 1901-09-20


 Witness Called and His Testimony
 Was Against Admiral Schley-The
 Case Promises to be Long Drawn
 Out. if One is to Judge From This
 First Days Proceedings.
 Washington, Sept 2O--After am an in remission of eight days the naval court of inquiry resumeu Us aI tipes at Il o'clock to-day III the .O shon at the navy yard. Rear-Adhllrai l1 Ramsay occupied the seat which, .on lne first dav of the session. was filled pS Pear Admiral HOwison. All lhIee members of the court were III sefNlCS uniform and the morning air was coiu enouah to make their closely Duttoh- od coats appear comfortable. Mrs Davvev accompanied her husband, ana remained q short time 1he
 attendance was not large
 The court was called to order py . simple word from Admiral Dewey The first order of business was tue reading by Judge Advocate Lemly of the order of the navy department appoih'- ing Rear Admiral Ramsay to place on the court in place of Rear Auliiirai Howison. and when this was accom- pIished, Captain Lemly turned 10 Au- miral SchIey and asked him whether he had objection to urge against any member of the court The admlral arose and replied:
 ..I have not"
 The judge advocate then swore the members of the court collectively ana was in turn sworn in as judge advo- cate. The court then retired for con- sultatiOn.
 When the court re-entered at 11:25 the judge advocate asked Admiral SchIey if he had any suggestions to offer or desired that he Uemiy) pro- ceed- The admiral responded with q wave of the hand and q nod and said s.go ahead" Captain Lemly then in- trOduced a number of official reports saying in so doing he did not expect to cut out any of the original docu- ments Before they began the admis- sion of evidence Judge Advocate Lem ly read the order placing the command of the North Atlantic squadron i'll the hands of Captain Sampson and giving him the rank of rear admiral and the command of the flying squadron" in the hands of Admiral SchIey. A letter from Admiral Schley to the navy de pertinent requesting to be supplied with all papers bearing upon the case and the departments reply granting the request were read.
 Captain Lemly then presented the report of the bureau of navigation for 1898, a Photographic chart of the West Indies and adjacent seas and other charts. He stated ex- pIicitly that these were introduceI not as testimony but as books of refer ence.
 "WiIl they preclude the introduc- ton of the original dOcumentsE ask ed Judge Wilson, and the reply was ''Not at all. On the contrary we shall desire to introduce the original docu- ments when the opportunity offers"
 Admiral HigginsOn was the first witness called. He said he was in command of the battleship Massachu- setts during the Spanish war and that for part of the time the Massachusetts had been part of the Flying Squad rOn,'' of which Admiral Schley had beeen in command He told of joining the fleet at Newport News and going to Key West, and then on May 22 going to Cienfuegos Key West was left on May 19, 1898, and Cienfuegos was reached on the 22d.
 'What was done to secure commu- nication with the Cuban forces on shoreE' asked Captain Lem1y.
 s'Nothing, to my knowledge" he re- piled. q did not see that anything was done, but I understood that infor- nation concerning the Cubans was received through Captain Me CaIla- He said, however, that this was later. He also said in reply to questions that the Collier Merrimac was present and of the departure for CienfuegOs. the arrival at Santiago on the evening of the 26th. In reply to question by the court Admiral Hig- ginson said he did not believe that Commodore Schley had done all that he should have done to destroy the Colon while she lay at anchor The defense objected to the admission of this question and answer. and Admi- ral Dewey replied that the court de- sired all the information on the sub Ject possible. Judge Wilson then said that he would reserve the right to en- ter an objection later. and to note an exception to the court asking for the opinion of any witness. The witness also told of the fleet leaving Santiago for Key West of the arrival there and or Steamlng westward and the return to the mouth of the harbor on the command of Admiral Schley.
 What happened that the fleet was commanded to return to Key West?'' was asked ''I do not know was the reply "The condition of the weather was such that it was possible to coal - at sea We followed the orders issued from the flagship which was command ed by Admiral Schley. When Santi- ago was again reached the witness said that he could see well into the harbor and that he saw the Spanish ship Colon lying in the harbOr. He did not remember seeing any other vessels. but the Colon was at that time about 1000 yards beyond MOrrO Cas- tie He did not hear any commands, nor did he know of any written ones that were issued The only command was verbal one. and that was '.to go IR." When the shots were exchanged he said the manner of Admiral Schlay was that of a commander-fn-chief When he was asked what was the con dition of Admiral Schley during the engagement it was objected to by AIr Rayner. one of Admiral ScIl sy's coun- sel. and the question was withdrawn He said that they did not go in and .f- n