The evening times., 1901-10-11
The shore s,-aaIs at Cienfueao..


Just before the adjournment Of the
Court Of Enquiry yesterday, it was the
painful privilege Of The prosecution to
admit a most serious failure on their
part Beginning long before the or
ganizatiOn Of the tribunal, the Navy
Department has made strenuous efforts
10 find somebody IL a possible position
10 know. who could be depended upon
10 swear that the shore signal code ar
ranged with the insurgents near Glen
fuegOs by Captain McCalla had been
communicated 10 Commodore Schley
II that could be proven, or even
shown to be a reasonable pre-
sumption On the strength Of such tes-
timony as might be procured. the de
partment has felt that il would have
the COmmander-in-Chief Of the Flying
Squadron in blight" since then it
would appear that knowing what the
horses by day and the lights by night
on the shore meant. he had neglected
his duty TO act upon the information
they were intended to convey.
on the other hand, the prosecution
5ustly>has recognized the danger to its
case involved in a failure 10 prove that
the NcCalla signals were reported TO
Commodore Schley. The judge advo-
cate has known all along that he could
not hope to destroy a mountain Of evi-
dence which has been public property
for months. that all the commanders Of
the ships II the squadron. except the
captain Of the Brooklyn. and the com
mander-in-chief Of course, had been
duly and promptly notified Of the code
from Admiral SIMPSONS headquarters
Unless il could be shown in some way
that it was also communicated directly.
indirectly. OF by implication to COmmO-
dCre SChley, the inference Of the Court
possibly might agree with that which
the country drew from the facts and
circumstances long ago. namely. that
there was a deliberate and pIecOncerteI
scheme 10 withhold the knowledge from
the man who above all others in the
squadron was entitled 10 IT,
With the foregoing considerations in
View. the formal admission by Judge
Advocate Lemly yesterday that the
Navy Department was unable TO prove
that the McCaHa code ever came into
possession Of Commodore Schley. was
important and little short Of sensa-
tioEaL II amounted 70 a confession
that another prop vital 10 the structure,
had been knocked from under the con-
spiracy 10 destroy the Victor Of San
JiagO II viii be remembered that Cap
tain McCaila. returning from Cienfue-
Ros where he had agreed upon the sig
mails with the insurgents, met the Fly
Ing Squadron on its way 10 Cienfuegos.
but failed 70 communicate them 20 the
commander-in-chief In an attempt to
cover this awkward fact the prOsecu-
tion placed Lieutenant Commander
Sutherland on the stand. and that Off
Ger with an alarming display Of accu-
rate memory sWore that az Captain
McCallas order he had taken the
Eagle. which he commanded. and inter
cepted the Scorpion. Lieutenant Com
mander MariX. which had been des-
patched by Commodore Schley for in
formation, and had megaphoned "A long
message 10 her which he proceeded 10
rec'te The strange fact that he was
able 20 remember such a cOmmunica-
ton word for word after so long a lapse
Of time may be explained by the other
facts that he had committed il to mem
OTy and that Captain LemIy had il in
writing in his pocket at the time.
What Switzerland did megaphone 10
the Scorpion appears upon the log Of
that vessel. Lieutenant Holden. the Of
hcer who wrote the log, testified to its
correctness. and. later. it appeared
from q statement and affidavit cabled
from Manila last August by Comman-
der Mark, formerly Of the Scorpion.