Evening star., 1901-10-12

prove OF the blockade which Commodor,
Schley maintained before June /? What
| was your opinion?"
Judge Advocate-'I object"
Admiral Dewey-"The court doesn't wan
| that opinion"
Mr.: Hanna-"We have not asked opinions
| OF omcers commanding ships regarding that
| We have carefully abstained from SO
| doing"
Mr. Rayner-''Then I will ask you in ref
| erence to the leaving Of these vessels You
nave stated, and it has been in testimony
! mere, that this signal code with the Cuban
| insurgents was not made known to Com
| mooore Schley. Have you not fallen into
| slight error in point Of time? Did not the
| nylng squadron leave Key West before Cap-
| tain McCalla got to Key West and have YOU
| not Inadvertently fallen into error in roint
or time. You could not have given Com
modore Schley the information because you
dld not have 1t until Captain McCalla got
there. Is not that the reason"
The witness admitted that this was So
y. Captain Evans has testified here that
he knew 1t. Could you give me the source
from which he derived his Information
Il do not remember speaking of it to
captain Evans, nor that told him to COM
municate it to Schley. When McCalla came
in 1t was expected that his shin would
reach Cienfuegos about the same time as
the Iowa and the Dupont and McCalla said
he would carry the signal agreement back
with him That signal was really for the
benefit of the Cubans and the McCana
memorandum was for Commodore Schley
Ihat memorandum was full and explicit in
that regard If may explain a little farth-
er, by the afternoon of the next day or the
afternoon of the day after McCalla came in
information was received of the arrival of
the Spanish squadron in Santiago. So that
any question of the insurgent Cubans about
Cienfuegos dropped out Of sight"
Cervera's Fleet at Santiago.
'You say that after the arrival of Cap
tain McCalla information was received of
q orriI Io1 nF tba ;e1
Santiago. VIII you kindly give us the in
formation and from whom 1t came?'
THE first intimation we had was by a
telegram from the Navy Department, men
tioning that the information may well be
correct Next day Lieutenant Commander
Staunton was in Key West and he saw
captain Allen, who said that the evening
before he had received communication from
Havana that the Spanish SQUADRON had
gone into Santiago, and he was only watt
ing until the evening Of the Goth to have
that corroborated as the operator who sent
the information only put himself in COM
munieation with our Office in Key West
once day. about O. clock in the evening.
Staunton came with that information, and
then went up in the evening to await q
second telegram which corroborated the
fact and which caused Admiral Sampson
to believe that the Spanish feet was in San
tiago and also caused him to write the sec
ono dispatch directing the movement to-
ward Santiago"
Mr.. Rayner-"Is this the telegram you
refer to: The report of the Spanish fleet
being at Santiago de Cuba might very well |
be correct, so that department strongly ad-
vises that you send word Immediately by |
the Iowa to Schley to proceed Off Santiago |
de Cuba with his whole command, etc."
That Is the telegram l referred to-"
Did l understand you to say that that /
caused the belief that the Spanish fleet was
in Santiago?"
No; oh, no, no. What caused the be-
lief was the information received from
Captain Allen of the signal corps, who
was in charge of the telegraph office in
Key West. He informed Lieutenant Staun-
ton. who was in Key West, at noon on the
Goth that this informtion had come over
night from Havana"
Gould / interrupt you Just a minute?
Was No. the dispatch referred to (the
Dear Schley' dispatch) as being sent in
answer to this inclosure?"
Sampson's Doubt Removed.
Yes. That was sent after receiving
this dispatch. The admiral then tele-
graphed the department practically para
phrase Of this letter No. T. This dispatch
ana the telegram to the department PARA
phrasing 1t were prepared on the night of
the 18th and were sent that night, 1 think.
At noon of the 10th Lieutenant staunton
saw captain Allen in Key West, and Staun-
lon was again sent to Key West and came
PACK with the assurance from Captain AL
en tnat the Spanish fleet was there Then
the doubt In Admirzi Sampsouss MIND vaa |
md AA 4