The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-10-22
GOOD DAY FOR SCHLEY
FLAG LIEUTENANT WELLS TELLS
ABOUT DISPATCHES.
WHY OREGON WAS SPEEDY.
CAPT. COOK FINDS SHE HAD ALL
HER ENGINES COUPLED.

Never stopped and That ClaxtOn,
Who Swore to This, Was on Duty
at the Air Pump-Schley Thor
oughIy Fearless and Self-Possess-
ed on All Occasions, Said Wells.
Washington, Oct. 21.-Lieutenant
B. w. Wells, Jr., who was
the flag lieutenant of Rear Ad-
miral Schley while the latter
was in command of the Flying Squad
ron occupied practically the entire
time of the Schley court of inquiry to-
day. On his direct examination he
continued his narrative of the Cuban
campaign. Lieut.. Wells was under
cross examination for about two and a
half hours, largely at the hands of Mr..
Hanna, whose questions were directed
mainly to the dispatches received and
sent by Admiral. then Commodore,
Schley. Lieut.. Wells was still on the
stand when the court adjourned for the
day and will continue his testimony to-
morrow.
Capt. Cook, who commanded the
Brooklyn during the Spanish war, was
the first witness of the day. He made
LIE lOllOMlLS SldleHleHI.
In my testimony L stated that the
Oregon on the morning of July was
under all boilers, having shifted hel
boilers from forward to aft. l stated
this from hearsay and presumed 1t to
be correct as accounting for her ex-
traordinary speed. 1 find that she had
not shifted boilers that morning, but
that she had steam on all her boilers
at all times while in the Santiago
blockade"
While Capt. John L. Hannum was
on the stand for the purpose of cor
recting his testimony the court asked
him the following question:
How soon after you went on board
the Merrimac was she able to use her
own power to make from five to seven
knots? ?"
"she was in condition to make five
knots when 1 went on board. l did
not give her seven knots
Merrimac Was in Bad shape.
In reply to a question from Mr.. Ray
ner the witness said it took from the
forenoon watch of the 9th until the
evening of the 2Sth working day. and
night, to make the repairs on the Mel :
rimac. He did not know how long the
vessel had been totally disabled.
Lieut.. Thomas F. Carter. while cor
recting his previous testimony, stated
that he desired to change that portion
of his answer to a question by the
court, in which he had said that the
two after boilers of the Brooklyn had
no water in them when the battle be-
gan on the morning of July 8. AS cor
rected he desired the answer to read:
THE two after boilers had little or
no water in them. Their fires were
not laid until after the battle calls
were sounded"
Ensign w. P. Cronan. while on the
stand for the purpose of correcting his
testimony, stated that he had meas
ured the distance from the initial po-
sition of the Brooklyn to Rio Tarquino
on July 8, and found it to be 80 knots.
HunIey COntradicts CIaxton.
]. l.. Hunley, the chief machinist on
the Texas, who last week testified
that on July he was at the throttle
of the port engine of the Texas, stated
in reply to questions by Capt. Lemly
that Claxton. who had testified that
he was at the port engine on that day
and that the engine was reversed, was
stationed at the air pumps, back of
the engine.
Mr.. Hunley said he kept his hand
on the throttle of the engine most of
the time and did not think it possible
that the signal to stop or back could
edge.
Brooklyn Seemed to he Alone.
Lieut.. B. w. Wells, Jr., who was on
the stand when court adjourned Friday,
was then recalled and testified regard
ing the battle of July 8. He said he did
not remember the ranges at which the
Brooklyn fired, but thought 1,100 yards
was the shortest. When the Viscaya
ran ashore the Colon was about 10, 200
yards ahead of the Brooklyn and for a
time firing ceased. He said that he had
received orders to get up a quantity Of
rapid-fire ammunition. Owing to the
character of the coast it was expected
that the Brooklyn and the Colon would
come to close quarters. He was ordered
to have this ammunition ready to close
with the Colon and give her a rapid
fire when they got close together. He
said he had not seen the Texas when
the Brooklyn made her turn. At one
time during the battle the Brooklyn
seemed to be alone, engaging three
ships.
Dispatches Received May 81.
A number of dispatches were shown
to the witness and he was asked as
to their receipt by Commodore Schley.
One from Secretary Long to the Amer
lean consul at Kingston, dated WASH
delivered to Schley at once, and in
forming him (Schley) that unless un-
safe for his squadron the department
wished him to remain off Santiago,
and asking If he should not take pos
session of Guantanamo as a coaling
station; also a dispatch from Secretary
Long to Capt. Cotton of the Harvard.
dated Washington, May 20, enclosing
a dispatch to Commodore Schley, tell
ing him to hold on at all hazards, that
the New York, oregon and New Or
leans were on the way; also two dis
patches from Secretary Long to the
dispatch boat Harvard, dated Wash
ington, May 30, one informing him that
the commander in chief had started to
toin him and the other telling him that
Sagua, twenty-five miles east of Santi-
ago, had been reported as = good place
to land from which II would be easy
TO reach the nights in the rear of San
tiago. the witness said had been re-
ceived on May 81.
The cablegram from Secretary Long
dated Washington, May q, to the ca
bic office at Mole ST. Nicholas, Haiti.
directing that II be delivered TO the
next American war vessel TO arrive and
informing Commodore Schley that "the
most absolutely urgent thing now is to
know positively whether the Spanish
division is in Santiago. etc, etc. was
shown Lieut. Wells He stated that
Il mad been received by Commodore
Schley on May 30. The Colon had been
discovered in the harbor Of Santiago by
Commodore schley on the morning OF
May 20.
Mr.. Rayner at this point exhibited a