Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-10-15

al
side the Merrimac. tn. 49,. "'o"h'
well able to keep up with s,,a,. "'s
nv, '' On" 'hey commenced coalinp
''s""''e" mat they were rettin..
once ei'"hseo al
Ihat matter of coaling shins At 60, =
not d very easy matter under am, .a,,.;
IONS Is 1t, captain, SO far as yo, ,,,o,,
NO. thihk not. Our exper;enc,
changed our opinions a good de.I h,,, !,
must say that in all coalin- down thar.,
| never did see as bad sea ~ ~, ~,
there' We never had anything like !, az
! forwards according to my Recollection a,
sea That was so troublesome for a cn,,;.r
to go alongside
! 'On what date?''
! The 18th The 24th | do NOT ,h,.,,. -,
was practicable to coal 1t was !, had
| day. The next day and IN IN 10 o-,h
there was bad sea. | think nossih,,, -
the Texas and attempted the trial a ,it.I.
| before on the 9th she cou,d ~, 49,
| done So
Repiying to questions concerning the
piochade OF Santiago, Captain Cook,
Sa'o mat Commodore Schley's con-
! s'aht Idea was that the vessels should
| De Kept well supplied with coal. and
Kept moving constantly. as his theory
was That the Spanish fleet would como
out of the harbor
| Why was the circular blockade no,
adopted? MIR. Hanna asked There
are many forms of blockade. hut
| nave nothing but praise for the cir
cular blockade replied the Witness
But the idea was to get the Spaniards
to come out and to have our ships
moving and ready for action
| General interest was manifested
| throughout the court room when Mr.
! Hanna began his inquiries about the
| battle of July 3. He asked:
| What were your orders of battle
from May - to June II"
| I'VE did not have any The fleet was
| always in condition for action"
| DO YOU call that battle order?"
| IT Is possible to have an order for
| battle If You know just what conditions
you are going to meet. The idea with
us was to be able TO fight the Spanish
fleet whenever we should meet it. |
| think that was understood by all |
certainly SO understood it,"
| IF the fleet had come out of the har-
Dor previous to June /. what woul |
| YOU have done?"
| We would have obeyed the orders Of
the commanding officers"
Were the fighting ships always in
order for battle"
| Il always supposed they We're: the
| brooklyn was always in excellent
| order"
| Were You on deck when the fleet
came out of the Santiago harbor on
| July )? When Were they first sighted
| Captain Cook said he had at that
| time been in the cabin. The next ques-
| tion was: How did you first learn the
| fleet was coming Out?" The reply to
| this brought Captain Cooks story If
that engagement as follows:
| Il heard the executive officer call out;
: Clear ship for action, and as | had given
directions To have the ship ready for in
| spection | knew at once something was
| happening. | went on deck Immediately"
| Had you any intimation the night be
fore that the feet were coming out ?"
NO. l turned in the night before abolt
midnight. feeling rather the other way.
| all hope of their coming out having been
given up"
| W men you VII VII "ti'
the Spanish vessels? What We're they
| DOING" When | first arrived on the
| forecaStle there were two in sight. I'll,
| third was just outside the entrance AMI
the fourth appeared Immediately after
| ward.
| What did they do when they came out,
| which way did they head?' We Were
| to the westward. The entrance to Us
was about northeast by north The flee.
came out south and turned they left
| the entrance to four points southwest, 50
that they turned in our direction.
| when | first got on the deck the helm
had been starboarded. heading little 10
the northward. When | saw the feet
| they were headed southwest and seemed
| to be coming straight for the interval be
| tween the Texas and the Brooklyn. |
| went in the coming tower and directed
| the helmsman. | told him what | wanted
to do to keep straight for the fleet.
| They wavered a little. Sometimes they
turned one way and then another.
we shelled them once or twice but
very little indeed and finally when we
| were getting up fairly close, say between
| 1890 and 2@1 vars. it seemed to me clear
| that they wanted to pass between the
Texas and Brooklyn. The Texas was
| well on our starboard hand and she was
headed to the northward and westward
All ships were carrying ont the nstruc-
tons of the commander-in-chef. ana that
was to head in for the entrance
I'VE were well to the westward and
headed TO the northeast. When | saw
that ported the helm perhaps half over.
She was swinging starboard very rapid
~. The Spanish feet was coming straight
for this interval. | stayed out of the
tower on the port side to get a good look
at this fleet to just what they We're
going to do as to our relative positions
and | saw they evidently put helms hard
aport and were turning to the westward.
We were then turning very rapidly To
starboard with port helm and we had
turned | think. almost to the east.
.sThe Texas was well on our starboard
side | then gave the order hard aport
To the helmsman, ran through the open
ing between the shield and the coming
tower to the other side on purpose to see
orr own fleet and orr relative positions.
Quicker than | could tell it the commo-
dore called to me: Cook. hard aport?
bal, anortr' answered: