The news & observer., 1901-10-16
was wide gap of water-possibly about
600 yards.
scHLEY COOL AND CALM.

In reply TO question COmnlOuofe
Sears said he had been with Commo-
dore Schley in five engagements all
told. He was then asked as to the bear
ing of that officer under fire and replied:
His bearing to me was model for
anybody, worthy of emulation at all
times. Under fire his facilities, if it
was possible, seemed to be clearer and
be more in possession of them than at
any other time"
Was he in any state of excl 4ment?'
'Not the slightest
WAS he cool and calm?"
Absolutely
How about points of danger, would,
would he get away from them or did he
expose himself to them?"
EXPOSED HIMSELF OFTEN.
"He was always putting himself in ex-
posed positions. / requested him many
times not to expose himself as it was
useless to do so.
Judge Advocate Lemly cross-examined
the. witness. who said that beyond the
standing in of the American feet and
the sending in of the Adula no effort had
been made before Captain McCalla's ar
rival to discover whether the Spaniards
were in the harbor there.
Commander Sears said that Commodore
Schley had discussed the coal situation
freely with him, and that when the retro
grade movement was begun the Texas
had only little more than enough coal
to carry her to the nearest coaling sta
tion. He had, he said, been averse to
the westward movement. He had, at
Commodore Schley's instance made the
signal for the move westward.
The witness said that so far as he
knew there were no general circular or
ders of battle.
"Were there any orders for especial
contingencies?
"None to my knowledge
Asked about the range given for the
firing of the American guns on May 81,
Mr.. Sears said he had given it at 1000
yards under direction of Commodore
Schley Asked if he had had any CONVEX
sation with Commodore Schley concern
ing the range, he replied in the negative.
Did you not state otherwise in the
ward room of the Massachusetts" Mr..
Lemly asked.
81 have no recollection Of stating any
thing else?'' replied the witness.
NO RECOLLECTION OF SUCH WORDS.
IN NoMa.refresh your memory. ] ask if
you did net say in the ward room of the
Massachusetts,: For Gods sake don't
discourage him. 1t is all we have been
able to do to work him up to this, or
words to that effect?'
"No. l never said anything of the
kind" replied the witness.
In reply to further questions the wit
ness said that while no conclusion could
be reached fro mthe signal fires on shore
at Santiago on July 2, that the Spanish
fleet was preparing to escape, yet the
situation was SO tense that Commodore
Schley felt something unusual was go
ing to occur.
CAPTAIN COOK RECALLED.
The afternoon session of the court be-
gan with the recall of Captain Francis
A. Cook for the purpose of correcting the
testimony given by him yesterday. While
he was on the stand Judge Advocate
Lemly asked him the following question:
What conversation, if any, did you have
with Commodore Schley about the retro
grade movement either before or after
the signals were made and the order
given on May 26 to return to Key West?"
''As near as | recollect the circum>
stances there was a conversation after
the message had been brought to me that
signal had been made bound for Key
West by Yucatan channel l did not
understand the signal and went in to see
the Commodore about it. / asked him
what the signal meant, and he said that
he must coal the ships. That he must
seek some place to coal them, and that
he was going toward Key West until he
could find an opportunity to coal from
the collier and if he did not find that
he must be near coal base to keep the
ships coaled / made some remark con-
cerning the weather conditions; that l
thought they would be more favorable
later He said: Until they are and
until l am able to coal from the collier,
/ must keep within striking distance Of
coal. / said that l recognized that he
felt the responsibility as no one else
could, and that it was serious question.
He answered that he recognized that
fact, but that he must act in accordance
with his judgment, whether right or
wrong: that personal consideration was
! of no account, when the safety of the
fleet was to be considered
The Judge Advocate asked the witness
the following questions: What nstruc-
tions did you receive from Commodore
Schley regarding the movement of the
Brooklyn after it was discovered that
Cervera's squadron was coming out of
the harbor of Santiago.
II do not recollect any specific instruc-
tions. We were standing for the enemy"
PLEASE repeat any conversation that
took place between Commodore Schley
ana yourself from the time the Spanish
Continued on Fifth Page.)