The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-26

surprise that such was really the case. It was at this period that he sent his dispatch to the department giving ab- solute information of the presence of the Spaniards, and Sfgsbee took this mes sage to Mole St. Nicholas.
 Admiral Schley said that after locating the fleet in Santiago he formed the block ade in the only way he believed such a small squadron could be utilized for such duty. The ships were in column, broad side on to the entrance of the harbor, so that a simple turn of the, wheel would bring them in line if the enemy appeared. He called the captains of the ships aboard and explained his idea of the blockade to them and also his general plan of at- tack. which was to attack the head of the column first and confuse and cripple each in turn.
 The picket boats were to be used as tor pedo boat destroyers. The ships were to | maintain steam so as to be capable of | twelve knots The fleet steamed back and forth before the entrance of the har- bor.
 Could Plainly See Tickets. Morro Castle. he thought, was at no time more than five miles away. He judged this by the distinctness with | which he could see the surf. The bottoms I OL dil uiS SiuPS were IOul, perhaps u krot or knot and @ half slower than | they should have been. The Admiral explained how the fleet steamed back and forth using the bold head lands at night to determine their position with the picket boats always inside
 Every night. except when rain squalls occurred. and they were usually brief, the admiral testified, he could see the pickets either with the naked eye or with G-l.A -l- tA hAd
 without looking for them, and there was not @ night when he could not distinguish the land and the Morro.
 In concluding his description of the blockade that had been maintained the
 Admiral said that 1t was sufficient, as
 was shown by the fact that during its existence no vessel entered or escaped | from the harbor.
 Coming to the reconnaissance of May
 31st Admiral Schley said:
 "On the 31st. while the Brooklyn and the Marblehead and the Texas were coal | ing I transferred my flag to the Massa- chusetts and determined to develop the facts because of information we had on board the flagship from the hydrographic office-my impression now is it was rather undetermined. l think one source stated that the batteries were old and another that the Krupps were mounted. The
 general belief, however, was that all of
 the southern places were very heavily fortified. In fact we knew very little about the effect of higher powered artil- lery either on shore or aboard ship, and feeling that I ought to know something about the Notifications which defended that place, 1 determined to go in and take advantage of what l believed to be a longer range of our guns and develop fully what these defenses were and in- cidentally. if we could get shot into the oClon that was lying exposed. Wanted Closed Touch.
 I think we were lying in a position per haps four or five miles to the westward.
 The steaming in was at slow speed. transferred my flag, and went on board
 the Massachusetts. When I boarded her 1t was near the dinner hour and Captain | Higginson suggested that we postpone
 until l o'clock the going in to develop these batteries. I assented. After the | meal we steamed in pretty nearly head on. There was not much opportunity | for anybody to seek cover behind a turret | unless he got behind the protecting plate l which was a guard to the entrance to the rear. Some weight had been iaid upon | the fact that we were in white clothes.
 would like to invite attention to the
 fact that it was a matter which con
 trolled entirely for my squadron and
 about the only suitable dress for that | region"
 once on board, he said. he had engaged
 in a conversation with Captain (now Ad- | miraD Higginson.
 q Was Not Excited"
 'I was not excited" he went on. 'nor nervous, for 1 need not have undertaken | the reconnaissance had I not desired to | do so. I had some regard for those stand ing turrets, thinking they were exposing | |. fn 6n Ghnnk
 was unnecessary, though I was different | ly crcumstanced, and 1 so expressed my | self. Commander Potts Is in error In say | ing that I took advantage of cover, | did not for l was not concerned about myself"
 Speaking of the range of 1000 yards. | the commodore said Commander Potts had himself reported on that range. and that he (Schley) had not known for several days that the range had been altered
 Wanted to Save the Ships He went on: "The shore batteries re-
 sponded, some of them using smokelesS powder. There was quite a stream of projectiles, and was impressed with tho l idea that they must be from guns of { to S-inch calibre. The shot from the | Socapa battery evidently reached the
 fleet. Some went over our ships and one
 
 was half a mile distant.
 "The strength of the batteries being
 established it would have been military | folly to have rsked the battleships
 further to fire from these shore batteries under my instructions. If we had lost | one or two or our six or seven vessels | the loss would have. been a very great
 disadvantage. and it might have invited
 attack with disastrous results. l thought
 it better policy to save the ships for wider and better use, and subsequent
 events justified the decision"
 The Question of Coaling.
 Here the witness abruptly turned from | the bombardment of the Colon to dis
 cussion of the coaling question. He said
 that his instructions had been to coal on every possible occasion. He then quoted and put in a sevidence number of dispatches giving the instructions of | the department on this question. He re- lated in this connection the receipt of | number of dispatches from the depart ment which had. he said. been brought by Captain Cotton. He was sure that the dispatches could not have been received
 before May 3l.
 When he received these dispatches the
 admiral testified he had already discover
 ed the Spanish fleet.
 Surmounted Difficulties.
 He had also surmounted the difficulties 1 shout coaling and had so informed the
 department In this connection he mar
 rated the incident of the capture by the l St Paul of the Reistermel, the English collier bound for Santiago Captain SIgsbee had reported that the collier had