The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-10-25

$1,000
Taking the witness, Captain LemlyI
cross-examined him about all the pointsl
covered by his testimony. In responseI
TO one of his questions, Mr.. Hill said
hat ne had not heard any converse
tion between Commodore Schley and
Lieutenant Commander Hodgson about
the Brooklyn's helm or the Texas dur
ing the engagement OF July Bird.
The court asked: Did the Texas
stop and back during the Brooklyn'sI
turn?"
mo, sir; 1 saw the Texas distinctly
when the turn began and during the
turn, and she did not make any slack
water and she die not stop"
Did you hear any conversation be-
tween Commodore Schley and any other
officer during the early part Of the en-
gagement of July Bird"
II heard none before nor during the
turn. There was no officer with the
commodore on my side Of the ship"
LIEUTENANT ACKERMAN.
Lieutenant Alderman who was I'M
command of the after 13-inch turret and
the after S-inch turrets of the OregonI
gave a running account of that engage
ment. Describing the beginning Of the
action he said:
1--WE closed I'D the matches and laid
out fire nose and Immediately turned
the guns on the entrance to the harbor.
He said tina as the ships came out Sig
nal was made through telephone in the
coming tower to fire at Will. me
range indicators" the witness went on,
gradually fell until r think my first
snot was fired at a range of 5000 or 3,3OCI
yards" He had, he SAID, at that time
fired five shots from the 13-inch guns
but soon afterwards the Spanish ships
drew so far ahead ne could no longer
train his guns upon them
The witness described the Oregon's
passage between the Texas and the
Iowa. las we passed W the Iowa
and the Texas" said the witness. those
ships seemed to be practically az
anchor. We were going very fast then.
and forced draught was covering our
quarter deck an inch or more deep with
cinders, many of them red hot. Water
was running from every Migrant we
had to keep the decks from burning:
At hat time the fire of the enemy and
of our w ships was very heavy. Inc
water was whipped up in all dlrectlons'
shots flew overhead. 1 think 1t was
the most exciting time of the whole
engagement"
Witness described firing On the Colon,
and after luncheon continued his MARIA
tive saving that when the Colon's flag
went down the men on n oregon
ceased firing. The Brooklyn bore at
that time two points on the oregon 81
port bow and was about a mile d1stant
said the witness. He described the
sending of boats to the Colon IRON tne|
Brooklyn which, ne said, seemed toI
lake a long time. At this time the
Texas and the Vixen arrived. TheI
New York also arrived and When sne|
came up went in very near to the Colon.
After this the oregon returned UNDER
orders eastward on a false alarm.
I'VE had already" he said, prepared
---l -~;zo r6 % He SnOkoI
of the firing of the Brooklyn, saying:
"At the time l was aloft on the signal
ward I saw them fire from the Brook
lyn with her S~tarboard forward S-incn
guns, and l noticed her shots ppeared
to fall very short. In fact, toward thel
end of the chase, l saw no shots from
the Brooklyn that reached the Colon"
Captain Lemly asked: DO you know
whether there were any Instructions
from the Brooklyn, by signal probably,
if at all, with regard to opening nreI
with the 13-inch guns at the latter part
of the action?' I'll
Il never heard OF Such lnStructlonS,
the witness replied.
How lie the Brooklyn appear to bel
heading relative to the Oregon and tnel
Spanish vessels" |
There was only one vessel left att
that time. the Colon, n 1 think her
course was slightly divergent from thatI
OF the OTeSOn WHICH, leu " IHO jpn
ion that she was heading for the head-l
land beyond the Colon, with the intent
ton of cutting off that vessel"
(Which vessel, the Brooklyn or tIei
Oregon. was nearer the Colon when III
went ashore?"
THAT is very difficult to say Prac-l
tically the two vessels were on the sameI
circle. Probably the Brooklyn was al
short distance nearer, but h differ
ence was hardly appreciate. Thel
Brooklyn was. however, 1900 yards or
more from the Colon. This 1 knew
from our bearing and range"
In response to a question from thel
court the witness said that he knew of
the receipt of no signal from the Brook-I
lyn until we'll after the chase had be-
gun. when he had understood that thel
Brooklyn had signalled to close If.
A BROOKLYN GUNNER TESTIFIES.l
Lieutenant Alderman was succeeded
on the stand by F. T. Apologize. who
was a gunne on the Brooklyn. The
witness said: Before the battle thel
guns and the auxiliary machinery at
tending them were in excellent condi-i
ton. After the battle we found all of
the 5-inch guns on the Starboard SideI
broken in some part or the lifting gear
of the guns carried away. The boresl
of the guns were pitted and the muz-l
zles of two of the gun were so swolleni
they had to be removed from this ship
NUMBER OF SHOTS FIRED BY THEl
BROOKLYN.
"Can you tell me anything about theI
ammunition expended on the Brooklynl
on the day of the battle?"
I'VE used up $50 5-inch shells. 1874
S-inch, 1900 6~-pounders and 400 one
Founders"
During the battle was there any
time within your observation that some
of the guns of the Brooklyn could not
have been trained on the enemy?"
mo, sir"
Some of them were always in use?"I
Some were always in use during the
complete turn"
Did you see Commodore Schley DUR
ing the action?"
Several times and spoke to him."
What impression did his conduct,
manner and bearing convey to your"
He seemed to be cool, calm and
collected and one who inspired conf
dence."