The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-10-22

| SCHLEY IN PERFECT COMMAND
OF II SITUATION.
DIR. Charles NJ. de valin, medical Of
hcer of the Brooklyn, followed Com
mander Nicholson. He said that he
had observed Commodore Schley DUR
ing the entire engagement. His conf
duct and bearing" said the Witness
was all that ould be expected. He
seemed to know what he was about
and to be doing all that he wished tol
do. He was in perfect control of the
situation"
In response to questions from CaptainI
Lemly the witness said that he had
heard Commodore Schley give the ORDER
helm hard aport," and had heard mol
one else give it. He had at that time
heard no colloquy or alteration with
Hodgson concerning this order.
Haven't you stated heretofore that
You did hear such a Conversations"
Il may nave SO stated, but I do not
now remember and cannot repeat anyI
conversation of the kind"
BROOKLYN'S CHIEF ENGINEER
Captain John L. Hannum, chief engi-l
neer on board the Brooklyn said that
while the Merrimac May 9th and 2Sthl
was not entirely helpless, here horse-|
power was reduced one-third and that
she was able to hobble along only att
the rate of four or five knots an hour.l
h court asked Captain Hannum:l
Were the fires laid ready for lightingI
under all boilers not in use by thel
Brooklyn July Enc? II not, why not?'1
81 think the urnaces were coaled.l
/ am pretty sure they were ready tol
throw a shovel full Of coal on the
and start them" !
CONDITION OF BROOKLYN'S EN-
GINES.
Lieutenant Thomas F. Carter, passed.
assistant engineer, who was in charged
80 49, ~ tho vain on Il
of the Brooklyn during the Santiago
campaign gave a statement concerningI
the condition of the engines of thel
Brooklyn on the morning of the battleI
of July 3rd, saying: The after mainl
engines were not used. The forward
main engines were disconnected froml
the forward ones and steam was on int
three boilers"
Mr.. Rayner: Can you tell me what
went on in the engine rooms during theI
action with respect to increasing the|
speed of the ship?"
Every effort was made to economical
steam and get the most power out of
it, the most turns of the engine. Thel
fires were started in the other b%oilersI
as soon as possible. Forced draughtI
was put on. There was a steady in-I
crease in the number of turns of thel
engines from the beginning to the end."I
Were the engines at any time STOP
ped, reversed or slowed?"
1.-The engines were mot at timel
during the battle stopped, or reversed.
L have no recollection of their ever hav-|
ing been slowed. They certainly wereI
not stopped, nor reversed"
Mr.. Rayner asked the witness wheth-I
er he had received any encouraging
messages during the battle and he re-
piled that he had, saying: They were
all of general purport, informing usI
for instance that a ship had been SUNK
mo ho6 tI1rnn6 in chnra ~ two ChinSI
were on fire, etc. OF course they were
all enthusiastically received. Some of
the messages were from Commodore
Schley, others from Captain Cook, and
still others from Assistant Engineer
yan
The court asked: When were the
fires laid in the boilers that were not in
use when the battle began on the
morning of July 3rd?"
The two after boilers had no water
in them. Those fires were not laid until
after the battle call was sounded, but
the other boilers not in use did havel
fires laid. AS to when they were laid
1 do not know, but the boilers that had
water in them had their furnaces
charged and those without water were
kept uncharged."
BROOKLYN'S SIGNAL OFFICER.
w. P. Cronan, an ensign who served
as signal officer on the Brooklyn dur
ing the Cuban campaign, was called.
Mr.. Rayner asked him whether he re-
membered a message from the Scorpion
to the Brooklyn on May 18th as he
was going from Key West to Cienfue-
| COS. The witness replied: yes, sir.
That morning 1 was on watch on the
after bridge of the Brooklyn. We
sighted three ships bound for Key
West. one of which was a converted
yacht. The Scorpion left the column
and went over toward this yacht and
communicated a megaphone message
\ to the Brooklyn. The substance of this
message was that the Nashville was
returning to Key West broken down;
that the Cincinnati and Vesuvius were
~patrolling Yucatan channel, and that
/ Captain McCalla reported that he had
seen nothing of the S~paniards at Cien>
fuegoS."
who received that meSSage?' Asked
Mr.. Rayner.
ITO the best of my remembrance. the
FL commodore and flag lieutenant were on
the bridge beside myself" g
Mr.. Cronan continued his testimony
at the afternoon session saying that
q one of the Spanish ships appeared to
be heading directly toward the Brook
lyny creating the impression that either
she meant to ram the Brooklyn or the
Brooklyn to ram her"
e In reply to a question by the court
Mr.. Cronan said that so far as he
hIc" uSlllCl III ioSi AOA lhS NAASA
had made any signal requesting thu
p squadron to slow down on the cruise
from Cienfuegos to Santiago.
THE BROOKLYN'S CARPENTER.
George F. Warford, carpenter on thu
Brooklyn. said that early in the actor
at Santiago the order was passed by &
q marine orderly: Stand by to ram
He also said that later, and, during
the chase, he had seen the Viscays
n turn as if to ram the Brooklyn befor'
the former went ashore.
Mr.. Warford sale that Commodor'
q Schley's conduct and bearing during
the battle was hat of a fearless Off
Ger.
~ TEXAS CHIEF MACHINIST.
ofl j. L. Hunley, who was chief machin
,el list on the Texas, said that during tn
ltl engagement he had been on duty at tn
ISL throttle of the port engine. He sal,
ofl in response to a question by Mr.. Ray
mar rhot hn Enau- A1fro3 Clorf0n VIII