The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-08
HISTORY"
BY MACLAY
PRESIDENT THOMPSON, OF NAVAL
ACADEMY ALUMNI, MAKES A
STATEMENT
IT'S sLURs AGAINST sCHLEY.
lays Col. Thompson, Were Pro-
nOunced Unjust by Ad-
miraI Samp-
son.
INACCURACIES IN THE CHART

NEW YORK. Oct. 7.-Col Robert NJ
Thompson. of this city, president of the
United States naval academy alumni
association, makes the following state
ment to the Associated Press in connec-
tlon with the Schley inquiry:
There is one story which I am very
anxious should be truthfully presented
to the public. After Maclay's' book was
published Maclay stated that the proof
had been submitted to the commanding
officers, including Admiral Sampson, and
they approved his statements. A report
er calling on Admiral Sampson when he
was sick in bed, obtained what purported
to be a confirmation of this statement,
The admiral was asked if he. had seen
and approved copy of Maclay's MIS-
tory, and he said yes" But unfortun-
ately he was too i'll to go into details
and examine everything so the public was
so informed and today believes that Ad-
mlral Sampson entirely approved the
statement that Schley was a coward and
caitiff, which was the gist of Maclay's
charge against Schley.
I am in position to state the facts,
end you may absolutely rely upon them
as the truth. The proofs were sent by
Mr.. Maclay to Admiral Sampson with
the request that they should be read
and corrected. The admiral at the time
was not in good health and did not wish
to undertake the labor, but his secretary
pointed out that the Maclay history was
standard one and used at the naval
academy as a text book This volume
brought the navy down through the perl
od of the Spanish war and it was de-
slrable that there should be no mac
curacies in it. The admiral thereupon
consented to read them, and he did cor
rect
A CERTAIN PART
of them, but as soon as he arrived at
the part which contained the statement
that Schley was a coward and a caitiff
he was very much angered and said that
the statement was one the author had
no right to make; that it was unjust and
unfair to call any naval officer in such
terms, and declined to have anything
further to do with the proofs His sec
retary, impressed with the great desira-
blllty of having the statement of facts
accurate, and not believing he was in
any way responsible for the statement
of opinions, did on his own account. COM
pare the book with the records and make
on the margins a number of corrections
AS many of these were in the same hand
writing as when Admiral Sampson was
giving his personal attention to the cor
rectlons, Mr.. Maclay was perfectly hon
est IN MS statement The order of the
secretary of the navy forbidding officers
OF the navy making any statement for
the pubhc regarding this controversy,
issued after the Sampson interview pre-
vented the above corrections being made.
START OF THE BATTLE
There is one other question that has
been brought up in which accusa ations
or carelessness, to say the least have
peen made against the gallant Vain
wright IN connection with the chart of
rne oattie OF Santiago, prepared and
printed III the so-called appendix. yet
anyone reading the report ACCOMMODATING
the chart sees that there was no mis-
representation as to what it was If
olu not claim to be, and in the nature
OF things could not be, absolutely cor
rect. In the first half hour of the fight
while the smoke of battle obscured all
landmarks, and the excitement incident
TO the battle was affecting every mind
now could men determine accurately
Where they We're at each particular mo-
ment! AT the best there could onIv he
as there was, general direction among
the navlgators, each putting down his
snip where he thought it ought to be
anu "here there were differences of opin-
ION each had to testify what his nosi-
ton was, and so the board renorted Tho
cnart in question: which shows in a GER
eraI way the positions of the shins is az
accurate as in the nature of things we
can make it, and in any event is an an
pIoAlhdtlon OF the truth. This descrin-
tlon stands true today, and all criticism
'oL ahWrlght and the other writer's is
entirely unjust
was at the recent yacht races. and
nave learned how extremely difficult
1t is to distinguish the position of shin
on the water from any point of view
Time and again persons on the boat with
me were sure one or the other boats were
gaming while the apparent gain or loss
was due to our own motion With no
hxed standard to guide one, it is diff
cult to even approximate the truth with
TINS IN mind 1 readily understand the
dll1erences of opinion of several officers
VINO during the battle saw the BrookIvn
t[oHl varying positions. There was not
the least doubt but each reached ~,
truth as he saw it. The exact truth can
only be arrived at by combining all the
points of view, or perhaps the exact
truth can never be determined