The age-herald., 1901-09-26

l ing that 1t was most important that they | should be correct. He would admit the
 delivery of one dispatch on the 27th but the contention was that the other dis patches were delivered on the 31st. He called the admirars attention to the fact that one of the dispatches which he had said he delivered on May 27 had been dated in Washington on that day. The dispatch in which Secretary Long had in- structed the commander as to the i'm portance of determining explicitly wheth- CT Cervera's fleet was in Santiago harbor. The admiral said If he had said that this dispatch was delivered on the 27th he had made a mistake; that 1t was delivered on the 31st after his return from Kingston. He was certain, however, that he had delivered more than one dispatch to Com modore Schley on the 27th He said:
 T delivered to Commodore Schley two dispatches on the morning of May 27. think 1t probable that among the dis patches which l speak of having handed him on that day there may have been some which were addressed to me and not to him, which contained information such as l thought he should have. Of these two dispatches addressed to him, one was from Admiral Sampson"
 Recurring to his conversation with Ad- miral Schley concerning the coal supply of the fleet on the 27th Admiral Cotton Sdlu IHaL AuHlTdl OCHley ndu expressed great anxiety on that point such as any
 commander would have felt, he said, un- der the circumstances.
 MT, Rayner attempted to have Admiral Cotton say that his conversation with
 Admiral Schley concerning Lieutenant
 Beale's proposition to go ashore had &C., cured on the 31st instead of the 27th of May. The witness said that this might
 possibly be the case, but that to his best recollection the conversation occurred on the 27th.
 Sent a Man Ashore.
 MT. Rayner explained that Admiral Schley had on the 31st sent man ashore to communicate with the insurgents, which would explain Admiral Schleys dclination of Lieutenant Beales propo- sition.
 The witness said that up to May "A he did not know of the presence of the Span ish fleet within the harbor at Santiago, nor did he know of any other officer who had that information at that time. On redirect examination. Admiral Cot
 ton said he was satisfied that he had told Admiral Schley of Lieutenant Beales
 proposition on the 27th.
 MT. Hanna here introduced copy of dispatch from Admiral Sampson which had been received by the Harvard and which had not been made public hereto | fore. It was stated that this message | had been written on May p. A notation | on 1t showed that 1t had been received | on May 25. The dispatch was in cipher | and VI as directed to the Harvard at Mole
 St. Nicholas. It was translated by Lieu
 tenant Bealle and as presented read: "The Spanish squadron at Santiago; if previous to May 19 scout off Santiago. Communicate with Schley If he (they) l moves west. Schley Is expected May "A
 at Santiago from Cienfuegos. Telegraph A,o, i11o al fa he (they) move east and leave letter for Schley. Then go to Santiago to meet
 him. I shall be at Cay Francis with l Squadron. If two scouts are available
 one should keep track of the Spanish | squadron"
 | Admiral Cotton said that if he had ever | given that dispatch to Admiral Schley 1t | had been on the 27th and not on the 31st of May.
 MT. Raynor here raised the point that | the docum ent read was a copy and not the original. He also called attent.\ to
 the fact that the document had not been
 printed in the official reports of the navy department. An animated controversy
 followed in which MT. Raynor comment
 ed on the inaccuracy of the department reports. He demanded the original dis patch and added:
 Inquiry Not Prosecution.
 This is an inquiry and not a prosecu- ton, and you are here to protect and vindicate Admiral Schley as much as we are."
 | He said Admiral Schley had turned in | all his papers and that Admiral Samp-
 sons papers should also be available for
 the purpose of the court. Admiral Lem | Icy then produced the original cipher l copy of the dispatch and asked Admiral
 Cotton "accordingto the best of your
 knowledge and belief and your best re-
 collection of the subject, you delivered on
 the 2th of May to Commodore Schley
 this dispatch?"
 "To the best of my knowledge and be-
 lief l delivered copy of that dispatch l to Schley on May 27 off Santiago and
 that is one of the dispatches to which
 referred as having delivered. To the | best of my knowledge I delivered a copy | of that dispatch because 1t was present
 information for him and he was men | toned by name in the dispatch" Ultimately, Mir Rayner consented to | accept the copy as correct. This point settled. counsel for the de- | partment passed to the point concerning 1 the proposition of Lieutenant Beale to l communicate with the Cuban insurgents l on shore and in doing so caused another | objection to be raised by MT. Rayner. The question was put up by MT. Hanna, | who said:
 T will ask you wheth,r you would | have considered that you had discharged
 your whole duty. having knowledge of 1 this If you had not communicated with | Commodore Schley?"
 | Mir. Rayner indicated an objection, saying: You arc not pressing a ques- | tion of that sort"
 l To this Admiral Dewey interjected: This witness has already stated that
 very fact"
 Mir. Rayner-He gave that as a reason | for verifying his recollection, but the | question is asked here whether he per- | formed his duty"
 Admiral Dewey-As the witness said that he considered he had done his l whole duty, I think he has answered I that was struck with that very phrase and l thought how much time we were | wasting asking the same question over | and over and over again. Captain Wise. Captain William c. Wise who was in cammond of the auxiliary cruiser Yale. followed Admiral Cotton on the witness
 stand. He told of his reconnoitering
 about Santiago harbor on May 20 and 2S,
 previous to the arrival of the Flying squadron. He said he had not been able to see anything of the Spanish fleet Captain Wise related how he had come up with the Trying squadron off Santia-
 go Just as 1t had begun its retrograde