Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1901-10-11
CHASE OF THE COLON.
1T Is Described by Lieut.. Hodgson
4 in Schley Inquiry.
Witness Insiats on Truth of His state
4, mens That schley Used the Ex-
preston During the Fights
'sDnmn the Texas"

cation of Admiral Schley's conduct in
the Spanish war.
Lieutenant Commander Hodgson,
navigator of the Brooklyn during the
Santiago campaign, resumed the
stand.
The witness, in response to
Zsquest from Mr.. Rayner, continued
his description of the naval battle of
July 8, from the point where he had
dropped that description at Capt. Lem
1y's request while he was on the stand
Friday He said in part:
1.-THE BROOKLYN did all she could She got
dnto action just as quick as steam could
carry her there We commenced firing as
soon as the first gun on the port bow would
bear and we kept the port battery firing
until she turned with port helm through
the arc using the aft guns until we got all
the starboard guns to bear. We got around
ms quickly as we could with port helm un-
til we almost paralleled the course of the
leading Spanish vessel. when the helm was
seased and the ship steered course parallel
with the Viscaya which was then the lead
Ing vessel, although the Maria Teresa
probably was farther to the westward than
the Viscaya. She was standing at an angle
into the shore When we got around the
smoke was so very dense nothing could be
seen of anything In the rear of us. the
three Spanish vessels we were then en-
gagged with were the Niscaya, the Colon
and the Oquendo. The Viscaya was about
$500 yards on our starboard bow; the,
Colon probably was a little forward of the
.starboard beam. The Oquendo was abaft
sthe starboard beam.
I'VE continued in that direction, when
remarked to Capt. Cook, that II seemed
rather lonely for us out there. He was in
the coming tower He asked: 'Whyg i
said that we were all alone with the three
Spanish vessels and 1t seemed that II de-
pended upon us to knock them out. AT
that time the smoke was so dense 1 could
not see anything and l supposed that the
New York being away the Brooklyn was
;steaming ahead of the slower vessels. He
stepped out of the coming tower and ex-
claimed: What's that of our starboard
quarter l looked in that direction and
saw the heavy bow of a ship and said:
That must be the Massachusetts, He
said No. II could not be the Massachu-
sets; she has gone to Guantanamo /
said: 1T must be the Oregon and he re-
marked. God bless the Oregon l said:
well, i am very glad to see her. The
Oregon was at that time about, should
say, 400 or 500 yards off our starboard quar-
ter at full speed.
'I remember at one time telling Commo-
.dore Schley that II was within about Is, 900
yards. and my recollection is he told some
one TO signal the Ore gon to try one of her
railroad trains At any rate, shortly aft
-erward the Oregon fired one of her l3-inch
shells which fell short. Then we tried with
-eight-inch shells and they fell short. The
Oregon was signaling to us the fall OF our
shot and we signaled TO her the fall of her
shot. We continued occasionally TO fire.
the oregon her Is and eight-inch guns and
we our eight-inch guns. remember seeing
one Of the l3-inch shells OF the Oregon fall
we'll ahead of the Colon and one OF our
-eight-inch shells apparently fell in shore
of the Colon. AT that time the Colon ported
helm hard aport. Previously to this she
had ported her helm once or twice appar-
emily seeking a soft spot on shore. She
fired her lee gun and hauled down her flag.
j pulled out~ny watch. Ii was exactly :l5
We then ceased firing and slowed down.
and orders were given TO get out boat. The
captain was ordered TO go on board to
make terms with or tell the terms to the
commanding officer of the Colon. on ac-
count OF steam having been cut off and
there being some trouble with the boat We
were some little time getting the boat out.
n the meantime We had slowed and as rap
idly as could be accomplished one of the
scutters was finally gotten out. crew put
in. Capt. Cook went in the boat and
boarded the Colon. think he probably had
a mile and half pull"
Admiral schIey's Conduct.
Mr. Rayner-What was the bearing OF
Commodore Schley during this engagement
or any engagement in which YOU saw
him?
His bearing and manner, with respect
to an officer of his rank and station in the
naval service, were naturally those OF a
commander in chief of a naval force on
that occasion"
The witness said that the commodore
had occupied place on a platform around
the coming tower during the engagement.
This, he said, was position of danger as
the commodore was there always in full
view of the enemys ships.
Mr.. Rayner then had the witness scrutin-
lie the letter which he had written to Ad-
miral Schley on June and drew from him
zthe statement that he had not then IN
formed the admiral that he had used the
expression Damn the Texas" When the
witness was asked II he thought that there
was any suggestion OF such an expression
he replied when 1 suggested to Commo-
.dore Schley that there was danger of col
lidng with the Texas he said: Damn the
Texas He used the expression as not in
any way condemning the Texas for being
there. but as If he were irritated as one
might be about anything"
Did Say, "Damn the Texas"
Mr.. Rayner asked then about the express
sion attributed to the witness: She Will
cut down the Texas" Commander Hodg-
sson replied that there was no such SXpres-
sion in the letter and that he never had
said that the Brooklyn would cut down the
Texas. "There Is a good deal in that re-
ported colloquy that did not say" he add
ed. "The statement was never made" he
went on, but the commodore did say:
Damn the Texas"
The afternoon session of the court began
with a question put to Lieutenant Com
-mander Hodgson by Mr.. Hanna. He asked
why he had written his categorical denial
of the newspaper report of the colloquy be-
tween himself and Commodore Schley. The
question was objected to and Admiral
Dewey said:
1--WE have the facts. The letters were
written. That is all the court wants. We
want facts-facts. People are influenced
by different kinds of things We want the
facts. Draw out the facts"
Mr.. Hanna then changed his question
and the witness said that he had writer
his explicit denial in responae to a request
from Admiral Schley.
Fire In Chicago.
Chicago, Oct. s.-The fve-story bricl
building at A to As Green street, wa.
destroyed by fire which broke out al
four a. IN. The building was occupied
hu Tho McMnhnn Ricnlit aud Grn al. NJ,