Bismarck daily tribune., 1901-10-23
REPORTER AS A WITNESS
Newspaperman Tells the Story Of the
fS's Es's3 Battle of Santiago as He Saw
=. : :.a 1t from Brooklyn. .,>.
Heard Captain Sigsbee Tell the Com
8 i inodore that Spanish Fleet.was (
- |,- ~" =
Not in Santiago. ~
.Contradicts Testimony of Other Wit
nesses Regarding the Bombard-
e., ment of the Colon.

e., ment of the Colon.
Washington, Oct. 23.-Lieutenant
Wells resumed the witness stand soon
after the Schley court of inquiry was
called to order and continued his mar
rative of the events of the Cuban cam
paign of 1898. -. @at
.: Captain Lemly began his examina-.
tion of Lieutenant Wells by asking
him whether there was kept book Of
records showing letters, received on
the Brooklyn as Lieutenant Command
er' Sears had testified there was, =,
Witness replied that there was a rec
ord of letters sent to and received
from vessels of the squadron. Lieu
tenant Wells also was questioned con-
cerning the department orders con-
cerning the risking of the American
ships to bombardment from the shore
batteries, the orders under considera-
tion being those Of April 6, April 26
and two of May 5. The orders of this
character stated that the department
does not wish the vessels of your
squadron to be exposed to the fire of
the batteries at havana, Santiago Or
other strongly fortified ports in Cuba"
and the others were regarded as mod
ifcations of these. In the last of
these, dated May 6, the department
said: -...~,, ~. :., -.:s.
THE department is perfectly willing
that you should expose your ships to
the heaviest guns of lanu batteries it,
s,,r 1;,,E~ Cv>o o;rl,
sells of sufficient military Importance
protected by t-e guns to make an at
tack advisable. Our chief aim at the
present being the destruction of the
enemys principal vessels" =.
q. Having read these dispatches wit
ness was asked by Captain Lemly:
"Can you separate your knowledge
with regard to the conversation with
guish between either of the other two
orders or both of these orders and as
to whether or not anything was said
with regard toSreceipts Of information
in relation to these letters here which
you have before you at the interview
Of May Is, in Key West ??''i .: /
" :! mo, sir. r do not distinguish be-
tween any of them. II have given my
general remembrance, which lis that
the order was not to risk the ships
No Written Order of Battle. ]
tjis&.I s. In reply to questions by Captain.
I,emly witness said there had been no
written or printed order Of battle, but
that on the day before Cienfuegos was
reached some ri special y4 instructions
were sent to the ships by the Scorpion.
This was, he said, order No. 9, relating
to signals in case the enemy should be
sighted. i This order was then read.
Questioned further on this point,
witness said: III prepared no written
orders and did not know OF the exist
ence of any remember, however,
that the commander officers were call
$ed on board I, /" ;s H. s.;4 25s,. ... =
witness answered several questions
put by the court as follows. -: Il
Eat what period Of IN the battle Of
jay 8 did you use q range Of 1,100
Yards? \ rsS5. 3S5 IN =.
That was about the beginning oi
Mslat is known. as. .the turn not the be.
inning but after the turn had begun
Ahould say Il. 55.IJ5 e
Az what point of the chase did you
es stimate tho Colon to be 10000 yards
5sss dist tant from the Brooklyn ?''.!&
q 81 .ssW When the fiseaya went ashore ,',''8S
Lieutenant Wells was then excused
and Albert ". Mason called. He was
Questioned by Cap tain Parker and said
that he had been a yeoman OF second
e class on board the Brooklyn during the
3 Santiago 9camp ignS and had been the
s sS8 writerSof that ship S log IIe had made
)s the entry concerning s the battle o1
@$ 81 Santiago and he produced q 5copyo1
I II the rough log which he had made q fol
Wis own use s ,S38 VI Is .H.s
Z z. an an account of the Brooklyn y turn shac
z G been at first prepared 1t read !: 8ztsFYVt
Il engaged with port battery at 1rst bui
3 lust as soon as the enemy stood ts
<& westward we put our elm sta arhoars
81 Of first. then hard aport, 50 as to- bring
Ss our starb battery To bear, and
swinging clear of the Texas. fire,, w
ssss Sfs stood parallel with and to the enemy
This entry had, he said, been chang
5Sgs Cd later at the instance OF Lieutenan
Z Hodgson to make IL read as II does i
s tlle; permanent cory, as olloWs:
AS soon as the enemy stood to a. th!
westward we put q our helm aporf 'lg
swinging clear of the Texas,
CORES ondens on, the Stand.
Nj. Mason then retired and Georg'
rs,iward Graham, the Associated Pres
s ssss saayresDond ent, was called. He wa
Sa85 II, stoned by IN ii. Rayner and said u
VAS "a the Brooklyn d from a arch s229s 4
All 90. \
AIr. ham was then s llestlone' e
8Sss shout tl,e conversation between Con
3, f,so ara Schiey and Cap ain Sigsbee 81
ssIs ,,a roca on off the ca aptain' n's visit e
ss shes s.i, brooklyn on sNNf rs as lows e:
Sid YOU see Captain Sigsbse ol
hs,ara tlie Brooklyn on May 26 ~ .s55sss
{, 3,
Bid Yoal lin in conversatio q