The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-10-04

starboard bow"
NO SQUADRON ORDER BOOK.
BY the Court-Was there a squadron
night order book on board the Brooklyn?
II did not see any. No; 1 know there
was none. 1 did not see any. There was a
captains night order book"
Lieutenant Doyle was excused and Lieu
tenant Commander Clifford ]. Boush, who
had made for the court the large charts Of
the positions of the vessels Of the Amer
lean squadron while off Santiago was
called to identify those charts and TO state
the date upon which they were prepared
Commander Boush also gave
concerning the phases of the moon during
the Santiago campaign as taken from the
American Spemeris.
Capt. William G.. Dawson, of the United
State marine corps. was the next witness.
lie was the signal officer on board the bat
tleship Indiana during the battle OH SAN
tiago, and said he had noticed the Brook-
lyn when that vessel turned to the south
ward He had supposed the ship was m
Jured and had gone out OF action. lie
thought she went 2,00e yards or more 10
the south. Captain Dawson said that dur
ing the battle he had a place on the lying
bridge beside Captain Taylor and had been
able TO see well. The Indiana had. he said,
occupied a position at the eastern extrem-
ity Of the arc of the blockading circle,
while the Brooklyn had been to the west
end of the line.
me luuidld, ne Sdlu, Was HSduihS oP
proximately north and the Brooklyn north
erly and e~asterly. The Texas was first east
OF the Brooklyn and was heading In the
same general direction as that vessel. L
had a clear view of all the vessels up to
the time the Indiana was directed to re-
turn during the chase of the Colon;r
In reply to a question from Captain
Lemly the witness said at this point that
he had seen no signals from the Brooklyn
directing the movements of the fleet during
the battle. Continuing his narrative ne
said:
AT the beginning all the ships turned in
toward the Spanish feet, which was
emerging from the harbor. The Spanish
vessels came out in a southwesterly direc-
ton and ported helm, continuing 10 the
westward practically parallel 20 the coast
line. Our ships then, not having as great
speed as the enemy's, began to fall behind,
so that the Indiana, Oregon and Texas
starboarded helm and made all the speed
they could In a parallel course with Ihe
movement of the Brooklyn. The hrSt 1 no.
ticed of her was twenty or twenty-five
minutes after the action began, when TO
the westward 1 saw the Brooklyn standing
apparently due southwark, directly at right
angles TO the course we and the other
American ships were steering. This struck
me so forcibly because the other ships
were in column and steaming westward.
The Brooklyn was in close proximity TO
several others of our ships. They appeared
bunched. but the Brooklyn was steaming
seaward and firing with her stern guns,
while some of the others, l could not dis
lllk WHICH,, MtIC ClOSt " Z
OUTSIDE OF THE LINE.
The spectacle was so remarkable that I
reported the fact to the commanding officer
of our ship, saying 1 feared the Brooklyn
was injured and was going out. She. how
ever, changed her course and went west on
a line well outside of the other ships. 1
think the Oregon was then I'm the lead,
either the Oregon or the Texas. with the
Iowa following and the Indiana in the
rear. The Brooklyn steered a course par
allell, about a mile or a mile and a half TO
the southwark, Skirting along the column
formed by the fleet. BY that time the chase
was we'll under way and the relative posi-
tons of the vessels were not changed"
Mr.. Raynor's cross-eXamination OF Capt.
Dawson was directed toward showing that
his testimony was based on recollection
and that consequently he was liable to be
Inaccurate. The witness admitted that he
testified only from memory, but he said:
Il was on deck as a signal officer, and it
was my duty to observe closely and make
report"
He said the Brooklyn had gone about 1000
yards to the southwark.
When Captain Dawson was excused Lieut..
c. w. Dyson. of the bureau OF steam en-
gineering, Navy Department, was intro
duced TO present a tabulated statement,
vessels of the flying squadron from May IS
TO June ], 1898, as compiled from the steam
log books Of the various vessels.
Mr.. Raynor said that he would not OBJ
ject to the presentation OF the statement,
but that he would ask that Il be so extend
ed as TO show how long this coal in each
case would carry the vessel under forced
draught, leaving sufficient on hand TO take
the vessel to any given base of supply.
Captain Lemly said he had no objection
10 supplying this additional information,
the day before the tables could De pre-
sented.