The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-29
SAVANNAH GA. SUNDAY SEPTEMBER % 1901

Il object" shouted Capt Lemly in a
voice as sharp as a pistol shot.
The objection is sustained" said
Admiral Dewey. The question is
highly improper"
The court then questioned the wit
ness as to the weather on the trip from
Cienfuegos to Santiago and finally
asked:
Did you, on any occasion. see the
large vessels of the blockading force
at or near daybreak between the 2Sth
and the 31st day of May?"
Il saw them every morning. could
see them at night, too, because there
was some moonlight"
How far were they from the Mar
blehead and how far was she from the
entrance to Santiago?"
i Judge we were two miles inside of
the large ships. We steamed up and
down. Sometimes we were nearer the
entrance than at others. 1 Judge we
were certainly two miles and perhaps
three miles inside the large ships.
AT what distance from the mouth
of the harbor were the Massachusetts,
the Iowa and the New Orleans dur
ing the firing on May 81"
Il can only judge from the effect
of their projectiles. I judge they
must have been from the Colon about
five miles"
Lieut.. Commander w. H. H. South
erland. who commanded the Eagle
said that he had first fallen in with
the flying squadron on May 10. He
had then, under Capt. McCalla's or
ders undertaken to communicate to
Commodore schley his information
concerning the situation al Cienfuegos
and had given this information to the
Scorpion for the Commodore, his mes
sage being as follows:
1--WE left Cienfuegos on the night of
the 10th, at which time, as we learned
from the insurgents, the only vessels
inside the harbor were two Gunboats
and several cannonierios."
When the court reconvened for the
afternoon session Capt. Lemly read the
agreement between himself and counsel
for Admiral Schley as to the portion
of the logs of certain vessels to be
printed.
To Explain Discrepancies.
The judge advocate then brought in
Lieut.. c. B. Barnes, cipher expert of
the Navy Department, for the purpose
of explaining the discrepancies between
the dispatch of Admiral Schley, saying
he could not, much to his regret, obey
the orders of the department, as it was
prepared by the Admiral, and as print
ed by the department.
Mr.. Rayner objected to the calling
of the witness, while Commander
Southerland's testimony was incom
plete. He also said that he did not
consider the variations in the dispatch
as important
Capt Lemly and Mr.. Hanna contend
ed that the matter was of grave i'm
portance.
The court decided that Mr.. Barnes
should withdraw.
Commander Switzerland was recall
ed.
Describing the cruise from Cienfue-
gos to Santiago, Commander Souther-
land said that from midnight of May
"a to the afternoon of the 25th the
Eagle had made very bad weather.
This was due to the fact that the sea
had a 'long rolf which was very try
ing to the yacht as the vessel was
then one-third full of water.
The Eagle Ordered Away.
"a little after 1 o'clock of the 26th
when about 35 miles from Santiago"
he said, II was called alongside the
flagship and the commodore directed
me to go to Port Antonio for coal and
to report rough weather south of Gu
Dd-
/ already had three days coal, as
much as the Marblehead, meaning as
much in proportion. The commodore
told me that l had not coal enough
for his purpose and directed me to
carry out his orders. / then asked
him again very earnestly to let the
Eagle remain with the fleet and coal
from the collier. He very courteously
replied to me that he either very much
regretted or else was very sorry ne
could not let me do so as the Eagle
had not coal enough for his purpose
and again directed me to proceed,
which l did after communicating with
my division commander"
The Cipher Dispatches.
Lieut.. Barnes was called and testified
that he was on duty in the Bureau of
Navigation, Navy Department. He
was shown the cipher dispatch book OF
the Harvard, by which vessel Commo-
dore Schley's dispatch was sent to
Kingston to be forwarded to Washing
ton. He added that last night and this
morning he had made a translation or
this message, and that it was practi-
clly the same as the departments first
translation, and the cipher copy re-
ceived by the department, he said was
Identical with the original cipher filed
at Kingston.
Mr.. Rayner then said the original
Schley dispatch was translated into
cipher aboard the Harvard. That cipher
came to Washington and he had no
doubt the department translation was
correct.
Mr.. Rayner in his cross-examination
brought out the fact that Lieut..
Barnes had no knowledge whether the
cipher copy made on the Harvard is a
correct reproduction of the original
Schley message. The whereabouts of
this message is unknown.
The witness was then excused and
the court at $3.50 p. m. adjourned until
Monday.
MILITARY PRISONER SHOT.