Evening star., 1901-10-28

1885, to the department in which a refer
ence was made to his arrival at CienfuegoS.
He wanted to know on what date thas let
ter stated that he had arrived at Cien-
fuegos and he replied on the morning OF the
ed
. O. Which was the closer blockade-at
sion is we were little closer. think, in
the neighborhood of three or four miles, at
Cienfuegos. At Santiago we were prob
ably from three and one-haf miles to nve
and one-haf miles out at times, but at
night we were closer in in both cases.
@. I do not mean close in, referring to the
distance, but close used in referring to
a blockade. A. think we were little
closer at Santiago.
The witness explained that on account of
the confguration Of the coast line at San
tiago it was possible to make a closer block
ade than at Cienfuegos. In reply to q Ques-
arrival at Cienfuegos on the 2fst in his let
ter Of May 3O but announced his arrival
of the port.
Q. (By the Judge advocate): At the block
ade Of Cienfuegos, did you issue any order
to the squadron relative to the conduct OF
the fleet If the Spanish fleet should attempt
to enter or come out Of the harbor? A. No.
except that was in personal command ana
at the head Of the column. The squadron
was always in the line Of battle. and its
broadside batteries were always on the
channel.
The judge advocate referred to the testi-
mony Of the witness in which he said that
the apparent disorder In the feet in front
of Cienfuegos was resorted to as a ruse
to encourage the Spanish squadron II 1t was
in the harbor to come out. He asked him
whether he informed the captains OF his
vessels of this ruse.
The witness replied that he did not know
that he did so inform them except that he
spoke to people on board Of his own ship.
He could not remember whether he had
told Capt. Cook in regard to 1t. He had
had many conversations with Capt. Cook
hn i,11c od "a apfa n
whether If Admiral Schley had not stopped
his squadron when he met Capt Chester.
had not slowed down at 2:45 pm. on May
81 and had not stopped at midnight before
reaching Cienfuegos whether he would not
have arrived there on the 21St.
The witness said that he did not think
that would have made much difference in
his arrival. He did not think it would al
low him to arrive as early as the question
Indicated.
@. When did it first occur to you that the
firing you heard on approaching Cienfuegos
was a salute? A. When 1 heard i-at the
time.
Q. When did you notify any one else Of
this firing? A. think, my impression is,
it was on the following day. the 22d I
think there was a signal to that effect.
Q.-Was not that signal made on the go? :?
A. Possibly the 23d. But there was a signal
made. l know. examining the log of the
Brooklyn) Yes, on the 23d. That recalls
the circumstance of the arrival of the
Adula, and this fact gave the firing which
we had heard on the previous day signili-
canoe.
Speed Of the Spanish Fleet.
OFF the Spaniards had really left San
tiago on May 20 and had reached Cienfue-
gos on the 21st, as you then supposed pos
sible, would they not have made better
time than you did going in the opposite
direction?
Mr.. Rayner objected to this question and
said it was asking opinion of the wit
ness He said that SO far as he was con-
cerned he would like to have the opinion
of the witness on the length of time it
took Cervera to cross the ocean.
The Judge Advocate-"We can give you
facts on that subject"
Mr.. Rayner-'They went at about eight
knots an hour"
The Witness-"I don't object to express
ing an opinion.
Mr.. Rayner-"We have the historical fact
of the time it took the Spanish squadron
to cross the Atlantic and how many knots
an hour they made But how can this wit
ness base an opinion of the time it would
have taken for the squadron to go from
Santiago to Cienfuegos They did make
eight knots an hour crossing the Atlantic
But what has that got to do with what the
Spanish ships would do In this latter case?'
The Judge advocate said that he didn't
care to press the question.
The Afternoon Session,
When the court convened at o'clock tho
judge advocate continued his cross-exam-
ination Of Admiral Schley.
He first spoke to him regarding the hear
ing of two guns early on the morning of
the 21st Of May, and asked the admiral to
read from the log of the Brooklyn Of that
occurrence. After he had done so the judge
advocate said:
There were two guns f1redT A. Yes.
The log showed that the ship had cleared
for action on that occasion.
The judge advocate then turned his atten-
ton to the naval regulations again, and
said: Il understood you to say that you
did not communicate to the captains of the
fleet the confidential communications you
had received regarding risking the vessels
| l ask you if you did not know that the reg
ulations required you to communicate these
matters?"
Admiral Schley answered. Yes, it does
require me, but 1 supposed this was the
secret order Of the commander-in-c chief him
SELF
@. (By the judge advocate): They were
communicated to you? A. Yes; and 1 re-
garded them as confidential
Receipt of Dispatch No. z.
The judge advocate then asked the wit
ness to look at executive document B, re-
ferring particularly to that part of it which
referred to the receipt Of dispatch No. Z,
and asked him what he could state regard
ing tne receipt OIL tnaC Q1SpaICn.
The witness answered: Il do not remem-
Der. and 1 think 1 stated In my direct tes-
timony that l did not remember"
The admiral said he fixed the receipt of
the dispatch in his memory by the depart
ure Of the Scorpion to the east on the 23d.
Q. But you did receive copy on the 22d ?
A. Yes, but 1t evidently escaped my men,
ory. AS said. the only way 1 could fix
1t was by the departure of the Scorpion.
The judge advocate said these two copies
seemed to be original. and that there was
no receiving stamp on them He said this
after looking at the original papers On file.
The witness answered that he could not
account for there not being receiving
stamp on the dispatches. He said that 1t
was always his custom, on receiving q dis
patch, to send it at once to his secretary,
whose duty it was to put the receiving
stamp on it.
Il do not know why it was not done In
this case" he continued.
Q. Was there any book kept of letters
received. A. I cannot say. I think Mr.
Wells usual habit was to file these in the
| file boxes in the order Of their coming My
recollection Is that he kept a record Of
communications which passed through his