The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-23
HE WAS WITH SCHLEY
Principal Events of the Cam
 paign Gone Over.
Witness Stated Positively That He Heard Captain sigsbee Tell Schley Cervera Was Not in
 Santiago.

Washington, Oct 22.-The Schley court of inquiry opened today with Lieutenant B. W. Welles. Jr., who was Commodore Schley's flag lieutenant during the Span ish war, still on the stand. but he was soon displaced to allow Yeoman Albert V. Mason, who had written the Brook lyns log for the period covering the San tiago campaign, to testify. Mr. Mason explained the erasures in the log entry referring to the Brooklyn's turn during the day of the battle off Santiago.
 He was followed by MT. George E. Gra- ham, who, as an Associated Press cor respondent, was with Commodore Schley during the entire campaign. MT. Gra- hams testimony covered all the principal events of the campaign, and discussed es- pecialy the bombardment of the Spanish ship Colon, May 31, and of the battle off Santiago, July B. MT. Graham testified to hearing a conversation between Con- modore Schley and Captain Sigsbee when the latter came on board the flagship Brooklyn off Santiago, May 2. He said he had distinctly heard Captain Sigsbee tell the Commodore that the Spanish fleet
  MT. Graham also stated that Admiral Schley had told him that the object of the bombardment of May 31 was to de- velop the Spanish land batteries, and he said that the range was fixed at 1000 or 7,J00 yards in order to draw their nre. He had heard no conversation in which Commodore Schley had said that the off1- cers in their white uniforms were con- spicuous objects.
 The witnesses for the afternoon were: Dennis J. CrOnin, who was Admiral Schleys orderly and who also testified along the same lines as MT. Graham, as to the conversation with Captain Sigsbee: Lieutenant Commander William R. Rush, who said he thought the Viscaya had planned to ram the Brooklyn; Lieutenant Edward Simpson, who gave a very graph ic picture of the battle of July 5, and Lieutenant Edward T. Fitzgerald, an as- sistant engineer, who was on duty in the fire room on July 3, and who testified that an order had been given early In the action to stand by for a ram.
 Lieutenant Wells resumed the witness stand soon after the Schley court of in ouiry was called to order at Il o'clock today, and continued his narration of the events of the Cuban campaign of lS9S. He was under cross-examination by Judge Advocate Lemly and his assistant Mr. Hanna, when the court adjourned yester- day. and they continued their questions today. Lieutenant Wells was followed by A. w. Mason, the logwriter of the Brook lyn who wrote the logs on that vessel during the Cuban campaign.
 MT. G. E. Graham, the correspondent of the Associated Press, who was on board the Brooklyn with Admiral Schley during the entire campaign. was also on the list of today's witnesses. The early attend- ance upon the court today was somewhat larger than on previous days. indicating the increasing attractiveness of the court as a public spectacle.
 Captain Lemly began his examination of Lieutenant Wells by asking him whether there was kept a book of records showing letters received on the Brook lvn as Lieutenant Commander Sears had testified there was. The witness replied there was no such book kept, but there was record of letters sent to and received from the vessels of the squadron. Lieutenant Wells was also questioned concerning the de- partment orders concerning the risking of American ships to bombardment from the shore batteries, the orders under con- sideration being those of April 6, April 26 and two of May D.
 The first of 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 forti- fled ports in Cuba" and the others were regarded notifications of these. In the last of these. dated May 6, the depart ment said: The Department is perfectly willing that you should expose your ships to the heaviest guns of land batteries, if, fin your opinion, there are Spanish ships of sufficient military importance protect ed by these guns to make an attack ad- visable, your chief aim for the present being the destruction of the enemy's prin- cipal vessels.
 After having read these different dis patches the witness was asked by Cap tain Lemly:
 ''Can you separate your knowledge with regard to the conversation with Com modore Schley so as to distinguish be- tween either of the other two orders or both of these orders, and as to whether or not anything was said with regard to the receipt of information in regard to these letters here. which you have before you at the interview of May IS in Key West?"
 No. sir. I do not distinguish between any of them. I have given my general remembrance, which is that the order was not to risk the ships"
 The witness said there had been no written or printed order of battle. but that on the day before Cienfuegos was reached some special restrictions were sent to the ship by the Scorpion. This was. he said Order No. g. relating to signals in case the enemy should be sighted.
 II prepared no written orders and did not know of the existence of any. re- member. however that the commanding officers were called on board"
 At what period of the battle of July 3 did you use a range of HOO yards?
 That was at about the beginning of what is known as the turn, not the be- ginnig, but after the turn had begun, should say"
 'At what point of the chase did you estimate the Colon to be 10000 yards dis tant from the Brooklyn?"
 When the Viscaya went ashore"
 Lieutenant Wells was then excused and Albert V. Mason called. He said that he was yeoman of second on board the Brooklyn during the Santiago cam