The Savannah morning news., 1901-10-24

TINS ship has gone ashore and that snip
has gone ashore.' His whole idea
seemed to be that he wanted the peo-
pie below to know as much about it as
those of US on deck"
During the chase of the Colon wit
ness said that Capt. Cook had put his
head out of the coming tower and said
to the commodore: Don't you think
we'd better close in a little?"
and" said the witness parenthetic-
ally, Il thought so myself" But" he
went on, 1.-The commodore replied,
No, don't you see that point ahead?
Just as soon as that fellow starts to
come out I'm going to head him off.
I'll get him yet. Damn him, I'll follow
him to Spain if i have to-
This testimony was given in clear
and distinct tones and was heard dis
tinctly throughout the large courtroom.
1t was received with a burst of ap-
plause, but the demonstration was
quickly suppressed by Admiral Dewey,
whose words of reprobation to the au-
dience were followed by word of ad
monition from Mr.. Rayner to the wit
ness. The Admiral rose and raised his
hands in depreciation of the demonsrra-
ton; his face was flushed, and he said:
stop! Stop! Let's have none of
that!"
"Give us the facts, simply" said Mr..
Rayner.
"These are the facts" replied the
witness.
Taking the witness, Capt. Lemly
cross examined him about all the
points covered by his testimony. In
response to one of his questions Mr..
Hill said that he had not heard any
conversation between Commodore
Schley and Lieutenant Commander
Hodgson about the Brooklyn'S helm or
the Texas during the engagement of
July 3.
The court asked:
Did the Texas stop and back dur
ing the Brooklyn's turn?"
No, sir; l saw the Texas distinctly
when the turn began, and during the
turn, and she did not make any back
water and she did not STOP"
Did you hear any conversation be-
tween Commodore Schley and any other
officer during the early part of the en-
| gagement of July 80"
| Il heard none before or during the
turn. There was no officer with the
commodore on the side of the ship
Lieut.. Ackerman, who was in COM
mand of the after 13-inch turret and
the after S-inch turrets of the Oregon,
gave a running account of that en-
! gagement. Describing the beginning
of the action. he said:
I'VE closed up the matches and laid
out fire hose and Immediately turned
the guns on the entrance to the har-
bor."
He said that as the ships came out
signal was made through the tele-
phone in the coming tower to fire at
will.
THE range indicators, the witness
went on, gradually fell until I think
my first shot was fired at a range of
| 1920 or $500 yards" He had, he said,
at that time fired FIVE shots from the
13-inch guns. but soon afterward the
Spanish ships drew so far ahead he
uodu suns STU uIeIl IeSuoI on pInoo
them.
The Oregon's Passage.
The witness described the Oregon's S
passage between the Texas and the
Iowa. LAS we passed between the Iowa
! and the Texas" said the witness,
chose ships seemed to be practically
at anchor. We were going very fast
then, and forced draught was covering
our quarter deck an inch or more deep
with cinders, many of them red hot.
! Water was running from every hydrant
we had, to keep the decks from burn
| ing. At that time the fire of the enemy
and of our own ships was very heavy.
The water was whipped up in all direc-
| tions; shots flew overhead. I think it
was the most exciting time of the whole
| engagement"
Witness described firing on the Colon,
and after luncheon continued his mar
rative, saying that when the Colon's
| flag went down the men on the Ore
gon ceased firing. The Brooklyn bore
at that time two points on the Oregon's
port bow and was about mile distant,
| said the witness. He described the
| &C l,.10 90 f1 al h.
! Brooklyn. which, he said, seemed to
take a long time. At this time the Tex
as and Vixen arrived. The New York
| also arrived, and when she came up,
went in very near to the Colon. After
| this the Oregon returned under orders
! eastward on a false alarm.
1--WE had already" he said pre-
| pared to send a prize crew aboard. ."
| He spoke of the firing of the Brooklyn,
saying:
"At the time 1 was aloft on the sig
nal yard 1 saw them fire from the
| Brooklyn with her starboard forward
S-inch guns, and I noticed her shots
| appeared to fall very short. In fact,
toward the end of the chase I saw no
shots from the Brooklyn that reached
| the Colon"
Capt. Lemly asked:
do you know whether there were
| any lTOHl the DTOOhlyHs ny
signal probably, if at all, with regard
! to opening fire with the 13-inch guns
at the latter part of the action?"
Il never heard of such instructions" "
| the witness replied.
"The guns had not been fired for
some time. had they?"
Not since we had passed the Wis
caya."
Hence you were not in range?"
mo, sir"
How did the Brooklyn bear?"
81 should judge that she was about
between two and three points, nearer
two points, forward on the port beam,
| and certainly a mile away"
How did she appear to be heading
relative to the Oregon and the Spanish
vessels?"
There was only one vessel left at
that time, the Colon, and l think her
course was slightly divergent from
that Of the Oregon. which led to the
opinion that she was heading for the
| headland beyond the Colon, with the
! intent tion of cutting off that vessel"
(which vessel. the Brooklyn or the
Oregon, was nearer the Colon when II
went ashore?"
THAT is very difficult to say. Prac-
tically the two vessels were on the
same circle. Probably the Brooklyn
| difference was hardly appreciable. The
! Brooklyn was, however, 5000 yards on
| more from the Colon. This I know
from our bearing and range"
In response 20 question from the