The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1901-10-24
GRAHAM'S 'SST0RY
NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENT A
WITNESS IN THE scHLEY +.
COURT OF INQUIRY.

WITH SCHLEY DURING WAR
Heard Captain sigsbee Tell the Com.
nodore on May 26 That the Span.
ish Fleet Was Not at Santiago.
contradicts Testimony of Command.
er Potts Regarding the Bombard.
ment Of the Colon on May 81.
Washington, Oct. 23.-Lieutenant
Wells resumed the witness stand soon
after the Schley court of inquiry was
called to order and continued his mar
rative of the events of the Cuban cam
paign of 1898.
Captain Lemly began his examina-
ton of Lieutenant Wells by asking
him whether there was kept book of
records showing letters received on
the Brooklyn as Lieutenant Command
er Sears had testified there was
Witness replied that there was a rec
ord of letters sent to and received
from vessels Of the squadron. Lieu
tenant Wells also was questioned con-
cerning the department orders con-
cerning the risking of the American
ships to bombardment from the shore
batteries, the orders under considera-
tion being those of April 6, April 26
and two of May S. 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 fortified ports in Cuba" 3"
and the others were regarded as mod
itications OF these, In the last of
these, dated May 6, the department
said: 4eft
The department Is perfectly willing
that you should expose your ships to
the heaviest guns OF lana batteries if,
in your opinion, there are Spanish ves-
sells of sufficient military importance
protected by .-e guns to make an at
tack advisable. Our chief aim at the
present being the destruction of the
enemy'S principal vessels"
Having read these dispatches wit
ness was asked by Captain Lemly:
Can you separate your knowledge
with regard to the conversation with
Commodore Schley so as to distin-
guish between either Of the other two
orders or both of these orders and as
to whether or not anything was said
with regard to receipts Of information
in relation to these letters here which
you have before. you at the interview
of May 1S, in Key West?"
mo, sir. l do not distinguish be-
tween any OF them. I have given my
general remembrance, which Is that
the order was not to risk the ships"
No Written Order Of Battle.
In reply to questions by Captain
Lemly witness said there had been no
written or printed order of battle, but
that on the day before Cienfuegos was
reached some special instructions
were sent to the ships by the Scorpion.
This was, he said, order No. 8, relating
to signals in case the enemy should be
sighted. This order was then read.
Questioned further on this point.
witness said: Il prepared no written
orders and did not know Of the exist
ence of any. l remember, however.
that the commander officers were call
ed on board"
Witness answered several questions
put by the court as follows:
AT what period of the battle Of
July did you use range OF 1,1OO
yards?"
THAT was about the beginning of
what is known as the turn; not the be-
ginning but after the turn had begun
should say:'
AT what point of the chase did you
estimate the Colon to be 10000 yards
distant from the BROOKLYN"
when the Viscaya went ashore"
Lieutenant Wells was then excused
and Albert v. Mason called. He was
questioned by Captain Parker and said
that he had been yeoman' of second
class on board the Brooklyn during the
Santiago campaign and had been the
writer OF that ships log. He had made
the entry concerning the battle OF
Santiago and he produced copy of
the rough log which he had made for
his own use. ..+
Witness said that as the log giving
an account of the Brooklyn's turn had
been at first prepared it read: I'VE
engaged with port battery at first but
just as soon as the enemy stood to
westward we put our helm starboard
at first, then hard aport, so as to bring
our starboard battery to bear, and.
swinging clear Of the Texas fire, we
stood parallel with and to the enemy.
This entry had, he said, been chang
ed later at the instance of Lieutenant
] Hodgson to make 1t read as It does in
the permanent copy, as follows:
As soon as the enemy stood to the
westward. we put our helm. ap0rt.