The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1901-10-24
GRAHAM STORY
NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENT A
WITNESS IN THE scHLEY
COURT OF INQUIRY.
WITH sCHLEY DURING WAR

Heard Captain sissbee Tell the Com
modore on May 26 That the Span
ish Fleet Was Not at Santiago.
contradicts Testimony Of Command.
er Potts Regarding the. lombard.
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 a 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-
corning the department orders con-
corning the risking of the American
ships to bombardment from the shore
batteries, the orders under considera-
ton being those of April 6, April rs
and two of May 5. 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, -
and the others were regarded as mod
if1cations of these. In the last of
these, dated May 6, the department
said:
THE department is perfectly willing
that you should expose your ships to
the heaviest guns of lanu batteries If,
in your opinion, there are Spanish YES
sells of sufficient military Importance
protected by L4e 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 IS, in Key West?"
"No, sir. I do not distinguish be-
tween any of them. l 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. 9, 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 3 did you use a range of LOO
yards?".
THAT was about the beginning of
what is known as the turn; not the be-
ginning but after the turn had begun
l should say"
"At what point of the chase did you
estimate the Colon to be 10000 yards
distant from the BrOOklyn"
Lo
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: "We
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 it read as it does in
the permanent copy, as follows:
GAS soon as the enemy stood to the
westward we put our helm aport,
swinging clear of the Texas, ETC."
Correspondent on the Stand.
Mr.. Mason then retired and George
Edward Graham, the Associated Press
correspondent, was called. He was
questioned by Mr.. Rayner and said he
was on the Brooklyn from March 20 to
Aug. 20, 1898.
Mr.. Graham was then questioned
about the conversation between Com.
modore Schley and Captain Sigsbee on
the occasion of the captains visit to
the Brooklyn on May 26 as follows:
did you see Captain Sigsbee on
board the Brooklyn on May 26?"
Eyes, sir"
"Did you hear him in conversation
with Commodore Schley?"
Eyes, sir"
"Can you give us that converse
tion?"
After we had reached the quarter
deck from the gangway he stopped
and Commodore Schley said to him:
u ~