The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-12-20
PREJUDICE OF THE COURT OF INoIIIRy

nae indorsed the verdict and ,orn.u. a.
InlsSen the court. he Is still tenr{ uls
ses,Sebt OF the court and the court tssit
csr t M lily IN session. Therefore ~
an pol DISCUSS matters appertsinin, ,e
.ne court without Involving bi,nsn1s ,to
trouble. The admiral, howeyer viii n %
o oIS p1S,uon clear at the earliest possibie
me court ignored the test,morr :, r..
seain COOK that when the Oregon amo.slps
from the smoke envelope thronpb n,hS Sep
s sne aad been zen, running her crew were we're
a .lded TO ma the Brooklyn singiehandeS
receiving aud returning the Arc ~ III Luz. sl
or Tue enemy's ships 'i i"ur
~ made a deep Impression unon 49, >,
captain Cook testified 1P'H nie'
1t does not appear TO have mad
sort OF an impression upon Ramssv ong
benDam. "a'hsay OF
Another mlsstatement Of facts lies IN
~. me courts assertion that the BROOKLYN
turned when within 400 wards 81 X
enemy and by turning increased her dTs.
lance 70 24OO yards. The evidence va
an 10 the effect that but 100 wards sem
ssbsa a ~ Ine brooklyn from the enemy when
was not Increased more thnn 500 vard
or TO an extreme Of 1869 yards. Two vi
nesses testified that the guns Of the Brook
=, u, a,vp oft battery were fred at a range
OF 4vVu yards at one period in the borf1e
Just before the loop was made and ono ~
these witnesses, Lieutenant Simpson to-
Lihed further that the shells from his enn
Trs1 at mat range set fire 20 the Maria
These are a few misstatements Of facts
which Ramsay and Benham incorporated
IN their hndings. There are other matters
nothing of Captain Wise, who failed 10
communicate the information In his ms
session to Admiral Schley of Santiago
iihey studiously avoid reference to CAPTAIN
MCSalia, VINO did not inform Admiral
SchleY, while the latter was proceedlng
TO Clenfuegos, of the insurgents secret
eoue; which he subsequently delivered to
Shadwick.
= Neither do they mention that Captain
Evans of the Iowa, who, Notwithstanding
that Tor two nights. while the Iowa was
on the Cienfuegos blockade, knew that the
insurgents were signaling the neet aid nor
eniighten Admiral Schley as TO the mean
Ing of the signals.
Neither does the court mention or apyar-
emily take into consideration SAMPSON
fallure TO furnish Admiral Schley with the
information which he himself was receiy-
Ing daily from the army signal officer at
Key West from May 10 to May 26. All Of
this was brought out clearly by witnesses
who were called for the prosecution. Com
mander stanton. SIMPSONS Aag llenten
ant, very frankly told the entire story TO
the court. but the court appears to have
forgotten II.
Perhaps the most remarkable fenture Of
the findings is the criticism Of the Brook
Ign for opening the battle with her mort
battery. II Is only necessary to recall that
az the time the Spaniards came out of
Santiago the Brooklyn was lying to the
westward Of south Of the entrance OF the
harbor to show how specious and unworthy
Is this criticism. The court itself saws
that owing to the peculiar formation Of
the harbor the Spaniards had ID run west
Of south in order TO get ont OF the harhor.
mat course would carry them directly
toward the Brooklyn. The Brooklyn was
heading nearly northeast and that was her
course when she got under way
To have gone into the battle with her
starboard battery would have required a
loop to port and would have necessarily
placed her in the attitude Of running away