The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-09-26
ADMIRAL HIGGIKSOh
cRITIclsEs scVlEy
Commander Of ~BattIeship Massa-
chusetts First Witness Before
Court Of Inquiry.
COULD HAVE DESTROYED CoLsN
oes Not Helieve sch1ey Did All That ns
Should Have Done TO Accomplish
That End-schley's Counsel
Enters Objection.

washington, sept. 23.-Ihe SChleY.
court of inquiry ~reconvened in the navy
yard at IL o'clock today. All the mem
bers Of the court, Dewey, Benham and
Ramsay, were present, as was Schley.
The general attendance was small.
The court was called to order by a
simple word from Dewey. The first
order of business was the reading, by
Judge Advocate Lemly. of the navy
department order appointing Ramsay
to a place on the court in place of How
ison. Captain Lemly turne to Schley
and asked him whether he had any OBJ
lection to urge against any member Of
the court.
The admiral arose and replied: Il
have not
The judge advocate then swore the,
members of the court collectively and
was in turn sworn in as judge advo-
cate. The court then retired for con-
sultation to discuss methods of pro-.
cedure. 1t was decided thai when the
occasion arose the court would with
draw, instead Of clearing the court
room, as is the usual method.
When the court returned Lemly pre-
scented the report of the bureau Of navi-
cation for 1898, the photographic chart.
of the West Indies and adjacent seas.
n other charts. He stated explicitly
that they We're introduced not as tes--
timony, but as books of reference.
Captain Parker made objection to the
photographic chart, stating it was
grossly incorrect, but withdrew the OBJ
lection when assured the chart was,
not to be used as evidence.
The First Witness.
Rear Admiral Higginson was intro.
duced as the first witness. Before he
began to give his testimony Judge Ad-
vocate Lemly read the order placing.
the command of the North Atlantic;
squadron in the hands Of Sampson and.
giving him the rank of rear admiral.
and then Schley command of the fly
ing squadron. Higginson. who COM
manded the Massachusetts during the
Spanish war, part of the time attached
to the flying squadron under Schley,
testified he arrived at Cienfuegos May
%. Nothing to his knowledge was done
to secure communication with the Gu
ban forces ashore, but he understood
information concerning them was re-.
ceived through McCalla later on. He.
told of the presence of the collier Mer-
rimac and the arrival at Santiago on
the 26th. The Massachusetts at that
time had taken on $50 tons Of coal, but
the weather was rough and coaling
was very difficult.
In reply to a question from the court
Higginson said he did not believe.
Schley had done all he should have
done to destroy the Colon while she lay
at anchor The defense objected.
Dewey said the court considered itself
obliged to get at all the facts.
Judge Wilson, for Schley, said he,
would reserve the right to later take.
exception to requests for opinions of
witnesses, even when put by the court.
Fleets Enigmatic Movements.
Higginson told Of the fleets leaving
Santiago for Key West on the night of it's.
arrival at the former place and Of how
after steaming westward for some time
all the vessels, in response to Schley's,
signals, returned and steamed to within
two or three miles of the mouth Of the
harbor.
What happened to cause the decision
to return to Key West?'
II don't know
What was the condition of the wealth.
er at the time for coaling at scar?
1T was not impossible to coal, 1 think"
did you have any conference with the
commanding officer in regard to return
ing to Santiago after you had gotten on
the way to Key West?"
None. We acted under general or
ders. All we did was to follow the sig
nails of the commander in chief
Speaking of the conditions when San
tia go harbor was again reached, Admiral
Higginson said he could see well into the.
harbor. He saw the Spanish ship Colon
lying in the outer harbor. He did not re-
member seeing the other vessels, but the
Colon was then 1000 yards beyond MORO
castle. The vessel had lain there until
she was fired upon, which was done on
May 81, and had then retired.
Eirad nm tho (SCiOn.
Describing this engagement Higginson
said it was on the day before the arrival
Of reinforcements under Sampson. He
said Schley had come aboard and said he
wanted 'to go in and fire on the Colon
80 we went in and fired on her" con-
tinued witness. He said the shots fell
short of the Colon and the Spanish shore
batteries had in turn fired at the bora
harding ships.
In reply to questions as to what had
been accomplished by the bombardment,
witness replied it had served to draw the
fire of the Spanish shore battery and give
an idea what it was composed Of.
what idea did you get Of it's compo-
s%ition?'
Il didn't think it amounted to any
thing"
where was Schley during the lombard
ment?'
cat one time he was with me IN the
COIHllS .loWeI, puI. u h1S S'A'S
was on the outside of 1t. I was near him
most Of the time"
Acted Like n Commander.
Describe the admiral's manner In this
engagement
Il hardly know how to answer the ques,
ton except to say his manner was mat OF
a COMMUNICATIVE
why did you not go in and destroy the
Colon in the engagement on May ~?
Lemly asked.
Because we were not ordered to do so.S
Later on witness volunteered the state"
ment:
IT think the Colon could lave been de.
stroyed wkera she lay at anchor that
day
Higginson stated there were no writer
orders and SO far as he could recall the
only verbal orders were to "go tn"
DIETRICH HOME FROM MANILA,
Nebraska Senator Secs Hopeful Future