The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-08-23
THE SANTIAGO DISPATCHES
War Department Stirred by Dis
closures in the Schley Case.

Colonel Sanger in Conference With
the Acting Chief of the Signal
COrpS-JudEe Wilson Relieved 10
he After Evidence in Boston.
The mysterious disappearance OF the
Signal Corps dispatches. especially the
one from Colonel Allen to General Greely
during the Spanish war advising the lat
ter that Cervera's feet was in Santiago
Harb0r. is giving the officials OF the war
Department much concern. Colonel san
ger, the Acting Secretary Of War. became
interested in the matter this morning. and
called Major Scrivens into consultation re
gardiug it. Major Scr1vens is Acting
Chief OF the Signal Service during the alb
sence Of Colonel Dunwoody. who is away
on a few days vacation.
Major Scrivens informed Colonel Sanger
that he did not know the whereabouts Of
the despatch, that he had never seen it,
and that an effort to locate it had been
unsuccessful \ persistent effort was
made in certain quarters today to have Il
appear thIt the despatch is still in the
Office of the Signal Service. but If such
is the case Colonel Sanger does not know
Of It's existence and he has made a dill
gent endeavor to ascertain the facts II
is also a fact that no one in the office
has seen the despatch.
Captain Nesbitt, who was chief assist
ant 10 General Greely during the Spanish
American war. and IS supposed 20 have
some knowledge Of the despatch is at
present in Cuba
Meanwhile counsel for Admiral SchIey
are anxious to obtain the document for
their information and guidance in pre-
pairing their case a transcript Of the
message would be practically vaIueless 20
them as evidence While what purports
TO be "a copy Of the telegram in question
is contained in General Greely's annual
report for 1898, to the Secretary Of War.
IL is well known that such important des-
patches are not published verbatim. for
the reason that they cone in code, and
if translated word for wcrd would afford
a partial key to the cipher should the des-
patch as originally written ever be com
pared with il by anyone not entitled TO
know the secret code
The practice Of making certain changes
ia published message is frequently re-
sorted 20 in both the Army and the Navy
Departments. and the reason for this is
obvious Again, there are often certain
omissions in such kilograms. so that for
purposes OF evidence Ia court nothing but
the original despatch as received is re
garded Of any material value. A tran
script would be OF no use as long as the
original is in existence, and this original
the counsel for Admiral Schley have not
been able 10 secure
After his consultation with Major Scriv-
eus this morning. Colonel Sanger de-
cIiued 20 make anv statement concerning
tie missing telegram. Major Scrivens re-
ferrod all enQuirers 10 the Acting Secre-
tary of War with the declaration tnaJ he
had been told 20 do So
Ii Is regarded as probable that .he de-
partmeut Will communicate with General
Greely, who is now in the Philippines
and ask him 20 throw some light upon the
missing docUr1ents.
IL Is said that officials OF the War De
partmeut have known Tor some time that
the dispatches were missing, but the fact
Of their disappearance was not made gen
orally known units Captain Parker called
at the Signal Office last Wednesday and
asked 10 De shown - original messages.
Then he was informed that they could not
be found in the archives Of the depart
ment-
A new explanation Of their possible
whereabouts was offered this morning II
is said that General Greely may have
considered that the original kilograms
them 90 add 20 his private collection for
the purpose of publishing them in book.
which he intends TO issue at some future
time No one is willing 10 say that this
has been done. but il is given as a sug-
gestion as 70 their possible whereabouts
Late this afternoon il was stated at the
Navy Department that the letter Admiral
Schley is said 10 have written % the Act
ing Secretary. Mr. Hackett concerning
the Howison matter had not been re-
ceived-
The status of the SchIey case. in prep
aratiOn for presentation TO the Court OF
| Enquiry. will remain as II Is now for al
most week Until next Monday It Is un-
likely that any additional steps viii be
taken in the matter so far as Admiral
SChlcy is concerned Ills counsel feel
that they have about completed the pre-
Iiminary steps before the Navy Depart
meut
Judge Wilson and Mr.. Rayner. counsel
| FOR Admiral Schley. left the city yester-
| day. Mr.. Rayner returned to Baltimore,
/ while Judge Wilson has gone North, and
| viii not return until Monday Il was ru-
mOred today that Judge Wilson some time
/ ago contemplated visiting Boston -or a
| conference with Francis 4. Frost who
! wrote the interview in the Boston Rec
/ ord in which Admiral HowisOn is report
! ed as making statements which tend to
| show that he is prejudiced in favor OF
i Rear Admiral Sampson. and that he had
| gone 20 Boston in order To see Mr- Frost
/ and 10 make arrangements 10 have the
/ newspaper writer give testimony before
/ the Court of Enquiry Whether Boston Is
4 the destination of Judge Wilson or not
] could not be verified.
/ SAMPSON AT LAKE sim