Evening star., 1901-10-10

son, dated April 6, in which he was ad-
monished against the exposure of the
American vessels to the fire of strongly
fortified ports, unless the more formidable
Spanish ships had taken refuge inside.
THE department does not wish the YES
sells of your squadron to be exposed To the
fire of the batteries at Havana, Santiago de
Cuba, or other strongly fortified ports in
Cuba, unless the more formidable Spanish
vessels should take refuge within those
harbors. Even in this case the department
would suggest that rigid blockade ana
employment of our torpedo boats might ac-
compish the desired object viz, the de-
struction of the enemy's vessels. without
subjecting unnecessarily our own men of
'war to the fire of the land batteries"
This dispatch also contains the following
order:
1.-The department further desires that in
case of war you will maintain a strict
blockade of Cuba, particularly at the ports
of Havana. MatanZas, and, If possible, of
Santiago de Cuba, Manzanillo and C!en-
fuegos.'
Mr.. Rayner then asked concerning the
weather on the trip from Cienfuegos, and
the witness said that on May 25 it had been
what is called dirty" There was an
eastern wind and moderate sea, rough
for small vessels
The witness said on further eXamiaa. on
that Lieutenant Commander Schroeder,
Lieutenant Sears and Lieutenant Wells
had been present during the bombardment
of the Colon when Commodore Schley had
remarked that, as they were conspicuous
objects on the 13-inch turret, it would be
better to move away.
Referring to the Spanish shore batteries
at Santiago. Commander Potts said they
would have been no menace to armorad
ships passing them.
The court asked questions as follows:
"Can you give the distance the large ves-
sells were from the entrance to Cienfuegos
on the early morning of either the I'D CT
the 23d of May"
do hair han,
l have said, four or five miles. L did not
measure the distances there
What efforts were made by the vessels
of the flying squadron prior to the arrival
of the Marblehead to determine whether or
not Cerveras squadron was in the harbor
of Cienfuegos?"
None that ever knew Of"
Referring to the range of the guns for
that day, Commander Potts said the range
given previous to entering the engagement
was 1900 yards. but he had increased it to
1900 yards then to 5000 yards. and finally
to 10000 yards. Only one shot which had
been fired at the American fleet had i'm
pressed him as being at all dangerous. That
fell near the Massachusetts. Soon after
that the commodore had given the order,
PUT youl helm to starboard and let's get
out of this" He said he had seen no shore
batteries at Cienfuegos.
Lieut.. Leiper's Testimony.
Commander Potts was then excused and
served on the New Orleans during the
Spanish war, and told of the participation
of that vessel in the bombardmcnt OF the
Colon. May 81.
He described that engagement, saying
that the first shot from the Massa achuSetts
had fallen outside the Moro. and notwith-
standing the range was increased, all the
shots fell short of the Colon. There were.
he said no orders either to fire at or make
observations of the batteries. But, not
withstanding this, he did fire at the east
ern batteries on his own responsibility. He
had personally aimed the guns. but the dis
tance was so great that only the red line
of earth could be seen. neither guns nor
men were discernble. One shot from the
enemy fell thirty or forty yards from the
New Orleans. The projectile was so small
he had been surprised that 1t reached such
a range All told, the firing of his vessel
upon the Colon had not consumed more
than six minutes. He thought all the shots
from the American ships had fallen short
of the Colon. The witness said he had seen
powerful guns in the shore batteries and
was of the opinion there were none to en-
ceed six inches in caliber. The witness said
that he had secured his most accurate idea
of the strength of the shore batteries by
the fact that on June IA the New Orleans
had approached to within 1,650 yards of
them. remaining for twenty minutes. and
siiencing them after four or five minutes
Lieutenant Leper was still on the stand
when the court adjourned for the day.