Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1901-10-04
SANTA FE, N M, FRIDAY, OCTOBER T. 1901.
TIE SCHLEY BOARD
OF INQUIRY
Almost the Entire Day Was Consumed in
Taking Testimony as to the Ooaling
Situation Before Santiago.

Situation Before Santiago.
lEFFECT OF THE BR00KLYN'S SHELLS
| Washington, D. c., Oct. 4.-Tht
Schley court of inquiry resumed pro-
ceedings today. Captain Lemly still
has quite a long list of witnesses, anc
it was. said he would not probably be
able to present the conclusion of the
case for the department before the
end of next week.
| Lieutenant Dyson, who was on the
witness stand yesterday when the
court adjourned, was recalled. He adj
ded to the coal history of the fleet some
Information as to how long the supply
| of coal on hand on May 26 would have
held out under forced draught. The In
formation was contained in chart
made by Judge Advocate Lemly. II
| covered a~period from May IS to June
| /, and showed that on May rs the
Brooklyn's supply of coal was 95z
tons, the Iowa's 7S4 tons; the Texas
4OS tons, and the Marblehead's 122 tons
He said that on May "a, the Brook
lyn had coal enough aboard to have
remained on blockade duty off Santa
go for 25 days and then returned to
Key West; the Massachusetts enough
| to remain II days and then go to Key
tho TayaG 4
days, and the Marblehead l day.
Rayner brought out information
concerning the time the coal of each
vessel would have lasted on forced
draught while chasing the enemys
vessels taking the amount of coal on
each on May 26, and leaving sufficient
coal to return to Key West. Rayner
read the information from Dyson's
tabulated statement, showing the Iowa
would have consumed 243 tons of coal
day, the Texas 100 tons, the Marble
head n tons. This estimate would, he
said, give the Brooklyn a two-thirds'
day chase, the Iowa one-half day, the
Texas three -fourths of day, the Mar
blehead two-tenths of day, and the
Massachusetts one and eight-tenths
days.
At the afternoon session Captain
Rodgers was still on the stand. He
stated that he was the senior member
of the naval board of survey appoin-
ted by Admiral Sampson to examine
the wrecked vessels. The purpose OF
this line of examination was to bring
out the witness knowledge of the ef-
feet of the Brooklyn's gunnery in the
battle off Santiago on July 3. Captain
Rodgers stated that the Brooklyn was
the only vessel that fired f1ve-inch
shells, and Rayner said that. careful
computation based upon the report OF
the board of survey showed that IL
5-inch shells had been found on four
Spanish vessels.
Lieutenant Dyson was followed on
the stand by Commander Raymond P.
Rodgers, executive officer of the bat
tleship Iowa during the summer of
1898. He was examined at length con-
cerning the coaling Of the flying squa-
dron. He said he thought he could
have coaled the Iowa late in the af-
ternoon of May 26. He related two or
three instances when the ships of the
flying squadron cleared for action up
on signal from the flagship Brooklyn
before May 81, when vessels were dis
covered in the distance. In each case
the vessels proved to be American
ships. Each time the signal was to
clear for action and to make the speed
/ II knots an hour. He also told of the
bombardment, or reconnaissance OF
the Cristobal Colon on May 81, in
which the Iowa participated. Describ-
the harbor of Santiago, Captain Rod
gers said the fleet maintained a posi-
ton seven or eight miles out, with the
Marblehead and Vixen inside the line
He had concluded his testimony when
the court adjourned for luncheon
Rayner presented a statement show
| ing the number of shells found on the
vessels of the Spanish fleet, and the
witness was asked to state the per.
centage of five-inch shells, assuming
| the statement to be correct.
Captain Rodgers replied that the to.
| tai number of hits was 35 and there.
fore, the five-inch shell hits constituted
"a per cent of all the hits. Raynel
| said that the statement had been pre-.
pared by Admiral Schley.
| The question as to whether the wore
in the dear Schley'' letter should bt
Santiago or Cienfuegos again came w
on a statement made by Captain Lem
;y, who said he would continue to holt
to the Santiago version. Rayner thel
said, if this was the case, he would b.
compelled to summon Admiral Samp
son, the author of the dispatch, as .
witness
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