Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1901-10-18

much of interest in regard to that part
Of the battle that has never before been
printed.
Seventeenth Day.
Admiral Schley's attorneys managed to
establish the fact during the progress Of
the inquiry that the carefully prepared
chart purporting to be the unanimous
declaration of several %navigators of the
correct positions of the vessels engaged
in the Santiago sea fight during various
intervals Of the battle was in reality q
tumble of compromises, satisfactory to
none of the men engaged in preparing it.
This evidence was brought out by At
torney Rayner while examining Com
mander Richard Wainwright, who was
chairman Of the board that prepared the
chart and who commanded the famous
little Gloucester during the battle. Com
mander Wainwright's testimony was Civ
en- without hesitation and was very posi-
tive in character. He concluded his state
ment by saying that not one of the nayj-
eating officers who signed the report
adopting the chart believed that it was
correct.
Lieut.. c. w. Dyson of the bureau of
steam engineering of the Navy Depart
ment was recalled early in the proceed
ings and continued his evidence concern
ing the steaming condition of the Brook
lyn and her engines ON the day of the en-
gagement.
Lieut.. NJ. l.. Bristol, who, as ensign,
was watch and division officer on the Tex
as during the Spanish war, talked of. the
Santiago and Cienfuegos ~blockades in an
entertaining manner, going into all the
details of the watch kept and the patrol
ing methods employed. He c%ontradicted
the evidence of Lieutenant Commander
HOdgson concerning the distance of the
Brooklyn from the nearest Spanish ships
at the time the ''loop" was made, and
cast doubts on the accuracy of the stadi-
meter with which the commander had
made his measurements.
Lieut.. Bristol's testimony was enliy-
ened by. a tilt between the attorneys, Mr..
lsayner and Mr.. Hanna finding occasion
to begin an interchange of sarcastic re-
marks which lasted most of the afternoon.
Captain w. NJ. Folger, who was re.
called for the purpose of correcting his
testimony of the previous day, was asked
further questions concerning the block
AIDE of Santiago. In reply to a question
by Captain Lemly whether he had had
any conversation with Commodore Schley
during the blockade he said:
"Ioward evening of one of the days,
the Both, there was an extended, very Sc
we're rainstorm, so severe that I feared
Ccrvera had gotten out, as it was sufi-
GENTLY long to nave permitted him to do
so. l went on board the flagship the
next day, thinking it my duty to tell the
commodore what | had seen as to the
blockade as kept by the Japanese off the
port OF Wei Hai-Wei, where similarly an
enemy's fleet was within a fortified har-
hor. L said to the commodore that the
adoption Of the tactics of the Japanese,
forming a circle directly in front of the
harbor, would, in my opinion, be prefera-
bic, as then it would be difficult for any
thing to get out"
The judge advocate then asked him:
Was there any reply by the commo-
dore?"
II cannot testify exactly as to his re-
ply said the witness. II would prefer
not to do so. He did not agree with mo
as to the necessity for it."
Captain Folger also said that he had
no recollection of a picket line on the in.
side of the American feet.
At the request Of Captain Parker of
counsel for Admiral Schley, the witness
examined the log of the New Orleans fol
May 80 and 81, 1893, for the purpose of
determining accurately the state of the
weather on those days, but he declined to
modify his statement Of the previous day
that the weather on those days was bad.
Lieut.. Dyson, who appeared next, tes.
tilted. i'll answer to questions by Captain
Lemly, concerning the steaming condi
ton of the Brooklyn on July 3. The wit.
ness stated that on the morning of that
day fires were only banked under three
of the vessels seven boilers, the other
boilers having no steam in them. He
added that on the day of the fight it took
twenty-five minutes to start the fires.
Mr.. Rayncr asked if it was not neces.
sary to stop the ship to couple the nm.
coupled engines, and the witness replied
that the ship could have been kept going
with one engine, while the other was
coupled. The engines We're designed. he
said, to be kept coupled during the war.
Lieutenant Commander Hodgson. who
was recalled for the purpose of correct.
ing errors in his testimony as printed in
the official record, said that when he had
called the editor of a New York paper
a "liar and b~lackguard" he did not mean
to convey the idea that he used this lam
guage on account Of any inaccuracies in
the report of the famous controversy ON
the Brooklyn on the morning of &he sea
fight, but because the paper had ATTEMPT.
ed to make it appear that Schley had
done something cowardly and that he had
shown fear of the Spanish ships.
Commander Wainwright, who followed
Lieutenant Commander Hodgson, was
examined by Captain Lemly concerning
his connection with the board that had
prepared the official chart of the positions
of the American and Spanish ships at
! the time of the battle.
Anniversary Celebrated.