The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-05
ADMIRAL SAMPSON
 MAY BE A WITNESS
Continued from Page one.)


 'T do not recollect the events of the night of May "A. My recollection is that on the nor ning and throughout the day of the 18th the wind was fresh from direction generally ahead. Our course was generally southeastward- The sea depends entirely upon the ship. It was what I should call a moderate sea. l recollect the wind continued fresh this evening. Next morning we must have gone around the cape headed eastward. The weather had moderated considerably and in the late afternoon the weather was, I should say, fine with smooth sea-"
 How were the sea and weather for small ships like the Vixen and Eagle!
 "I should say on Thursday the wealth CT for small ships would have been con- siderably fresh, and certainly my recoi- lection of seeing the Eagle on that day. was that she was making what you might call heavy weather. I should say on that occasion the sea was what one finds in that neighborhood when there IS . fresh wind"
 The court asked a number of questions of Captain Rodgers. among others oeins one as to whether the Brookiyh gnu Texas had been in danger or coInsv on July 3. The witness repiieu Una, n there had been any such danger he nau not seen the two ships at the time. ne had seen inc two vessels early in the en- gagement, but they were then apout hsli n mile apart, Later he was called DeioW' and if there had been such danger It was
 Hodgson Tells of Battle.
 When Captain Rodgers was excused ne was followed by Lieutenant CoHss"ue s A. c. Hodgson. He said that ne nao heen navigator of the Brooklyn during inc Snanish war and was on the orioge on the day of the battle July 3, having been navigator of Commodore Schley flagship, the Brooklyn. He continued:
 q heard the executive omcer' Leu- tenant Commander Mason. sing out ciear shin for action And the crew imme- diately dispersed to quarters, l having sounded the general alarm previously. The commodore shortly appeared on the bridge. We were at that time headed about west northwest or to the westward of northwest. I told him that there was nothing doing he said: Go anead. rang six bells and asked if we had not better hold her head steady to see what course the Spaniards proposed to pursue. I do not remember his reply exactly to that. because immediately afterwards told him they were evidently making for up, and he said: Go for them, ana l rang four bells and put helm aport.
 "Captain Cook appeared upon the bridge at this time, and l told him that every thing was connected up at the coming tower and that we were already going ahead, and in fact, we were going ahead, The Commodore took his position on platform he had had built around the con- ming tower where he could be in easy communication with the commanding off, fcer inside and remained on the bridge. 'r'The executive officer had given previously the order 10 man the star board batteries. I sang out to him we were going into action with port helm and he shifted over to the port battery. We were then standing for the enemy, and as soon as the guns were brought to bear Lieutenant Simpson fired little off the port bow the first gun from the for ward S-inch turret. From that time on, we went considerably in toward them.
 'I then went down to where the Com- modore was standing to get into the con- ming tower, when l heard him sing out Look out Cook. they are going to ram you ,.s......- t
 Captain Cook said ho woul>. look after that and starboarded the helm a little to parallel the course of the leading vessel, the Maria Teresa, which had made a broad sheer to port.
 He had hardly made that sheer, how ever to port before he fell off again for the reason apparently that shot was fired from the Brooklyns 6-inch gun. The Teresa got abaft our port beam and helm was ported on the Brooklyn immediately after that. We were swinging with port helm I heard the Commodore sing out: Hard aport or words to that effect and Captain Cook sang out Helm is aport.'
 Schley Was Emphatic.
 'T saw at that time the crucial moment had arrived in making the turn, and I said, Commodore, if you go to starboard you will run into the Texas and he said, Damn the Texas. 1 cannot help that She must look out for herself. She will take care of that And he also said, I do not propose to go in any closer and subject myself to a torpedo attack
 q suggested. then, that we back the starboard engine, and he wanted to know why. and I said. Because it would give the Texas a wider berth and shorten our turning circle It was decided that 1t was very essential to get around quickly, as the leading Spanish ship was then standing to the westward, and If the Brooklyn did not stop her, she had good chance of escaping. So the helm was put hard aport.
 T said I would run up on top of the bridge and look out for the Texas. As was going up I asked the chief quarter master if he had seen a torpedo boat, and he said he had seen one blown up by large shell way in the rear The helm, however, was kept hard aport. The Brooklyn swung clear of the Texas and brought around with helm hard aport un- i'll she brought in sight the leading Span- ish vessel which was then the Vizcaya, the Teresa having fallen off and gone iH short, seeking a berth. As soon as we were around at the proper position. the helm was eased so that we paralleled the course of the ViZcaya, which at that time was about 2.4OO or 2,50O yards on our starboard bow. The Colon was probably on the beam or a little forward of the beam, the Oquendo abaft the starboard beam The Oquendo very soon fell out and ran ashore on fire, and then we de- voted our attention solely to the Colon and Vizcaya,"
 The Judge Advocate-How near was the Texas to the Brooklyn when the latter crossed her bow?
 "I suppose it was about 250 to 300 yards. "
 Do you remember whether anything was said about blanketing the fire of the Texas at that time?
 .'When I told the Commodore thought we would run into the Texas think I did say that We might get shot from one of her big guns"
 Have you ever said that you were sskttish' about a collision with the Texas at this timer"
 Well I was skttish' about it. thought we were going to have collision very likely with the Texas"
 How was the collision averted, from what you know of your knowledge?"
 By our getting around so quick, we passed ahead of her"
 Changes in the Log.
 The Judge Advocate questioned Com mander Hodgson about changes in the