The Washington times., 1901-09-13

nicely, and | had no wish to get him into
| any trouble at all. Then another reason
! was that Commodore Howison had told
| all the newspaper men long before that
| he did not like to have his name in print:
| that he wished to be kept out of it as
| much as possible.
Solicitor Hanna showed Mr. Frost copy
| OF the precept defining the scope of the
! .nouirv. and when the witress had read
| II Mr Hanna asked him to state whether
| ne h2d heard Rear Admiral Howison eN-
| press himself at any time with respect
! that paper.
| Ny scanning of that precept indicates
| that the questions relate to what hap
| pened off Santiago in the battle or pre-
| 'edihg the battle, the naval movements,
| Sald the witness. Commodore Howison
| dld not to my knowledge express an opin-
| toned
@ You say he did not express an opin-
| lon regarding these several items spe-
| ciicaIly enumerated and set forth there?
a Re eSarding number l. which reads,
Ills conduct in connection with the
vents OF the Santiago campaign" l
| could not truthfully say
say it.
A COMMUNICATIVE he said anything
IN dlrect criticism there except that Rear
Admiral Schley was incompetent COM
pared with Simpson
.. You say he said he was incompetent
as compared with Rear Admiral Samp-
y. Yes: that SchIey was incompetent
as compared with Rear Admiral Sampson.
=. Ihen his statement was in sense
a comparative one. was it, as between
these two officers?
a Yes. sir; in many respects it was 1t
was q direct comparison offered between
,. Aside from that did It take the form
of criticism of Admiral Schley's con-
dnct OF the campaign directly, aside from
contrasting il with that of anyone else?
a. 1 ha . r ifis. Nli ifnf-
OF Admiral Schieys conduct in or before
me battle of Santiago were mentioned by
Commodore HoNison could not saw
that they We're
Q. want to ask you one other question,
Mr Frost. Did you understand Rear Ad-
mlrai Howison's comments upon Samp-
management OF the campaign to be such
as would have been applicable to any COM
mander-in- chief as fixing the response
biiity which rests upon a comma nder-in-
chief in such position?
A think that he spoke of Admiral
sampson specifically. He called him by
name and spoke of what Admiral Samp-
son had done.
. You do not quite get my point He
spoke OF him specifically, but did he refer
TO him in that connection as the COM
flandt r-in-chief, and would or would not
what he said. in your Judgment, have been
equally applicable to any officer who had
made such disposition of a fleet? Did
you so undeis and II?
a. ! can't say that he alluded to him in
the words ''commauder-in-c chief. but he
spoke of Admiral Sampson as being the
one who would be accountable to the
Government or who would have to make
eXplana ions in case the American fleet
was defeated at Santiago.
Mr. Rayner took the witness again.
To whom did he say credit was due for
winning the battle of Santiago?' he
asked.
Sampson" ras the answer.
Viii Milliam p spen. who, said he was
don and New York offices, and resided at
so East Thirty-thfrd Street. Bayonne. n
J., told of some remarks he overheard |
Admiral Howison make on the steamship |
Minneapolis crossing the Atlantic from
London to New York in October, 1900.
Championed sampson's Cause.
Some of the passengers. Mr.. Spon said. |
were talking of the war with Spain and |
Mr.. spon had remarked that he thought |
it rather hard on the senior officers that |
a junior officer should have been placed |
in command of the fleet without having |
done any particular sea service of late |
years. Admiral Howison appeared in time |
to overhear the remark
He turned around, said the witness. |
took two or three quick steps to me |
abruptly and said, 1 correct you; that is |
not so. You men don't know what you
are talking about You don't know any
thing about the subject
Il said: Sir, what we get is from the |
newspapers and the Government report
Some of the other gentlemen made some
remarks and Admiral Howison said: |
Well. you can't believe those. You can't
trust them. You can't rely on them
Admiral Eowison also said that the Sec
rotary Of the Navy has the right to ap
Dcint anybody in command of fleet; that
Admiral Sampson was the best man for
IL and that Admiral Schley was under
him. The remark had been made pie
viously that no matter what people said
It would always go down in history as
a fact that Admiral Schley was actually |
IN the fight and was in command"
Admiral Schley?' asked MIR. Rayner.
''AdIniral Gchley; yes. sir. Commo odore
5chley then, was in the fight and was
actually in command "----
Q. What did Admiral Howison say to
hat? Anything about Schiey? What did
le say about Schley?
a. He made the remark that Admiral
Sampson was in command of the feet and
hat as he had planned all the maneuvres
le was entitled to all the credit and that
admiral Schley was under him. and he
aid something to the effect that he was
lot as good man to command.
O. What did he say about the contrO-
ersy in the newspapers and what ought
D be done with Schiey, II anything?
A. Then, after some other remarks. he !
-ound UP this part of the conversation |
Y saying that anyhow with a wave
the hand and rather excited-'anyhow.
chey should have been court-martialed. |
Il, was to blame. He was the main one |
. blame for all the controversy in the
ewspapeTs.1-
er when he was talking about Schley? |
What impression did he leave on you
rom his manner?
A He gave me the impression that he |
ad overheard our conversation and that |
is main object was to clear away from |
ur minds any prejudice against Admiral
anpson. and TO belittle Admiral Schley. |
Ie spoke very warmly, very abruptly |
nd as he broke into our conversation. he |
1T US with the impression that he was |
ertainly biased in favor of Admiral |
ampson against Admiral Schley. One
( the gentlemen said to me afterward.
hen ! went outside: why didn't you
nswer him? II he talked to me like
hat ! should He wouldn't have talked
D mo like that"
@ How did you come to be summoned
this case Can you state to the Court?
o whom did you repeat this conversa-
on?
a. About three weeks ago | made call
n a gentlemen and in the course of the
)nversafion this matter came w. ] men \
oned the conversation on board the Min
sapolis. He asked permission to let him ,
rite ii out and send II to Admiral Schley. | ,
G wrote the next day after | saw him. | !
dmiraI Schley wrote back and said he !,
ould like to have an affidavit on that. d
In the Interest of Fair Play. S
The third and last witness called to i'm -
each Admiral Howison's eligibility was :
'oster Nichols of Yonkers n. Y, who | S
escribed himself as an associate editor t
( an encyclopedia of biography. He
tarted off by saying that he was an un- =
'illing witness. but in the interest of fair '
lay he was happy to testify b
do not let that interfere in the least" Q