Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1901-10-19
wnlcn, he replied, During all the en-

fIG@A@~%AN~t
What was his general conduct. man
ner and bearing on these occasions?'
Mr.. Rayner asked.
"Excellept, in every particular. He
was calm, collected and brave
Asked to give a brief account Of ths
battle Of July Commander Mason,
after giving the preliminaries, said:
when | saw the leading ship Of the
enemy coming out / gave the order
Clear ship for action What was done
to the engines / don't know, although
my impression is they were started at
once. AS soon as | reported the bat
terry to Captain Cook in the. coming
tower | asked him If we should COM
mence firing He replied: Fire as soon
as you are ready | Immediately gave
the order to Lieutenant Simpson. the
senior officer OF the forward turret, to
fire as soon as he could, giving him
range of $500 yards. / think the first
gun was fired within five minutes or
very close to five minutes after the
first alarm. The rest OF the battery
took up the fire at once and continued
to fire on the port bow until the ranges
commenced to get down to 1900 and
1000 yards. l asked Captain Cook as
to which way he was going round, It
being necessary for me to know on
account of changing the battery below.
shifting from one site to the other.
He answered that he was. going with
port helm. gave the necessary orders
on deck and went below.
"As / arrived in the after cabin the
after five-inch gun was fired for the
last time on the port side and the star
board gun took up the fire Immediately.
The starboard battery then was en-
gagged for the rest of the action. The
range at the time we turned as far as
l remember was about 1,400 yards.
After swinging around, the range
went from 2,400 to $500 and 5000
yards. saw none of our vessels after
the first signal alarm. AS to the posi-
ton of the enemy, they were on the
port bow outside of the harbor when
we made the turn with the port helm.
At the end of the turn they were on
our starboard beam and quarter with
one of them little ahead. The Maria
Teresa very shortly after this or about
the end of the turn dropped astern and
sheered in for the shore, the Oquendo
following along some short time later,
leaving the Viscaya and Colon. made
the statement moment ago about not
seeing any of the vessels OF the squad
ron 1t was just about this time saw
the Oregon coming out OF the smoke.
After the Oquendo got ashore we had
a running fight with the Viscaya for
some time, the Colon going ahead OF
her and on the inside. The Viscaya
finally when well forward on the beam,
put her helm hard starboard. 1t looked
as If she was going to turn and go
for us or cross our path, then imme-
diately shifted to hard aport. went
clear around the circle and started
ashore. After that we had a chase of
some time with the Colon. In which
for time she made better speed than
we did, when gradually we managed
to overhaul her"
On cross-examination Commander
Mason said he had not made the coal
supply his especial concern. He had
not discussed the question with the
commodore, nor had he any converse
lions with him on any other official
matters. He was quite sure that the
Brooklyn was not particularly short
of coal.
Rear Admiral Schfey's Pay.
Rear Admiral Schley will receive his
full pay as senior rear admiral until
the close of the court of inquiry. That
is at the rate of $500 year. When
Schley was placed on the retired list
week ago his salary under the law
was reduced to s5,625, which is three
quarters OF the amount given him for
active service. 1t was thought at the
time that the department would off,
cially assign him to attendance at the
investigation, which would have enti-
tied him to full pay. No action was
taken for several days, but the depart
ment then, by request, 1t is said, made
the assignment, and the admirais
name was restored to its former place
on the pay roll. Admirals Benham and
Ramsey are both on the retired list,
but receive full pay during their SER
vice as members of the court Of inquiry.
Unless present plans are changed Mr..
Rayner will close Admiral Schleys
side of the case in about week. 1t
is felt that nearly all the facts in the
case have been pretty clearly estab-
lished, and that all that remains is the
personal statement of Admiral Schley
and of the officers closely connected
with him regarding the campaign.
Admiral Schley's own statement, OF
course, viii be of the greatest import
ance. The present plan Is TO have him
appear as the last witness in the case
ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCED.
The. engagement is announced OF
MI n.ox,or. XE,aonr lo,,nhtar of