The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-21

question that will bring out the Facts.
One of the charges against Admiral
Schley is whether or not every effort ir-
cumbent upon the commanding officer of
the fleet under such circumstances was
made by Commander Schley to capture
or destroy the Spanish cruiser Colon as
she lay at anchor in the entrance to San
tiago harbor, May q to 81, inclusive. We
have asked that question and we have
his admiral Hfgginson's) opinion. This
court, by the precept, is obliged to give
an opinion upon the conclusion of the
investigation. Now, in the opinion of the
court and in order to form our opinion,
we wanted Admiral IIigg:nsons opinion
on that subject"
FACTS ONLY WANTED.
Judge Wilson, understand that pre-
cept, reading it through from end to end.
to be simply this, that there shall be an
investigation to get at the facts. And
when you have gotten at the facts, then
you express your opinion, but you are
not called upon, and I must respectfully
submit, are not permitted to take some
body else's opinion. You have A right
TO get all the facts you can, and that is
what we want, but otherwise you VIII
see at once that you might have a great
variety of opinions, and all the opinions
OF subordinates. In other words. the
precept don't call for anybodys opinion
except the opinion of the honorable
court
Admiral Dewey-In the opinion of one
member of the court, and perhaps of tta
others, we do not ask his opinion but
Tor statement of a matter OF fact. We
ask: Was everything done?'' We don't
say, in your opinion
Judse Rayner made an extended argu-
ment' quoting many legal Authorizes.
against the eligibility of op mons on the
part of witness, and he was snealtney
when at o'clock the court took recess
of an hour for luncheon.
promptly at o'clock the court was
called to order by Admiral Dewey and
MI Rayner resumed his argument in o.
position to the admissfbility of questions
intended to call out the opinions of wit
neSSeS
lie contended that If testimony giving
oplnions should be admitted. the inquiry
woeio De lnter1nlnable. If, for instance.
Opinions were to be taken as to the nro-
pilety Oh the loop made by the Brook
lyn, practically the entire navy could he
summoned as all it's members were ax-
perts and each would have his opinion
witnesses were expected to relate facts.
the court to give opinions.
Replying, Judge Advocate LeYnIv ouot
ca the record in the trial of Admiral
Aeppel, arguing that it was n.irelv W m
IN the discretion of the court to decide
whether the opinion of a witness who
uao peen on the ground should be called
LOT py the court. He thought. however
mat the weight of authority was against
asking. the opinion of a witness
COURT BACKS UP.
The court then withdrew it's question as
TO Admiral Higginson's opinion as %
wnether commodore Schley had done all
that could be done to destroy the Colon
W WINE mat vessel lay at anchor in San
uago bay
Another question put by the court was
as to the distance the squadron Law ont
from santiago. and the reply was that
II was three or four miles out during
the daytime and two or three miles out
at night In reply to a question. he
said that after the bombarlmcnt of Nav
81 no further effort had been made 70
uestroy the Colon, because the vessel had
gone inside the harbor.
ADMIRAL HigSinson was lien excused
anu Capt Z. N Chester, who command
eo the Cincinnati during the Spanish war
and who is now in command of the no,..,i
war college at Newport, was called
Capt. Chester related an intar,,ieyy =.
MAD mad with Admiral SchIev on hoera
the Bfeoklyn off the south coast of CiIba
on May 20, 1898. He had told the adn,i,.a1
that from his examination OF tho charts
ne pe1eved coaling feasible, but it worl0
De done under great disadvantages He
nau expressed the opinion that boats
might De used or that q more secure
point might be gained thirty miles RI
eastward -i''iS' 70
MAJ. Thomas-N. Wood, of the marine
corps, Who commanded the marine force
on the Massachusetts during the Spani n
war testified to the circumstances CON
nected with that vessels operations dur.
ing the siege of Santiago He said that
the second day after Santiago bay was
reached by the flying squadron" he
mad seen the Cristobal Colon lying in
side the harbor; that there was at that
time another Spanish vessel of the Viz
caya class partly visible. He Thought
both were in view for three or four days
The witness also said that when Admiral
Schley had come aboard the Massa-
chusetts, previous to the bonlbardner+
OF the Colon on May 81 he had heard that
officer say to Capt Higginson:
KEPT OUT OF DANGER.
1--WE are going in, but we will NOT %
In sufficiently near to endanger the YES
sells" He had been told that the dis
lance was to be 10000 feet.
After the bombardment ceased. Mat
Wood said, the Spanish shore batteries
continued to fire at the American ships.
AT this point he had gone forward where
ne had again seen Commodore SchIey.
Did you hear orders or Instructions
given by Commodore Schley after the
bombardment?" asked the Judge advo-
cate.
The witness replied: ST went upon the
superstructure to ask If we were going
in again, or going any closer. so as to
know whether we would have a chance
to use the six-inch batteries of which |
was in command, and 1 heard. as L be-
lieve, Commodore Schley say to Can't.
Higginson: 'Starboard your helm, and
let's get out of this.
How clear is your recollection? Were
these his exact words?'
"As 1 remember these were the exact
words, and at the time 1 considered them
as having been made by Commodore
Schley. There was quite a number of
people there up on the forward part of
the deck at that time and from the
recognition of the voice and the general
direction from which it came. l took it
to be remark made by the flag officer
suppose I was probably eight feet