The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-09-25

dispatches made by Lieutenant BeaH of
the Harvard. I handed them personal
ly to him in his cabin in the order Of
their date He received them, read
them and commented in a general way
upon their purport; spoke of the diff
Guilty he had had in getting coal on
board his ships, while at Cienfuegos
and subsequently to the date of which
/ am speaking. May q, and said it had
been an almost impossibility to get coal
on board on account of the weather He
questioned ne relative to the practica-
bility at St Nicholas Mole and Con
aives channel. As to st. Nicholas Mole
1 said:
There is no question the small ships
can coal there. AS to Gonaives channel
know of no reason why you should
not be able to coal there
The commodore made some remarks
upon my statements, the language Of
which | do not recall, but he asked me:
How about the large ships at St
Nicholas Mole 1 said: You can't coal
your big ships there I had special ref
erence in my reply to the battleships
and protected cruisers Of the Brooklyn
and New York class I said thinking Of
the fact that my own ship had been
there and was some 1900 tons displace-
ment and nearly 600 feet in length pos
sibly under favorable conditions y0u
might be able to coal the large ships
there. one at a time But the area Of
deep water for the anchorage of large
ships is SO little there it was not prac-
ticable to coal at the very utmost more
than one large ship at a time there and
in case the weather beca bad she
would Immediately have to go to sea.
/ was anxious while I was there with
the Harvard on account of her size
and 1 would have left at once in case
bad weather had come on. AS 1 remem-
Der I recollect no qualification as 10
Gonaives channel
Was anything said at this time
about going to Key West for coal2'
Returning to what I said with ref
erence to the difficulty which Commo-
dore Schley stated to n ne had in get
ting coal on board of any of the ships
at Cienfuegos he said he was very anx-
ious- The coal supply was getting short,
the weather was bad and it had been
bad almost continuously. 1t was a very
serious problem as to how or whether
he could possibly get coal on board
ships off Santiago. He said if he found
the weather did not improve and he
found it impra cticable to coal there he
could see only one resort and that one
was he would be compelled to return to
Key West in order to supply his ships
with coal
Having that question he was appre-
hensive especially as to one ship, the
Texas. He did not even know at that
moment whether she had on board suf-
fcient coal to enable her to return to
Key West During my visit he gave an
order to make signal general signal
as remember it, not limited to the fly
ing squadron alone, to report whether
the ships had sufficient coal to reach
Key West. The signal was made or at
least / assume it was made At all
events during my presence with Com
modOre Schley he received a report to
the effect that all ships including the
Texas had sufficient coal to return to
Key West. 1 think the comm odore was
very much relieved when he received
this information. Shortly after. 1
should say within a few minutes. he
directed signal to be made prepara-
tory for the ships to return to Key
West. The order was given in a gen
eral way. I can not give the words of
the order but what I have stated was
their purport While I was still there
he received a report to the effect that
the signals We're read.
Before / left ship he ordered signals
to be made for ships to form prepara-
tory for steaming to Key West To go
back bit. 1 had informed Commodore
Schley that it was utterly impossible
for the Harvard to get anywhere ex-
cept to Kingston. I had not sufficient
coal TO go to Key West and he verbal
~ authorized me to proceed at once to
Kingston to receive such an amount OF
coal as L could get there, sufficient to
enable me to return to the nearest I&li-
ted States port 4 left the Brook Nu
2 bout noon, possibly a few minutes be-
fore Immediately after my departure
the Brooklyn commenced Steaming
ahead, and 1 noticed that many of the
ships at the moment under Commodore
Schley's command were in motion, pre-
sumably preparatory to taking their
stations in steaming order to return to
Key W est AS soon as I returned to
my ship after my boat was hOisted 1
steered to the southwest for Kingston"
Did you state in specific terms that
to the difficulty in coaling?n
'.The question was not discussed, and
i expressed no opinion
Did this conversation occur before
or after the dispa tches which you took
aboard had been read by the COM
mander-in- chief -
After"
In response to further questions Ad-
miral Cotton said that he had the orig
inal translatiOns of the cipher dis
patches addressed to the Harvard. The
of May 25 was then read to
him. as follows:
DISPATCHES TAMPERED WITH.
Washington, May 25, 189S.-Harvard,
st. Nicholas Mole, Hayti. Proceed a It
once and inform Schley and also the
senior officer present off Santiago as
follows:
"An departments Information indi-
Gates Spanish division is still at San
tiago- The department looks to you
TO ascertain the facts. and the enemy,
II therein, does not leave without de-
cisive action. Cubans familiar with
Santiago say that there are lan&ing
places five or six nautical miles west
from the mouth of harbor, and there
insurgents probably will be found and
not the Spanish. From the surround
ing heights can see every vessel in
port. AS soon as ascertained notify the
department whether the enemy is there.
Could not squadron and also the Har
ward coal from Merrimac leeWard of
Cape Cruz, GOnaives channel, or Mole.
Hattie The department will send coal
Immediately to Mole. Report without
delay situation at Santiago, Cuba
LONG"
Mr.. Rayner called attention to the
fact that there were some material
changes in the dispatch as printed in
the official reports by the navy depart
17nnf