Evening star., 1901-09-26
WHILE OFF SANTIAGO
Captain Wise Continues His Narration
Of Events.
ADMIRAL COTTON AGAIN fESTIPIES
Lieut.. Wood Tells About Taking
Dispatches to Cienfuegos.
SCHLEY COURT OF INQUIRY

Admiral Dewey announced that 1t would
adjourn over the afternoon session in order
that members of the court and counsel
might attend the funeral services of Jere.
NJ. Wilson. late senior counsel of Admiral
Schley.
Capt. VIM. c. Wise, in command of the
scout ship Yale, was the first witness to
go on the stand this morning. He
asked to continue his narrative of the
movement of the flying squadron toward
Key West from near Santiago.
The Movement Toward Key West.
Under Commodore Schley's ORDERS he
said. II took the Merrimac In tow. sig
raj was then made from the flagship (May
20 whether had coal enough to reach
Key West. My answer was we had. The
next signal was, How fast can you towY
My answer was, Nine knots, and faster II
tow-line holds Then signal was made,
Destination Key West via Yucatan chan
rel. course west and signal was made to
take position 500 yards off the starboard of
the flagship. After starting out the line on
the Merrimac parted. 1 reported that by
signal. Then 1 notified admiral. Try to
get in steel hawser,' and after a good
deal of delay the line parted second time
on the Merrmac, and we made fast to the
Nerrimac about L oclock, and then steam
ed west until 80 o'clock. and made signal
to commodore, 'Merrimac making five or
six knots under her own steam-should /
cast off" Answer was. No. About s
o'clock a signal was made to the flagship,
Texas and Marblehead get alongside for
COAL About o'clock read a signal from
the Marblehead to the flagship that unless
the collier could stop he would be unable to
go alongside. Then a signal directed me
to cast off line, which did.
THE next morning about o'clock the
2Sth of May, was called and asked how
much coal 1 had on board. and reported
two days coal and four days moderate
steaming. The admiral directed me to go
to Port Antonio and then proceed to Key
West. and 1 was told that perhaps / would
fan in with Admiral Sampson in which
case l was to report to Admiral Sampson,
which l did, and l turned over to him the
telegram Commodore Schley had given me
to send to the department, and then he
asked me where l left the flying squadron
and told him about thirty miles west of
Santiago. He asked me what they were
doing there.
Il said 1 don't know. but Captain Sigs-
bee Will tell you and he Is coming on
board. Then 1 proceeded to Newport
News
O. By Mr. Hanna)-"'You have spoken of
delays in consequence of difficulty in tow
Ing. when did those delays occur7'
A About midnight of the Goth and fore
noon of the 27th.
@ What was this difficultyT'
A improper securing of the hawser
the Merrmac'
Q Il desire to know whether it was due
to tempestuous weather or notT
A Not at all"
Did Not Inform Schley.
Mr.. Rayner produced executive docu-
ment d in which was a report of February
is from Commodore Schley to the Senate
committee naval affairs in reference
TO the letter from the Secretary of the
Navy of February 6, 1899, saying that after
having been informed by the scouts COM
manded by such officers as Sigsbee Jewell
and Wise that they had been at Santiago
for a week and had seen nothing of the
Spanish squadron he was proceeding to
Key West. After reading this letter Mr..
Rayner asked the witness whether he had
given Information about the Spanish squad
ron to the commanding officer Of the flying
squadron.
Only to Captain Sigsbee" he replied He
said he saw Captain Sigsbee go board
the flagship, as did Jewell and he was
satisfied they would give the information
to Commodore Schley.
q. (by Mr.. Rayner) Had you been off
Santiago for week at that timer A. II
arrived there on the morning of the 22d
and left on the morning of the 2Sth.'
Q. (by Mr. Hanna) Did the commanding
officer of the flying squadron ask you for
any information Of this kind?" A. mo,
sir
q Cby Mr. Rayner) lis the natural condi-
tion of the harbor such that you can see
very little of the inner harbor?" A. only
see short distance in the harbor''
The witness said he was positive he did
not pass within hailing distance of the
Brooklyn except when he made the signal
TO Commodore Schley that he was unable
- make the Merrimac fast to the tow line.
Q. How close to the Brooklyn were
Gou?' A. Perhaps mile
Mr.. Rayner read pages 81. %, 90 and 97
OF the signal record book Of the Brooklyn,
these signals being given and received 26th
and 27th Of May.
Q. BY Mr.. Rayner: I want to ask you II
any signal You recollect you ever gave any
notice to the Brooklyn that the Spanish
squadron was inside the harbor of Sant
7gO2 A. None.
The witness said the coal capacity OF the
Yale was 4.JO0 tons. When he coril1nuni-
Gated with the flying squadron near Santi-
ago he said that he had about 7oO tons of
coal on board.
Wise's Inspection of SANTIAGO De-
Mr.. Rayner read report dated Nav 80
from Admiral Sampson to the department
saying that Captain Wise had Informed him
that he believed Santiago to be strongly
fortified. He asked the witness If there
was ever time when ne could have com
muncated this fact to Commodore Schlev
on his flagship
Captain Wise replied that he had officially
informed Sigsbee. and he was entirely sat
tstied that Sigsbee would inform Commo-
dore Schley, he saw him Immediately go
on board the flagship.
O. But you could have communicated di-
rectly with Commodore Schley7 A Yes; by
signal
q. BY Mr.. Hanna: want to ask you
whether you were intercepted by an order
from the commanding officer of the SQUAD
ron and assigned to other duty. A. I was:
when Captain Sigsbee preceded me a few
minutes.
Q. Reference has been made to a renort
which you made. as understand 1t, to the
commander-tn-chief Of the North Atlantic
squadron respecting the Notifications at
Santiago. i ask whether you ever made any
such report to the commander-n-chief of
the ny1ng squadron. A. l never did. i had
no communication whatever with Admiral
Echley.
q How closely did you go in to Santiago
harbor? A The first two or three days we
generally passed within a mile or a mile
and half very carefully.
Q. Did you discover anything of batter
les? A 1 saw what 1 took to be shore
batteries.
O. You have spoken of one or two small
vessels, or the masts of or two small
vessels. Were you able to make out
whether these were the masts of vessels?
A II was simply the masts of moderate
sized vessel. 1 could not say what 1t was.
O. Do you want TO be understood as say
ing positively what 1t was you saw? A.
No. 1t was military mast OF some kind.
O. Could 1t have been the mast of