Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-10-03
THE SPANISH NAVY MIGHT
HAVE MADE ITS ESCAPE
GOOD WEATHER PROMISED.

% GOOD WEATHER PROMISED. .
Washington, Oct. 2.-Weather 8
" Forecaster Garriott in his official =
:" forecast of the weather which will 81
prevail tomorrow for the yacht $
s races, says: s.
8 "The outlook is favorable for s.
= racing breeze from the northwest s.
= off Sandy Hook Thursday. The =
" weather will be overcast followed :
by clearing" $
**** s** =ssaas So. $50
he had been placed on picket duty at
the eastern end of the line on the
night of May 90. He was about two
miles from the shore and probably
three miles from the mouth of the har,
Dor. He said the entire fleet could
not be discerned at night and the
shore could only be discerned as a
black mass in the distance.
Gould you have seen vessel un.
dertaking to pass out near the shad.
TWO luoSO SOllullioio. liz " as
asked.
IF she had shown no lights and
made no noise, do not believe we
could" he replied.
SchIey's Orders to Sharp.
Sharp said the Vixen had carried
Schley from the Brooklyn to the Mas
sachusetts May 81 before beginning
the bombardment of the Colon and
that when he had asked what course
he should pursue in the approaching
action, Lieutenant Sears had replied
for the Commodore that the latter had
directed Sharp to keep his craft cleal
as she was vulnerable and not assume
any risks. He thought the Commodore
had afterwards spoken to him to the
same effect.
Notes of Battle in Question.
Parker questioned Sharp concern
ing notes made of the battle July 3
by Lien. Harlow on board the Vixen
This report has occasioned no little
controversy, It being claimed by some
of Schley's friends after copy of the
notes was delivered to the Admiral by
Sharp they had been changed some
WIldI. lle WllAOpo odiu lC iietu eohSA
a carbon copy to the Commodore at
ter the battle.
do these notes state the truth fc
the battle as you saw it," the witness
was asked.
These IRE Harlow's notes, he, tool
them; n not prepared to say ye:
or no Whether they are absolutely cor
rect in everp particular or not" SHARP
replied.
Now, are you not prepared to sa!
to the best of your knowledge and be
lief they contain true statement O.
what Harlow saw"
''In the main essentials 1 should say
they are true, but there were probab
ly mistakes in them
On cross examination Sharp wal
questioned in great detail by Captain
Parker in regard to the entries in the
log
log of the Brooklyn for period gov
erning the Cuban campaign. He re
ferred to entries concerning the Vix
ems firing upon a locomotive engine
on the shore near Santiago taking i
for a gun boat. He elected from thu
witness statement that at the tim,
the Vixen must have been very nea
the shore. Sharp said one of the re
suits of the bombardment of the Color
had been to develop the Spanish shor'
batteries and that the Vixen durin,
the blockade was not correctly givel
by the official chart. He was neare
the shore than the map shows.
| Judge Advocate Lemly had the wit
ness compare the original copy o
Harlow's notes with the copy printed
on board the Brooklyn with the resul
showing the notes had been changed
before being printed, so as to maxi
the account say at 1905 o'clock, tn
two leading ships of the enemy Dor
we'll on the Brooklyn's starboar,
quarter" instead of on her "Starboart
bow" and that at 11:45 O'Clock tn
Brooklyn was zone point on the por
bow" instead of zone point on the star
board bow"
Looked Like Mxup.
Lieut.. James J. Doyle, who was tn
deck officer on the Brooklyn durin
the Spanish war, read entries in tn
Brooklyn's log concerning the battl
of Santiago. He said he had write
the log but the navigator had made a
addendum to it. He said it locke
very much to him, before the Brool
lyn's turn, as if they were about t
have a general mixup with the Spar
ish ships.