Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-10-02

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number Of changes had been made IN
sehley's dispatch as 1t appears in the
official records.
in the department version of the dis
patch appear the words, much TO be re-
| eretted, cannot obey orders of the de-
| partment Have striven earnestly" The
original dis ateh, however, as it appears
/ in Sehley's alter copy book, reads: 1T is
to be regretted that theedepartments or
! ders cannot be obeyed earnestly as we
have all striven 10 that end.
Rear Admiral SchIey's attorneys con
tend that the correct copy of his dis
patch gives an altogether different APP
pearanee to the incident.
Rear Admiral Cotton, who commanded
| the Harvard during the war, upon di-
rect examination, said positively be had
| delivered dispatches to Commodore
| Schley on May ~ from Secretary Long
and Acting Admiral Sampson, informing
! Schey that the Spanish fleet was in San
| tiago harbor. BY referring TO the ofti-
! cial records and after refreshing the men,
DRY of Rear Admiral Cotton, Attorney
| Rayner demonstrated that one of these
/ dispatches which Cotton claimed to have
| delivered to Sehley on the afternoon OF
/ May q was not sent from Washington
until that day. 1t was impossible, there
! fore, to deliver this dispatch to the COM
mander-in-chief of the flying squadron at
| the time as first sworn to by Cotton.
/ Upon cross-examination Cotton admit
| ted that he might be mistaken es to
| dates, and it was possible that the in
formation was not conveyed to Schley UNI
! til May 81, four days later. Before the
latter day, Schley himself had learned of
! the presence of a portion of the Spanish
fleet in Santiago harboi and had fired
upon Ire Colon.
Again the court ruled il favor of Schley
when Captain Wise was being question
ed by Mr.. Hanna about eonye station
between Wise and Captain Philip the
| day the flying squadron started for Key
West to coal. Wise said he was asked
by Philip about the location of the Span
ish ileet. Wise replied that lie was con-
fdent it was in Santiago harbor. Attor-
| ney Rayner objected To the admission of
conversations as evidence. especially as
Schley was not present when they took
place, and could not know what was said.
Admiral Dewey promptly sustained the
objection.
Rear Admiral SchIey acted as his own
counsel, so far as related to consulting
| tives. While the rear admiral did not
address the court. be directed matters.
Sixth Day.
Only one session was held Thursday,
the court adjourning ut ! o'clock out of
respect to the late Judge Wilson, whose
funeral was held during the afternoon.
Two new witnesses were examined.
Spencer s. Wood who commanded the
| torpedo boat Dupont during the Santiago
campaign told OF delivering dispatches
from Sampson to Schley at Cienfuegos
Nav - and informed the court that after
reading them Schiey appeared to be la
boring under excitement The other new
witness was William G. Gray, an engi-
neer Of the Texas, who rather dismaye1
the department counsel by saying the en-
gines Of that ship were reversed after
she had passed the Bsvoklyn, indicating
| that at that time at least there was no
danger Of a collision on account OF the
hagship's loop. Gray was dropped In
short order and not asked for further tes-
'imony.
The testimony Of Captain Wise of the
Yale revealed the fact that Schley CON
templated entering the harbor and en-
gaging the Spanish fleet May 81, three
days before the battle,
Machinist Claxton of the Texas was
recalled and was on the stand only long
I enough to state that his testimony as
printed was correct Then Captain Wise
Of the Yale took the stand for eross-ex-
animation by the Schley counsel
Wise had sworn that he had word from
the Navy Department that the Spanish
feet was at Santiago May ~ and the
attorneys for the applicant were success
full in obtaining from him the admission
that he did not communicate that infor-
nation to Commodore Schley, The wit
ness said he Informed Captain Sigsbee
and he considered ii certain the latter
. would notify Schlay. The cross-exarnina-
ton reveaied the fact that Wise exehang-
ell number of signals with Sehley's flag
ship afterward, but did not inform the
commodore of the reported presence of
the enemy.
At the suggestion OF Admiral Dewey,
Judge Advocate Lemiy asked the witness
who was the senior officer at that time.
Captain Wise said he himself was until
Captain Cotton arrived. He also admit
ted that he did not direct Captain Sigs-
bee TO communicate to Sehley the in
formation he had received about the
! Spanish fleet.
Her Faith Was Shattered.