The Irish standard., 1901-11-09
PRAISE FOR sCHLEY.
Capt. Parker Takes Up the ArEu-
ment In Defense of the
Admiral,

Au"lculs
Washington, Nov. 6.-Mr. Hanna
continued his argument when the
schley court of inquiry convened at
II o'clock Tuesday morning.
Mr.. Hanna briefly reverted to the
cruise of the flying squadron from
Cienfuegos to Santiago for the pur-
pose of showing that neither the Vixen
or the Merrimac had been the cause Of
the delay on the voyage.
He then continued his discussion Of
the retrograde movement, saying that
but one explanation had been given for
it in Admiral schley's dispatch. nance
ly. the inadequacy of the coal supply.
'There Is" he said. mo suggestion or any
other reason in this dispatch In his testi-
mony before this court Admiral Schley
gave four reasons for leaving his station
off Santiago. but no one of these four rea-
sons appears in his Geographic report
made at the time"
Mr.. Hanna then took up SPECIFICATION nve,
of the precept. relating to the clrcum-
stances attending and the reasons for the
disobedience by Commodore Schley of the
orders of the department contained in Its
dispatch dated May %. 1898. and the pro-
P1IelN VI IIS COICuCl III tIIG pIeIlISSS
Mr.. Hanna took issue With Admiral
Schley that the dispatch: 1.-The depart
ment looks to you 10 ascertain fact and
that the enemy, If therein, does not leave
without a decisive action" was sugges-
tion and not mandatory order. Mr.. Han
ma quoted Admiral Schley's dispatch OF
May Z. in which he expressed regret over
not being able to obey orders. saying that
as 1t was written after the Cotton dis
patch had been received 1t was an explicit
confession that the Cotton telegram was
an order
Taking up the coal supply of the fleet az
required by specification six of the precept,
Mr.. Hanna said:
From testimony of commanding and
other officers of the Brooklyn, the Iowa. the
Massachusetts,, the Marblehead. and the
executive and other officers of the Texas.
and from the steam logs of those vessels
1t has been established that the flying
equipped with coal.
Specification seven was next considered.
This requires an inquiry as to whether
every proper effort was made to capture
the Colon as that vessel lay In the harbor
at Santiago. and referring to 1t Mr.. Hanna
said:
with respect to this specification it
seems sufficient to say that when the fly
ing squadron arrived off Santiago on May
20 the Colon was discovered in plain sight,
lying about 1000 to 1900 yards inside of
the Moro, moored stem and stern, appar-
emily, with awnings up. and that she so re-
manned during the 10Th. 3Oth and 3lst Of
May and until the morning of June l." In
this connection Mr.. Hanna referred to the
reconnaissance of May 81, during which the
Colon was bombarded and said that dur
Ing this action not one Of our ships had
the Colon under fire for total period of
more than five minutes, and the Colon was
not struck"
Mr.. Hanna said that beyond the Brook
lyn's turn the battle OF Santiago was not
involved in the inquiry. He said that ac-
cording to the weight of the testimony no
disposition was manifested by the Span
ish ships to ram the Brooklyn. with ref
erence to the testimony concerning the pos
slbility Of collision with the Texas Mr..
Hanna called attention TO the fact that the
two vessels In closing in moved on CON-
verginE lines. He said that Capt Cook
and Navigator Hodsson evidently had OBJ
served Commodore Schley's movements on
The day of the battle from different stand
points. Mr.. Hanna said beyond peradven-
ture the progress of the Texas was seri-
ouslY irtcrferred with.
Capt. Parker, junior counsel for Admiral
Schlcy. then began his address In support
of Admiral Schey. He stood at counsers
tabie and spoke In clear and distinct tones.
II doubt" said Capt. Parker, "if the naval
history of the world presents or ever has
presented n case of the Importance and
character of that in which we have so long
been engaged. ] Doubt If tribunal more
exalted i'll the character OF the persons who
compose II has ever sat in Judgment upon
brother officer. | doubt If an officer, with
the lifelong character and standing and
conduct that Admiral Sch!ey has always
displayed, was ever called upon before to
ask an investigation of his conduct as a
victorious commander of fleet"
There is no accuser here" he snid: mo
body Is on trial, and yet the case has been
conducted as though Commodore Schley
were on trial. We get it," he went on, "in
the order of the argument now being made
here. So that We are compelled TO consld-
er the Inquiry as a trial"
Taking up the events Of the campaign in
their sequence Capt. Parker smoke of tho
Commodore Schley at Key West, saying
that he would not give Admiral Schlsy's
testimony on this point. He pointed. out.
however. that Schey was not then in
formed that the Spanish fleet had left
Curacao. Notwithstanding Sampson had
been In possession Of this Informal ton for
three or four days.
He then quoted SIMPSONS orders to
schley to proceed to Cienfuegos and there
establish blockade and quoted Schley's
testimony to the effect that Sampson told
MN he had at that time no advIces as to
AS for the Cicnfuegos blockade. he held
that 1t was sufficient that no vessel had
gone In or come out without permission.
Moreover the admiral had taken ali tho
steps possible to take to ascertain whether
the enemy was there.
Taking up the question Of the progress
OF the flying squadron from Cienfuegos to
Santiago. Capt. Parker said that n tho
court will take the trouble to look at the
logs OF the various ships the members will
see that there is nothing in that charge II
prefer to take what the officers wrote at
the time rather than what they may say
now"
Capt. Parker had not concluded his areu-
ment when. at four o'clock the court ad-
journed until Wednesday.
Ex-"Doxer" Leader Honored,
Peking, Nov. o.-Na Tung, Boxer
leader, has been appointed to the