The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-10-10
HOT SHOT FOR SCHLEY.
CONTINUED from First Page.)

A1OAliiluSd AAOhA Il II 81 dSVsl
and performed it reluctantly and tried
to get through with 1t as soon as he
could"
MIR. Rayner then began his cross-ex-
animation.
who was the captain of your ship?"
he asked.
Francis ]. Higginson."
Il want to read you what Capt. Hig-
ginson says about Commodore
Schley's manner and bearing upon that
occasion. He says:
His manner was that of COM
mander-in-chief
He left a different impression in
your mind from what he left on Capt.
Higgiuson's mind, Them"
Apparently"
Had Capt. Higginson opportunity
to observe him on that occasion?"
mot as we'll as I did"
why was that?"
Because Capt. Higginson was in the
coming tower and ! was outside"
did not Capt. Higginson have any
conversations with the commodore at
that timer"
From time to time, yes"
What do you mean by mental ex-
citement?' ="
Potts Insists on His View.
II quoted conversations that had.
The first thing was the apparent an
xiety of Commodore Schley about us
| ing the coming tower. Secondly, his
stating that at a distance of five to
six miles men standing on the forward
| 13-inch turret were conspicuous OBJ
| jects."
Did the commodore use the coming
tower?"
IL did not see the commodore go into
the coming tower. To the best of my
knowledge and belief he did not. He
was outside the coming tower and be-
tween the coming tower and the heavy
plate that protects the manhole in
| the coming tower. My precon-
ceived idea of Commodore Schley
previous to that occasion was so en-
tirely different from the impression /
| received on that day l concluded that
| he certainly was under a tremendous
mental strain"
Have you any other facts from
which you base your statement to the
court that he was laboring under men
! tai excitement. except the facts which
| you have given?"
Upon what He Based His Opinion.
yes. When Commodore Schley came
| on board the Massachusetts he stated
in distinct terms that he was going in
to destroy the Colon. The Colon was
not destroyed. When he left the ship
| he called it a reconnaissance, drawing
| the fire of the batteries and developing
their weakness or strength"
do you gather from that that he
was laboring under great mental ex-
| Citement?"
From that and from circumstances
l have already stated from my obser
| walton of him from the time he came
on board the ship until he left"
Suppose you were made aware of
the fact that when he entered into that
engagement he was under the regula-
tons of the navy not to engage shore
batteries if there was any danger OF
the shore batteries crippling the ships,
| would you say if you knew of that,
that he was still laboring under great
mental excitement"
Il cannot answer that"
| Capt. Lemly objected to the introduce
| ton of the navy departments orders as
| evidence, but the court decided that
| they could be put in
| Mr.. Rayner then asked concerning
| the weather on the trip from Cienfue-
| COS, and the witness said that on May
rs it had been what is called dirty"
There was an eastern wind and a mod
crate sea rough for small vessels.
Batteries Were Not Dangerous.
Referring to the Spanish shore bat
| teries at Santiago Commander Potts
said they would have been no menace
to armored ships passing them.
At the suggestion of Judge Advocate
| Lemly and in accordance with the de-
| cision of the court Mr.. Rayner here
| formally introduced as evidence the or
| der from the Navy Department con-
corning the exposure of the American
ships to the fire of shore batteries
The court asked questions as follows
Can you give the distance the large
vessels were from the entrance to Glen
| fuegos on the early morning of either
the 22nd or the 23rd of May?"
Il do not recollect any being nearer
than l have said four or five miles
I did not measure the distances there. -
What efforts were made by the yes
sells of the Flying Squadron prior to
the arrival of the Marblehead to deter
mine whether or not Cervera's squad
ron was in the harbor of Cienfuegos p"
None that / ever knew of"
Was Long Range Firing.
Referring to the range of the guns
| for that day, Commander Potts said
| the range given previous to entering
| the engagement was 1000 yards, but
| he had increased 1t to 1890 yards, then
| to 1900 yards, and finally to 10,O 900
yards. Only one shot which had been
fired at the American fleet had i'm
pressed him as being at all dangerous
That fell near the Massachusetts. Soon
after that the Commodore had given
| the order, Put your helm to starboard
and let's get out of this He said he
had seen no shore batteries at Glen
| fuegos.
Lieut. Leiper described the lombard
ment of the Colon, saying that the first
shot from the Massachusetts, had fall
en- outside the Moro. and notwith-
standing the range was increased all
the shots fell short of the Colon. There
were, he said, no orders either to fire
at or make observations of the bat
teries. He thought all the shots from
the American ships had fallen short
of the Colon. The witness said he had
seen no evidence of the presence of
large or powerful guns in the shore
batteries. and was of the opinion there
were none to exceed six inches in cali
bre.
Lieut. Lieper was still on the stand
when the court adjourned for ;he
doU