The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-09

ccrs-Lieut. Commander Z. VI.
Potts. OF the Massnchusetts, Makes
=n Attack on SchIey-Wr. Rayncr's
Plea for IA Thorough InvcstiGntion.
Rear Admiral henry c. Taylor. who
commanded the Indiana in the Santiago
campaign, was upon the stand at The
Schigy Court of Enquiry today. and his
testimony. while brief. was quite i'm
poTtaut
Lieut.. Mark l. Bristol was upon the
witness stand II the opening Of the Court.
He again coutradictsd the testimony of
almost every other witness and set up his
chart and opinion against that of other
officers and other charts. lie would not
yield 10 the opinions or charts of others
Lieut. Commander T. NJ. Potts. naviga-
tor Of the Massachusetts,. was another
witness this afternoon. His testimony
was somewhat sensational. He said
Schley's conduct at the time of the attack
on the Colon was not that OF a Comman-
der-in-chief. His bearing and manner was
that Of a man under great mental strain
and excitement he said. His attiade was
that Of a man who had "A disagTeeable
task TO perform and was anxious to get
through with il as soon as possible. He
disagreed with Admiral HiEginsOn's state
ment In this respect Higginson said
Schley's conduct was that Of a comman-
der-iu-"hief.
The ss-examination OF the witness in
this matter provoked a long discussion
and Alr Rayner took occasion to place in
evidence the instructions Of the Navy De
partm,Et not to unnecessarily expose the
ships tu the FIRE Of the land batteries.
When the Court convened this morning
Lieutenant Bristol again took the stand
and continued his expert" testimony
He started out by comparing the stadi-
meter and the seXtant lie said ne gave
the staGimeter more credit at distances Of
less than 400 yards than AT greater dis
tances. AT stiI less distances he regarded
the stadimeter as practica ~ accurate. that
is UP 70 2.goO and $500 yards. Starting at
zero it is absolutely correct he said. The
sextant is more reliable. lie said other
officers agreed with him I'm this respect
ahd then corrected himself by saying that
he agreed with other officers in this re-
gard
lC The witness said Hodgson measured the
distance between the Brooklyn and the
Spanish ships both By Stadimeter and by
-seNtent- BY the use Of one as a check
to the other. he said, the result is pretty
apt to be reliable.
The Estimate Unsubstantiated.
AT the request Of Mr.. RayUer the wit
Off Cienfuegos. He had said in his testi-
mony yesterday that the squadron was
ten miles OF that port. He was forced
TO admit that the log did not show that
distance OF even eight miles out
in explanation the witness took a time
when the Texas was two miles OF Glen
fuegOs, and tnen said il steamed five
miles within a given time. Although the
direction was not indicated. he assumed
that il must be out 20 sea That he said
would put the vessels out seen miles He
could Ind nothing to Cutsta-R-Sate his
statement that the, so@-Idroa us ten
miles miles out The distance. he said, RS from
his own estimate and not from the log.
Mr. RaynCr read from Schleys re-art
10 the department showing that the
squadron maintained tho blockade of
S1eniue Sos at dlstszCe n four miles
from the harbor. He then asked.
O--Now, lieutenant. if YOU are right
then the commodore has stated what was
not accurate That is not a correct stater
ment, is it2
A--The statements / made are what 1
thought were correct j DO not question
other peoples word.
rR--WithOut questioning the word Of
either Admiral Schley OF yourself upon
these statements, do you still stand by
your statement that the vessels were six.
eight, and ten miles Out2
Al have 10 stand by my statement
Q.-Do you know anything about the
state Of the weather and sea on the voy-
AEE bFAh cen NAF44A Af-EOS 10 OdnLldBD-
A-There were what We call moderate
fresh breezes. The sea was q moderate
sea The sea was that kind Of a sea that
a small boat could have been lowered into
- at any time, in my opinion. That would
make IL more plain. j think. than 20 say
It was a moderate sea or rough sea
Q-Dld you know anything about the
Eagle and the Merriusac delaying the
squadron on The way 10 SantiagO2
Al only know what I heard. ] was
not on either vessel can tell YOU what
/ EsE isl
AT the request Of Mr.. Rayner. the wit
ness read from the log Of the Texas.
showing that the fleet did stop at times
to wait for the Eagle Some Of the en-
tries did not show anything about these
vessels. others did.
Elevation of shore batteries.
BY Mr. Rayner:
Q.-Now. coming 20 Santiago. can YOU
ten the Court how far of YOU were when
you made these OF iervations Of the bat
teTiezs OF which you spoke yesterday
A,-About five or six miles
Q,-Can you give the elevation Of these
barterics2
Al can appruyimately-bet 80
and PEI feet.
Q-Are not the Moro and the socapa
more than 200 feet In elevation
A-Ihcy are not.
Q.-Are YOU positive about that2
Al am quite positive.
Q.-Are YOU as positive about IL as YOU
g.
you have testified to-
A carter thinking hard for mOmcutJ-
res. sir COMPATIBILITY.
Mr.. Rayner produce the official charts
prepared at the photographic Office. and
from them the witness was forced 10 adj
init that the Morro IS at an elevation OF.
90 feet and the SOcapa go feet above the
sea level.
A csiloquy here ensued between Mr..
Rayuer and the judge advocate as 10 Just
what the witness had said and his state
ments were read by the steaOgrapher.
Captain Lemly 60 the CUUrtJ-May
say a Word2
Admiral Dewey would rather YOU
would not interfere. II the counsel puts
words into the mouth OF the witness
which he did not utter YOU can bring IL
up at "A proper time. You viii have an
opportunity.
The Witness becomes NettIed.
By AIr Rayner:
Q.-Do you still stand by your statement
that the map is wrong, and YOU are right2
Al stand by the statement ] made.
that believed these batteries TO be- be-
tween 100 and 1lo feet above the water
line.
O.-You are positive?
A tsharplyJ--i told you my recolleec-
tion was that the elevation was between
lC0 and 90 feet. That is an / have to
say.
stated that the batteries amounted 20
nothing He said his opinion was borne
out by the evidence we now have iu re-
gard 20 the matter His opinion of an,
batteries was talked Of by everybody Oh
board the Texas. II was common talk
He did not however. personally c0umuu-
d H.HH u L. d. Z