Arizona republican., 1902-02-20

{ between Admiral Sampson and Ad uiral SchleE-, aS tO which was in com mand. and as to which was entitled tG the credit. if either of them was really | entitled to any unusual and preemi- nent credit by any special exhibit of genius. skill and courage The court could have considered both these queS- | tions. but. as matter of fact. it unan- | mously excluded evidence offered upon ] them through it's pre-anDounCed re- l fusal to hear Admiral Sampson's side at all: and in view oi such exclusion. ] he majority of the court acted with entire proPric,y iu not expressing any opinion on these points The matter 1 has. however, been raised by the pres ident of the court. Moreover. it is the
 point upon which Admiral Sohley in his appeal lays the most stress. and i which he especially asks ne to con 1 sidcr. ! have. therefore carefully in ] vestigated this matter also. and have ! informed myself upon it from the best l sources of information at my com mand-
 l The appeal Of Admiral Schley to me is not, as to this. the chief point i he, raises. really an appeal from the 1 de-.iou of the court On :uQuir,-. Five sixt= 1of the appeaI is deVus-I to this ] GuesITon of command and credit; that l Is. to a matter which the court Of in ! quiry did not consider. IL is. iu effect an appeal from the action of President Acs<inley three years ago. when he sent in recommendations for -romo- lion oi various officers connected with 1 the Santiago squadron, basiug these l recorluendat tioas upon bis estimate of ! Inc credit to which the officers were respectively entitled. What ] have 10 decide. therefore. is whether or rot Presitr1t Mckiuley did injustice in the matter. This necessarily involves ] a comparison of the actions of the diff fere1t comma nders engaged. The e.N- haustive official reports of the action leave little to be brought out anew but as the question of Admiral Sarup- sons right 10 b. considered in chief command, which was determined in his
 favor by President NIckirIsv. and
 later by the court of calims. has never hitherto been officially raised [ deemed
 it best to secure statements from the commanders of the five ships Coch-r
 than the Brooklyn and the New York. ! the hagships of the two admiraIs) which were actively engaged in the fight Admiral Philip is dead I quote extracts from his magazine article on the fight written immediately after it
 occurred. closing with an extract from
 his letter to the secretary of the navy 1 "f February =. 1890"
 i THOSE WHO WE'RE THERE. | The statement then quotes from cap
 tains Taylor. Clark. Evans and Com
 mander Wainwright. and continues:
 From the statements of the captains l above. rom official reports and from 1 inc trs-iUpu" bcior. the court of in 1 guifE- tla fight can be plotted with ab-
 solute certainty in it's important out lines, though there is conflict as to minor points. When the four Spanish cruisers came out of the harbor the l Ne" York had left her position in the l IockadInS lines forty or forty-iVe
 minutes before. He hu.st-d the signal l to disregard tre movements or the commauder-iu-cLi= but had not ] hoisted tine signal to the second in { command to take charge. which. as i appears by ice signal book. Was some , times. but not always. used when the 1 command was transferred.
 ] As soon as the engagement began the New NorN steamed back. hoistins | the signal to close in. which. however. none of the squadron saw. She was in | plain sight. and not very much far ther from the caste-nmost bIocAadinG i ships than the latter We're from line ! Brooklyn, which vas the westernmost
 Of the line. As soon as the spanish ships appeared. the five big American ! DlOck1CeFS started toward them in ac- ! cordance with the standing orders of Admiral Sampson.
 THE LOOP.
 After this first move each acted purely on its own initiative For some minutes the spanish and American ves- seIs steadily approached one another and the fighting was at its hottest. Then the already damaged Spanish ships turned to the westward. while Ut ! the same time. the NeSternmost Amer ican vessel. the Brooklyn. which was l the. near rest to the Spanish line. turned , to the eastward. making a loop of a tbree-0uarter circle. at the end of which she again headed westward far ther off from and farther behind the Suanish vessels than before the loop
 did begin. but still ahead of any of the American vessels, although farther outside. The Texas. the next ship to the Brooklyn, either was, or conceived herself to be. put in such Jeopardy by the Brooklyns turn toward her. that she backed her engines, coming almost CT quite to a standstiIl: so that both rbe oregon and the Iowa. which were originally to the eastward Of her uaseed her. and it was some time after she again started before she rightcd her former position relatively to the Spanish vessels The Spanish vessels had stfaightened out in a column fl~ the west, the Colon going inside of the