The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-02-20
The Presidents Reply
To Appeal by SchIey.
Continued from First Page.)

the Spaniards, as the other American
ships did, it seemed to me that the fight
would have been settled then, without
need Of the long chase"
d The following is Commander VAIN
Wright's statement:
'At the outset of the fight the New
| York was not much farther away from
me in one direction than the Brooklyn
was in the other and was in plain sight.
A signal from Admiral Taylor in con-
nection with my moving forward to at
tack the torpedo boats was the only sig
nal I received. / made one TO the New
York just before the last torpedo boat
sank. The New York at that time was
coming up under the fire of the batter
les and herself fired a couple of shots
at the torpedo boat. OF course Admiral
Sampson was present and in command.
received no signals from the Brooklyn,
and would not have noticed her at all
had il not been for the fact that when
the other vessels closed in she made
what has been since called the loop so
that my attention was attracted by not
seeing the Texas because she stopped.
and by not seeing the Brooklyn because
she went seward, away from the Span
ish vessels. In other words, the left or
westward part of our line was refused,
and this attracted my attention. because
it seemed to me from where / was that
this permitted the Spanish vessels to try
to escape to westward"
The survey of the damages of the four
Spanish war vessels shows that in addi-
tion to several score hits by the 6-pound-
er and 1-pounder guns of the American
fleet, they were struck forty-three times
by the larger guns Of four inches calibre
and over. The Colon, which came out
inside the others and did comparatively
little fighting, received but three of these
hits. The other three ships, which bore
the brunt OF the action, received forty
among them. OF these forty, eleven, ac-
cording to the report Of the board which
examined into them, were by 4-inch guns,
ten by 5-inch guns, four by either or 5
inch (the board could not determine
which,, while one was by eithr or 6
inch, twelve We're by 8-inch, and two by
12-ineh guns. All of our big, ships ex&
cept the Texas had S-inch guns. Only
the Texas and Iowa had Finch guns.
The Oregon and Indiana had i3-ineh
guns; and they and the Texas had 6-inch
guns. The only 4-inch guns were on the
Iowa: the only 5-inch guns ON the
Brooklyn. Therefore on the three Span
ish ships which did the bulk OF the fight
ing, out of the forty large-calibre shots
that struck them, eleven certainly came
from the Iowa, ten certainly came from
the Brooklyn, four from either the Iowa
or the Brooklyn, and two from either the.
Iowa or the Texas. OF the three which
struck the Colon, two were 5-inch and
must have came from the Brooklyn; one
was either 5-inch or 6-inch. 1t must
be remembered that the and inch
guns were the only quick firers above
6-pounders in our fleet, and that they
were not only much. more rapidly but
much more surely handled than were
the larger and slower firing guns. The
damage and loss OF the American vessels
were trivial The only loss suffered was
aboard the Brooklyn, where one man was
killed and one wounded. In damage, the
cost Of the repairs show that the Iowa
suffered most and the Oregon least. The
American ships engaged possessed a
more than twofoId material superiority
over the Spanish ships, and the differ
eEce in the handling OF their guns and
their engines was even greater. We
have just cause to be proud of the vigil
lance and instant readiness our ships dis
played, and the WOrkmanlke efficiency
with which they were handled. The most
striking act was that of the Gloucester,
converted yacht, which her Comman-
der, Wainwright, pushed into the fight
through hail of projectiles, any one of
which would have sunk her, In order that
no might do his part in destroying the
two torpedo boats. each possessing far
more than his own offensive power.
From the statements of the captains
above, from the Official reports, and
from the testimony before the Court of
Inquiry, the fight can be plotted with alb
solute certainty.in its important outlines,
though there is conflict as to minor
points. When the four Spanish cruisers
came out of the harbor the New York
had left her position in the blockading
line forty or fOrty-iye minutes before.
She had hoisted the signal Disregard
the movements OF the Comander-in-
Chief" but had not hoisted the signal to
the second in command to take charge,
which, as appears by the signal book,
was sometimes but not always used
when the command was transferred. AS
soon as the engagement began the New
York turned and steamed back, hosting
a signal TO close In which however,
none OF the squadron saw. She was in
plain sight, and not very much farther
from the eaSternmost blockading ships
than the latter were from the Brooklyn,
which was the westermnost of the line.
As soon as the Spanish ships appeared
the five big American solockaders started
toward them in accordance with the
standing orders of Admiral Sampson
After this first move each acted purely
on HIS own initiative For some minutes
the Spanish and American vessels stead
lily approached one another, and the
fighting was at lis hottest. Then the
already damaged Spanish ships turned to
the westward. While at the same time
the westernmost American vessel, the
Brooklyn, which was nearest the Spanish
line. turned to the eastward, making a
loop or three quarter circle. at the end
or which she again headed westward,
farther of from and farther behind tho
Spanish vessels than before the loop had
begun, but StiIl ahead OF any OF the
American vessels, although farther out