The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-02-14
THE LAST PLEA AND OUTRAGE.

The plea of Lemly and Solicitor Han
ma in their reply to Rear Admiral
Schley's appeal to the president is Just
too obscure for anything. II you be-
1ieve these enemies the hero Of Santi-
ago was not worth a Stuck in the great
battle. He did not kill q Spaniard or do
anything that was good. He was in
fact a drawback. a hindrance. a dis
turbing factor. He managed his flag
ship well enough with the exception of
that terribly bad thing called "a loop"
but for the rest he was literally no
where" They say. and we give it for
its absurdity and revelation of preju-
dice and malignity:
The plain truth of the matter, there
fore, developed for the first time under
the searchlight of this inquiry. although
quite incidentally. is that SO far as the
Gloucester, the Iowa, the Indiana. the
Texas and the Oregon are concerned,
not the strokes of a propeller blade
nor the touch of a helm. not the firing
of a shot. was done un1er the direction
or by the orders of Admiral Schley
during this memorable battle"
What can be thought of fellows who
put forward such a fimsy plea? What
is to be thought Of any mans "gump-
ton and sense Of fairness who will
be in the least influenced by it? The
best comment we have seen appeared
in h Indianapolis Sentinel, an old
democratic paper. 1t meets the mad
ness n folly in this wise:
1T almost takes ones breath. but. on
reflection, the thought may occur tina
1t is not the function of d fleet COM
mande to give IN such orders. 1t is
not recorded that Admiral Dewey ord
cred the stroke of a propeller blade
or the touch of a helm OF the firing
of a shot at Manila. No doubt Cen
eral Grant won battles in the civil war
without ordering a solitary man to bite
a cartridge or aim at the enemy. For
all the orders given NV him the men
might have been ramming the loads
bullet first n shooting toward the
rear
The American people know we'll who
was in command, who fought the bat
tie and showed the splendid mag
nanlinity and sincerely afterwards.
They have learned from Captain Clark
and others who were in the fight. and
not away off like most OF the enemies
who have fought, bounded and testified
against the gallant Marylander who
was on board and in Of the
Brooklyn, and the New York that did
most OF the fighting. The flagship.
was Schley's own ship. the Brooklyn. |
o at a dictionary and see the def
milton OF flagship" The Sentinel says:
There is but one definition of the |
0~rN sit 1
handing officer of a squadron, and on
which his flag is displayed There was
no other flagship at Santiago. Admit
raj sampson had gone down to Siboney,
and Schley was without question the
ranking officer on the ground and the
nctual commander for the time being"
But alas! he did not measure UP ac-
-cording to the false Lemly and the
pettifogger Hanna. 1t was Sampson
who was not there, did not fire a gun
or issue an order who was the hero
and the man who drew the most money
from the prizes. In a half century
there is no record OF so much DELHI
crate foulness n meanness. so much
of persecution and false swearing, such
vindictiveness and abandonment in all
records. 1t is d black and dam
ming page for the American navy. The
Sentinel says and it IS not far wrong: |
Their explanation of the affair
leaves the impression that IL Admiral
Schely had only been struck by a can
o ball early in the engagement our
fleet might have won a great victory
instead of doing nothing but wiping the
Spanish fleet out nf existence. And
these are the men who are craving
salaries as the legal representatives of
a grateful nation"