The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-03
BITTERNESS IS SHOWN
NORTH SEA INQUIRY BOARD BE-
 COMES INTERESTING.
Captain Cfoda Swears Positively That ik Was Admiral RotestvensRy Who Gave the Order to Fire
 on the TrawIers.

Paris. Feb 9.--A continuance of the cross-examination of the Russian oft cers at today's session of the interna- tional commission developed consider able feeling and several sharp ex- changes of remarks Captain Clado particuraly criticized the hostile at titude of the British press. He said Vice Admiral Rojestvensky has wri:. ten a private letter severely condemn ing the British press using me phrase which Captain Clado said he consid- cred necessary to withhold.
 Baron Taube, the Russian Judicial adviser, remarked. seafaring express ion.
 Captain clado replied:
 T vii. not Say the phrase was strong. but 1t was bitter"
 Captain Clado refes red to an alleged misstatement that Russian torpedo boats remained on the scene withour rendering aio to the trawlers. He de- clared that no such torpedo boats ra- mained
 Hugh o'Mierne, first secretary of the British Embassy in Paris, and agent of Great Britain said he had heretofore frefrained from asking a delicate ques- tion, namely why none of the Russian ships remained to give assistance after Knowing that peaceful fishing boats had been struck.
 Captain Clado answered that Admir- al Rojestvensky had fully explained that he did not consider the injuries to the fishing boats were serious whereas, the squadron. having just es- caped from the attack by torpedo boats, 1t was desirable to withdraw the squadron as soon as possible from the vicinity of such attacks
 AAunira1 ReanuaoAf fNwaak Vo.tkzEt..N closely questioned the witness as to who gave the order to fire Capt clado saying it was Admiral Rojestvensky.
 Lieutenant Ellis. of the Russian bat tleship Alexander III., also maintained his testimony on cross s-examination,
 Admiral Fournier. President of the Commission. announced at the after noon session that the Commission had decided that the statements made this morning relative to the British press neither assisted in the ascertainm snt of truth nor contributed to the high purpose of the commission and that therefore they would be stricken from the record.
 Counsel for Great Britain introduced Commander Keane, former chief of A torpedo division and a leading torpedo expert of the British navy. He assert~ ed positively that mistakes were fre- quentiy made between torpedo boats and other boats mainly because search- lights confused the ordinary calcula- ton of distance. and cited the case of the British battleship Devastation, which was mistaken for a torpedo boat during 6 night evolution, and also of a cruiser of 11.000 tons. which was mistaken for torpedo boat during the Mediterranean manouvres Of 1908.
 Interrogating the witness, Keane, Admiral Fournier (Frenchl asked whether 1t would be possible to mis- take a battleship for a torpedo boat when boat of the dimensions of a trawler was alongside.
 Certainly not" replied the witness.
 Admiral Fournier considered the point interesting, stating that such was the position of the Russians who had observed the torpedo boats with trawl- CTS alongside. If a battleship instead of q torpedo boat had been there, It could not have been mistaken for torpedo boat
 Admiral Doubassofe (Russianl saying the question was important, asked Lieutenant Schramtchenko, torpedo Boat oflcer of the battleship Beorodino, relative to the impression on board hls ahIp when 1t was announced that tor pedo boats were pursuing the kam-
 The witness stated that "our sup nositions regarding the possibility or torpedo attack were realtzed'
 Christiansen, mate of the Norwegian vessel AdeIa, swore that he saw tor pedo boat in the North Sea September l9. and that on the following day he saw a similar vessel without lights sailing at great speed in the vicinity where tfawlers crossed. The witness was uncertain whether the second ves- seI was a torpedo boat,