The Washington times., 1908-03-03
Naval Academy lnStruC-
tor Confines His Opin-
ion to Santiago En-
counter, However.
Is Not So Emphatic in
Condemnation at Hear
ing Before Senate
Committee.

Inc charge that the craftsmanship Of
the American gunners was -'shamefully
inefficient" during the naval engage
ments with the Spanish battleships.
made yesterday by Commander Sims.
was slbstantiated da.f by Prof Phillip
X. AlEer, professor of mathematics at
the Naval Academy. before the Senate
Naval Affairs Committee.
Prof. Alger's testimony IN this respect
vas stripped OF the emphatic condemna-
tion which characterized the statements
OF Commander Sims. but Il was none the
less effective
Commando Sims charges, according
10 information volunteered today BY
Rear Admiral Capps, referred TO the en-
tire Spanish war, and, thArstore. en-
braced the naval engagements at santl-
ago and Manila Bay. Prot Alger con
fined himself TO the battle between the
fleets OF Admiral sampson and Ad-
miral Cervera
Refers to SsntiIso.
Prof. Algsr stared that ne had made a
special investigation Of the Spanish
ships engaged in that battle. a,id lhat a
rough estimate showed that OF the 1900
projectiles fred by the American fieet
only per cent struck ths Spanish ships.
The only reason for ;his poor show
ing. said Prof AIger, was the mac
curacy OF the men on the American
shlps. The men did not know how TO
shoot at Santiago. or, FOR thar matter.
ala the men IA any other part OF the
world know how 10 shoot /"
Tie ngures given by Commander SIMS
yesterday nave not yet been disputed.
The figures given today by Prof Alger.
referring oniy 20 the battle OF Santiago
would seem 10 aWply. Therefore, that fh5
marRsn aIsl.ip OF the gunners under
Adnlfh DeW,y at Manila Bay was 50
poor nat instead OF equaling that dis
played at Santiago. it pulled down the
percentage for the entire war
Despite the remark OF Senator Hale
yesterday that the committee was not
Interested IN the craftsmanship display
ed in lsSs, the members OF the COMMITTEES
gave evidence OF a lively interest ia that
subject today, and endeavOred 10 deter
rhine the cause OF such poor showing
Senator Tiilman asked Prof. Afger III
he could reconcile remarkably good re-
suits attains,t in target practice In the
navy now With the poor percentage Of
Of hits in the war
Didn't Know How.
''The men simply did not know how to
shoot" replied Prof Alger They didn't
know then how to shoot one-tenth az
".
Neither did the men in any other navy
In the world.
The reason for this is that new meth
DDS have been introduced. These meth
ods first made their appearance In the
British navy, where they were Installed
at the request of Commander Scott.
Commander Sims was stationed In Eng
land, was "a friend OF Scott. and ne
was so sure OF the merit of the new
method that he recommended its adOp-
ton I'm the American navy. Prior to that
time naval gunnery was merely a ques-
tiOn of manual dexterity. Scott meth
about a reversal in naval warfare"
The precentage OF hits recorded in
target practice in the navy today IS
about per cent, the witness said.
CT nmander Fletcher Testifes.
Com FL T. Fletcher also was asked
to acc' ant for poor craftsmanship OF
the An erican sailors during the Span
ish wa. He said he believed the hits
at Santiago TO have been about per
cent.
II don't know, however. OF any navy
in the world that could have done bet
ter at that time," said Commander
Fletcher.
Rear Admiral Capps. who Is attend.
ing the hearings each day at the re-
quest tA INC NOltiil4LltcB QuGSUOncQ the
with a view to showing that
It was impossible to determine the ex-
act number of hits The witness ex-
pressed the opinion, however. that de-
spite the condition Of the Spanish ships.
1t was possible to determine the ap-
rroximate number of hits.
Referring to the mechanical cOnstruc-
ton Of American batIieships and the
possibility OF installing improvements
which would give greater safety to the
sailors. Commander Fletcher said that
such improvements were merely a ques-
tiOn o. mechanical detail, which can
readily be solved. The fact that auto
matte shutters had been installed re-
Gently. was an illustration that progress /
was being made IN the battleship con-
struction, just as progress is made i'm
any other business.
The danger to the men from burning
powder was grossly exaggerated, ac-
cording 70 the witness. He said that
Commander Strauss. in charge of the
Government powder works at Indian
Head, had informed him that he would
stand in the magazine of a ship with the
doors closed and let half a ton of now
der burn up IN the handling room. As |
10 the criticisms in general, COmmanfer |
Continued on Fifth Page)
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