Show f T CAPT MOREUS YARN t I Colons Commander Says He Could Have Escaped t c cWHY WHY DID HE SURRENDER > HINTS OF STARTLING RBVEL TI01l TO BE MADE Spanish Captain Says His Vessel Was Not Damaged and Was Leaving His Pursuers Behind i Would Rave Sunk Schleys Elag i t nlu p1Ial His Guns Been Heavier I r New York Aug 20The Press says Captain Emmo Diaz de Moreu of the Spanish ship Crist bal Colon in an interview I in-terview discussed the events of the last fEW weeks without bitterness There was even a playful suggestiveness I suggestive-ness in his tones when he replied to the inquiry whether he would say goodbye I good-bye t the American fleet as ne passed it down the bayon the NormandiE I i 1 Yes he went on Why should I not have friends on board your ships I We did not fight as personal foes Cap I 1tairi Cook of the BrooklYuyou dont f know him Ah a fine mail Half an I hour after the battle I had given him my phdtograph and he bad given me hIs On mine I wrote We have Just fought two hours and a half Each did his duty We were not personal foes Now that it is all over we are J 3 comrades and friends That is the I I r1 way I feel toward the Amricans I I believe they have a different opinion of the Spaniards from what they had before the war Captain do you think Hobson will raise the Colon I l zo be wlll not She is tipped on I her side and her seveninch guns have smashed her Any vessel saved there Till cost twice their value The Colon was a beautiful vessel j ventured the reporter Beautiful and every inch a fighting hip I would have got away none or them could have stopped me butThe The captain paused and said Got away I said You understand I mean it SChley knows it Sampson Samp-son knows it and so does Cook I told them it was not the Brooklyn nor the Oregon that kept me from escaping i They say I went only 64 miles p tell you it was 72 Divide that by the time and you will see my average was 172 knots 301 hour and at times 18 The Oregon could only 00 16 and I was steadily dropping the Brooklyn be I I hind Oh no neither of the two kept I j me from escaping but I cannot tCll you now why I was not able to save my splendid ship and the captains voice trembled You wont have long to wait though you wont have long I t to wait he repeated When I tell why It will be on the floor of the car j tes as a member of the Spanish par 1iamenLL represent the Montrit I district iiiGranada province I have i been permitteilby the president to go home now that I may be present at I the opening of the tortes which will I take place in a few days Then I will j explain and many things dark now will seem clear I know many Amer i leans dont seem quite clear from I tber own accounts as to why I did I Dot escape when I was in the lead find I wining They will know soon I AN UNWRITTEN CHAPTER I am not saying this to detract at all from the achievements of the AmerIcan fleet The men dId all they could but there is an unwritten chap I ter yet to be known before history is written No one will say the Colon was materially i I ma-terially damaged by American fire he went on She was hit only six times i By your own reports I made 26 holes in the Brooklyn and there were 42 traces of hits on her side Does not I that speak well for Spanish ounllery They say our gunners could not shoot Well the Brooklyns sides tell a different dif-ferent story I Why lid you not sink her then i Our nuns were too small The three vessels with heavy gunsthe Vizcaya I raria TereSa and Oquendowere on fire I was left alone with only rapid I fire guns of a comparatively small call I bre If I had had 3inch guns or 11 or 12well there might have been a different story Those holes in the Brooklyn would have meant more I Your naval men have learned a i great deal from their fight with the Colon They will not give up t1ir i heavy guns for the light rapidfire I Sampson told me as much I told them I they could not and they smiled when I I asked them where they would be it I had had heavy guns It was the fortune of war that the heavy guns were on board the ships with woodwork that would catch fire The shell that struck any of our ships started a fire There was no fire on i l my ship because she had no woodwork wood-work She was like the Brooklyn and would not burn I NEW YORKS ESCAPE What do you think of the New I York A bad ship It was lucky for her i she dId not get into the fight She I would have burned like our three ships Rear Admiral Sampson was in perfect accord with me on that subject and agreed that a shell might have set her cn fire and with her woodwork she I wOuld have gone the way of the ViZ cavaWho Who should get the credit for the victorySampson or Schley he was asked I Both officers are men or great intel I igence and high character he said I But Siaaabee Ah what shall I say I of him said the captain bitterly After the Maine explosion he was in I Captain Eulates cabin on the Vizcaa j There with tears in his eyes he said i his career in lie was ended because he lad lost his shin 1Ve rescued the American seamen while itheir officers i a ere drinking champagne on shore and1 i then Sigsbee goes Into court forgets all about his tsar and lamentations J jn EuIates cabin and tries to shoulder the blame on us 1Ve never did have a hand in blowing up the Maine and I Jam J-am convinced that after the straight J forward square way we have fought I J thIs war the American people do not believe we blew UI the Maine i Do you expect to be orought before I a courtmartial on your return I Ve will appear before a court of inquiry II in-quiry That is regular and formal No matter whether it is a defeat or a victors I l vic-tors if anything happens to a Spanish J ff fleet the proceedings go before a court j r of inqujry Emil D de Moreu formerly captain of the Cristobol Colon who was taken prisoner after the destruct of the Spanish fleet was among the passengers I passen-gers on La Normandle which salved d todlY forHavre h |