The,Weather Today: Rain. The News and Observer. VOL. LI. NO. 120. Leads all North Carolina Bailies in News and Circulation ASSERT THAT SCHLEY HIS SHIFTED. GROUND, Lemley and Hanna “Com ment” on the Admi ral's Appeal. .. CHIEF FEATURES OF CASE They Name What They Consider Such and Say Schley Ignores Them APPEALS ON FEATURES FAR LESS GRAVE As to the Question of Who Was in Command, They Quote a Dispatch From Schley to Show That it Was Sampson. (By the Asociated Press.) NVahington, Jan. 30.—The “comment” of Judge Advocate General Lenity and Solicitor Hanna upon the appeal of Ad miral Schley, as submitted to the Presi dent by Secretary Long, begins with 'he •statement that Admiral Schley and his counsel have shifted their ground. They say the chief features of the case were “the retrograde movement” “disobedi ence of orders;” “inacuraie and mis leading official reports;” “failure to de stroy vessels of the enemy, lying within sight;” and “injustice to a brother offi cer.” These matters are all grave. The first was that the finest aggregation of American naval vessels under one com mand, by Schley’s direction, turned about and headed for Key West, more than 700 miles distant. when within twenty-two miles of Santiago, when the enemy’s ships were. The second was that Schley deliberately and knowingly disobeyed the Secretary’s order over taking him in his retrograde movement. The third was that Schley’s reason, offi cially given lor t lie retrograde move ment and disobedience of orders, i. e. “that the Fying Squadron was short of coal,” was not true. The fourth Was that for three days some of the Spanish ships lay within reach of the Flying Squadron, and no sufficient effort was made to destroy them. The fifth involves the point of honor. The commentators •'a} : ‘Upon all the above named features, belie bed by us to be the most important, if not the only really important mat ters, into which the court made inquiry, the conduct of Admiral Schley was con demned by that most distinguished trib unal: Admiral Dewey and Rear Admirals Bcnbam and Ramsay united their find ings and opinion upon till of these sev ere points.” The commentators charge that Admiral Schley now ignores all these grave mat ters and bases his appeal upon relative ly unimportant features of the ;ase. The commentators say they recognize the fact that Admiral Schley devoted bj far the larger part of his appeal to the question of command, and conse quently give that question a proportion ate space in tlieir comment. They de clare that the question is between Samp son and Schley, both alike interested, and to investigate it fairly both should be heard. "it is admitted that tlie precept was broad enough to have permitted the court to gc into the question, but it is recalled that, athough the Judge Advocate ex pressed a willingness to enter upon it, the court did not deem it necessary or proper to do so. The Judge Advocate, .hey say, might have shown that it was Admiral Sampson’s plan of night block ade that forced Cervera to come our in the daylight, and Captain Clark is quoted to support that statement. They quote Admiral Schley in his tes timony to the effect that the American ships charged in “acting to the original plan to sink the enemy in the channel,” and that that plan failed because (he enemy succeeded readily in passing the battle line. They ak why did the enemy succeed, and declare “the Brooklyn, having aban doned her position on the left of the line, thereby left an unguarded opening along the western shore, through which the Spanish fleet passed our ships and at tempted to escape. The court's opinion is quoted to the effect that the Brooklyn lost, distance in position by the “loop” anil delayed the Texas. To sustain their contention that Sampson was in command, the commen tators quote from Schley's report of July 6, 1898 as follows: “The dense smoke of the combat shut out from my view the Indiana and the Goucestcr, but, as these vessel were closer to your flagship, no doubt th ir part in the conflict was under your im mediate observation.’ They remark: “Nobody has ever disputed Grant’s title to the victory at Appomattox, though then lying sick some miles from the place, of surrender so far .hat it was teared be could not be reached within he period of armistice. Thonga Howard was seme*' officer present at the capture of Savannah and Sherman absent on one of Admiral Dahlgren’s gunboats, nobody has questioned Sherman's famous report to Lincoln: “ ‘I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah,’ and as show ing Schley’s own opinion of who was i;i command .they quote this passage from his dispatch of July 10, IS9S, to the Secretary of the Navy: “From some mortification that *.ne newspaper accounts of July 6 have at tributed victory of July 4th, almost en tirely to me. Victory was secured ny the force under the command of the com mander-in-chief of the North Atlantic station, and to him the honor is due.” Further they quote Schley’s letter of December 18, 1901, to Secretary' Long, justifying the “loop” on the expressed ground that it was made “in the execu tion of the stauding order to close in.” it is asked, “but if he was then him self ir. command, how happens it that he was executing the orders of somebody else in command?” * * * before the Court of Inquiry, every proof raised to support the contention thiv Commodore Schley did anything to achieve the vie tory by issuing orders as commanding officer of the American fleet was re moved. The plain truth was for the first time revealed that Commodore Schley did not exercise command on that day over any ship, except, to some extent, his own flagship, the Brooklyn.” The comment at this point contains a number of extracts from the testimony to sustain this contention. Taking the Brooklyn’s signal book it is stated that this showed that the Brooklyn gave only (Continued ou Page Five.) AIDED map LOVE Two Desperate Criminals Overpower Their Guards and Escape. (By the Associated Press.) Pittsburg, lhy Jan. 30. —Edward and j Jonh Biddle, awaiting execution ?u the | county jail for murder of Grocer Thomas ; D. Kahney, of Mount Washington, over- j powered the guards at 4 o’clck this; morning and escaped. Both prisoners had been provided with j saws with which they cut the bars in j their cells and were ready at any mo ment to make an opening sufficiently large to pass through- The prisoners oc cupied adjoining cells on the second range. They had evidently been prepar ing for escape for some time, and had assistance from the outside, as both were armed with revolvers. Shortly before 4 o’clock one of the Bid dles called to James AlcGreary, who had charge of the outside gates, and asked for some cramps medicine in a hurry, saying his brother was dangerously sick. McCreary hastened to the cell with the medicine when John Biddle sprang through \he opening in the cell, and seizing the guard around the waist, hurl ed him over the railing to the stone floor beneath, a distance of sixteen feet. Edward Biddle joined his brother imme diately and both, with drawn revolvers, huried to the first floor, where they met Guard Reynolds and shot him. There Avere but three men on duty and the third mas on one of the upper ranges- He was ordered down at the point of the revolvers and the three guards were put in the dungeon. The keys were taken from Keeper McGeary and the two desperate prison ers who could not interfere or give an alarm. The Biddles tvent to the ward robe Avhere the guards keep their cloth ing and each put on a new suit. They then unlocked the outside gates and passed out into Ross street. The escape was ’it discovered until the daylight guards came on duty, at 6 o'clock. They were informed by prison ers where the right guards had been put i and they Avere soon released from the; dungeon And sent to the Homepathie j Hospital. Warden Peter K. Soffel, who said he \ believed that his wife ay as responsible ! for tl.e furnishing of the revolvers and | saws to the Biddles, which enabled them ; to escape. In her infatuation for the handsome desperado, EdAvard Biddle, it is alleged that she left her husband and her four children, and it is supposed was to meet the escaped convicts at a place agreed upon. Mrs. Soffel was the only person admit ted to the ail since last Sunday. Yester day afternoon she visited the Biddles during the warden's absence. Last evening she retired at 9 o’clock. She told her husband that she was going j so visit a sister at McDonald, an i that' she would retire early so that she could got. an early start. Warden Soffel tvas f bout the tail until after 12 o'clock. He retired to his room, which is sepaiato fion. Mrs. Soffel’s, shortly before 1 o