of her, and held that position from 1889 to 1892. During this period occurred another incident which tried his mettle. The Baltimore was cruising in South American waters at the time of a revolution in Chile and of much ill feeling toward the United States on the part of the people of Chile; and while the vessel was in the harbor of Valparaiso, a number of the crew who were on shore were attacked by a mob which killed several of their number and seriously wounded many others. After this affront, feeling ran high on both sides; and had it not been for Captain Schley's firmness and cool-headed judgment, the consequences might have been seriously detrimental to the relations between the two nations. However, the American officer proved himself a diplomat as well as a man of courage and determination; and within a few months after the attack the difficulty was settled through Captain Schley, the Chilean government apologizing for the insult and paying an indemnity of seventy-five thousand dollars.
In August, 1891, Captain Schley carried the body of John Ericsson, the inventor, to Sweden, and was presented with a gold medal by the king. He served as lighthouse inspector, 1893-95; served on the cruiser New York, in 1895-97; and during 1897-98 acted as chairman of the lighthouse board at Washington. On February 6, 1898, Schley was promoted to the rank of commodore; and with the call to arms for the conflict with Spain he was selected to command the flying squadron formed to protect the Atlantic seaboard, the armored cruiser Brooklyn being detailed as his flagship.
With the vessels of this fleet he was present at the battle which destroyed Cervera's squadron off Santiago on July 3, 1898; and on August 10, 1898, was promoted by the president to the rank of rear-admiral "for eminent and conspicuous conduct in battle." On August 19th, of this same year, he was selected as one of the commissioners to direct the evacuation of Porto Rico. Honors were showered upon Admiral Schley as a result of the part he played in the Battle of Santiago. Receptions and banquets were held in his honor in most of the principal cities, and he received numerous handsome tokens of esteem, including a jeweled medal from the Maryland legislature, a gold and jeweled sword from the people of Pennsylvania, and a silver loving cup from the people of Atlanta, Georgia.
Admiral Schley was, on April 14, 1899, assigned to duty on the naval examining board, and on April 27th of the same year he was
