The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-03-20
1t 10 the Opinion of the Surviv-
ors of the Maine.
THEY BROUGHT NO REPORT
Three OF the Omcers Have a Long Con-
ference With President Mckinley
and Secretary Long Two
More Warshipe.

furnished the most interesting feature
in to-day's developments of the Span
ish situation. Three officers Of the
| Maine-Lfeut. G.. +. Holman, Lieut..
George b. Blow and Lieut.. A. w. Cat
| lin OF the Marine corps-accompanied
by Boatswain Larkins. came on unex-
| pectedly from Key West. 1t was said
their visit was purely voluntary on
their part, as they are now on waiting
orders, and are free to go where they
! please.
| Their long conference at the navy de-
| partment and later at the white house,
| led to much conjecture, IL being as
serted that Lieutenant Blow brought
| with him the report of the court of
inquiry, or at least the general conclu-
sions reached by that court. 1t can be
stated positively. however, from an
authoritative source, that the officers
| did not bring with them the report,
either as a whole or its general conclu-
| sions. 1t is said with equal positive
| ness and authoritatively that they do
| not know what the action of the court
of inquiry is, and therefore are not in
position to convey any information
| to the president or secretary of the
navy on that point. Their talks were
confined entirely to graphic narratives
of their experiences on the night of the
explosion. In the course of this narra-
tive. however. individual opinion as to
the cause of the explosion found ex-
preston. These opinions, as already
stated, were purely personal, and not
founded on the proceedings of the court
Of inquiry. These personal opinions,
however, it was learned reliably, were
strongly favorable to the theory of an
external cause leading to the destruc-
tion Of the Maine.
he al,a
serve. not only at interviews for publi-
cation, but also in talking with their
associates i'm the naval service. This led
naval officers to refrain from referring
to the disaster while talking with them
One of the officers volunteered the sug-
gestion that he would be glad to talk If
his lips were not sealed by the strictest
orders. After the conference with the
president and the secretary of the
navy. the Maine officers did not return
to the navy department and consider
able care was exercised i'm having their
whereabouts kept from public atten-
tion.
Another interesting arrival of the
day was Constructor Hoover, the tech
n,csl expert sent to Havana TO identify
the twisted plates in the Maine wreck
age with view to learning whether
the explosion was of internal or external
origin. Mr.. Hoover also maintained ST.
lence concerning the wreck. He made
no report to the secretary of the navy.
afs he was sent to Havana to learn facts
and then embody them in testimony be-
fore the court of inquiry.
Late in the day the prospects became
much brighter fer the acquisition by the
United States of two fine warships
namely. the armored cruiser San Mar
tino belonging to the Argentine Repub-
lie, and the battleship General O'Hig-
spin hn1n 10 hAD
getting these ships had been almost
given up. but cablegrams received to-
day from Commander Brownson, now
in Europe, made the outlook more en-
couraging. Up to the close of Office
hours an actual purchase had not been
concluded, but a high official summed
up the situation by saying the negotia-
tions were getting very hot
The San Martino was originally built
fer the Italian government, and was
then known as the VareZ, but since her
purchase by Argentina has been re-
named. Her dimensions are: Length.
32S: beam, 50: draught. "a; displace-
ment, 6.s40 tons; horsepower. 10000:
speed. 1928 knots. Her armament is
two s-inch rapid-firing guns, mounted |
in barbettes and protected by hoods: |
10 6-inch quick k-firing guns, in a central |
six 4.1-inch quick fire guns on |
the upper deck. All the guns on the |
upper deck are protected by steel |
shields.
The General O'Higgins is a battle
ship of $500 tons. built at Elkswick |
Her dimensions are: Length, 400 feet; /
beam. So: draught. 22. Her contract
speed is 21A knots. Her armament is
four S-inch, 10 6-inch, four 4.7-inch |
guns, eight 12-pounders. 10
C-pounders and four submerged tor
pedo tubes. Her protective deck is
belt of Harveyized steel seven inches
thick. Her gun houses for the S-inch
guns are protected by inches of
nickel steel.
Both the navy and war departments
their active preparations and
contracts in all branches of /
armament are being made daily by the
various bureaus. The naval bureau of
ordnance has contracted for 100000
pounds of brown powder, probably the
largest single order ever given. This
was divided between the California
Powder company and the Dupont Pow
Ter company. These concerns together
are furnishing the bureau about 20,0c9
pounds daily. and within a week or SO
I is expected the capacity of the two
works will be brought up to 40 900
pounds of powder daily. The order is
sufficient in the aggregate to give 200
rounds for every gun afioat in the
American navy, and with this large
supply on hand the navy. for the first
itme in five years. will be more than
amply supplied with powder.
An unusually large number of sena-
tors took advantage of the fact that
the senate was not in session to-day to
call upon the cabinet officers with the
hope of securing definite information
Dn the Cuban situation. They succeed
ID in learning only that the report of
he court of inquiry had not arrived,
but IL was expected early next week,
and that IL would be forwarded to con-
yress Immediately on its arrival unless
)f a very startling character.
Some of the high officials of the state
department. are celebrating upon the