The herald., 1898-03-29

In your opinion exploded and some had not.
do you refer to stx-inch tanks only or two
inch tanks also?"
II refer to both, az have seen six-inen
tank that was very little ripped open ani
saw one this morning that had first opened
and f1attened out, with evidences of burnt
powder In it. saw one ten-inch tank that
was scarcely battered at all, and only the
head of 1t gone. also saw ten-inch tanks
with the packing, which looked like po "
der, unburnt, so that In my opinion some,
but not all of the ten-inch and six-inch
charges were exploded"
Mr.. Powellson said four or five tanks
had been brought up that morning, but he
did not see all of them. The only one he
remembered seeing was exploded and
burned out so that the case formed almost
a plain surface. The ten-inch tank had rs
head removed, but 1t had preserved It's ap-
proximate shape. When questioned fur
ther as to what he regarded as the cause If
the injuries. Mr.. Powellson said: "On the
bottom where the frame was thrown up !;
would seem to me that force was communi-
Gated some distance through the wat or,
because it was lifted up instead of being
battered in. 1t was force that was a
bulge in the plates between the two frames
and such a force as that would be a cushi IN
pressure. So the plates in that part Of .he
ship having been, broken in the explosi IN
may have occurred aft and the frames for
ward of the transverse armor being weak
'er than they are aft. the ship might have
been lifted up there by this cushion pres
sure from farther aft. =
ut struck me" continued Poweilson
speaking of the same part of the vessel
"that the mine there could not have beer
very close to those plates that were
lifted up, because, as I say, the plates are
not so much damaged or bent in the form
of v, and raised up a vertical distance
1t seems to me that the mine was some
what removed. and the pressure came
through the waters which produced that
cushion sort of pressure.
Ensign Powelson, who was recalled on
February rs. showed the plans Of the
Maine, from which he had identified the
bottom plates that were blown up through
the upper deck. The finding of these
plates ON top Of the wreck clear above
water was among the first and most i'm.
portant points of evidence cleared dis.
proving the possibility of an internal ex'
plosion.
After minutely describing the bottom
plates with their green ceiling Of paint and
other marks by which they were identified
Powelson stated that they must have beer
blown up SO or 80 Feet to reach their pres
ent position.
The diver who had been working fol
Powelson on this investigation informed
him that he had found the ammunition fol
the six-inch magazine pushed over to thu
starboard side.
Ensign Powelson was recalled on Marcl
18th, and explained how he got the data fol
his sketches which played such an i'm
portant part In the work Of the court, HI
said he sent divers down at various point.
along the line of the keel as 1t lay broker
and twisted on the harbor bed Then NJ
got in boat and located the points on tn,
keel by lead line. In the wreck he estab
lished stations at the main mast. por
crane, the smoke staclx~and so forth. ant
from these bases he would get the bearing
by angles of his lead line as it rested or
the keel and other points of the wreckag,
under water. Thus he was able to plat
map of the wreck both above and below
water that was matemathically correct
BY comparing this with the original plan
of the vessel 1t was possible to tell jus
how much, and in what direction any par
OF the Maine had been distorted by tn,
explosion without relying on under-watel
estimates by the divers.
GUNNERs NATE OLSEN
Chief gunner's mate Olsen of the United
States steamship Iowa told how he hat
been sent to Havana for the purpose O
doing diving duty on the wreck. He de
scended four times, making about eigh
or nine hours of total examination.
Olsen told how on his first descent h
went over the forward part of the ship
To use his own expression, he said :
found the wreck all blowed up. I found I
lot of CRATE bars down there"
The second time he went down furthe
forward, and there located a lot OF ten-inci
shells. Forward of these the plates wer
bent inward over them,
Going over the plates he struck into Z
lot of six-inch shells with the slIngs OF
them. Going to the right. witness stated
that he found lot Of wreckage. /
seemed to have been blown over the star
board. Olsen stated that he put hiehand
into the cracks and brought out severa
six-pounder shells.
The next time he went down Olsen testi
ned that he went outside the ship. forwart
Of the crane on the port side. He followed
the bottom along and found that thu ship'i
side was blown outward. and alongsids tn,
crane 1t could be walked on.
"At the part where she was blown vi
completely witness said, part Of hel
bottom plates are turned up. Then yo,
follow the bottom from there up. and tn,