Evening star., 1898-12-06
STORY OF THE MAINE.
Capt. Sigsbee Gives Full Credit to
Brave William Anthouy

Brave William Anthony.
| Capt. Chas u. sgsbee in the Century
About an hour before the explosion I had
completed q report called for by Mr. Thco-
dore Roosevelt, assistant secretary Of the
| navy. on the adyisability Of continuing to
| place torpedo tubes on board cruisers and
battle ships i then wrote a letter home
IN which l struggled to apologize for hav-
| ing carried in my pocket for ten months a
letter to my wife from one of her friends
Of long standing. The cabin mess attend
ant. James Pnckney. had brought me.
about an hour before. ii civilians thin coat.
because Of the prevailing heat: had taken
OF my blouse and was wearing this coat for
| the only time during the cruise. In the
pocket 1 found the unopened aud uudeliver-
ed letter. Pinckney. lisnt-hearted colD-ed
man, who spent much of his spare time In
singing playing the banjo and dancing jigs.
/ was Tor some reason in an especially happy
frame of mind that night. Poor fellow.
He was killed, as was also good old John
h Bell the colored cabin steward who had
oeen In the navy twenty-seven years.
At taps C'turn in and keep Quiet'D. ten
minutes after 9 o'clock, / laid down my pen
to listen to the notes Of the bugle, which
were singulariy beautiful in the oppressive
stiffness of the night. The marine bugler
Newton. who was rather given to fanciful
effects. was evidently doing his best Dur
ing his pauses the echoes fioated back to
the ship with singular distinctness repeat
ing the strains of the bugle fully and ex-
actly. a half hour later Newton Was dead.
was inclosng my letter in its envelope
when the explosion came. The impression
h1aae on dlHerent people on board the Maine
varied somewhat. To me, in NV position
well aft. and within the superstructure. II
was bursting rending and crashing sound
or roar OF immense volume, largely metallie
In character. 1t was followed by Il sue
cesslon OF heavy, ominous, metallic sounds
PROBABLY caused bV the ~ h.
central superstructure and by falling debris
There was a trembling and lurching mo-
tloh OF the vessel, list to port, and a
movement of subsistence The electric
lights of which there were eight In the
caolh where ] was sitting. Went out Then
there was intense 1lackness and smoke.
The situation could not 10 mistaken; the
Maine was blown up and sinking. For u
moment the instinct OF self-preservation
took charge of me- but this was immediate
ly dominated by the habit of command.
went up the inclined deck into the star
board cabin, toward the starboard air ports
which were relieved somewhat against the
background Of the sky. The sashes were
out, and the openings were large. My first
lmennon was an escape through an air
port, but this was abandoned in favor Of
the more dignifled way OF making an exit
through the passageway leading forward
through the superstructure I groped my
way through the cabin into the passage
and along the passage to the outer door.
The passage turned to the right. star
board, near the forward part OF the super
structure.
into me violently. II was Private William
Anthony, the orderly at the cabin door. He
said something apologize, and reported that
the ship had been blown up and was sink
irs. He was directed to 60 out on the
quarter deck and followed him. Anthony
has been pictured . making an exceeding
~ formal salute on that occasion. The dra-
matte effect of a salute cannot add TO his
bGlOiSyR. Ii he had made a S9tAft4 iT could
not have been seen in the blackness of that
compartment. Anthony did HIS whole duty,
at great personal risk, At time when n
might have evaded the danger without
Question. and deserved all the commenda-
ton that he received for his act. He hung
near me with unfagging zeal and watch
fulness that night until the ship was aban-
doned.
] stood for a moment on the starboard
side of the main deck forward of the super
structure. looking toward the immense dark
mass that loomed up amidships. but could
see nothing distinctly. There 1 remained
for a few seconds In an effort 10 grasp the
situation. and then asked Anthony for the
exact time. He replied: THE explosion
took place at 9:+a, sir" 1t was soon neces-
Sary to retire from the main deck, for that
part OF the ship was sinking rapidly.
then went up on the poop deck. BY this
time Lieutenant Commander Wainwright
and others were near me. Ever ybody was
impressed by the solemnity of the disaster.
but there was no excitement apparent; per-
feet discipline prevailed.
The question has been asked many times
If l believed then that the Maine was blown
up from the outside, My answer to this has
been that my first order on reaching the
deck to post sentrles about the ship.
l knew that the Maine had been blown up,
and believed that she had been blown up
from the outside. Therefore / ordered q
measure which was intended to guard
against attack. There was no need for tEe
order but 1 am writing of fret impressions.
There was the sound OF many voices from
the shore, suggestive of cheers.