Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-02-24
THE MAINE DISASTER.
A Succinet Account of the Great
Calamity.
Story OF the Explosion T old by One OF thsN
AIaine's Of6cers-Just a Bare State
ment-No Opinion as to
the Cause of 1t.

KEY WEST, Fla. Feb 1S.-Lieut. John.
j. Blandin, of Baltimore, one of the
Names survivors, who is at the Key
West hotel, gave the correspondent
last evening succinct account of the
disaster, saying that not until now has
he been able to recollect the sequence
of events in the awful ten minutes fol-
lowing the explosion Tuesday evening
Lieut.. Blandin was on the Trenton at
the time of the disaster off Samoa in
March, 1889, when American and Ger
man vessels lost PA men all told.
Lieut.. Blandin says:
II was on watch, and when the men
had been piped below, looked down
the main matches and over the side of
the ship. Everything was absolutely
normal. walked aft to the quarter
deck, behind the rear turret, as is al
lowed after eight o'clock in TIE even
ing, and sat down on the port side,
where I remained for a few minutes.
Then, for some reason l cannot ex-
plain to myself now, moved to the
starboard side and sat down there. 1
was feeling a bit glum and, in fact,
was so quiet that Lieut.. j. Hood came
up and asked laughingly if 1 was
dSASSp. L Sd1os
mo, am on watch"
Scarcely had L spoken when there.
came dull, Sullen roar. Would to God,
that could blot out the sound and the
scenes that followed. Then came a.
sharp explosion, some say numerous.
detonations. remember only one. 1t
seemed to me that the sound came from
the port side forward. Then came "a
perfect rain of missiles of all kinds,
from huge pieces of cement to blocks
of wood, steel ratings, fragments of
gratings and all the debris that would
be detachable in an explosion.
Il was struck on the head by piece
of cement and knocked down, but L
was not hurt, and got to my feet in a.
moment. Lieut.. Hood had run to the.
poop, and l supposed, as l followed.
he was dazed by the shock and about.
to jump overheard hailed him, and.
he answered that he had run to the,
poop to help lower the boats. When l
got there, though scarce minute,
could have elapsed, had to wade in,
water to my knees, and almost in.
stantly the quarter deck was awash.
On the poop found Capt. Sigsbee, as.
cool as if at a ball, and soon all the
officers except Jenkins and Merritt.
joined us. The poop was above water
after the Maine settled to the bottom.
Capt. Sigsbee ordered the launch and.
barge lowered and the officers and men,,
who had by this time assembled, got.
the boats out and rescued q number in
the water.
Capt Sigsbee ordered Lieutenant
Woi 10.
see the extent of the damage and if
anything could be done to rescue those
forward or to extinguish the hames,
which followed close upol the eXplo-
sion and burned iercely as long as.
there was any combustibles above
water to feed them.
Lieutenant Commander Vain
wright, on his return, reported the
total and awful character of the cal
amity and Capt. Sigsbee gave the last,
sad order, abandon ship to men over
whelmed with grief, indeed, but calm.
and apparently unexcited.
Meantime four boats from the Span
ish cruiser Alfonso XII. arrived, to be,
followed soon by two from the Ward
line steamer City of Washington. The
two boats lowered from the City of
Washington were found to be riddled
with flying debris from the Maine and.
unfit for use. Capt. Sigsbee was the
last man to leave his vessel, and he
left in his own gig.
81 have no theory as to the cause of
the explosion. / can not form any. An
examination by divers may tell some =
thing to court of inquiry. /, with
others, have heard that the Havana
harbor was full of torpedoes, but the
officers whose duty it was to examine
into that reported that they found no
signs of any. Personally l do not be-
lieve the Spanish had anything to do
with the disaster. Time may tell. 1
hope so.
eve were in delicate position on the
the Maine so far as taking any precau-
tions was concerned. We were friends.
in friendly, or alleged friendly port,
and could not fire upon or challenge
the approach of any boat boarding us,
unless convinced that her intention.
was hostile.
l wish to Heaven l could forget it.
have been in two wrecks now, andt
have had my share. But the reverber--
ations of that sullen, yet resonant,
roar, as IL Cne DOtLOm Oh Cn0 sea were
groaning in torture, will haunt me for
many day, and the reflection of that
pillar of flame comes to me even when
close my eyes.
''Capt. Sigsbee went on board the AL
fonso XII. Wednesday and thanked the,
Spanish commander, Capt. Manuel
Elias, for the services the Spanish sail
ors had rendered upon the occasion of
the great disaster.
Contrary to the reports current, the
divers have not yet made any investiga-
ton of the wreck, and the general
opinion expressed in Spanish circles in
HAVANA is that the explosion occurred
inside the Maine"
COUNSELS CONSERvATIVISM.-
Rear-AdmiraI Kimberly Deprecates Hastys
Judgment and Hostile Expressions.
NEWTON, Mass, Feb. 10 -Rear-Ad-
miral Louis A. Kimberly, who COM