The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-02-24
AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY
DIVERS FIND CASES OF HExAGONAL
 POWDER UNEXPLODED.
This Causes Conviction to Grow That the Explosion Which Wrecked the Battle- ship Came From the Outside on the Port Bow

Explosion Which Wrecked the Battle-
 ship Came From the Outside on the Port
 Bow.
 Havana, via Key West, Fla, Feb. 23.
 -The situation, which may be changed
 at any moment, may be summed up,
 when this dispatch Is sent, substantial
 ly as follows: The divers having dis
 covered cases of brown hexagonal pow
 der for the ten inch guns unexploded
 and believing also that others unex-
 ploded will be found in the ten inch
 ward, the conviction grows that this
 magazine did not blow up. If this be
 so, many having insisted from the
 first that it is, the further conviction is
 forced that the explosion which wreck
 ed the Maine came from the outside on
 the port bow. As previously wired,
 the main portion of the wreck as seen
 from above and noted from below was
 blown to starboard. The highest Amer
 ican officials here are confident that
 General Blanco and the other Spanish
 officials had no knowledge of the exc.
 cution of plot to blow up the Maine
 All stories as to lax discipline on the
 Maine are without a shadow of truth.
 On the contrary, Captain Sigsbee was
 complained of by some of the rigidity
 of his rules and the strictness with
 which he enforced them. Moreover
 since the Maine has been in commits
 sion she has never had a serious acci-
 dent until anchored in this harbor. In
 reply to question put by this corre- spondent to a high American as to !, what the outcome would be if the dis { aster was due to an outside agency,
 the official in question said: "The
 Americans could not be restrained.
 Still doubt if it would be necessary to
 fire a shot. Cuba is a waste of ashes
 and desolation. Even the hotels and
 cafes here in Havana live from hand
 to mouth, on supplies brought from the
 United States. If Admiral Sicard de-
 r1anded the surrender of Havana, giv-
 ing twenty-four hours for the removal
 of women and children, surrender
 would follow. The forts are old struc-
 lures and could be demolished by six
 pounder.! If General Blanco should de-
 cline to surrender the Spanish mer-
 chants here who represent 80 per cent.
 of the property and pay 75 per cent.
 of the taxes of the island would con-
 pei him to accede to Admiral Sicard's
 terms As for volunteers the men are
 for the most part the employees of these
 merchants and the volunteer officers are largely their sons or their junior partners.
 s.'1t is well to look these things in the face. At the same time it is we'll for the Americans to restrain themselves until there is some proof of an outside agency of explosion. We can afford to wait little longer. We could not wait after 1t had once been proved that the Maine disaster was the result of a dastardly plot. Spanish officers from the old country hold to the unaccount- able belief that their arms would over- come us in few weeks, but the Cu- ban merchants have no such delusion
 and they would control the situation.
 Hence believe that no shot from a big
 American will be necessary"
 These sentiments fairly represent
 those. of the Americans here. A mem
 Der of the court. of inquiry who con-
 versed with this correspondent to-day deprecated any premature explosion or evidence of resentment on the part of
 the people of the United States until { 1t was proved that the disaster result ed from some other cause than acci- dent: Certainly the members of the court of inquiry, cool, experienced and judicial, will not lose their heads One thing seems certain. If the Maine was blown up by an outside agency it was not torpedo that caused the acci- dent. .-...........--
 The divers here are those connected with the warships. They are not ac-
 customed to work at any depth or in turbid waters. Their apparatus was
 seldom used and the air pumps are apt to get out of order. Nevertheless, the securing of the cipher code book and the private correspondence of the state ' department with Captain Sigsbee was accomplished. It is useless to deny that many believe in an outside agen- cy. These assert that even cursory examination of the wreck shows con < clusively that the disaster could have Y not originated from within. It is pointed out that the main magazine . forward was filled with brown hexagi- onal powder in proper cases and would be slow to ignite, while all the high I explosives were aft. It is generally E conceded that neither the boilers, the electric wires nor spontaneous combus- tion could, from the very condition of things, be responsible. The wreck has sunk several feet in the mud.
 It is reported that Senor Jose Con- K gosta, the secretary general, has been K censured by General Blanco for send ' ing dispatches to a New York paper x with reference to the Maine explosion and warned not to offend again. It is % feared that the excitement in the Unit Sl ed States over the explosion may di- I vert attention from the necessities oi ! the starving reconcentrados. From \ most trustworthy sources it is ascer- ' tained that while the outward signs ot
 famine and disease are not so plentiful * as a few months or weeks ago, it is be-
 lieved there are still sufferers who are s too weak to travel and ask for food Miss Clara Barton visited the village E of Jaruco. thirty miles out, the other { day and found between three and foul < thousand starving persons. She was x almost prostrated at the scenes Of des-
 olation and misery she witnessed $ without outside assistance this condi.