Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1898-03-03
CAPT. SIGSBEG REPORTS.
He Gives Information to the Navy
Department.
NJ utiiation of Bodies of Victims of the
Wreck Is So Frightful as to Preclude
Their Removal to the United
States Strength of Our
Naval Militia.

startling discoveries IN the wreck OF
the Maine were less frequent yester-
day, but there were enough of them
still afloat to warrant Secretary Long
in making this statement to the news
paper men: Summing up the situa-
tion, / should say that the navy de-
partment knows to-day nothing more
about the cause of the disaster than it
did five minutes after the receipt of the
first dispatch from Capt Sigsbee."
The secretary's attention was drawn
to the published statement that Capt
Crowninshield, chief of the bureau of
navigation, had arrived at Tampa, Fla,
on the Montgomery from trip to
Cuba, where he had been inspecting
prospective coaling stations near Ma
tanzas. The secretary's comment was
this: ''Capt. Crowninshield has not
been to Cuba. He has been off with
his boy on matters not in any way con-
nected with the business of the navy"
The only exact information received
by the navy department from Havana
during the day was conveyed in Capt.
Sigsbee's telegram, as follows:
Wrecking tug Right Arm arrived yesterday
and begins work to-day. Much encumbering
metal must be blasted away in detail Navy
divers down aft seven days, forward four days
Bodies of jenkins and Merritt not found. Two
unidentified bodies of crew found yesterday.
After compartment filled with detached. bro
ken and buoyant furniture and fittings. Span
ish authorities continue offers OF assistance
and care for wounded and dead Everything
that goes from wreck to the United States
should be disinfected Surgeon of the Maine
recommends that all bedding and clothing
should be abandoned. Might go to acclimated
md an,,in ,i0ht
be towed to sea and thrown overheard. Shall
old metal OF superstructure and like be saved,
Friends of dead should understand that we are
in the tropics. Chaplain Chadwick is charged
with all matters relative to the dead.
Secretary Long answered Capt. Sigs-
bee, approving all his recommenda-
tions. He was directed to have Lieut..
Wainwright, the executive officer of
the Maine, arrange with the wreckers
for the disinfection of everything sent
to the United State. The recommends
tion that all bedding and clothing be
abandoned, and if needed be given to
the acclimated poor, was approved.
The same approval was given to the
suggestion that useless fittings and
equipment be towed to sea and thrown
overheard. To the captains inquiry as
to the saving of old metal and parts of
the superstructure the answer was
given that such material was of no use
to the bureau of equipment.
SigSbee's statement that the divers
have been down aft seven days and
forward four days, gave the navy de-
partment the first information of the
time that the divers had been in the
vicinity of the zone of explosion as
he has termed it. This zone is confined
to the forward part of the ship, and
while the divers nave been down aft
for the last week, their work forward
in the vicinity of the large magazine
has been in progress only four days.
The statement in the Sigsbee dis
patch that friends of the dead should
understand we are in the tropics" is
understood to refer to the pleas of rela
tives of the dead that they be brought
to the United States. These appeals
continue to be received, and while they
excite the deepest sympathy of officials,
no hope can be held out that the dead
can be brought back.
The press reports have given in part
the terrible mutilation of the bodies
but it is feared this has not been fully
realized by relatives. The men were
sleeping on the berth deck, with metal
floors and ceilings, which, by the force
of the explosion, were ground together
into confused mass. Knowing this,
there is little hope that many of the
bodies still missing will be found, or,
if found, that they will be in a condi-
ton to be brought to the United States.
Late last night the navy department
received two kilograms from Capt.
Sigsbee. One related to some routine
matter of expenditures in connection
with the work on the Maine, and the
other is as follows:
divers report more bodies in wreck
Some in hammocks in debris. Probably
not recognizabl
This dispatch indicates that the div
ers have secured at least partial en-
trance to the quarters in the forward
part of the vessel where the crew was
asleep when the explosion occurred,
and under which were the magazines. |
One fact that the divers were unable to |
extricate the bodies shows the fearful |
obstacles against which they are la bor- |
ing.
The navy department gives out fig |
Co bHc SJTtHSlll ol Int ndNdl
militia up to date. This shows total |
force of 4,445 officers and enlisted men. |
The state naval militia, in the event |
of sudden emergency, could be utilized |
at once for manning the smaller ma
tional cruisers. 1t could be depended |
upon mainly as a second line of defense
and also be used in placing mines and
the establishment of signal stations
for coast defense.
The city of Washington is now re-
garded as being well nigh safe from
attack. The Notifications at Fort
Washington and Sheridan Point are
sufficiently advanced to be able to re-
pei an ordinary fleet of invaders, and
in case of necessity they could be vast
ly strengthened in short time
New Bedford Strikers are Starving.
New Bedford, Mass, Feb. 25.-An
appeal was issued Thursday by the