Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-04-01
THE MAINE REPORT.
1T FINDS THAT SHIP WAS DESTROYED
INTENTIONALLY BY MINE.

cers-The Responsibility Remains UnfNed
by the Court of Inquiry.
WASHINGTON, March 2S:-These are
the findings of the Maine court of in
quiry:
L. S. 5. Iowa, First Rate. KEY WEST, !
Fla, Monday, March 2l, 1898.
After full and mature consideration of
all the testimony before It, the court
finds as follows
l. That the United States battleship
Maine arrived in the harbor of Havana,
Cuba, on the 25th day of January,
eighteen hundred and nmety-eight, and
was taken to buoy No. 4, in from five
and a half to six fathOms of water, by
the regular government pilot. The
United States consul general at Havana
had notified the authorities at that place
the previous evening of the intended
arrival of the Maine.
.. The state of discipline on board the
Maine was excellent. and all orders and
regulations in regard to the care and
safety of the ship were strictly carried
out. All ammunition was slowed in ac-
cordance with prescribed instructions,
and proper care was taken whenever am
munition was handled. Nothing was
slowed in any one of the magazines or
shell rooms which was not permitted to
be slowed there. The magazines and
shell rooms were always locked after
having been opened, and after the de-
struction of, the Maine the keys were
found in their proper place in the cap
tain's cabin, everything having been re-
ported secure that evening at S o'clock.
The temperatures of the magazines and
shell rooms were taken daily and re-
ported. The only magazine which had
an undue amount of heat was the after
ten-inch magazine, and that dld not eX-
nlode at the time the Maine was de-
stroved. The torpedo war heads were
al slowed in the after part Of The ship,
under the wardroom, and neither caused
nor participated in the destruction of
the Maine. The dry guncOtton primers
and decorators were stove in the
cabin aft and remote from the scene
Of the explosion. Waste was carefully
looked after on the Maine to OBJ
viate danger Special orders in regard
70 this had been given by the command
ing officer. Narnishes, dryers, alcohol
and other combustibles of this nature
were slowed on or above the main deck,
and could not have had anything to do
with the destruction of the Maine. The
medical stores were slowed aft, under
The wardrOom and remote from the scene
Of the explosion. No dangerous stores
Of any kind slowed below in any of the
other storeroOms. The coal Dunkers
were inspected daily. OF these bunkers
adjacent to the forward magazines and
shellrooms four were empty namely, b
3. a, B ), b 6. A - had been in use
that day and A l6 was full of New
River coal. This coal had been carefully
inspected before receiving it on board.
The bunker in which it was slowed was
accessible on three sides at all times
and the fourth side at this time, on ac-
count of bunkers b and b 6 being
empty. The bunker a lG had been in-
spected that day by the engineer officer
on duty. The fire alarms in the bunkers
were in working order, and there had
never been case of spontaneous com
bustiOn of coal on board the Maine. The
TWO after boilers of the ship were in use
at the time of the disaster, but for
auxiliary purposes only, with COM
paratvely low pressure of steam. and
being tended by a reliable watch. These
boilers could not have caused the eX-
posion of the ship. The four forward
boilers have since been found by the
divers and are in a fair condition. On
the night of the destruction of the Maine
everything had been reported secure for
the night at o'clock by reliable persons
through the proper authorities to the
commanding officer. At the time the
Maine was destroyed the ship was quiet
and. therefore, least liable to accident
caused by movements from those on
board.
3. The destruction of the Maine Oc
Cured at Q 40 =. m, on the 10Th day OF
February. 1908, in the harbor of Havana
Cuba, she being at the time moOred tC
the same buoy to which she had beer
taken upon her arrival. There were two
explosions of distinctly different char
acter, with very short but distinct in
teTval between them, and the fOrwarC
part of the ship was lifted to marked
degree at the time of the first explosion
The first explosion was more in the ma
ture of a report, like that of a gun
while the second explosion was more
open, prolonged, and of greater volume
This second explosion, in the opinion OF
the court, was caused by the partial ex
plosion of two or more of the forward
magazines of the Maine.
A. The evidence bearing upon this
being principally obtained from divers
did not enable the court to form (
definite conclusion as to the condition o.
the wreck, although it was established
that the after part of the ship wa
practically intact and sank in that con
ditiOn very few minutes after the de
struction of the forward part. The fol
lowing facts in regard to the fOrwarC
part of the ship are, however, established
NJ. tho tnstimnnu Ihat nnrlinn of In