Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1898-03-13

B} Q y important De ia i of Peral'S
at@tement Shown to Be Without
Foundation--The Wave. the Hole
ln the Mud, the Dead Fish and
the Spanish Divers Work All
swept Aside-McKinley Report
Cd to Have Notified the Court of
Inquiry That He Is Ready to Re-
ceive a Report.
avana, via Key West, Fla, March
T. Id is impossible 10 send direct
n4m Havana anything in refutation
VI Captain Perals statement of yes
tday regarding the views Of the
spanish court of inquiry regarding the
ALane disaster. However, an Ameri-
u officer, who is an expert, says in
erect, and his words are worthy of all
weight, as he knows absolutely OF
What he is talking:
"i am q graduate of the torpedo
school and have studied the effects of
torpcdoes and mines from observation
and experiments.
IA torpedo exploded at a depth of
six feet would throw column OF wa
Ter one hundred feet into the air, at
twelve feet ten feet in the air and
thirty feet deep would hardly raise a
small wave. A detonator of gun cot
ION 10 the open air makes a mark its
own size in steel or blows stones to
fragments. In the water a torpedo it
soil would not be felt at any great dis
lance. ii requires the resistance of
solid body and would be dissipated in
water or mud. This disposes of the
wave theory and the affecting of the
shore or boats in the harbOr.
AS to the hole in the mud, the expert
10 question makes the most import
ant statement that the Maine drew IS
20 80 feet at the time of the explosion,
and had about ten feet of water below
her bottom to the surface of the harbor
mud On the port side, where the
United States divers are now at work
there is a present AZ feet Of water
MAY NOT THIS BE THE HOLE
which Captain Peral says could not
be found? 1t it is, the hole was more
nan seven feet deep when the explo-
sion took place, and has been greatly
filled with mud since.
AS to the finding of dead fish, the
United States court of inquiry has not
seen d solitary fish since work began
on the wreck. The bodies recovered
from the Maine had not been touched
by fishes. Some of the fishermen in
Havana testified that there are no fish
inside the harbor, the waters being too
foul for them. Some times they come
part way in during the day, but all go
out at night.
Further, as to the alleged discover
les Of Spanish divers reported to Cap
tain Peral, five American divers have
been working on the port side of the
wreck an average of seven hours a day
each for nearly three weeks, in a space
fifty feet long and twenty feet wide.
The Spanish divers have never been
inside the wreck at all, neither have
they ever been on the port devoting
the short hours which they have spent
under water to the starboard side for
ward and outside the hull.
Recently, to their own surprise,
they brought up two cans of ammuni-
tlon for the six-inch guns, not eX-
ploded They dropped them back
when the light of the surface showed
they were unexploded and what their
nature was.
Further, the Spanish divers often
20 down only long enough TO wet
rAeir suits and then come up and hide
behind blanket on the barge, where
they sleep or rest for a couple of hours
ana then 90 ashore and report that
they cannot see anything in the mud
and water. They could not have found
IND ram of the Maine, since they have
not been down in the locality OF that
PAIN Of the wreck. They have not TO-
.ated he turret with the ten-inch
suns, though the spot
HAS BEEN POINTED OUT
lv Captain Sharp, in charge Of the
WreCkars, where there is only sixteen
fact and should he twenty-six feet.
This spot is outside the hull on the
'arb1ard side 1t is probable that
Pin turret is there partly buried IN the
mud
All of these facts are known by the
United States court of inquiry, having
been elected in the examination OF
llrse in a position to know.
he expert interview by the CORE
s0cadent expresses the belief that the
Maine was blown up by what is
known as a Newport stationary tor
pe1o or something of the same nature.
he engine of destruction is the joint
product of the labors of Commander
converse. commander of the Montgom-
cry, Lieut.. MCLEAN, now in command
~ The torpedo station at Newport, and
Ltaut Holman, ordnance officer of the
Naine at the time of the explosion.
IN Newport torpedo can be planted
rom small boat, and the expert be-
reyes That this one was exploded by
AS struck on the port side of the
@elne forward Of amidships as she
swung her mornings. He thinks this
more likely than that wires were laid
om lhe shore, as the wires, if laid
10y any length OF time, would sink deep
ne loose harbor mud 1t would be
,Asaar if it should prove that the
.AAe was blown up by torpedo in
"r invention Of which one of her
''neipal officers Lieut.. Holman, bore
Holaole part
,i Of the above statements of fact
SNrmises come from authority
spun which the court depends for
MUCH or ITS EVIDENCE,
0 Is given to the correspondent with
"a reservation except as TO the name
I t.., rank Of the giver The expert
~'er believes that the destroying