The times., 1898-04-15

Maine explosion, he said: "A mine-a sub
marine mine"
Have you any doubt about it, after
| reading the testimony
mo, sir; have not
''In your opinion. what kind of mine
must that have been to have the effect
shown there?"
st must have been a mine of what is
| termed high explosives L think"
He stated that. in his opinion, about 800
| pounds of modern explosive would do ali
| the damage that was done to the Maine,
/ and that it was ignired by electricity.
| His testimony regarding the placing OF
| the mine under the Maine with perfect
| discipline on board corroborates that of
| Capt. Sissbee in the main details. Asked
| il the mine could have been exploded
without the knowledge of any of the Off
| cials at Havana, he made this sgnifi-
| cant reply: Possibly, but not prOba-
| bly," There was no doubt in his mind
| that the explosion was by means of a
| mine.
] Senator Foraker asked: 'In your study
! of this question, have you ever known of
| private individuals putting torpedoes in
| harbOrs to destroy ships?"
Il never heard of it. 1t cannot be car
| ried on without attracting attention"
| You think that mine could not be
| placed there without the consent OF the
authorities?'
81 dol will change that; I do not
| think it was probable"
| THE probability is that it was put there
| by the government authority. and known
to be there by the government oficiaIs?"
| Yes. sir
! eff that lotilla of torpedo boat Destroy
ers and torpedo boats now on its way from
| the Canaries could be brought to Havana
| and placed in the harbor. would It not
| then become formidable and an increas-
ed danger in the naval situation TO us?"
Yes sir; I think it would
| What would be our method of pro-
tecting our fleet If we wanted to block
ade Havana-shoot at it at distance
| the torpedo boats destroy them2'
| I'VE suppose the fiotilla to be in Ha-
vana and our ships outside endeavoring
to blockade, and they came out 70 at
| tack"
"Yes. or we wanted to prevent them
from attacking their way-what is our
plan of attack to prevent them-to de-
stroy them?"
Il do not know that we have any plan,
! but if We approached near enough the
port to lombard it, of course the ships
would be subject to bombardment The
most efficacious, and at the same time
| the most hazardous way, would be 70
send vessels in to ram them-hght draft
vessels that probably would not strike
| any obstruction. If they get near enough
the ship they are subject 10 a very Sc
we're fire from the secondary batteries,
small quck-firing guns and onslaughts
from the vidette bOats-picket boats. We
have no cases on record in experiment
where. in the daytime. torpedo boats have
succeeded in getting within striking dis
| tance of well-armed ships.
Mr. Foraker-How do we compare 20
Spain as to f1rst-class battIeships; we
have not quite as many armored cruis-
ers?''
1--WE have more battleships: we have
not quite as many armored cruisers"
ours are heavier ships?"
yes. sir; the Brooklyn and New
York"
I'm battleships we are much more pow
| erful?"
VERY much'
Should you not think ii very impor-
tant in case war was coming to dispose
of that fiotilla before it reached Ha-
vana?'
1T would be an important advantage
Much depends upon the proposed cam
paign-what we are going to do; whether
! it is TO be strictly naval war-whether
we are to confine ourselves to marine
| operations. or whether we are to land
troops on the islands of cuba and Puerto
Rico. and what the purpose of the Gov
ernment is This ought TO be decided
first in my opinion, and then we could
decide what 70 do
Senator Mills: Gould we land troops
with this flotiIla at Havana?''
Il would not advocate it. Warfare
cannot be carried on now as it used to
be. where a fleet could go IN under the
, guns of a fort and land troops and bonn
bard the fort and town and take pos
session. The lesson of the Maine proves
that such forts must be taken by attack
on shore. with such aid as the ships
can give. and some place not mined must
be selected to land. The object of the
! Navy now is 20 destroy what it can by
bombardment and desroy ships The
capture of territory must be left to the
Army
Capt A. L. Barker. L S. N. the first
man who ever fired dynamite In shells
in this country. believed the Maine was
destroyed by a submarine mine operated
from a battery on shore.
Admiral John S. Irwin z. S N was
examined. He said that as far back a.
1868 the attitude of Spaniards toward
Americans was bitterly hostile. In his
opinion after having read carefully all
the expert testimony. he had no doubt
that the Maine was blown up by a sub
marine mine operated either from or
shore or on board a Spanish ship
benjamin j. Guerva. cigar manufac-
tuyer, of No 10l West Sixty-ffrst Street
New York, treasurer of the Cuban Junta
stated that but S122 900 worth of Cubar
bonds had been sold. Over 100000 haC
been raised by taxation by the Cubar
republic. lie explained the government
of the republic in detail and he stated
that the postal system in operation wa.
maintained by the establishment of post
Offices in all the towns. They TRANSMIT
: mails by courier Two cent, five cen
and ten cent stamps are used. Mr.
Guerre produced an envelope. stamps
! cancelled and addressed, TO him at New
f / YorE and Washington he received from
: Camaguey district. The members of tn
Cuban Cabinet, as well as the heads o
E departments and the leading men gen