The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-02-22

| twelve months pay to the legal heirs
or Representatives Of each OF the Off
| GERS and crew Of United States
steamship Maine who persisted in the
disaster in Havana. February Is, 1898.
| and the sum of $50. coo or SO much
I thereof as may he necessary is appro-
priated to carry out the p-ovi@ions of
this act
It is not customary TO grant pensions
to the widows or orphans Of soldiers
and sailors who die in time Of peace.
but congress-, in view of the xtrao
binary circumstances undoubtedly win
be quick to grant the relief proposed
by Mr.. Mcclellan"
LIEUTENANT BLANDINfS AC-
COUNT OF THE DISASTER.
Key West, Fla. February 17.-Lieu-
tenant John j. Blandlin, CT Baltimore,
one OF the Maine'S survivors,, who Is
at the Key West hotel, gave the CORE
spondent of the Associated Press this
evening a succinct account of the disas
ter, saying that not until now has he
been able TO recollect the sequence of
events in the awful ten minute fol-
lowing the explosion Tuesday evening.
Lieutenant Blandin was on the Tren-
ton at the time Of the terrible disaster
off Somoa in March 1889, when Ameri-
can and German vessels lost pa men
all told. Lieutenant Blandin avs:
L was Oh NdtCI, dIlu WHICH lit lhci
had been piped below, 1 looked down
the main matches and over h side of
the ship. Everything was absolutely
normal. / walked aft to the quarter
deck, behind the rear turret as is al
lowed after s o'clock in the even
ing and sat down on the port side,
where I remained for a few minutes.
Then for some reason l cannot explain
to myself now, / moved to the star
| hoo ri ciIa aud sat down fhpra was
feeling a bit glum and in fact was so
quiet that Lieutenant j. Hood came up
and asked ~laughingly if / was asleep.
1 said; No, 1 am or watch
Scarcely had l spoken when there
came a dull, sulfen Would to
O. that / could blot out the sound
and the Genes that followed. Then
came a sharp explosion, some say, nu-
merous d~etonatiOnS. 1 remember only
one. 1t seemed to me that the sound
came from the port side forward.
Then came a perfect rain OF missiles
Of all descriptions from hugh pieces of
cement to blocks of wood, steel rail-
ings, fragments of gratings, and all the
debris that would be detachable in
an explosion.
Il was struck on the head by a piece
of cement and knocked down but |
was not hurt, and got TO my feet in a
moment. Lieutenant Hood had run to
U1e pCUp anu L SuppUScO, DIS l. y"
he Wals daZedlby the shock and about to
Jump overheard. l hailed him and he
answered that he had run to the poop
to help lower the boats. When l got
there, though scarcely a minute could
have elapsed, / had to wade in water
to my knees and almost instantly the
quarter deck was aWaSh. On the poop
/ found Captain Sigsbee, as cool as if
at a ball, and soon all the officers, eX-
cept Jenkins and Merritt, Joined US.
The poop was above water after the
Maine settled to the bottom. Captain
Sigsbee ordered the launch and gig
lowered and the officers and men who
by this time had assembled, got the
boats out and rescued a number in the
water. Captain Sigsbee ordered Lieu
tenant Commander Wainwright for
ward to see the extent of the damage
and if anything could he done to rescue
those forward or to extinguish the
flames, which followed close upon the
explosion and burned fiercely as long
as there were any cOmbustibleS above
water to feed Them.
Lieutenant Commander Wainwright
On his return reported the total and
awful character of the calamity, and
Captain Sigsbee gave the last sad or
der: Ship to men over
whelmed with grief indeed, but calm
and apparently uneXcited.
Meantime four boats from the
Spanish cruiser Alfonso XII arrived tC
he followed soon by two from the
Ward Lin steamer City of Washing
ton. The two boats lowered from the
City of Washington were oun to be
riddled with flying debries from the
Maine and unfit for use. Captain Sigs-
bee was the last man to leave his YES
sci and left in his own gig.
Il have no theories as to the cause
= no fn-ro onr
An examination by divers may tel
something to a court of inquiry. /
with others, had heard that the Ha-
wanna harbor was full Of torpedoes, but
the officers whose duty it was to eX-
Omine into that reported that they
found no signs of any. Personally,
do not believe that the Spanish had
anything to do with the disaster. Time
may tell. / hope so. We We're in &
delicate position on the Maine so far as
taking any p~recautiOn was concerned
We were friends in a friendly, or alleg-
ed friendly port and could not fire upor
or challenge the approach of any boa
boarding us unless convinced that hel
intention was hostile.
I wish to heaven / could forget it
l have been in two wrecks now anC
have had my share; but the reverber.
alton of that sullen yet resonant o
as if the bottom of the sea were
grooming in torture will haunt m
for many a day, n the reflection OF
hat pillar Of flames come to me wher
I close my eyes"
New York, February 1.-THE Even.
ing World has received from Sylves.
ter Scovel, it's correspondent at Ha.
vana, the following reply, dated today
to an inquiry as TO whether strangers
were allowed on the Maine the day OF
the disaster:
Yes, visitors were on the Maine al
afternoon of the day of the explosion
The bomb might have been deposited
near the magazine, as / have already
cabled. Gables are much delayed
here"
APPEARANCE OF WRECK.
Havana, February 1.-THE night o
the disaster to the Maine a light wine
from the southwest was blowing ant
her head pointed in a s~outheasterly di
rection. The Spanish cruiser Al
fAnr@ NH -. n -