The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-03-13
PERAL's OPINION REFUTED.
Graduate of Torpedo School Demol-
ishes the Spaniard's Argument.


Havana (via Key West, F'la.) March
Eft is impossible to send direct
from Havana anything in refutatiOn of
Captain Perars statement of yesterday
rega riding the views of the Spanish
court of inquiry regarding the Maine
disaster. However. an American off,
Ger, who is an expert, says in effect,
and his words are worthy of all weight,
as he knows absolutely of what he is
talking:
Il am a graduate of the torpedo
school and have studied the effects of
torpedOes and mines from observation
and experiments.
"A torpedo exploded at a depth of
six feet would thrown a column OF
water 10 feet into the air; at u feet,
10 feet in the air; and at 80 feet deep,
would hardly raise a small wave A
detonator of gun cotton in the open
air makes a mark of it's own size in
steel. or blows stone into fragments.
In the water, a torpedo itself would
not be felt at any great distance. 1t
requires the resistance of a solid body
and would be dissipated in water or
mud. This disposes of the wave theory
and the affecting of shore or boats in
the harbOr."
HOLE IN THE MAINE.
As to the hole in the Maine, the ex-
pert in question makes the most i'm
portant statement that the Maine drew
IS to 80 feet at the time of the exDIo-
sion, and had about 10 feet Of water
below her bottom to the surface or the
harbor mud. On the port side, where
the United States divers are now at
work, there is at present A feet of
water May not this be the hole which
Captain Peral says could not be found?
If it is, the hole was more than seven
feet deep when the explosion took place
and had greatly filed with mud since.
NO FISH THERE.
As to the finding of dead fish, the
United States court OF inquiry mas not
seen a solitary fish since work began
on the wreck. The bodies recovered
from the Maine have not been touched
by fishes. Some of the fishermen in
Havana testified that there were no
fish inside the harbOr the waters being
too foul for them
Further. as to the alleged discoveries
of Spanish divers reported TO Captain
Peral. five American divers have been
working on the port side OF the wreck
on an average of seven hours per day
each for nearly three weeks, in a space
80 feet long by 20 feet wide.
WORK OF SPANISH DIVERS.
The Spanish divers have never been
inside the wreck at all, neither have
they ever been on the port side, devOt-
ing the short hours which they have
spent under water to the starbOard and
forward and outside hull. Recently TO
their own surprise they brought up two
cans of ammunition for the SiX-lnch
guns. not exploded. They dropped them
back when the light of the surface
showed that they were unexploded and
what their nature was Further, the
Spanish divers often go down only long
enough TO wet their suits and then
come m and hide behind a blanket on
the barge, where they stop or rest Tor
a couple of hours and then go ashore
and report that they cannot see any
thing in the mud and water Ihey
could not have found the ram of the
Maine, since they have not been down
in the locality of that part of the
wreck They have not located the tuf-
ret with the 10-inch guns, though the
spot has been pointed out by captain
Sharp. in charge of the wreckers-
THESE FACTS ARE KNOWN.
All of these facts are known by the
United States court of INQUIRY, having
been elected in the examination OF
those in a position to know. The expert
interviewed bv the correspondent ex-
presses the belief that the Maine was
blown up BY what is known as a New
port torpedo, stationary torpedo, or
something of the same nature. This en-
CINE of destruction is the joint pro-
duction of the laborS OF COMMANDER
Converse. commander of the Montgom-
cry; Lieutenant Commander Mclean.
now in command of the torpedo station
at Newport. and Lieutenant Holman.
ordnance officer OF the Maine at the
time of the explosion. The Newport
torpedo can be planted from a small
boat, and the expert believes that this
one was exploded by being struck on
the mort side of the Maine forward of
amidships, as she swung to her moor
ings. He thinks this more likely than