The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1898-02-23
begun at the earliest possible moment.
sUCcINCT STORY
OF the Great Disaster TO the Maine In
Havana Harbor.


Havana HarbOr.
Key West, Feb. ia succinct ac-
count Of the Maine disaster is given by
Lieutenant Blandln of Baltimore, one
Of the survivors, who says that not
until now has he been able to recol-
lect the sequences of events in the aw-
full 10 minutes following the explosion
Tuesday evening.
Lieutenant Blandln was on the
Trenton at the time of the disaster
of Samoa in March, 1889, when Amer
ican aud German vessels lost 2A men
all told. Lieutenant Blandin says:
was on watch, and when the men had
been piped below, looked down the main
matches and over the side Of the ship.
Everything was absolutely normal l walk
ed aft to the quarte= deck behind the rear
turret az Is allowed after O'Clock In the
evening, and sat down on the port side,
where l remained for a few minutes.
Then fer some reason can not explain
to myself now, l moved to the stsrboard
side and sat down there. | was feeling a
bit glum, and In fact so quiet that Lieu
tenant J. Hood came up and. asked laugh
ingly II l was asleep | said: mo; I am
watch"
Scarcely had spoken when there came
a dull. sullen roar. Would to God that l
could blot out the sound and the scenes
that followed. Then came q sharp explo-
sion Some say numerous detonatlons. I
remember only one. 1t seemed to me that
the sound came from the port side for
ward. Then came a perfect rain Of mis-
slles of all descriptions, from huge pieces
Of cement to blocks OF wood, steel ratings,
fragments of gratings and all the debris
that would be detachable In an explosion.
was struck on the head by a piece of
cement and knocked down. but l was not
hurt, and got to my feet In a moment
Lieutenant Hood had run to the poop, and
I supposed, as followed, he was dazed by
the shock and about to jump overheard. I
hailed him and he answered that he had
run to the poop to help lower the boats.
When I got there, though scarce a minute
could have elapsed had TO wade In water
to my knees, and almost Instantly the quar-
ter deck was awash.
On the poop l found Captain Slgsbee as
cool as II at a ball, and soon all the off,
GERS, except jenkins and Merritt, Joined u.s.
The poop was above water after the Maine
settled to the bottom.
Captain Slgsbee 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 Slgsbee ordered Lieutenant Com
mander Wainwright forward to see the ex-
tent Of the damage, and II anything could
be done to rescue those forward, or to ex-
tingulsh the flames, which followed close
upon the explosion and burned fercely as
long as there were any combustlbles above
water to feed them.
Captain SlRsbee's Last Order.
Lieutenant Commander Wainwright on
his return reported the total and awful
character OF the calamity, and Captain
Slgsbee gave the last sad order, Abandon
ship" to men overwhelmed with grief In
deed, but calm and apparently unexclted
Meantime four boats from the Spanish
cruiser Alfonso XIII arrived, to be followed
soon by two from the Ward line steamer
City of Washington. The two boats low
cred from the City Of Washington were
found to be riddled with flying debris from
the Maine and unfit for use. Captain Slgs-
bee was the last man to leave his vessel
and left In his own gig.
have no theories as to the cause Of the
explosion. / can not form any. An exam
nation by divers may tell something to a
court of inquiry. ], with others, had heard
that the Havana harbor was full Of tor
pedoes, but the officers, whose duty II was
to examine into that reported that they
found no signs OF any. Personally, l do
not believe the Spanish had anything TO
do with the disaster. Time may tell.
hope so.
We were In G delicate position on the
Maine, so far as taking any precautions
was concerned. We we're friends In
friendly, or alleged friendly port, and could
not fire upon or challenge the approach Of
any boat boarding us unless convinced that
her Intention was hostile.
I wish to heaven I could forget II. have
been In two wrecks now and have had my
share. But the reverberations OF that sui
len, yet resonant roar, as II the bottom Of
the sea was grooming In torture, will haunt
me for many a day. and the reflection Of
that pillar Of fame comes to me even when
close my eyes.