Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-03-29

on coming up from below he had fol-
lowed the forward and after wings OF
the sV' shape made by the bottom
plating. At frame II on the forward
wing of the ", the plates ran down on
| very steep slant and then turned un-
der and out under the starboard side.
| that Just above where the plates
turned to go under the starboard side
HE FOUND TWO DENTS.
as if the plating had been bullying be-
tween the frames from the outside
inward.
The court asked the size of these two
dents Mr.. POwelson replied that they
were about two and one-half feet long
and bulged in about six inches He
further testified that Olsen again went
down and came to the surface at IL
O'Clock, saying he thought he hae
found the fiat keel. Olsen had re-
ported that the keel was sloping
downward about 45 degrees and to port
with the after part of the keel upper
most He said he had not explored the
after wing of the "V" and had found
a circular hole about two feet in diam
eter with rivet holes all around it. He
said that the semi-circular hole was
about twenty feet from the top Of the
''V' made by the Cotton plating He
said the plate presented a jagged ap-
pearance, as if it had been torn, and
that a crack had extended from the
bottom edge Of the semi-circular hole
to a distance of about eight inches,
and that the plates about the hole
were bent away from the side Of the
plating.
Powelson continued to say that Olsen
told him he had found a hole cut in
the plate % feet from the angle of the
Y, and exhibited a sketch showing that
the keel line was found by him sloping
down Is degrees below the horizontal
and to port.
The point where he had found the
keel was about thirty feet under water.
The judge advocate asked Mr.. Pow
elson how he looked upon Olsen's tes-
timony, in view of his knowledge of
the drawings of the vessel. He re-
piled that he regarded it as extremely
accurate.
The judge advocate asked Mr.. Powell
son what he deduced from all this testi-
mony received from the diver that fore
noon, together with what information
he had before Mr.. Powelson replied
that he thought the explosion occurred
at the port side somewhere about frame
Is, centre of impact, The ship yielded
at Is and also at IS, but it was pretty
hard to say exactly
WHERE THE IMPACT CAME.
Frame 10 was blown in.
How do you account for the I'M
mense damage done above the reserve
magazine, where there is nothing left,
where as between frames Is and Is
you have found damaged plates?'' Mr..
Powelson was asked.
My idea" he replied, lis after the
ship was raised up at frame IS the
magazines, one or all Of them, after
that, were exploded. From some pow
der tanks that 1 have seen, l think
some were exploded while others |
have seen were not exploded
When questioned further as to what
he regarded as the cause of the in
juries, Mr. Powelson said: "On the
bottom, forward, where that frame
was thrown up, it would seem TO me
the force was communicated some dis
lance through the water, because 1t
was lifted up instead Of being bat
tered in. II was a force that was
cushioned in some way because the
diver tells there was bulge in plates
between the two frames, and such Il
force as that would be cushion pres
sure. So the plates in that part OF the
ship not having been broken, this ex-
plosion may have occurred aft, the
frames forward of the TRANSFERS being
weaker than they are aft. The ship
might have been lifted up there by
this cushion pressure from further
aft"
1T struck me-" continued Mr.. Pow
elson. speaking of the same part Of
the vessel, that the mine there could
not have been very close to those
plates that were lifted up. because, as
| say, the plates are not so much dam
aged or bent, but are in the form of
a V and raised up vertical distance.
1t seems to me that the mine was
somewhat removed, and the pressure
came through the water which pro-
duced that cushion sort of a pressure"
Ensign Powelson was called on Feb
ruary % and showed the plan of the
Maine from which he had identified the
bottom plates that were blown up
through the upper deck. The finding
of these plates on the top of the wreck
clear above water was among the first
and most important points Of evidence
clearly disproving the possibility OF an
internal explosion.
After infinitely describing the bot
tom plates with their green coating Of
paint and the other marks by which
they were identified, Powelson said
that they must have been blown up
thirty-eight or thirty-nine feet to
reach their present position
BESIDE THE BOTTOM PLATES.
Powelson found some pipes from the
bottom compartments lodged in the
angle of the bottom plates that pro-
truded above the water. The berth
deck over this bottom compartment
was also on top of the wreck and TWEEN
ty feet forward of the plates, while this
section of the main deck had disap-
peared.
The diver who had been working for
Powelson on this investigation inform
ed him he had found the ammunition
for the six-inch magazine pushed over
to the starboard side.
Ensign Powelson was recalled on the
eleventh day and described the reports
made to him by the divers. which were
afterward directly testified to before
the board.
'sMarch g." testified PoweIson. II