The age-herald., 1898-02-21
NATIONS PREPARING FOR EMERGENCY

that the Maine met with foul play. you may depend upon it that the president will not delay one moment in demanding repara- ton, even should 1t plunge us into war"
 NEW DYNAMITE GUN.
 For the first time in its history tho new dynamite gun battery at Sandy Hook has been given a detail Of officers and men to man 1t. The detail consists of two off, cers and twenty-five men of the Fifth regiment of artillery.
 Dispatches tonight from Newport, New port News, Charleston and other cities re- port the work on fortihcations is being pushed with greatest energy. Also reports from big ammunition plants say that the works are being run night and day filling orders for the government
 COMPLETION OF BATTLESHIPS.
 Washington, Feb. 2o.-In addition to the other preparations for war that are being made by the navy and war departments considerable attention is being given to the early completion of the five battleships that are in course of construction at Newport News, San Francisco and Philadelphia Secretary Long and congress are anxious to ascertain how soon these ships of war can be made ready for duty In case hos tilities are begun. With this object in view conferences have been held both at the capitol and the navy department with the contractors for the ships and the repre- sentatives of the armor plate companies.
 Of the five battleships under contract the Kearsarge and Kentucky are the ones nearest completion. They are being built uo nd ara than two-thirds completed. They are to be launched next month. and the company has informed Secretary Long that if necessary they can have the boats ready for the eesesesessseseesseesseeesse companies trying to draw up contracts for the immediate prosecution of the work- He has been at the task now two days and it has not been easy to dispose or
 TO DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN.
 This Is owing to an apparent disposition on the part of the salvage concerns to drive a hard bargain. leaving the depart ment in the dark as to the amount or money to be paid for their servfces- 6ue 1t is believed that the obstacles nave no" been surmounted and that the contracls can he signed tomorrow. It is the purpose of Capt. Lemley to hurry this Work aho to hurry that end he is arranging to nave two of the companies combine their forces. They will be paid on the scale or oay work. with a provision for bonus II tney succeed in raising the vessel, thus lhsurihs the recovery of as much of the vaiuaoia eouinment as is possible, should 1t not DC nracticable to float the Maine again.
 RIrRsTING OF BOILER THEORY
 The newspaper reproductions or pnoto- granhs taken of the wreck were stuoieo with much interest by the naval oiiioeis here today Great surprise was eNpresseu at the extent of the wreck ana the vast mass of steel and iron heaped ln the io, ward mart of the ship was particular oo- feet of attention. The experts "ho na" first yentured the theory or a pefs.ihs boiler as the cause of the oeslruc'io" claim to find strong reinforcement III JIG nictures for that belief. The great nis'ss of metal appears to be thrown up over .he boiler space and not over the Iorwaiu roq.zine while the forcing apart or the forward body of the hull, they say, mgr iis have been accomplished by the ehoiiiiou expansive power of the high pressure oi steam carried in these boilers wluh their shells more than an inch thick AS 'o what caused a boiler to explode "ne'her A disguised bomb in the coal, low water or faulty construction, they do not no" undertake to say.
 THE SoBRAL MATTER. When Mir Longs attention was caheo
 to reports that he had taken official coz nizance of Captain Sobrafs criticism or the American navy. the secretary said that he had called the attention oi the state department to. the subject with view of having an inquiry made by lhat branch. The particular expression to which the secretary had directed the at tention of the state department was the following, attributed to Captain Sobras: "It was the result of an explosion inside of the ship, which took place in one of the forward magazines. The fact of the mat ter is that the discipline and the watch ob- served on the ship were very lax This, as one English newspaper the other day | declared, is the case on American warships | generally. This sort of thing las occurred 1 on previous occasions on American war vessels"
 | POSITION OF A PRIVATE CITIZEN | It has developed that Captain SobraPs ! services as naval attache at Washington were officially terminated by Spain about four weeks ago and it is said he at pres ent occupies the position merely of prf- vate citizen.
 | Mir Du Bose received no advices of i'm l portance from Havana today. He ex- pressed entire satisfaction with the plans l by which the divers were operating and ! said there was no justification of the talk 1 about friction Perfect harmony existed, he said, on both side so far as he could l learn.
 l Mr. Du Bose feels that the assembling l of the court of inquiry at Havana tomor- row is quite desirable. owing to the rapid | rate at which the hull of the Maine is l sinking in the soft bottom of the harbor.