The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-03-03
NAMES BACK BROKEN.
Latest Discoveries Made by Divers in the
Wreck at Havana.
BATTLE SHIP RENT BY A MINE.
The Keel of the Maine Found in Two Pieces
in Position Which Could Not, in the
Opinion of Experts, be the Result of
an Inside Explosion Alone.

Special dispatches from Havana
state that the keel of the battleship
Maine has been found in two pieces
in a position, which, in the opinion
of experts could not have resulted
from an inside explosion alone.
The Spanish cruiser Viscaya arriv-
ed at Havana from New York and
was s,olsoEsssii s.sirn Wild enthusiasm.
The court of inquiry into the cause
of the explosion which destroyed
the battleship Maine at Havana on
the night of February Is heard four
engineer officers and ten enlisted men
at Key West yesterday. Another
session will be held at Key West
to-day.
Admiral Sicard has arranged for a
naval funeral at Key West for the
Maine dead, and has requested the
mayor of Key West to prevent a local
demonstration when the funeral
occurs.
In we'll informed circles in Wash
ington it is intimated that the finding
of the court of inquiry investigating
the cause of the Maine disaster will
be, substantially, mot proven" 1t
is also suggested that the government
will decide, after the report of the
court has been made, that the time
for intervention in Cuba has arrived.
Intervention, it is stated, does not
necessarily involve war.
Secretary of the Navy Long yester-
day stated as his personal opinion
that 'any official participation by
the Spanish government in the blow
ing up of the Maine was now practic-
ally eliminated from the situation -
The Navy Department has ordered
the ram Katadin and the double-tur-
reted monitor Miantonomah to be put
in commission by March 10TH 1t is
explained that the purpose in putting
them in commission is to make places
AOl Sul WIS vi UllC AON
Key West waiting on the court of
inquiry.
DIVERS IN THE WRECK.
Copyrighted by James Gorden Bennett, 1898. ]
The Names back was broken. The
latest discovery made by the divers
not only supports the information
printed concerning the disclosures of
paramount Importance made by En-
sign Powelson, butconvinces those in
charge of submarine investigation
beyond all doubt that mine rent the
battleship asunder. l am able to
write positively that the keel of the
ship has been found in two pieces
nearest the ends which are Inow sep
arated by distance of two and a-half
to three feet.
The sections are no longer lying in
one straight line, but show the effect
of force exerted from port to star
board noticeable in other wreckage.
From the discovery of the present
condition of the keel and that section
of the bottom found twenty nine feet
from its natural position was wrench
ed from the keel by the first explo-
sion and driven upward, the keel it
self was forced in the middle until it
was broken in two and then collapsed
in two sections, which fell in the
positions in which the divers found
them yesterday.
| am assured by reliable persons
familiar with the results of high ex-
plosives and with the wreck above
and under water that the breaking of
the keel, as now disclosed, could not
possibly be done by an inside explo-
sion alone. In fact this last discovery
of the manner in which the Names
back was broken, taken together
with earlier discoveries made public,
has convinced the men working about
the wreck that further investigation
as to the manner in which the ship
was blown up is perfectly useless.
They consider the question solved
beyond doubt. The board of inquiry
will, of course, hear evidence of the
wrenching apart of the keel. Wit
nesses and officers will be summoned
to Key West if the board does not
return to Havana.
Among American naval officers in
Havana the opinion is that beyond
the recovery of the dead remaining in
the wreck, work on the Maine has
been done. know that letters have
been sent from here to Representa-
tives and Senators at Washington
warning them against voting for
appropriations for raising the Maine,
saying the work would not only cost
millions, but would not add anything
to the information regarding the ma
ture of the explosion.
A photograph which is itself evil