Evening journal., 1898-03-29

Continuing, witness eaid the divers
up to the night before be was then on
the stand had not been on the outside
Of the ship. The mud was too deep for
them 10 walk on the bottom.
What Is the condition of the star
board turret?' witness was asked.
TO my knowledge Il has not been
found, sir" was the reply.
he understood something had been
found under the place where the turret
formerly was, but It's exact character
had not been determined.
what impression Is produced upon
your mind by the reports so far as you
have quoted them2" Ensign Powelson
was asked.
From reports alone or from the ap-
pearance OF the wreck?"
Either from such reports or from
the conditions which you believe to ex-
ist"
THE impression produced upon me-"
replied the witness, ''is that an eXplo-
sion took place well to port Of the mid
ship line and at n point in the length
about opposite the coming tower"
EXPLOSION ON THE PORT SIDE.
Referring to his notes made of things
that the arc Of the engine room tele-
graph and the shaft of the steering
gear coming down through the armored
tube was bent from port to starboard.
The port side Of the protective deck
was covered with a greasy deposit, the
starboard side being comparatively free
from It.
The forward smoke pipe batch be-
tween the main and superstructure
decks did not show signs of the internal
pressure Of gases.
ON the main deck forward Of the con-
ming tower where the fore and after
angle bulb beam was located, the plank
ing was blown off on the only remain
ms plate of the main deck on the port
sidc, while the wood was still attached
O. that part on the starboard side be-
tween the coming tower base and the
turrets.
What witness saw would indicate
that the pressure lifted the protective
deck up on the port side and the pro-
tective deck on the starboard side held
fast and bent that deck downward.
Ia answer TO questions, he said there
WAS nothing left of the port plating at
nn He dragged dlong the outside to
see If anything had fallen out, and
found nothing. Witness thought the
ship on the port side was entirely gone
opposite point indicated on a diagram
handed the court. 1t was entirely
blown out.
Mr.. Powelson said he thought the ex-
plosion occurred on the port side some
where about frame Is, center of impact
The ship yielded at II and also at 15
bat II was pretty hard to say exactly
where the impact came. Frame IS was
blown in.
How do you account fer she immense
damage done abreast of the reserve
magazine, where there Is nothing left,
! after that exploded. whereas between
frames 16 and Is you have found dam
aged plates?" Mr.. Powelson was asked.
/ My idea," he replied. 'ts that after
/ the ship was raised up at frame IS, the
magazine, one or all OF them, after that
were exploded. for some powder tanks
! that l have seen. think, were explod-
ed. while others 1 have seen were not
I exploded"
FORCE FROM A DISTANCE.
When questioned further as to what
he regarded as the cause Of the injury,
4Ir. Poweison saidI
con tho bottom forward where that
frame was thrown up II would seem to
mo the force was communicated some
distance through the water, because it
was lifted UP instead of being battered
IN. Tt was a force that was cushioned
IN some way, because the diver tells me
that there was a bulge in plates be-
tween the two frames, and such a force
as that would be a cushion pressure.
80 the plates in that part OF the shiT
not having been broken in. this explo-
sion may have occurred aft and the
frames forward Of the transverse arnlol
being weaker than they are aft, ths
ship might have been lifted up there by
this cushion pressure from further att
1T struck me-" continued Mr.. Powell
son, speaking Of the same part Of tn,
vessel, that the mine there could no
have been very close to those plates
that lifted up because as I say th'
plates are not so much damaged or ben
in form Of V and raised UP a vertica
distance.
1T seems to me that the mine wa
somewhat removed and the pressur
came through the water which produce,
that cushion sort of pressure"
ENSIGN Powelson further testified: "
sent Olsen down the piece of keel, tn
y critical keel to make further explora
tions in the region Of the 10-inch mag
azine He went down to where tn
keel became horizontal at frame .;
walked aft about % feet and climbe
ever q lot Of wreckage consisting O
plates and bulkheads standing upright
The upper ends Of these plates wer
ragged, and he crawled over them I
what he thought was part Of a boiler
He could not give definite details bu
be thought II was a boiler. A little afte
this ne walked out TO port, clear Of tl
ship into the mud. He was at thi
time forward Of the break Of the shi
at frame Al. Returning about 10 fee
in, he found wreckage. He examine
the plate and found it curved as II
were part Of the ship. 1t pointed tc
!, ward the starboard bow. but it was s
dark he could not distinguish the colo
All the edges of the plating were rougl
The compartment seemed TO be abou
2Il or 8 feet wide Forward from thi
point he found a 6-inch tank. IT wa
intact and was sent up. IL proved
be a fnll tank. He found lot of broke
tanks split up on the seams, and
/ ona tank the cover of which had hole