Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-24
POWDER FOUND.
Thought to Indicate That Maya
zine Did Not Explode.
NAMES DISCIPLINE RIGID.
Speculation as to Result Should
Magazine Be Found Intact.
In Case War Should Come About, an Of
ficiaI Says Havana Could be Taken
Without Struggle.

Havana, via Key West, Fla, Feb. %.
The situation tonight may be summed
up when this dispatch is sent, to be as
follows:
The divers having discovered cases of
brown hexagonal powder for the 1O-inch
guns unexploded, and believing also
that others unexploded will be found in
the ten-inch magazine. on the starboard
side forward, the idea grows that the
magazine did not blow up.
AS previously wired, the main portion
of the wreck, as seen from above, and
noted from below, was blown to star
board.
The highest American officials here
are confident that Gen. Blsnco and
other Spanish officials had no knowl-
edge, direct or indirect, of the concep-
| ton or execution of plot to blow up
the Maine, if such existed nut they be-
| lieve the Junior Spanish officers, who,
from the nature of things, are more
| conversant with modern explosives than
| their elders and superors, were at the
bottom Of the disaster, if there was any
| outside agency.
1t is regarded as an interesting point
| that the Maine during her stay in the
harbor, lay at the particular spot where
she was at the time of the catastrophe,
and it is said, though not officially Veri-
fed that the Maine was the first for
| eign war vessel moored to this particu-
lar buoy since the troubles in Cuba
grew acute.
All stories as to lax discipline on the
Maine are without a shadow of truth
On the contrary, Capt. Sigsbee was COM
planned of by some for the strictness
with which he enforced the rules of the
ship.
In reply to question put by this cor
| respondent to a high American official
as to what the outcome would q If it
were proved that the disaster was due
to an outside agency, the official said:
Sir, the American people could not
| be restrained. | mean war. Still
doubt whether it would be necessary to
| fire shot Admiral Sicard could anchor
| the Iowa, the Indiana, the Massachu-
| sets and the New York outside Ha-
vana harbor to prevent the ingress of
| the food supplies, without which the
| city could not exist for a fortnight.
| Cuba is waste Of ashes and desola-
tion. Even the hotels and cafes here
in Havana live from hand to mouth on
| supplies brought from the United
States.
IF Admiral Sicard demanded the sur
| render of Havana, giving "a hours for
removal of women and children, sur
| render would follow. The forts are old
structures and could be demolished by
| six-pounder. Such new guns as have
| been mounted are short of ammunition
and have never been tried. If Gen.
Blanco should decline to surrender, the
| Spanish merchants here who represent
80 per cent of the property and pay 70
per cent of the taxes of the island,
would compel him to accede to Admiral
Sicards terms.
1T is well to look these things in the
face At the same time it is well for
Americans to restrain themselves until
there is proof of an outside agency of
explosion We can afford to wait lit
tie longer, seeing that we have waited
so long.
"One thing seems certain. If the
Maine was blown up by an outside
agency, the agent was mine and not
torpedo, as no torpedo known could
have produced such tremendous re-
sults"