The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-04-06
BY SPANISH
TREACHERY.
The Evidence all Shows That the
Maine Was Blown Up by a
Submarine Mine.
A WITNESS OVERHEARD

court covered thoroughly every phase
OF the ease. Captain Sigsbee's testi-
mony related to the discipline main
tanned and the condition of the maga-
zines when the explosion occurred.
Everything was in perfect order, and a
safe temperature in all the magazines
at the last inspection, not long before
the explosion occurred. The vessel lay
at the anchorage fixed for her when
she entered the port, and from which
she had never been changed. Ensign
Powelson, who supervised the work of
the divers, gave voluminous testimony,
accompanied by diagrams showing the
extent and character of the damage.
He sent divers down at various points
along the line of the keel as 1t lay bro
ken and twisted on the harbor bed.
Then he got into boat and located the
points on the keel by lead line. On
the wreck he established stations at the
main mast, the port crane, the smoke
stack and so forth, and from these bases
he would get the bearing by angles of
his lead line as it rested on the keel and
other points of the wreckage under
water. Thus he was able TO plan map
of the wreck both above and below
water that was mathematicelly correct.
By comparing this with the original
plans OF the vessel it was possible to
tell just how much aud In what direc-
ton any part Of the Maine had been
distorted by the explosion without rely
ing on underwater estimates by the
divers.
A good idea of the character Of the
reports made by the divers IS given by
the testimony of Gunner's Mate Smith.
He described his first descent, which
landed him in the 10-inch shell room.
The shells were there in good order,
most of them nose up, but some top
pied over by the force of the explosion,
which had wrecked the woodwork of
the magazine and blown the aft bulk
head over from port to starboard. He
crawled over this bulkhead and down
behind it found 10 inch powder tank
bent and dented, but not exploded. 1t
was intact, with powder and cartridge
bags. On his next descent, he went
down from the port crane, following
the side of the ship down till he struck
plates that were blown from port to
starboard in-board. He followed these
| plates down till he came 10 the 6-ineh
shells still in the slings used for send
ing them up out Of the shell room.
They were lying with their noses up,
| pointing to starboard. The forward
part Of the 6-ineh reserve magazine
seemed to have been blown away alto
gether. The ragged edges of the steel
floor to the shell room were turned up,
and Smith walked over them out into
the mud. Coming back from his trip
into the outer submarine world, the
diver came across a lot of 6 FOUNDER
shell and shell cases, some Of them not
even broken away from the shells.
Lying right across the middle of the
IO-inch shell room he found an armor
plate that had been torn away from the
ships side. The plate, on being ripped
loose by the explosion, had turned a
complete somersaalt and landed with
the thick edge in the mud and the plate
leaning obliqueIy over the wreck Of the
shell room. There were 6-ineh powder
tanks scattered over the l0-ineh shell
room, most of them split A number
of them were sent up, but more re-
mained. On his fourth trip down, he
slid down the outside of the ship by
the port crane. 'sThe skin of the ship"
he said, sis in good condition till you
come to the jagged opening leading
into the 6-inch shell room before men,
toned. Here the steel edges are blown
inwArd." Crawling into the hole he
felt the double bottom and the Jagged
edges of the cement turned up. lie
described in detail the l0-ineh powder
tanks found here, none of them appa-
rently exploded, but with the soldered
seams split and the cases fiattened.
Some lids were to be found. Witness
was questioned very closely as to the
plates that he found blown inward and
whether they might not have been
bulkheads, but he insisted that they
were the outside skin of the ship neal
the bottom, and located them aecu-
rately on the plans about the middle Of
the inch shell room, where, 'in big
circle there is none of the outside of the
ship left at all"
Several witnesses who saw the explo
sion from tine steamer City of Wash
ington, which was anchored about 2OC
yards away, gave testimony. The mosI
minute account was that given by Sig
mond Rothschild, q passenger. Roths
child said he was interested in the
Maine, and had taken position where
they could get good look at her. JUS
as he had taken his eyes Off her tc
move his chair there was sound like
cannon shot in the darkness He i'm
mediateIy looked toward the Maine
He saw the forward end of the vesse
rise, he thought, couple of feet out o.
! water. An instant later came a second
distinct ex pIosion. This seemed to bursi
from the interior of the vessel forward
in a dull flame, and the air was in
stantly filed with flying debris. The
vessel lurched back in the water aftel
the force of the first detonation thai
had lifted her bow and quickly begar
to sink forward. In less than a minuts
her bow had disappeared The wreck
took fire and burned for two hours
There were single reports that kept uI
through all that time, as the fixed am
munition was reached by the flames
: but these were not to be confused will
the two big explosions which had de
stroyed the Maine. There was no doub
about the separation of these two frs
explosions, an interval Of two second
at least separating them
Commander G.. A. Converse, of tn
navy, an expert in explosives, stateS
| that the distortion of the keel o
the Maine was too far forward
and to1 remote from the magazine +
; have been caused by their explosion
He was OF the opinion that the bend
; ing of the plates on the bottom of th