The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-02-25

was in a mood to commit murder. The
flags Of h Spanish warship were not
| then at half-mast. The vessels OF all
other n~at5onaIiiies had paid this slight
tribute TO the dead. / had a telegram
| TO bring back the remains of Apprentice
| Glazier, VINO is the son ot my book
| keeper. I found that he vas among
the saved.
The contrast between the ooaring
| Of the Spaniards and Cubans IS strong.
| At the uneral Of the ain seamen
| the Cuban women in the streets were
| almost all dressed in mourning. while
| the Spanish women wore color5. The
! only American flags 1 saw in the whole
| procession were two small ones about
| three by six inches. 1 went aboard the
Alphon@o XII and was received po-
| litely- The only expression Of regret l
| heard there was from an officer Who
complained that the force Of the Maine
explosion had broken toilet bottles.
There can be no m~istaking the indif-
ference of the Spaniards in Havana
over the loss of the warship and those
on BOARD. On Thursday, while driving
to the cemetery with two American
| friends, / was assailed with jeers and
some one threw a large stone at our
carriage"
F. w. Bobbett, of this city, who was
with Mr.. Holcomb in the carriage, ad-
ded: That's perfectly true. In fact,
one or two children yelled after us
that they had blown up the americana
and that they were glad Of it. / did
not hear a single expression Of regret
for the terrible loss of life from any
Spaniard during the time 1 was in Ha-
vana."
AN EYEWITNESS OF THE EX-
PLOSION.
r. 49, - ~,
eyewitness Of the explosion and a fell
low passenger of Mr.. Holcomb, told the
following story:
"On Tuesday evening I strolled down
to the river front for a breath of fresh
air. A number of persons were walk
ing about the pier near the custom
house. Out in the harbor I could see
the dim outlines of the Maine, and
close by the Spanish warship. I was
about 300 yards from the Maine. The
first intimatiOn I had of an explosion
was a crunching sound. Then there
came a terrible roar. Immense pieces
Of debris flew skyward from the Maine.
Some of them must nave been thrown
at least 300 feet. 1t locked as though
the whole inside Of the ship had been
blown out. Many persons on the pier
were nearly thrown from their feet by
the, force Of the explosion. The air be-
came sitting with smoke. The crowd
on the pier rushed back toward the
city. The wreck burned for about two
hours and by it's faring light we could
see the work of rescue in the bay, but
were nuable to render any assistance
Mr.. Weinheimer said he heard an excit-
ed Spaniard declare shortly after the eX
plosion that if the 'Americanos' sent
another Warship it also would be blown
up.
M. J. Naughton, an insurance man
OF Chicago, who was staying with his
wife at the Grand Hotel Passage, said
he was seated in front of the hotel
when the explosion occurred. 1t was
followed, he said, by another and a
much louder one. We thought the
whole city had been blown to pieces"
said Mr.. NaughtOn. Some aid the
insurgents were entering Havana.
Others cried out hat MORO Castle
was blown up.
"On the prado is a large cab stand.
The minute after the explosion was
heard the cabmen cracked their whips
and went rafting over the cobblestones
like crazy men. The fire department
turned out, and bodies of cavalry and
infantry rushed through the streets.
There was no sleep in Havana that
night. The Spanish officials were
quick to express their sympathy and
acted very we'll as a whole, but I think
their expressions of regret lacked the
spontaneity and warmth which would
have been characteristic of an Ameri-
can city had such a disaster occurred
under similar circumstances"
William L. Carbin, the passenger
who professed to have important in
formation about the explosion, refuses
to make any further statement than
he made at quarantine. The other pas
sengers ON the S~erguranca did not take
Mr.. Carbin as seriously as he took him
self.
MEETING OF THE COURT OF IN
QUTRY.
Havana, February 1.-The United
States lighthouse tender Mangrove ar
rived here this morning, having on
board the officers composing the court
of inquiry appointed by Read Admira
Sicard to inquire into the loss Of the
battleship Maine. The commander Of
the Fern sent a boat at 10 o'clock a.
m, for Captain Peral, and his secre-
tary, Lieutenant Salas, of the Span
ish navy, who are to take part in the
Spanish Investigations in the disaster. |
The board met on the MangrOve at
10 o'clock this morning, with Captains !
Sampson and Chadwick and Lieutenant
Commanders Potter and Mark pres |
emit. captain sampson pTeSlOeu anu
Lieutenant Commander Mark, recent
iy executive officer of the Maine, acted
as recorder.
Captain Sirsbee, the commander of
the Maine, was the first witness called.
He was under examination until l
O'Clock this afternoon, at which hour
an adjournment was taken.
Captain Sampson received the AS !
soc;ated Press correspondent immedi-
ately after the morning session of the
board. He said, in the course of the
interview:
Il would be glad to give the Associat-
ed Press news, but, owing to the deli |
cate situation, the board has decided
to make nothing whatever public. l
do o n what time may develop
or when. and il is only fair to the
Spanish government not to tell the pub /
lie the testimony until all has been re-
ceived and the findings have been con- |
sidered. You may say that this rule
is absolute. Due care will be taken for
the rigid enforcement of it, and all