The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-03-25

uak1On-DSIlel Ahds Ia AAphooioA VIVID
Worked from the Cruiser Alphonzc-spain
Exhausted
Washington, March %, $3.50 a. m.
Editors Messenger:
We are privately informed thai an
eastern paper has had access to the
Maine report and will print details.
Also, it is reported that our legation
at Madrid has been closed. This ome
TO us only as a tip and we have no
knowledge Of the authenticity Of the
information. We Will hold open until
il is denied or confirmed.
C. A BOYNTON, .
Manager Associated Press.
LATER.-No further Information
could be secured.
Washington, March 21.-The proce-
hure in connection with the submission
of the report of the Maine court of in
quiry by the president to congress is
now clearly outlined, and a cabinet Off
Ger today explained the general line of
action at present intended to he per-
sued upon receipt of the report, which
lis expected to reach Washington next
Thursday. A copy Of it will be laid be-
fore the Spanish government very early
and as sOon as can be consistently done
the report will be sent to congress and
made public at the same time. The re-
port to congress Will be accompanied by
a message from the president, stating
that after receiving the epOrt the con-
IL Il n- Go tel,
government and appropriate action
from that quarter asked. 1T is stated
positively that no part of the repOr
and no matiO of the findings, has
reached the executive authorities in
Washington as yet. AT the same time
lit is a noticeable fact hat the current
OF official opinion is beginning to follow
that of the unofficial opinion expressed
so positively at Havana and Key West,
that the cause Of the explosion was ex-
ternaI. Officials hign in the admins
ftratiOn stated today that while they
were wholly without exact Information
as to the findings of the court Of in
quiry, they found themselves sharing
in the apparently intangible conviction
that the cause of the explosion was not
acCide ntal. Opinion expressed by the
Maine survivors who reached here last
Saturday doubtless has contributed
largely to this view in official circles.
In this connection it is understood that
one of the officers who arrived on Sat
nrday stated, not as an opinion, but as
his personal observation on the night
of THE disaster, that there were two
distinct explosions. The tendency of
this is to support the theory of exter-
nal cause, as this is based on the idea
that the first external explosion was
followed by a second internal explosion
uNruyIyNrCE INrT%EpE JST ATT TLJE nE,-
PARTMENTS.
Intense interest in the report was
manifested today at the White house
and ait the war, state and navy de-
partments. The president received a
numbe Of congressional leaders,
among them being Speaker Reed and
Chairman Hit, OF the house committee
on foreign affairs. The visit of MIR.
Reed naturally attracted much atten-
tion, as he seldom leaves the congress
sional sphere to make calls on the ex-
ecutive branch, and it was naturally
inferred that the purpose Of his visit
was to confer upon the Cuban situation
and it's future before congress-, though
neither he nor Mr.. Hit was
cative. Secretary Long also had an eX-
tended conference with the president,
but so far as it could be earned, it de-
veloped nothing additional relating to
the Spanish question:.
WAR PREPARATIONS CONTINUED
The army and navy preparations are
continuing without interruption, al
though they have now become so regu-
lar as to lapse into routine, on "a gigan-
tic scale.
The ordnance office of the war de-
partment presented a very busy scene
today when bids We're opened for fur
nishing the department about 1,6OO cast
iron projectiles for ~seacoast cannon
with which to man the fOrtlflcatlOrS.
The advertisement called for 1S1 10 inch
solid shot, 80 II inch mortar shells
weighing 500 pounds each and 500 Il
inch mortar shells Weighing l,OoU
pounds each. There were an unusually
large number of firms w1ho bid for the
contract and the prices at which they
proposed to furnish the proJectlles
showed a wide range. Among the bid
ders were the Petersburg, (Virginla,)
iron works and the Balk & Murdoch
Iron Company, of Charleston, S. c. SO
far as figures are concerned the Peters
burg iron works We're the lowest bid
ders, although other conditions may eX
list which will prevent them from get
ting the contract. The company offer
ed to supply the 10 inch shot at S12.66
each. one-half to be delivered in forty
days and the remainder in seventy
days. The II inch shells of 500 and
1000 pounds a the company bid to
furnish at $21.2S and s23.97 respectively,
Offering to supply so of each kind in
forty days and the remainder at quick
intervals. The 10 inch shot the Rome,
IN. " machine works offered to sup
ply at $14.25 each, to begin the delivery
in one week and they agreed to turn
over the entire amount in four weeks.
THE TEXAS SAILS NORTH.
The battleship Texas started north
ward from Key West today, thus set
thing the question as to the
of a second squadron at or near Hamp-
ton Roads. 1t is expected that the
Massachusetts will follow in a few
days, but the final orders for that move
have not been made.
The navy department received a pre-
liminary report today from one of its
agents who is in Havana watching the
progress of the wrecking. 1t is under
stood that this refers mainly to the
technical work of the salvage and not