The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1898-02-24


peded by American intsrferen6e, Are
We to continue our? No, no, & thou
sand times no.
"Consul- General Lee, when the stu
pendous explosion comes that will
carry CONSERVATION tt the Whole city,
if you have the strength left, It ~ould
be well for you to HE yourself to your
country and relate what has happened
to you. =, -,
''Long life TO Spain, long life to
Spanish Cuba. Death to otir enemies.
A special from Madrid says Orders
have Been issticd 80 Captain Peral to
open inquiry into the Bauss OF the dis
aster to the Maine. The government
has received cable message from the
Washington government thanking
Spain for the assistance rendered by
the Spanish authorities 1T Havana after
the disaster.
yhe Cotft Of inquiry.
The navy department. tskeieed O dis
patch from Admiral Sicard, in commend
of the North Atlantic squadron giving
the details of the court of inquiry to
investigate the Maine disaster as fol-
lows ''Captain Sampson, president
of the courts Captain Chadwick, Lieu
tenant Commander Schroeder, Lieti-
tenant Commander Mark"
Car+ain Sampson president OF the
court, is commander of the battleship
Iowa, now at Tortugas. Captain Chad
49,, - of hn at
Key West Lieutenant Commander
Schroeder is executive officer of tho
battleship Massachusetts,; now at Torl
tugas. Lieutenant-C Commander MariY
is executive officer Of the Vermont.
1t is believed that under the most
favorable circumstances this investiga-
ton cannot be made for several days.
Arrangements must first be made for
the proper working of the diving outfits.
Torpedo Story Unconffrmed.
A correspondent of the Associated
Press has just returned to Key West
on board the Olivette from the scene
of the wreck Of the United States bat
tleship Maine, who reports that the
divers who have been working about
her bottom have discovered an eight
inch percussion hole in the plate,
which appears to have been made by
torpedo. This report lacks official
confirmation. Secretary Long says
there is no such thing as percussion
hole; that there is no eight-inch tor
pedo, and no other way in which such
hole could be accounted for. -
All officers and men who were aboard
the warship Maine at the time of the
explosion say that the explosion was
due to some interior cause, and was
not the result of an explosion Of tor
pedo on the outside.
A Spanish officers Opinion.
Lieutenant j. G. Sobral, naval at
tache of the Spanish legation at Wash
ington, has given his opinion OF the
explosion of the Maine in the follow
ing interview with New York Herald
reporter:
'It was the result of an explosion
inside the ship which took place in one
of the forward magazines. The fact
of the matter is that the discipline and
the WaUCu OUSerVeu Ou tuo nhlP "CiO
very lax. This, as one English news
paper the other day declared, is the
case on American, warships generally.
This sort of things have occurred on
previous occasions on American war
ships
Newspaper Divers Not Allowed.
Admiral Manterola refuses to allow
the divers sent to Havana by American
newspapers to make an investigation
near the wreck, at least until Captain
Sigsbee shall have finished his official
investigation.
Sigsbce Convinced of Treachery.
News was received at Key West from
Havana Sunday morning to the effect
that Captain Sigsbee and his officers
we're now convinced of treachery and
foul play in the Maine wreck and that
Captain Sigsbee had made an important
report to the Washington officials to
that effect. No details are given, save
the bare fact that something has been
discovered convincing Sigsbee OF foul
play.