The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-18
wild MEMS NEWSPAPERS.
,,vo oHEAP LIES WHEY TIE
TBHD.STpy WIyTy TIE TRUTH.

,.,ci,ted Fress Cables % Europe
We 1900 Re,raotion OF Its "Terpeao-
-, I,,sption OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
p's-. .r tho rictions Pat Out Yesterday
.-,. ,hs country resolved first to know the
"u..d then 10 do justice, IL Is worth wniio
uu.n al a list Of tho stories which the new
70 sAmsu, and ia ally, the Associated Press,
louru.s themselves by publishing and circu-
av..,ordoy about the destruction OF the
IaAns 80 oh9 Of her officers and mon. IL
h"ino - made a dozen men busy all DAY 70
woun NJ all the stories. Hero are q rev
keep ,or not ono Of which was there the
'ieh'ss' sThe explosion was caused by . mine
or torpedo s.v Standards blow MP
the shit" che v,r.bin Maine was
Al. work Of an enemy. -
",s.istant Secretary Roosevelt 10 conNincee
N~n,o.ion OF the warship was not an acci'
dent" u,.,oh n thu Stat,
sort which was suppressed, In which
NS.,d the accident was made possible oy an
snemy." .,o,.s,vs bole VIVA
r. -,h,,arine divers in the bottom OF
fDunu w
.rss cable between Havana and Key West
mt The President anxious
,vThe Standards arranged to nave inc MAINS
As.a over one OF the harbor mines. Tho
s.m,.l nature OF the Spaniards then leu tnem
1T mill the men Of the Maine had gone 70
~, h.fore touching of the mine.
oo a%rsntnin.G eneral B!anco has oeen esses'f
mated" uort has taken possession Of
the "a sH fsst of United States warships in mobiii1'
Ing !1 on fPppesidcnt has ordered the entire Ma
,.Iihh1 Guard of all the States under arms;
TSI. list might be added to by inc e9iumn.
One Of the papers rso wSnnd pu up that printed the
ins mM.nn, that the explosion was caused by a
ssase% Or torpedo. began It's story by saying:
VA, The hour Of going to press itns
NJ, ttnown whether the explosion -
~ y m accident or the result OF q bomb or t9r;
u nS placed with intent to blow up the vessel
Thai stntement was true, and, SO tar as tne
81 the accident goes. was the only true
sastenen, that could have been male: Inc
sheet that published in t It's Ma;na @s, ' tSa w erS
q ~ ensnIy" had nothing in the story that fol-
iiowed 10 substantIate the statement.
Many OF the afternoon papers teprintea INC
.tories Of the morning papers without any at,
. U,M A. veritcation. The actual truth was
f tew = as the day grew older. Assistant Sec
rotary of the Navy 10, ho1S 10y ho.a @ UUd N state.
Mash IN aUr one. in public or in private, giving
hIs opinion as to the cause or the disaster. soon
after Mr. Roosevelt nailed inc ne ao oS ~ me n !.
= statement exposing the falsity of the story OF
a suppressed despatch from Capt, Sigsbee and
me tpercussiye hole in the Names bottom.
IN bs statemcnt MIR. Long said that there was
M nIch thing as q persuasive hole, anu, even II
there were, none had been discovered in the bot
tom of the shin. He also used some good strong
sS% y, N English in denying the story OF
the suppressed telegram.
An Afternoon. paper which relies upon the As;
N story about Capt. Sigsbec's alleged de-
spatch under a Key West date; and directly 9n.
der II, under a WASHINGTON late. II printed q
'The.above despatch was shown to Lieut.;
Hhiitlesey Of the Navy Department, Who had
been deputcd to receive oil dispatches ON the
eubiect Of the disaster He saiu: we have had
Absolutely nothing from havana or Key West
since the last despatch OF Sigsbee announcing
the departure Of the olivette. do not think
The torpedo theory tenable. and l do not believe
Cant, Sigsbee has expressed such IN opinion"
Of course, the truth about the cut cable came
out in time; The foundation for that story lay
Key West were in trouble. In one OF its edi-
tons 90 afternoon paper printed the story that
the cable had been cut. and right beside IT. ap-
peared q despatch from Havana dated ut an
hour ut which the cable must have been cut,
IN which the story Of the cutting of the cable
N these stories were beautifully illus
taied with pictures no more, absurd than the
stories. One OF the most striking illustrations
was that Of the explosion. made, OF course. at
the time 1t occurred. Another picture showed
the range Of the guns of the expected Spanish
battleship Vizcaya. The picture showed with
perfert detail how shells from the guns Of this
lhip as she lay of the Battery would explode
on the Harlem River and in the suburbs Of
Brooklyn.
The Chicago Associated Press. which appears
10 have been solely responsible for the porous
awe hv.e' story, succeeded this time in fooltng
ieveral London newspapers, as the following
despatch TO TUE Sun shows:
LONDON, Feb. 1.-THE later editions of the
evening papers publish a Reuter- despatch from
New York cancelling the Havana despatch
printed In the earlier editions stating that
divers working on the bottom of the Maine had
discovered an eight.inch persuasive hole in one
OF her plates, and that Capt. Sigsbee had been
asked to appear before the Military Judge
and make necessary dispositions concerning tho
discovery.
The 81. ydEies's Gazette, one Of the papers
which published the despatch, says in reference
TO It's cancellation that Reuters agency here
sent II out TO the newspapers with the infornia-
lion that 1t had reached London yia New York.
Hall an hour later the agency received an urgent
massage from their New York Office asking
them TO secure its immediate suppression, be-
Washington the officials ut tho White House
nad slated that they had received no authentic
statement confirming the reported discovery
ofthe hole.