The Portland daily press., 1898-02-21


ished in the wreck must stop at once. 1t
is not doubted that Congress will do as
it did in the case of the Samoan disaster,
provide for years pay to the families
of the sailors who died at their posts.
Tho difficulty, however, is that such
measure cannot be passed at once and
meantime some of the families OF the
dead sailors will be in great distress.
The subject has been taken up by Mrs.
Long, who has called meeting of a
committee Monday to initiate the move
ment.
Since the spontaneous combustion
theory has come SO prominently to the
front as accounting for the disaster the
officials have been looking over the rec
ords to find parallel case. as near as
may be. The flagship New York was
discovered to be on fire March 9, 1896.
Smoke was issuing from her main maya
zine. This was cleared of powder safely
and it was found that the woodwork
had been charred deeply. The cause was
not as perceptible, but it was soon dis
covered that an adjoining coal bunker
was burning. When the bunker was
opened the coal on top was not hot, but
as the men dug into the mass 1t was
found to be red hot inside. There was
no manifestation of heat on the top OF
the bunker, nor on any save the one side
nearest the magazine.
Secretary Long has given orders that
with the expiration of this day there
need be observed no Logger the order to
all ships and commanders to display the
national colors at half mast.
There is no abatement of the talk of
the expedienoy of raising the Maine. Chief
Constructor Hichborn is one OF the
most earnest advocates of the resurrec-
ton of the ship, both from sentiment
and practical considerations He points
out that the ship lies in lands locked
harbor, easy for sathe wreckers to operate
in and that if she can he rebuilh at a
cost of million dollars the government
will save foursmillions. Great Britain,
he said never abandoned ship if there
was the least chance to save her, and has
not ever yet abandoned the hope of rails
ing the Inflated Victoria, sunk in collis-
inc with the Camperdown off the coast
of Syria several years ago.
The contract for the work of saving
portions of the Maine and If possible
arising her, was not closed today although
representatives of wreoking concerns
were in conference with navy department.
officials throughout the day. Capt
Lemley. who will frame the contract, said
that progress had been made toward I'M
derstanding the general plan OF operation,
but final agreement had not been
reached. Until today the Merritt and
Chapman Wrecking company and the
BOSTON Tow Boat company have been
alone in the field, and the department un-
derstood they had combined their inter-
ests. This would have insured the gov
ernment the double facilities of these
extensive wreckers and would have Civ
en- them the contract. But today the
Luckenback Wrecking company of New
York entered upon a competition for the
work and made bid.
R. G. Packard,a wrecking engineer and
contractor, was present at the conference
and urged that the contract should be
divided into two parts, first the saving
of such parts as can be detached, and,
second, the raising of the hull. He also
made the point that the removal of the
Maine as an obstruction to navigation
was a duty incumbent on this govern
Iuept.