The evening times., 1898-03-03
WILL REPORT THE FACTS
The Court Of Inquiry Knows How
the Maine Was Blown Up.
HAVANA POPULACE EXCITED
The Danger to Americans Increases
Daily-The Arrival OF the Aimf-
raptc Oquende May Precipitate a
Crisis Evidence Con-
WAGES All who See the Wreck.

New York, March 2.-The World prints
the following dispatch from its Havana
correspondent. Sylvester Scovel:
Havana. via Key West, March 2.-'Send
the Maine away, For Gods sake send the
Maine away
That was the solemn earnest warning
of an elderly Spanfard who called at the
American consulate general every day
for n week before the disaster.
He had been in the habit of visiting the
consulate twice week for some time,
but after the Maine arrived his visits be-
came more frequent. The week before
the explosion he went daily, fairly beg
ging that the American battleship be
sent away.
The consulate officials thought he was
crazy; now they are hunting for him, as
he has not been seen about the consul
late since the awful catastrpnc.
The Naval Board of Inquiry knows the
truth about the cause Of the Maine
blowing up-and expects to report It.
The court is composed of the most capa-
BILE men in the American Navy, and they
are honest.
can sailors have sworn that the ships
side was smashed in-not out.
She WAS struck by torpedo or a mine
under the bottom at the left side.
Even the lower part OF the heavy armor
belt is bent in.
The greatest bending-in of the massive
plates was opposite frame No. %. just
about across from the big l0-inch maca-
zine which every one now knows did not
explode.
There is no room now for doubt that
somebody blew up the Maine and killed
95S sleeping American sailors.
one by one the Somber facts in iron
i'm human flesh and in expert testimony
have piled up. all in one direction, until
there il no room for doubt.
The inward twisted plates and bended
armor simply drive the convincing nail
through all the hundred-odd bits of ma
terial evidence and Clinches IL
Abraham Lincoln's plain people OF the
United States" may not quite see the
value as proof of loaded le-incn pow
der case recovered from a magazine re-
ported Ia have exploded. They might stlll
halt in forcing the President into action
for rsDaration. even after knowing that
/ every movable or twisted-of thing on the
I Maine wreck went toward instead OF
| force big enough To destroy the Maine as
! she has been destroyed.
But when they now know that the
( massive plates-splendid steel-have been
! forced and twisted and bent toward and
/ into the very center of the ship, they
know the Maine was struck from the
outside.
Upon the mere intelligent inspection OF
| the pitiable wreck above water the spec
! tator fairly shouts Outside force
When divers report the peculiar direc-
| ton OF the explosive force in the ship 5
| inside conviction grows stronger.
| And when. finally, immense. irrefutable
! physical evidence comes to light Of tre-
! mendous blow at a certain point. the
! proper cause Of all other noted effects
/ conviction becomes fixed
! And when they know that all such
tremendous forcing inward was done un-
der water they know that somebody did
! Il.
What did it-torpedo or mine?
! Who did it?
/ The populace here hates Americans. II
| is made up of people who are densely
| ignorant. intensely prejudiced and sway
cd by the naval contrast now shown in
the bay by the Nizcaya. and which con-
trast will be heightened when the Span
/ ish warship Almirante Oquendo arrives
! Then these people may be expected 10
| do damage.