Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-03-12


naval court of inquiry into the cause of
the Maine disaster, granted an inter-
view to the correspondent Of the Asso-
ciated Press. whom he authorized to
say that 1t was the first and only inter-
view he had given any newspaper man
on the subject of the inquiry. Captain
Peral speaks excellent English. With
him in the naval court is Lieutenant
Salas. He has power to call in for
consultation any army or navy engineer
or expert on explosives or marine build
ing. and he has twice called in such
and will do so again when necessary.
Captain Peral said: Our divers are
hard at work examining the hull of the
Maine. Great difficulty is experienced
owing to the deep mud in which the hull
is buried, and Ae conditions Of the
wreck forward of amidships. The whole
forward part of the ship is a mass Of
iron and steel debris. We have hoisted
up much of It; but in the mud it is not
always possible to tell what parts Of
the ship, armor. deck-beams or stanch-
ions are found, the explosion so changed
their positions.
We think we have located the ram
or Prov. but not in the position sup
posed. The forward turpt, mounting
two large guns, was blown clear off the
hull into the water on the starboard.
We shall continue our work and try to
examine the hull forward down to the
keel. 1t Is probable that we may pro-
pose to the American authorities to
raise the hull by means OF the floating
/ oh ol nd md ~,
Havana harbor."
| I'VE cannot believe there was an ex-
ternal explosion of torpedo for the fol-
lowing reasons: A torpedo must have
thrown a large mass Of water into the
air IL exploded at depth Of only twen-
ty-five feet or so, or at least have pro.
duced a wave reaching the other ships
and the shore Of the harbor. We have
examined every one on shipboard OF
shore who saw the explosion. but nc
one can be found who remarked any
upheaval Of the water OF a big wave
A torpedo explosion always kills fish
In the vicinity. No fish were killed by
the Maine disaster. as fishermen whit
have known the harbor for many year.
testify. To produce the effects noted IL
the wreck a torpedo would have to b'
Of enormous size. fully lg or 200 kilos
Il am, therefore, OF the opinion tha
the explosion occurred within the ship
know and respect Captain Sigsbee
and / believe the American regulations
affecting naval conduct, which I hav,
read and found admirable. were care
fully observed. But some things whicl
cannot be foreseen are bound to happel
in any navy. have been reading Of tn
explosion on the English ship Doterel
which the English believe was cause'
by chemical combustion in the pain
used for quick drying. have also rea
an English account OF shells that wer
found burst open because Of hardening
points that split and produce heat, thu
, flashing the powder in the interior o
. the shell.
"As have said, I DO not believe ther
, was any carelessness on the part of tn
J officers of the Maine. do believe ther
was an accident which could not posi-
bly, have been foreseen. Such is m
judgment at present, with the fact
that are IN possession Of the court. Whe
our court of inquiry finally decides 1t
, Judgment will be in accordance wit
the best evidence that can be procured