The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-03-05
Positively Determined That the Maine
Disaster Was Not 40 Accident.
sIGBEE WILL Nor BE BLAMED
Board Has Suilisisu, Evidence Of The Deed
But Spain Ausr riad o., tive reps-
traitor ~ ths 0atfhpr.

New York. March "a dispatch io the
Tribune from Havana snyS.
The leading facts of tho Maine disaster
are ali now In the poastsSion ~ the ma.
val board The divers have continued
their work during the absence Of the
hoard a. Key West They have discoy-
cred nothing to change iAc evidence gath.
cred which showed apparently that the
explosion was external Their cTamina
ton this week has extended alongside the
plates and thcy have penetrated forward
wrll into the how All they nnd la mere.
iy connrma,ory ~ what was previously
discovered. Captain Sampson and his NJ.
soclatrs were especially anxious 70 avail,
further work hy the divers 90 determine
whether or not mistakes had bccu made
IN nny pariiculNr. Nothing has bcen fouul
10 indicate mistake ON the contrary
the more thoroughly the hun II exam
lncd TIE more convincing Nppcar thc
original evidences ~ explosion from
without, How long the board will take
% formulate IT, conclusions on this point
can l'v better judged In washington than
In Havana. Notwithstanding the psrmis-
sion given by the United States govern.
ment for Spanish divers to examine the
wreck. the investigation by the Spanish
authorities Of the condition OF the ship
| proceeds slowly They r-cm 60 be- IN no
hurry To learn nhe facts about the hull
magazines and other matters wh,ch wcrc
nrst to engage me attention of the naval
board The government haa taken con
siderable testimony Of persons Nho wcrc
In the hArbor m the niEht Of the cxplos.
Ion. II gives much weight TO She icsu-
mony ~ those who say they SAW flames
isSuinK from the Maine befop the shin
was wrecked by an explosion
The understanding In Havana r. that
the naval hoUrd will be cmphNtic In cN-
oncrnting Captain sigsbcc and the officers
OF the Maine from the Implication of neg
Ngcncc. lack ~ discipline or responsible
ity Tor the dEastcr. !, has been almost
forgotten that until the board reports on
thc subject. Captain stEsbeo Ia nominRliy
under a cloud. The secrecy by which the
investigation has been conducted has not
prevented the testimony from becoming
known. The soOrd win bc abb to show
chEt II was not only no, an accAornt which
caused she explosion. but Also that no
basis uf accident from an unknown
cause.
10 far as II viii so In the assertion oi
po''itivc proof mat the Maine Was blown
up, IL for the present speculative qucs- I
tipn. The impression is that the boari
has evidence of the deed witholE means
of finding out VINO committed Il. II Is in
cunbcnt upon The spanth government
TO and that out
The denial credited to sanor du Hose In |
that mines existed In Havana /
harb0r does not roceive the weight that /
would be given to an ofilcisl declaration
from Captain n-Gencral Blanao or Premier
SagastR on the same subject In oHicial
circles here Il is the evident purposa to
combat the nnding OF the naval board,
but not aggrcsslyely. The Spanish aiu-
tudo seems to he that an accident was
probable and that the United States is
not Justified In making u demand Tor
reparation when the proof of foul play
$ not positive The assumption will be
hat the two governments after taking
violence will be unable TO agree In their
conclusions, However there is nothing In
he nature OF joint investigation. From
he present outlook, Madrid and Washing
on are the places where the consequences
II the Maine explosion viii be determ-
ned. Little more than is already known
an be learned here, The wreck promises
o remain In the harbor for an indefinite
'erlod, The wreckng companies will be
bic to raise the guns OF the Maine. The
ull Is an asset Of no value to any gov
nmont, The temper OF the Spanish
lOsscs toward the United States finds ,
ome exhibition at present, but not in ,
he form OF hostile demonstration. 1t is
athcr In the shape OF fervent protests
nd actions OF loyalty to the mother coun-
ry The arrival of the warshlp Vlzcaya
os caused an outpourlng of the loyal
plrlt, though 1t was not exactly spon- a
aneous, for the demonstration was ar 4
anged In advance, Apparently large '
roportIon Of the populace are gratlhed I
o see the Vizcaya anchored not far from $
he wreck OF the Maine. They believe f
hat with the other warshlp which are c
o come and with the torpedo feet, Ha- '
ana and the ports of cuba are safe from $
n American feet. c
New York, March l.-Considerable hurry @
the work in the navy yard Il
n getting the dispatch boat Dolphin into a