El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-02-19
ACCIDENT OR "
i. ......:=' TlREACHERY?
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This is the Leading Question in the Minds Of
Our Citizens.a s...-.s az. - r.
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>ss-s=Ts al 81
The Herald Complies the Facts as Detailed by
Y Experts and Eye Witnesses. and
5zsss Leaves Its Readers TO ~ -
Draw Their Own. % za.-es--g 90 ofa
no Conclusions. 5al e. zzs5.a-- 80.

could be given was that it probably
y as caused by the. ignition Of the va
pors arising from the new paint applied
to tho FIRING Of tbs bunkers. -. III
The thenry advanced blythe Spanish
authorit :, that the d sas. er was caused
by the!exp,osion of q boiler, is accept
at the navy Department. "a within tn e
bounds of crsdibi ity. The Names
err was separated from the powder
magazines at the nearest point by a
space of about four feet, ususlly filed
with coal. At least one boiler uudoub-
teddy wa kept under almost full steam
in order to run the dynamos and move
the. ship in case Of need. The explosion
of. sucE boiler might easily drive
through the bulkhead and fire the ma
gazine. -l4@'
lnasmuch as suspicion exists in some
quarters that q torpedo was used
Esgsist the Maine it may be said that
the maiorits OfIthe naval1 officers be-
lieve that the character of the ex.
plosiOn was. hardly such az could bs
attributed to a rpsdo. The latter,
charged With about hundred pounds
of powder or gun-cOtton, it is believed !.
would have tern large hole in the
scarcely likely. to re the ma xszine,
VIII Oh is not near the bottom. 1t is
said at the navy department. that there
is no lack of precedent for snch dis ster
a. that sustained by the NJ inc, all of
viii ID can be traced to a 4c-dental
causes In 1885, the United $ rt's
mac =of-war MISSOURI, then lying at
G braltar, was totally wrecked by the
Eexplcs' on OF her magazine Auo' her
case famous in naval shistory is that of
her majesty's chip Doterel. In 1887
she was lying at anchor off Puenta
Arenas in the straits of Magellan. An
explosion wiped the ship fr.tm the
face OF the waters and left almost
none OF her crew alive. This was an
other case of magazine explosion,
though it may have o 'iginated in the
coal bunkers.=Daily STATES. ~.
OPINION AT WASHINGTON. KS
The New Orleaus States Washing-
ton corr espondent says: Naval officers
cAnuot agree upon any theory to ac-
cOu Mt for the destruc Jon of the Maine
Perhaps majority are inclined to the
belief that the ex 'losion was purely
accideutal; another CT nsiderable num-
Der feel that torpedo was exploded
under the vessel and third theory is
that some Internal machine was SNUG
gled aboard the chip; and SIT off In
the present lack of knowledge as to the
condition o the wreck it is not thought
to be posi- Die to say to which theory
the oa ayr e of probability inclines.
An examination by q diver OF the hull
of the Maine Ould demonstrate in
stantly whether OF not q torpedo had
been used for in case 1t had the plates
OF the hull would surely be driven in
On the other hand, protruding plates
would be an evidence that the ex-
piOsicn was purely internal i.- -
The Houston Post Washington cor
respondent says: The war spirit is
growing very rapid " among both DEM
Gratis aud republicans in congress. and
If inter Developments prove that this
!, was the work of Spain grave conse.
quences may ensue. = R~9s 5f'
There il not an army or navy officer
in th 8 city that doubts that Spain ID
entirely responsible for this, and many
OF hem do not hes tate to say SO In an
emphatic manner ~ a.-i-i'; 10 Il =
Navy -depsrtm ent clerks and officials
worked all last night ard have been
summoned for extra duty tonight.
NOT BY TORPEDO. 5..
| Key West--Purser Denisou gave the
TO lowing brief account: "The explo-
,icn is an absolute mystery II every
one. 1t occurred in the forw ard maya.
z ne, which is just forward of mid -hips
and below he water line. The coal
bunkers are outside, but separated by
two feet of space. The magazine was
inspected a. 8 q clock in the evening
and the tempera ure was SO. -ag s
'sTne ~ I, az ne wa locked aud the
! keys given to Captain Sigsbee. The