The San Francisco call., 1898-02-21
EXPLOSION WAS NOT ON BOARD Opinion of an Officer of the Survey-BOat
 Bache. Cipher COde-Book and the LOq of the Maine Recovered
 by Divers. Friction Between General Lee and American Consuls Over Cuban
 Relief Supplies.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

HAVANA, Feb 20.-Lieutenant-C Com mander Barnett of the survey boat Bache said to correspondent of the Associated Press to-day:
 You want the facts. I can tell you there are 95 chances out of a hundred that the investigation will show that the forward magazine of the Maine did not blow up first. if exploded at all, and that it was not the cause of the terrific consequences that followed. The condition of the wreck when first studied, and a later, careful scrutiny make this an almost absolute cer tainty.''
 Chaplain Chadwick has recovered considerable sums of money, with let ters and other personal property from the bodies taken from the wreck. In one case the initials can be seen on the coat lining and may serve to identify the body of the wearer, but the har- bor water is so filthy that the marks are nearly illegible. Chaplain Chadwick is one of the hardest worked officers and upon him devolves some of the most repulsive duties of the situation.
 It is apparent that efficient work Is
  paratus at hand, and the arrival of ex- perts from the United States is anx- iously awaited. Father Power of the Jesuits arrived yesterday from Tampa, and immediately visited the Maine's wounded in the hospital.
 Some friction, it is stated, has oc- cured between Consul-General Lee and the other United States Consuls in the island over the distribution of funds and supplies sent from the United States for the reconcentrados. The complaint is made that, though food and money have been coming for sev- eral weeks, nothing has been distrib- uted outside of Havana province. Con- sul Barker of Sagua la Grande and Consel Bryce of Matanzas, who came here to learn the particulars of the Maine explosion, left, it is said, with out calling on the Consul-General. The reason given was that they felt they had not been treated fairly by the Consul-General. Each expected aid for his district from the American supplies, made that it Is their intention to ap- peal directly to the American State Department and to ask that food be consigned to them instead of the Havana consulate.
 The incident has caused some con- ment among the Americans here, who regret it. Consul Bryce says he is sick at the sights forced on him during the last two years. He has reported the facts of the case to Washington and believes his district entitled to share immediately in the aid offered. Consul Barker says that a few days ago he found a man dead from want in the market place of Sagua la Grande The Minister took up collection, appealing to all classes, but so great is the gen eral impoverishment that 1t yielded only S2 50. Both Consuls say this dis tress must grow daily and that death will keep pace with it unless relief is afforded.
 Consul General Lee, when these matters were brought to his attention, replied that there was not the slightest intention to neglect the reconcentrados in the eastern provinces. He had de- puted much of the work of distribu- tion to Miss Clara Barton, who has the confidence of all parties and who is al- most constantly at work In conjunction with the special agent of the Consul General.
 The lighthouse tender Mangrove, with a court of inquiry and additional divers and apparatus, is expected here to- morrow.
 Neither Spanish nor Cuban divers will be employed. To-day divers recov- cred the cipher code book. the log book of the Maine and many official and pri- vate paDerS