The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1898-03-10
THE EVIDENCE In.
The Leading Facts Of the Maine Dis
asser in Possessior of the Court.
WHAT SOME SURVIVORS SAY
The Court Of IpqaEry May Report Ksriicr
Than HAS been Erpected-Prreedent-
on srais-s Responsibility -siesrdrs
order-Iwo Expscsion.-

NEw loRk. Marrh "a Havana dis
patch 30 the New York Tribune saws.
TIE leadilr facts a ihe Maine disaster are
all now ia the posse<sion q the naval hoard
TIE divers have eontirust their work during
tbs ahsrnce os the bcard ~ Key Wess They
have di-rorered no;hinF TO change tse evi-
dence nrst gathered. which showed ap-
paren;ly. tho expIosiou 70 have been
external Their examination this Ne-k
has eNteracd al0uFsdc the plates and
they have peuetrated forward well intc the
boS Cap. sampson ane his associates we're
especially anxious 70 HWait further work BY
| the divers 70 determine Whsther not mis-
takes bad been made In aay particular Moth
ing has hecr found 10 Indicate mistake GA
the contrary. the more thoroughly the hull =
exAmtned the more eUnvlneinz appears the
original evidences of erplosiOn from Without
Ho~ Iona the board Will take 70 formulate its
conclusions on this point csB BE- better judged
| in Washington than in Havana
The understanding iu Havana Is that the
naval board viii be emphatic In exoneratinT
Cant, Sirsbee and the o-icers of the Maine
from the Implication Of regiigeuce. lack OF Dis
eipline or responsibility for the disaster. II
has been almost forgotten thas until the board
reports on the subjects Capt Sigsbee il no1ni-
nai!y under cloud-tbat Is the inquiry must
deierrnine whether or not the commander of
loss The secrecy With which the investigation
has been conducted has not prevented the testi-
! rony on the subject from becoming known.
What some Maine Survivors say
CLEVELAND, O.. March DIR. II. r.
Bigger. one of the leading physicians
and surgeons of Cleveland. has just re-
turned from Key West, where he was
in the midst of the excitement which
followed the blowing up of the battle
ship Maine lie conversed with several
Of those who were on the ship at the
time of the disaster. He found that
all of those who were willing to dis
cuss the matter at all were convinced
that the explosion had been caused by
an outside force, probably torpedo.
He said:
The officers were very reticent. but from
their manner Il seemed that they had no doub,
as to the origin OF the trouble Some OF the
| middies and sailors were more oufspoken and
did not hesitate to say that the work had been
done by torpedo. For instance the mast was
lifted right out OF It's place in the vessel and the
| men were sure that this could only have been
done by force from underneath II the explo-
sion had been on the Inside. they argued. the
mast would have been shattered and thrown
| sideways The bow OF the Maine was split Just
| as II q wedge had been driven at the bottom Of
the boat on the outside. and the hull was bent
| forward as il by external force applied di-
| rectly under II. was told that shortly before
| the explosion a ripple was noticed in the water
/ as u some smaller craft were moving around
the Maine. No particular attention was paid
10 this at the time. but Il Is remembered now.
The Courts Probable port
WASHINGTON, March 5.--An intima-
tion that the court of inquiry may be
ready with its report earlier than has
been expected was the most interest
ing development here regarding the
Maine disaster. IL seemed to have
some foundation. Naval officials ex-
pressed the opinion that within a short
time the court would begin to re-
view the testimony and draw up
the findings The taking of testi-
mony is practically over. The MEM
bers felt that, up to the time
of leaving Havana for Key West,
they had learned all that could be
learned. What might come to light
later they could not foresee. There
fore, they left the question TO a second
visit to the wreck to be determined
later
While there has been no preliminary
report many private letters have come
from naval officers attached TO the
squadron, and not directly connected
| WIN VIC ihEcC thdl
doubt is entertained in the naval com
munity ut Key West of report mega
tiving accident The opinion is so
general and unqualified that it is uni
versally accepted.
Preeedents on snain's Responsibility.
WASHINGTON, March 5.-When the
report of the court of inquiry investi-
eating the Maine disaster is received
in Washington there will be no delay
on the part of the president in formu-
lating his demand upon Spain for
whatever degree of reparation that
report may make necessary. Whether
the administration assumes that Spain
was responsible or not, il is a fact that
the authorities are now engaged in
considering the law and precedents
which will be applicable in case Spain's
responsibility is established. IL will
not be officially admitted, but there is
ample evidence TO justify the state
ment that the authorities are not ex-
pecting that the finding of the court
of inquiry will afford any basis for the
theory of an explosion within.
sieard's Order tn the Board.
WAsHSeToS. March adm ST.
tAtA NhC OA
inquiry now Investigating the disaster
to the battleship Maine has been re-
ceived by the navy department and
was made public to-day. 1t is impor-
tant mainly in showing the exact scope
of the inquiry and the extent TO which
the report win 20. Aside from the
usual orders directing the court to re-
port both findings and its opinions on
these findings, Adm Sicard directs the
court to record any information as to
person or persons mot connected with
the navy of the United States. who
are, in its opinion. responsible, in part
or wholly, directly or Indirectly, for
the explosion and the loss of the
Maine with names and the degree of
responsibility in each case.
Evidence of Two Explosions
New YORK, March Nv. W. Howard,
of this city. has returned from Havana
on the Nigiiancia- He said that he
was on the wharf at Havana when the
Maine blew mp. lie heard two explo-
sions, dull one followed by louder
one. which shook the ground and
nearly stunned him ]. J. Murphy,
another passenger ON the Vigilaneia.
said: II am positive that there were
two explosions The first one was
somewhat muffied, but the second war