The San Francisco call., 1898-03-29

SS acter of it's contents. os ss Captain Sampson Is in direct S SS communication with Consul se ss General Lee and at the slightest ss es sign of trouble a message from 6s 6 the Consul General to the naval es s9 officer will result in the arrival s. so of a man-of- war in Havana har- es 8. Dor within four hours. eS s. & s 8 s. S 8 8. s s. s. s. s. s s 8 $. was rothing left of the port plating at all. He dragged along the outside to see If anything had fallen out an.i found nothing. Witness thought the ship on the port side was entirely gone ed to the court. It was entirely blown up This concluded Ensign Powellsons testimony on the third day; Ensign Powellson was re last testimony he had read book of specii- cations from the Maine Refreshing his mem protective deck were only one inch thick weighing forty pounds per square foot.
 Ensign Powellson, wishing 10 give some tes- tim"ny regarding the condition cf the wreck. Gunner's Mate Olsen. the diver, was admitted in order that he might correct any erroneous statement. the two having worked together. Powell. on said that on February 23 Diver Will son reported to him that on coming up from below he had followed the forward and af, wings of the V-shape, made by he bottom plating at frame 15. and said the forward wing of tEv the plates ran down on very steep slam and then turned under and out under the starboard side; that just above where the plates turned to go under the starboard teen bulged ir between the frames from out side in. The court asked the size of these two dents.
 Powellson replied that they were about two and a half feet long and bulged in about six inches. He further testified that Olsen again went down and again came 10 the surface at Il O clock, saying he thought he had found the ta- keel. OIser. had reported that the keel was slcpiEg downward about 45 degrees and to port, with the after part of the keel upper most. He said he had explored the after wing Of the V ard had found a semicrcular hole about two feet be low the rivet holes tll around l.. He said tEst semcircular hole was about twenty feet frt m the top from the made by the bottom pls ting. He said the plate pre- scented jagged appearance, as if 1t had been torn, and that a crack had extended from O distance of about eight inches. and that the Hates alout the hole were bent away from the green side Of the plating. Powellson tinued, Olsen tcld him he had found hole cut pIate twenty-five feet from the angle the keel line was found by him sloping down about G, degrees below the horizontal and tn port.
 The point where he had found the keel was al'7ut twenty f,et under water He had not followed the keel at that point, as the plating between wedEed and opened out so that he had nothing td sugeort him.
 Powellson said Olsen testified that about twenty feet from the sluice valve he found an opening in the ships side. He had found boarding near the suction in apartment Ai0, about q feet from the sluice valve, in an
 
 inally horizontal
 If you consider the section of the ship be- and consider that part of the bottom floating between frame IS and frame l5 is bent out right angie, and then that the whole section is turned forward go degrees. you will picture the position in which the plates aI- now showed out from the after side or 1t could have been pushed in from the forward side The only indication as to how this was done is the wooden boarding. If the after part of the plating had been pushed out rom the inside the boarding would have been broken at the angie which the plates make. If the forward part of the plating had been pushed in the boards would have been pulled away from the after plating as is the case with the plates now"
 The Judge Advocate asked Powellson how he looked upon Olsen's testimony In view of his knowledge of the Maine and the drawings of the vessel. He replied that he regarded it as extremely accurate.
 he deduced from all this testimony received from the diver that forenoon together with what information as he had had before Pow ellson replied that he thought the explosion occurred on the port side somewhere about at 17 and also at 15 but 1t was pretty hard to say exactly where the impact came Frame
 How do you account for the immense dam age done abreast the reserve magazine where there is nothing left, whereas between frames Is and IS you have found damaged plates?' Powellson was asked
 My idea he replied, lis that after the ship was raised up at frame 1S the rnagazines one or all of them, after that were exploded for some powder tanks that I have seen I think were exploded. while others I have seen were not exploded. 1 saw d coffee can that was brought up this morning which was as badly battered as most of the powder cases that came up. It looked in very much the same condition.'
 When you say some of the powder tanks in your opinion. exploded, and some had not do you refer to 6-inch tanks only, or 2-inch tanks also?'
 T refer to both, as I have seen 6-inch tank that was very little ripped open and saw 6rct and hattened out, with evidences of burnt powder in it. 10-inch tank that was scarcely battered at all, and only the head of 1t gone 1 also 10-inch tanks with tbe packing which looked like powder unburnt, so that in my opinion some, but not all of the 10-inch and 6-inch charges were exploded
 Powellson said four or five tanks had bey., brought up that morning, but he did not see all Of them. The only one he remembered seeing was exploded and burned out so that the case formed almost a plain surface. The 10-inch tank had its head removed, but it had preserved it's approximate shape
 When questioned further as to what he re- garded as the cause of the injuries, Powellson said: ''On the bottom. where the frame was thrown up, it would seem to that force was communicated some distance through the water because 1t lifed up instead of be- ing battered in.' It was force that was cushioned in some way because the diver tells me there was bulge in the plates between the two frames, and such force as that would be part of the ship having been broken in the explosion may have occurred aft and the frames forward or the transverse armor being weaker than they are aft, the ship might have been lifted up there by this cushion pressure from further. aft.
 Tt struck me- continued Powelson speak ing of the same part of the vessel that the mine there could not have been very close to those plates that were lifted up. because as I say the plates are not so much damaged or bent in the form of a and raised up a yer tfcaI distance It seems to me that the mine was somewhat removed and the pressure came through the waters which produced that cush- ion-sort of pressure.
 Ensign Powellson was recalled on February 25 and showed the plans of the Maine from which he had identified the bottom plates that were blown up through the upper deck The finding of these plates on top of the wreck clear above water. was among the first and most important points of evidence clearly dis proving the possibility of internal explo- sion After minuteiy describing the bottom plates, with their green ceiling of paint and other, marks by which they were identified.