The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-03-01

man CANNOT BE SENT BACH
The statement in the Slgsbee qlSI''n
.hot ..frianaS Of the dead should under
stand we are IN the tropics y 70
rtan,1 ot the Navy Department to f"I'F
10 the urgent pleas OF Feiail'e~
LTD rhot they be brought 10 the Hl',u
c.a+as I-rcnut appeals continue TO nc
received here. and while they exit -
loo,o,t sympathv of the offlcltls' H'
$50 c,n 10 held out that the dead edl
La lroueht back. One Of these appe'iS
makes = pitiful plea against the bnFEihs
~ tho dead by alien hands Ill an amen
aou,rrv" There arc circumstances
wbicb, II they could be made known,
zvnnId end SUCH appeals ana Wouli
show that the department has not petl
Y-,ntin, n = desire TO bring the s.
,,.irs to this country. These clrcllll-
stances have been withheld. NANNY
thrn,,oh =, desire TO save friends ana rel
atiyes from the pain which Wouid y"
causel bv Il full disclosure OF the erect
of the explosion. The press reports
nave given in part the terrible lllutlla-
1ioD Of the bodies, but III Is feared TINS
has not been FULLY realized by TRENDS
and relatives. Tile men were sleeping
an tho berth deck. with metal floors and
lalll9tS. WHICH,. ny tl' VIZ -
plosi0n. were ground together into a
confused mass. knowing this, there IS
littla hone that many OF the bodies still
missing will be found or, if found, that
they will be i'll a condition to be
brought 10 the United States.
NAVAL NIILITIA STRENGTH.
The Navy department to-day gave III
, the figures showing the strength Of the
| Naval Militia up to date. This shows
\ total force Of 4,445 officers and enlls-
| ted men, which is Il gratifying increase
| from the 3.7O3 shown by the last report.
The number of officers and men by
States are as follows:
California. 3S6: Connecticut. 1863: Flor
ida. 1856; Georgia. 30; Illinois. 523;
| louisiana, 262; Maryland, 30; Massa-
/ chusetts. AL: Michigan, 1913; New Jer-
sey. 364; New York, 412; North Caro-
lima, $50: Ohio, 216; PENNSYLVANIA, 216;
Rhode Island, 1870; South Carolina, 49,;
irginia. A. Total 4,44o.
Assistant Secretary Roosevelt says in
this connection that Illinois leads the list
with 43 commissioned officers n 423
petty officers and enlisted men.
Aside from the forces shown in the
above list new brigadeS are in process
Of formation. which promise to swell
the total to much larger figures at an
early day. The organization Of this
auxiliary arm of the Naval service IS un-
der the immediate direction of Iieuten-
ant Gibbons, L. S. n. whose energy
has accomplished much in securing State
organization, and i'll the harmOniZing Oi
the bodies into n compact force, capa-
bic in emergency OF cooperating witt
the regular Navy. In his last report Mr.
Roosevelt said that the State Nava
Nilitia. i'm the event Of sudden emer'
gency. could be utilized at once for man
ming the smaller national cruisers. II
could be depended upon mainly, he said
as a second line of defence. and also
le used in placing mines and the estab
liShment of signal stations for coas'
defense.
The appropriation Of $4,000 made BY
Congress to aid the work of the Nava
Militia will be apportioned among
+, States in a few days.
Thanks to the promptness and eff
: cheney of the Chief of Engineers and tn
f Chief of Ordinance of the Army, til
+ city OF Washington is now regarded
as being well nigh safe and secure from
attack by water. The fortificatlons a
Fort Washington and Sheridan Point
on the opposite side OF the Potama
are | llltItj lIi dilNdiNNt " ~ aboiN :
1 repel an ordinary fleet of invaders. and i
d case of necessity they could be vastl
strengthened in Il comparatively shor
time. These defenses are consldere
sufficient to keep all hostile vessels he
u yond the range of gun shot OF the mai
u ional capital.
Moreover, the river has been blocke
e off and prepared for mines and torpt
5 does at a point below the fortiticatlon
o already mentioned, so that it is prob;
y lie some Of the ships of III enemy woul
be blown out of the water before
G would he necessary to use the gun
at the forts.
t The officers of the British battle shi
Hood to-day cahled from the island {
e Crete expressing deep sympathy ove
/. the disaster to the Maine.
FROM UNDERNEATH THE SHII
t Washington, Feb. 24.-The Eyenil
l. Star has received the following tel
/. gram from Charles NJ. Pepper, its sta
correspondent in Cuba:
q "ttavana. Feb. %, via Key Yves
,e Fla, Feb. II.
&c AT this writing divers are developer
u important results. From eNaminatit
d. of the interior wreckage they have S
1t cured evidence which seems cOnclusl'
that the explosion came from ulOe
e meath the ship.
I'll Some Of the smaller magazines ~;
re have exploded. The marin ten inch ma
re azine did not explode. The condition
y the interior Of the ship shows furth
probability Of the wreck having be-
due to outside force.
The further tine Investigation pr
ii crosses the more u~ntenable becom
.c- the theory which the Spanish COVER
to mcnt adduced to show accidental cauS
a. 1t is evident the Spanish case will
= based on the claim that i fire precedt
40 the explosion.
no Captain Sampson and his colleagu
m of the Naval Board may have outsl'
evidence offered regarding a torpet
boat producing the explosion.
Said one diver who had been enga
70 ed in the work of getting bodies 0
~ from under the hatch:
- God may be merciful to men w
- blew those poor fellows to eternity, I
~. United States should not
- This was before Longs order prohi
iting officers from talking. This div