Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1898-04-06
aft and remote from the scene of the

er on board the Maine to obviate dan
ger. Special orders in regard to this
had been given by the commanding Of
ficer
"Varnishes, dryers, alcohol and 9th
er combustibles of this nature were
slowed on or above the main deck, and
could not have had anything to do with
the destruction of the Maine.
"The medical stores were slowed aft
under the wardroom and remote from
the scene Of the explosion. No dan
gerous stores Of any kind were slowed
below in any Of the other storerooms.
"The coal bunkers were inspected.
OF these bunkers adjoining the forward
magazines and shellrooms, four were
empty, namely, B 8, B 4, and B 6.
A Is had been in use that day, and A 16
was full of New River coal. This coal
had been carefully inspected before re-
ceiving it on board. The bunker in
which it was slowed was accessible on
three sides at all times, and the fourth
side at this time, ON account of bum
kers B and B being empty. This
bunker, A 16, had been inspected that
day by the engineer officer on duty.
"The fire alarms In the bunkers
were in working order, and there had
never been case of spontaneous COM
bustion of coal on board the Maine.
"The two after boilers Of the ship
were in use at the time of the disaster,
but for auxiliary purposes only, with
comparatively low pressure OF steam,
These boilers could not have caused
the explosion of the ship. The four
forward boilers have since been found
by the divers, and are in a fair con-
dition.
"On the night of the destruction of
the Maine everything had been report
ed secure for the night at p. m. by
reliable persons, through the proper
authorities, to the commanding officer.
At the time the Maine was destroyed
the ship was quiet, and therefore least
liable to accident caused by movements
from those on board
'S. The destruction of the Maine oc-
CURED at $40 p. m. on the 18th day
of February, 1898, in the harbor of
Havana, Cuba, being at the time
moored in the same buoy to which she
had been taken upon her arrival.
There were two explosions Of dis
tinctly different character, with very
short but distinct interval between
them, and the forward part of the ship
was lifted to marked degree at the
time of the first explosion.
"The first explosion was more in the
nature Of a report like that of gun;
while the second explosion was more
open, prolonged and of greater volume.
This second explosion was, in the opin-
ion of the court, caused by the partial
explosion of two or more of the for
ward magazines Of the Maine.
"a. The evidence bearing on this, be-
ing principally obtained from divers,
did not enable the court to form a def
mite conclusion as to the condition of
the wreck, although it was established
that the after part of the ship was
practically intact, and sank in that con-
dition very few minutes after the
destruction of the forward part.
"The following facts in regard to
the forward part of ship are, however,
established by the testimony:
i. "That portion of the port side of the
protective deck, which extends from
about frame 30 to about frame Al was
blown up aft and over to port. The
main deck, from about frame 80 to
about frame Al was blown up aft and
slightly over to starboard, folding the
forward part of the middle superstruc-
ture over and on top Of the after part.
This was, in the opinion of the
court, caused by the partial explosion
of two or more of the forward maya
zines of the Maine.
"5. At frame II, the outer shell of
of the ship, from point eleven and
one-half feet from the middle line of
the ship. and six feet above the keel,
when in its normal position, has been
forced up so as to be now about four
feet above the surface OF the water;
therefore, about thirty-four feet above
where it would be had the ship sunk
uninjured. The outside bottom plat
ing is bent into reversed v shape, the
after wing Of which. about fifteen feet
broad and thirty-two feet In length
(from frame IL to frame 25), is doub-
led back upon itself against the con-
tinuation of the same plating extend
ing forward.
"At frame Is the vertical keel is
broken in two, and the fiat keel bent
into an angle. similar to the angle
formed by the outside bottom plating.
This break is now about six feet be-
low the surface of the water, and about
thirty feet above it's normal position.
''In the opinion of the court this eff
feet could have been produced only by
the explosion Of mine situated under
the bottom of the ship at about frame
Is, and somewhat on the port side of
the ship.
IS. The court finds that the loss Of
the Maine, on the occasion named,
was not in any respect due to fault or
negligence on the part of any Of the
officers or members Of the crew of said
vessel
''7. In the opinion of the court the
Maine was destroyed by the explosion