The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1898-02-18
still Think 1t Was lornni.

Still Think 1t Was Internal.
1t may be said, however, that nothing
has yet developed in the news from
Havana as to the appearance of the
wreck, or in the conflicting stories Of
the survivors, to change the opinion of
the majority Of the officers stationed in
the navy department., that the Maine
sunk as the result Of an internal eX-
ploslon AS to the origin OF this ex.
ploslon there Is still q wide difference
of opinion, but the coal bunkers theory
hnds very many more strong support
er5 than any other theory. This theory
Is based on the supposltion that spon.
tancoas com bustlon in one OF the bunk.
ers, which Oh the Maine are separated
from the magazine forward by Il single
thln partition OF iron, lgnlted the
magazine and caused the destru ctlon Of
the vessel. Proofs of similar fires on
other vessels of the navy are being pro-
duccd III prntuSion at the navy depart
mcnt. 1t L. SAID that Oh the battlesnl p
Indiana no .ess than seven fires have
occurred IL the coal bunkers. The
Philadelphia has had at least one within
the past year, while in the case Of the
flagship of the North Atlantic squad.
ron, the New York, the department
was obliged to order the discontinuancc
of the use of the magazine III the CEN
ter OF the ship because OF danger from
this cause, and because it was subject
!, a high degree of heat by radiation
from the furnaces.
The Names Coal supply.
In connection with the theory OF
spontaneous combustion, the character
OF the coal supplied to the Maine as
sumcd some Importance. 1hls Is sup
| piled at present to the bureau Of equip
ment, and the head of that bureau,
| Captain Royal Bradford, asserted posi-.
lie produced the quarterly report re-
! quired by regulations to show exactly
the state Of the Names coal supply.
and the quality Of the coal. Atthe enc
| Of Decem Der the vessel had - tons OF
coal olly III her bunkers. TINS wa
made up of Pocahontas and New Rive
|
cahontas is u standard naval coal an'
IS rated at 100. New River follow
next and is set down at 20 per cent
These are semi. .bituminous Goals of
quality closely approaching that of tn
celebrated Welsh navigation coal, tn
British naval standard.
In the opinion of Captain Bradford
\ nS ln
subject to spontaneous combustion
Since the Maine has been in the gul
of Mexico, however. she probably ha
consumed good part of this coal, an
has replenished her stock from III
naval store at the Key West station
The coal there taken on was anthracite
which, said Captain Bradford, us II
more subject to spontaneous combu.
ton than pile Of stones.
In spite Of the British reflection
upon the discipline on American wa
ships, the officers here do not hesita'
to say that i'll the matter Of careful il
spection Of the coal bunkers, magazin,
and the like. our navy is second
none in the world. But these obscul
fires arising out Of spontaneous con
bustion are very difficult Of detection
Such fires have been known to smou
der undiscovered III piles Of coal at Il
Washington navy yard here for mar
days before breaking out. and this, to
Notwithstanding the fact that the pill
were visited almost daily. Aboard sh
the taking OF the temperature Of Il
los1 90 80 hn
tions to guard against such fires.
the case Of the Maine this Observable
was usually taken at 9 o'clock in Il
morning, so that it was entirely pos.
Bile for bunker fire to have
veloped sufficient heat during Il
~ hours that elapsed before the expl
sion. to have ignited the ammunitio
While the brown powder used for Il
lO.inch guns is difficult to ignite wit
out a detonator, still the application
heat in excess of 600 degrees for so,
0 time will cause the explosion whi
Q the application Of . match would Il
. to bring about.
} Secretary Long is making repeat
efforts to obtain from Captain Sigst
UnOIc NCCNIusS uAtO AcSpccAAAS tnc uS
# and wounded than has heretofore be
!. telegraphed. Half q dozen mcssae
have been sent to the captain on Il
a subject. but up to IL o'clock nothi
on the subject had been received fr,
r. him by the department. nor had it be
able to hear from Key West.
70
EpAIN'S REpIN MADE