Evening star., 1898-02-19
The Navy Department 0oncealing
Nothing From the Public.
STATEMENT GIVEN 10 TIE PRESS
Lieut.. Commander Wainwright s
Memorandum.
RIAL FOR VICTIMS

Really no information has been received
since Captain Sigsbees first dispatch add
ing anything to our knowledge of the dis
aster In the Havana harbor. All we know
is that the Maine blew up. There is abun-
dant room for speculation Of all sorts. but
no conclusion can be. arrived at until an
examination has been made by the divers
and more facts obtained. 1t is q simple
fact to say that such a thing might happen
by design or 1t might happen by accident.
As yet there Is no indication Of design.
Therefore my impression has been all
alcng. and l rather think the general opin-
ion preponderates in the same direction,
that it must have been accidental.
"At the cabinet meeting today the mat
ter was not discussed. except as any body
or men talk about an event of that kind,
and most of that talk related to the terri
bic loss of life. and to expressions of sym
pathy for the sufferers.
Policy of the Department.
"You may say absolutely that there has
been no secret cabinet meeting: that moth
ing has taken place in cabinet that the
public have not been informed about; that
the whole policy of this department has
been to give the public all the dispatches;
that the department has no more knowl-
edge on the subject of the cause Of the dis
aster, or even of the circumstances at
tending 1t than have the public and that
the report which was to the effect that
captain Sigsbee had warned the depart
ment that the Maine was In danger from
submarine mines torpedoes is utterly
without foundation. no such report ever
having been received from him or from
anybody else.
Il think l express the feeling of the
President as well as my own, when 1 say
that Captain Sigsbee has conducted himself
as an officer of our navy should He was
the last to leave his ship when she went
down. His dispatch to me that night was
SO complete that since then have thought
OF no question of fact to ask him which is
essential to the situation and which he
could answer which Is not covered by that
dispatch Its tone. too, is that of a dis
Greet and level-headed man, who realizes
tne ., impression any word from him at that
time would have on the public mind Moth
ing IS harder than for a naval officer to
lose his ship. so that l have great sympa-
thy for him. / await, with confidence. fur
ther reports"
Lieut.. Com. Wainwright's Plan.
Lieutenant Commander Wainwright the
executive officer of the Maine as his last
important work prior to his detail to the
Maine. prepared memorandum for the
secretary of the Navy. setting forth the
precautions taken by other governments
~ project their men-of-war against fire
ard explosion. TLis memorandum suR-
III.
GERS to investigate the subject and make
recommended tions for the use of the bureau
OF construction In designing future cruisers
and battle Ships
Mr. Wainwright's memorandum sbows
that England protects the magazines of
her ships from heat by Innings of asbestos.
air spaces between 1.-The walls which are
Packed with siicate of cotton and other
Hoh-combustfbie and non-conducffng sub.
stances and by the use of ventilating fans
and ammonia.
France uses refrigerating machines.
doubie noors and walls and asbestos lin
ifgs. Ihe French experts declare that 1t
Is not only necessary to discharge cold air
into the magazines. but to have the cham
bers between their walls and floors so ar
ranged that 1t can pass over and around
them. 79ft''F'-
In the German ships there are yentilatinR
conduits to pump cold air into the masa-
zines and expel the warm air from them
ihey have also special cooling machines
Tor the purpose of protecting the coal
b, mixers against spontaneous combustion
The Italian naval constructors provide
particularly for the escape of gas, that is
apt to generate in any air-tight chamber
In which explosives are kept. They also
nave refr1geratfng machines and recon-
mend that the air in the magazines can
hot be changed too frequently. Both the
Italian and French constructors describe
the danger from the juxtaposition of coal
bun kers and advise the chambers packed
With silfcate Of cotton, asbestos and with
ron-combustible material should be placed
between the coal bunkers and the ma2a-
ZireS.
Fires in the Coal Bunkers.
Serious fires occurred some time ago as
is veil known. the New York and the
Cincinnati from spontaneous combustion of
COAL and two weeks ago a board appointed
to Investigate this new danger to our war
ships made report. recommending a radi-
cal reconstruction of the coal bunkers of
the ships of our navy. The board contend
that all btupltnous and soft coal Is subject
TO this danger. especially when it is fat"
ana that conditions for combustion are a
high external. broken condition of the
coal, affording surfaces for absorbing oxy-
gen. supply of air sufficient to penetrate
to the coal pile, but rot adequate to carry
Off the heat, and the presence of volatile
combusttbe matter in the fuel In former
Gays, in the old-fashioned ships before
there was so much machinery and so many
said the board, was unknown, but in mod
ern war vessels all the conditions are
cfangad. and a sufficiently high external
temperature will cause spontaneous igni-
tion at any time.
The board reported that there are some
bunkers In which the fire will involve great
dar ger-namely. those adjacent to maga-
zjres. On the New York and Cincinnati
there were fires in bunkers next to the
Magazines, which caused a charring of the
cCdwork In the latter, and II 1t fortu-
rately had not been discovered in time,
there might have been a terrible dis
aster. For such cases we consider struc-
tural provision an absolute necessity, and
no magazine should ever be separated from
a coal bunker by single bulkhead only;
but in all cases there should be a double
bulkhead, with at least four inches be-
tween the walls of the bunkers and the
magazine. and with provision for a good
circulation Of air to carry OF any heat
that may come from the bunker
To Change Bunkers' Location.
The report said that the chief construc-
tor of the navy Informed the board that he
had anticipated this important point and
had made provision in the new battle ships
on the plan recommended. and had taken
steps for the alteration of the bunkers in
the flagship New York wherever they
were adjacent to magazines.
Among other recommendations. the board
suggested that precaution should be taken
to prevent waste or oil from getting into
the bunkers. and that old coal should be
used before that recently received. The
board also recommended that particular
care should be taken in ships stationed at
Key West Honolulu and other places In
the tropics.
Advices From Capt. SiEsbee.
The Secretary of the Navy last night re-