The San Francisco call., 1898-04-05
FRESH PROOF
 OF TREACHERY With esses of the Pur- chase by Spain of
 Mines for Havana.
Men Whose Statements Cannot Be Doubted Say the Madrid
 Government Is Guilty.
An Explosion Could Only Have Oo- cured by tho Connivance of at
 Least Three Officers.
Special Dispatch to Tn. Call.

LONDON, April 4.-Details have been obtained of the manufacture of sub marine mines in London for Spain, which fact was first brought to the attention of the United States embassy on March 4. A man, whose cards de- scribed him as an electrical engineer and whose name was forwarded at the time to Washington, then said he sold to Spanish officers in London several years ago, a large number of mines. eight or ten of which were placed in Havana harbor. He said they were made in special way, had specially constructed cable. which he can iden- tify if the smallest piece is produced, and he added that some of the mines were fixed so that they could be fired from a fort, while two of them had bulbs so arranged that they would ex- plode upon a vessel coming into con- tact with them. The man added, how ever, that he did not believe the bulbs would be used in water as shallow as that of Havana harbor. Finally the man exhibited plans of one of these mines, which he said was the most likely to produce the effect described as causing the wreck of the Maine. 1t was numbered "2," and was construct ed to contain 500 pounds of guncotton.
 Lieutenant Commander J. C. ColWell, the United States naval attache, has since investigated the matter, and he made a report on the subject to the United States Government The facts learned strongly tend to show that Havana harbor was mined, and un- occasionally prove that Spain pur- chased mines for that purpose. The firm of Lattimer, Rhodes & Clark, electrical engineers, during 1SS1-SS filled a large order for Spain for lot Of mines, in which were used fourteen and a half tons of guncotton. The work was directly under the surveillance of General Fernandez and Captain Busta- mento. The latter was then, the head of the Spanish torpedo school. By order of these officers, the mines were divided into four conSignments-for Havana, Ferrol. Cadiz and Carthagena- The mines were manufactured under the direction of J. P. Gibbons, after Gib- bons' patents, which are described 1n Siemens book on torpedoes and mines.
 Gibbons. who furnished Lieutenant Commander Colwell a written state ment of the above facts and outlined his theory of the explosion which wrecked the Maine, was then employed by the firm as superintendent of the torpedo department. He also says similar lot of torpedoes was manufac- tured for Spain in 1896.
 The manager of the Westminster En- gineering Company, which is the sue cessor of the aforementioned firm, and with which Gibbons is connected, con- firms the latter'S statement as to the manufacture of mines for Spain. Gib- bons. who Is a former sergeant of en- gineers and a Government inspector of torpedoes. believes the Maines first eX- plosion was caused by what is techni- cally called a ground mine, containing 500 pounds of gun cotton, several of which were manufactured for Spain. He has experimented with these mines largely at Portsmouth, and says that once laid, they retain their properties for fifty years. In addition, Gibbons asserts that it Is absolutely impossible for them to explode accidentally, as the electrical currents for their explo- sion are formed only by the manipula- tion of a complicated key, especially devised to avoid accidents. Three keys are necessary, which are always kept in the possession of different officers and if an outsider obtained possession of them, it would be impossible to ma nipulate the keys without instructions. Gibbons further says the mines and their connecting cables are numbered and he asserts he would be able to identify them if any party is secured.