The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-03-25
THE NEWS FROM HAVANA
MATTER OF USING DYNAMITE ON
 MAINE WRECK.

Contractors Requested That They be AL
 lowed to Explode Away Small Protuber-
 ances, Angles, Etc., but Both the United
 States and Spain Refused Permission ' No Intention to Blow Up the Wreck
 Captain sigsbee to Make a Report.
 Havana, March 24.-Two of the eight Whitehead torpedoes carried by the Maine have been recovered. These were aft. The other six were probably destroyed. Regarding the use of dy- namite by the contracting wreckers, Captain Sigsbee said to the correspond ent to-day: More has been made out of the matter than was warranted by the facts, which are simply these: The contractors asked my permission to use dynamite in small quantities and also asked leave to use dynamite tape to blow off protuberances, angles, etc., where the wreckage is so entangled that it is very difficult to noise. There never was any intention to use the eX- plosive in large enough, quantities to destroy the wreck. I submitted the re- quest of the contractors to Consul Gen. eral Lee for him to ask permission from the Spanish authorities, and l also asked for orders from the United States naval department. Both our own and also the Spanish authorities refused the necessary permission. That is all there was to the matter"
 On the same subject Consul General Lee said: T transmitted Captain Sigs- bees request, made on the part of the contractors, to Captain General Blanco and I received a reply that the matter was too important to be settled with out reference to Madrid. General Blan- co also intimated that the United States court of inquiry having set in judgment on the disaster, it was not wise to destroy by the use of dynamite the wreck upon which judgment was formed. The papers here to-day say that Madrid has sustained General Blancos prohibition against the use of dynamite on the wreck. The result will be, naturally, slower work in re- moving the debris and also 1t is possi- ble that more hoisting apparatus may be needed. It is probable the wreckers wished most to use dynamite or dyna- | mite tape to get the top off the turret, so that the ten-inch guns could be | hoisted out"
 | In regard to going away, Captain | Sigsbee said have never expressed a | desire about the matter until recently. l I received a personal letter asking my I wishes and what thought best. We have been here two months instead of l two weeks, as at first intended, and
 the climate is beginning to tell on all of us. While the court was in session l our business was to be here. It seems
 now as if Wainwright would be enough | to take charge of the wreck, especially
 since all the work is not mere routine
 work of salvage, while the chaplain
 might remain to identify the bodies
 when recovered, if possible. Besides,
 after April we would all be subject to
 rigid quarantine laws. For myself, 1 would like to get to Key West and
 write up my report of the disaster As
 yet I have not written a line. While
 the court was in session did not want
 in any way to anticipate it's report.
 have no idea what that report is, or
 whether I am found guilty or not This last remark was made with a l smile,