The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-22

Maine ana paSsed close Dy the wreck Inc
seguranca's passengers said that great ex-
citement prevailed at Havana and at the
time Of sailing the foreign population were
generally of the opinion that the Maine had
been destroyed by design. They cited.
among other things, in support of this the
ory, the fact that the Spanish man-of-war
Alfonso XII, which was anchored near the
Maine, changed her moorings just previous
to the disaster. one of the passengers. Will
liam L. Carbin, went SO far as to say that
he saw a boat go near the Maine a short
time previous to the explosion He said he
would go to washington to make a state
ment before the proper authorities.
C. P. Holcomb of New Castle, Del, gen.
eral manager of a street railway in Phila-
delphia, one of the passengers on board the
Seguranca was outspoken in his belief that
the investigation at Havana would reveal
some startling circumstances. Il went to
Havana" said Mr.. Holcomb, mot at all in
sympathy with the insurgents, but on
Wednesday when we got to Havana 1 be-
lieve any Of the Americans on board was
in a mood to commit murder. The flags Of
the Spanish war ships were not at half
mast The vessels OF all other nationalities
had paid this slight tribute to the dead 1
had a telegram to bring back the remains
of Apprentice Glazer, wko is the son of my
boolxkeeper. found that he was among the
saved. The contrast between the bearing of
the Spaniards and Cubans is strong. At the
funeral of the Names seamen. the Cuban
women in the streets were almost all
dressed in mourning, while the Spanish
women wore colors The only American
flags I saw in the whole procession were
two small ones, about three by six inches.
ceived politely. The only expression Of re-
gret 1 heard there was from an officer who
complained that the force of the Maine ex-
plosion had broken his toilet bottles. There
can be no mistaking the Indifference of the
Spaniards in Hav ma over the loss of the
war ship and those on board. On Thursday,
while driving to the cemetery with two
American friends, was assailed with jeers
and some one threw a large stone at our
carriage"
F. W. Bobbett Of this city, who was with
Mr. Holcomb in the carriage, added:
That's perfectly true. In fact, one or two
children yelled after us that they had blown
up the Americana and that they were
glad Of it. ! did not hear a single ex-
preston of regret for the terrible loss Of
life from any Spaniard during the time
was in Havana.
Frank Weinheimer, of this city. an eye
witness of the explosion and fellow-pas-
senger of Mr.. Holcomb, told the following
story: "On Tuesday evening / strolled
down to the river front for a breath of
fresh air. 1 was about 300 yards from the
Maine. The first intimation 1 had Of an
explosion was crunching sound. Then
there came a terrible roar. Immense pieces
of debris flew skyward from the Maine.
Some of them must have been thrown at
least 300 feet. 1t looked as though the
whole inside of the ship had been blown
out. Many persons on the pier were nearly
blown from their feet by the force of the
explosion. The air became sitting with
smoke" Mr.. Weinheim said he heard an
excited Spanard declare shortly after the
explosion that If the "Americanos" sent
another war ship it also would be blown up
M. j. Naghton, an insurance of
Chicago, who was staying with his wife at
the Grand Hotel. said he was seated in
front of the hotel when the explosion oc-
Cured. 1t was followed, he said, by an
other and much louder one. 1--WE thought
the whole city had been blown TO- pieces"
said Mr. Naghton. "Some said the insur-
gents were entering Havana. Others cried
out that Moro Castle was blown up" Con-
tinuing his description of the panic which
existed in Havana shortly after the ex-
plosion Mr.. Naghton said: "On the prado
is a large cab stand. The minute after the
explosion was heard the cabmen cracked
their whips and went rafting over the cob
blestones like crazy men. The fire depart
ment turned out and bodies of cavalry and
infantry rushed through the streets. There
was no sleep in Havana that night The
Spanish officials were quick to express their
sympathy and acted very we'll as a whole
but l think their expressions of regret
lacked the warmth which would have been
characteristic of an American city had such
disaster occurred under similar circum-
stances"
William L. Carbin, the passenger who
professed to have important information
about the explosion, refuses to make any
further statements than he made at quar-
antlne. The other passengers on the Segu-
ranca did not take Mr.. Carbin as seriously
he took himself