The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-02-24
THE SAILORS EVIDENCE.
Capt Sigsbee Said "The Spaniards
Have Blown Us Up at Last"

nave blOWn L u II dt
Karl Decker. who rescued Miss Cisne-
ros from a Spanish prison, telegraphs to
the New York Journal as follows:
key West. Feb 24.-According to the
statements of two sailors of the Maine,
who were on board when the explosion
occurred. Capt. Sigsbee's first thought
was that the boat had been sunk by a
torpedo. fired or exploded by the Span
iards. Patrick Foley. seaman an watch
at the time. and Henry Williams. the cap
tain's cook. both heard him say as he
came out of the companion way:
- The Spaniards have blown us up at
last
This WAS the first thought of Capt
Sigsbee. Ii occurred most naturally to
him; il was the expression of the reali-
cation OF a dread that had been hang
ing over him for days.
"A number of the officers of the Maine
had the same fear, and often spoke of
-the possibility of mine having been ar
ranged near the buoy to which they were
moored.
although orders have been given by
the authorities at Washington, forbid
ding either the officers or men to talk at
ma. some were found today at the hos
pital who were willing TO voice their sus-
picions
"All are firmly convinced that the
Maine WAS destroyed through Spanish
treachery. The men who have lost their
shiPmates by the hundred feel the DIS
aster as something that has come closely
to them. They are sullen and ugly. and
none of them will go back INTO the SER
Ia.
other than i'm the declaration of war.
Many of them say they win j,iu the in
surgents TO fight against the SPANISH in
case the court of inquiry clears the Span
iards of completely in he affair.
I'm order to properly sound these mcn
today. ] sent among them a .;ailor like
themselves. He was able TO meet and
talk with them. as he was not suspected,
as are newspaper men. in fac: tie co..
respondents are not above 1 in the hos
pital or barracks. and only a Jackie could
have got 20 them. This man reached
them and brought ont their stories writ
ten ont by him and signed by them. rat
rick Foley. the seaman watch al the
time tells graphic story of the rap
penings OF that night.
'Wnen I heard the explosion said
he and ran aft. l met the raptain COM
ing out of the companion Wy. As pass
ed him he was talking quickly. hut was
not excited. 80 was speaking 10 some
one did not see, and heard him say:
- The Spanish have blown us up at
last"
q 4 oid not hear the answer of the man
he was talking to- but | heard someone
swearing i'm the dark and cursing the
cowarily Standards.
Henry Williams. the captains cook.
tells practically the same story. lie said:
- Just before the explosion. I was
alongside the forward magazine talking
to Davis Hill. the gunner. He told me
that at that time there were only - de
grees showing an the thermometer on
each magazine. This would show of it,
self that there could not have been any
extraordinary heat of the magazines;
surely not enough to cause an explosion.
After coming aft | lay down IN the kit
chen ard was partly asleep on "A chest
when ! heard the explosion. | ran aft
TO the officers quarters. but saw NJ once
that the explosion had been forward. I
was standing near the companion way
waiting for orders from the officer of the
deck when Captain Sigsbee came up the
companionway. As he came on the deck
] heard him say:
Nell. the Spanish towards have
blown us up at last,
q" L heard this repeated several times
by other officers. and know that that
was the general impression on board at
that time
Robert Hutchins. a seaman. is another
OF the Names crew who believes that
the boat was destroyed by an outside
force. 1t was impossible for the maya
zines to have exploded said he and the
explosion could have come only from the
outside.
&C Pitcher. n seaman on watch at the
time. who had his arms and legs badly
burned by the explosion. is certain that
the Maine was blown up by a torpedo
4 WAS standing forward when the ex-
plosion occurred. and was thrown over
board. ] was swimming along when I
was picked up hy the boat Of the Alfonso
Nil The water all about me was filled
with wreckage of all kinds. as We'll as
the bodies OF many of my poor ship
mates. In my injured condition IL was
almost impossible for me To keep afloat
myself, but L helped out all I could reach
before ! was picked up myself. / am
firmly convinced that the explosion was
arranged by the Spaniards. and that they
had Us IN their power all the time
walter h. Richards is another sailor
who noticed the thermometer in the mag
azlne gust before the explosion. to see
that everything was all right. lie no.
ticed that the thermometer marked -
degrees At the time.
The same thermometer has been seen
as high a. 81 degrees he said so that
the theory that any explosion could have
occurred because of the heat is rot
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