The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-29

between Frames 16 and Is you have found
NV idea" he replied. lis that after the
ship was raised up at Frame IS, the maya
zines, one or all of them, after that were
have seen l think were exploded While
others | have seen were not exploded. 1
saw a coffee can that was brought up TINS
morning which was about as badly battered
as most of the powder cases that came up
1t looked very much in the same condition"
THE EXPLODED TANKS.
"When you say some of the powder tanks
had in your opinion, exploded, and some
had not, do you refer to the six-inch tanks
only, or two-inch tanks also?'
IL refer to BOTH as have seen six-inch
tank that was very little ripped open, and
saw one this morning that had been first
opened and fattened out, with evidences of
burnt powder on it. 1 saw one ten-inch tank
that was scarcely battered at all, and only
the head of it gone. 1 also saw ten-inch
tanks with the packing. which looked like
excelsior, unburnt, that in my opinion.
some, but not all. of the ten-inch and six
inch charges were exploded.
Mr.. PoWelson said four or five tanks had
been brought up that morning, but he did
not see ali of them. The only one he re-
membered seeing was exploded and burst
out so that the case formed almost plane
surface. The ten-inch tank had its head
removed, but it had preserved its approx
mate shape: When questioned further as 10
what he regarded the cause or the IN
juries, Mr.. Powelson said: ION the bottom
forward where that frame was thrown up II
would seem to me the force was commune
Gated some distance through the water, be-
cause it was lifted up instead of being bat
tered in. 1t was a force that was cushioned
in some way, because the DIVER tens me
there was a bulge in the plates between
the two frames, and such force as that
would be cushion pressure; so the plates
in that part of the ship, not having been
! broken in. this explosion may have occurred
| aft, and the frames forward of the trans
verse armor being weaker than they are
aft, the ship might have been lifted up
there by this cushion pressure from further
| aft
| speaking of the same part of the vessel,
| that the mine there could not have been
! very close to those plates that were lifted
so much damaged or bent in the form of
| a and raised up a vertical distance. 1t
| seems to me that the mine was somewhat
| removed, and the pressure came through
the water which produced that cushion
| sort of pressure.
Ensign Powelson was recalled on Feb. 25
| and showed the plans of the Maine, from
! which he had identified the bottom plates
| that were blown up through the upper deck.
! The finding of these plates on top of the
| wreck clear above water was among the
] first and most important points of evidence
| clearly disproving the possibility of an in
| ternal explosion. After minutely describing
| the bottom plates with their green coating
! of paint and the other marks by which they
were identified, Powelson stated that they
must have been blown up thirty-eight or
| thirty-nine feet to reach their present posi-
ton. Beside the bottom plates Powelson
| found some pipes from the bottom COM
| partment lodged in the angle of the bottom
! plates that protruded above the water. The
berth deck over this bottom compartment
| was also on top of the wreck and twenty
! feet forward of the plates, while this section
of the main deck had disappeared The
| diver who had been working for Poweson
on this investigation informed him he had
| found the ammunition for the siX-inch mag
azine pushed over to the starboard side
SPICIOUS-LOOKING MUD.
Ensign Powelson was recalled on the
eleventh day and described the reports
made to him by the divers, which were aft
erward directly testified to before the board
March s." testified Mr. Powelson, Il sent
| Olsen down the piece of keel. the vertical
| keel, to make further explorations in the
| region of the ten-inch magazine. He went
down to where the keel became horizontal
at Frame %, walked aft about twenty-five
| feet and climbed over lot of wreckage,
/ consisting of plates and bulkheads standing
| upright The upper ends of these plates
were ragged and he crawled over them TO
| what he thought was part of a boiler. He
| could not give definite details, but he
| thought it was boiler. A little after this
! ne walked out to port, clear of the ship into
| the mud He was at this time forward of
| the break of the ship at Frame Al; returning
| about ten feet in he found wreckage. He
! examined this plate ana FOUND IL curved
| as If it were a part of the ship. 1t pointed
| toward the starboard bow but ii was so
! dark he could not distinguish the color. All
! the edges of the plating were rough. The
| compartment seemed to be about two and
! a half or three feet wide. Fc ward from
| this point he found a siX-inch tank. 1t was
] intact and was sent up. II proved to be
! full tank. He found lot of broken tanks
/ split upon the seams. and in one tank at
| the cover which has holes in it. he found
/ a lot of mud which was brought up and
/ which looked like dissolved powder. There
was any quantity of similar mud in the
same place. The mud around the tanks
/ was black, that of the harbor is gray
Ensign Powelson was recalled on March
! Is and explained how he got the data for
! his sketches, which played such an impor-
/ tant part in the work of the court. He said
| he sent divers down at various points along
1 the line of the keel as ii lay broken and
! twisted on the harbor bed Then he got
| in a boat and located the points on the keel
| by a lead line. On the wreck he established
| stations at the main mast. the port crane,
! the smokestack and so forth, and from
| these bases he would get the bearing by
| angles of his lead line. as II rested on the
! keel and other points of the wreckage under
| water Thus he was able to plat a map of
| ter that was mathematically correct. BY
| comparing this with the original plans OF
| the vessel il was possible TO tell just how
much and IN what direction any part of the