The Portland daily press., 1898-03-04

| IIlJA KID |IllIlI A Il W
Kew West, Fla, March 3.--Lieut. Mark,
| the Judge advocate of the United STATES
Naval Court of Inquiry into the loss OF
the battleship Maine, which concluded 1ts
sessions yesterday, said this morning thar
| he did not know when the court would
leave Key West.
An unidentified body from the Maine
was brought here this morning on board
| the coast survey steamer Bache. Ihe
| body was laid at rest in the cemetery
with the honors usually accorded to 81
dead sailor. At the cemetery the chaplain
read short service.
! The survivors of the Maine were among
those present in the crowd at the inter.
ment. There were no demonstrations.
OUTFIT FOR THE LANCASTER.
| Portsmouth, N. H., March 3.-Orders
have been received at the navy yard to
make the outfit for the U. S. S. Lancas-
/ ter with quickest possible haste. 1t is
expected that the Maohlas and Essex
will be made ready forsservice at the
| Portsmouth yard at once.
JAPAN CONCERNED.
Washington. March 3.-The State De-
partment has ascertained at the instance
of the Japanese legation that there were
seven japanese sailors on board the Maine
at the time of the disaster of whom only
two were saved.
There are number of Japanese in the
| navy as stewards, etc. They go from ship
to ship and their relatives frequently lose
track of them. 1t was stated at the iega-
tion that the purpose of the inquiry was
| to establish just who were on board the
Maine and to istinguish between the
lost and saved.
tho 0lIaQti0n
raised as to the right of Japan to parttci-
pate in any indemnity which might be
claimed If the disaster proved to be of ex-
ternal origin. Officials differed in their
view of this. 1t was claimed by some
that the wearing of the United States
uniform took away from the Japanese
subject all his attributes as a citizen of
Japan. Moreover, 1t was pointed out, the
loss occurred while these men were in the
service of the United States. On the other
hand it was con ended that Japan always
had jealously guarded her citizens abroad
and that in this instance she might 90.
cupy the same ground as the United
States in securing such redress as would
be appropriate to the case as finally estab-
lished. In this connection it WAS recalled
that Japan's relations to the Philippines
| were somewhat analogous to our relations
Go Cuba. While these lines of comment
were set on foot by the inquiries Of the
legation to the State Department both
gave assurances that ct the present time
the inquiry only related to Identification.
DIVERS DELAYED.
Havana, March 3.-The operations of
the divers this morning were delayed by
heavy thunder storm. The indications
are. however that the weather will clear
later in the day.
Senator Proctor may leave Havana Sat
he rsor,1 1n} n
until Wednesday next, in which case he
will probably take trip into the province
OF Pinar de Rio.
THE GULF WE'LL FORTIFIED.
Atlanta, Ga. eMarch 3-General Welesly
Merritt of the United States army, Lieut..
Strother, his aide, and Major J. B. Quinn
of the United States engineer service,
passed through Atlanta yesterday on tnelr
way to Washington.
General Merritt came to Investigate the
Notifications and report upon any needed
improvements coming direct from Calves
ton. "The gulf coast is fairly we'll fortl-
fed said General Merritt. There is
still some work to be done, but on the
whole / am pleased with my annual in
spection and think that in the event OF
war we would give good account OF our
selves.
WORRIED ABOUT SHIPS IN ASIA.
Madrid, March 3.-The public is much
exercised over the report of squadron OF
United States warships at Hong Kong as
it Is presumed the vessels intend to
threaten Manila, the capital of the
Philippine Islands in the event OF the
war between the United States and Spain.
The impartial in an article headed ITO
Manilla' quotes an unnamed high per
sonage who scouts the idea OF an immi-
and
of the warships at Hong Kong is only
Washington's policy with the view of
contenting the jingoes.'
The "high parsonage is said to have
added: 'sBut America has not SO many
warshius as to warrant such bold action.
| If the Yankees go to the Philippines the
| Spaniards will 60 to New York"
| The Globe remarks: 1.-THE government
is alive to the critical situation and Is
silently preparing for the worst. Bnt,
| it is too diplomatic to disclose the pro.
cedure by which it is preparing for emer-
| gencies.
In conclusion the Globe says: "Fortu-
nately the tranquil preparations of the
government are the best assurance that it
| will be ready when the occasion requires
| it. The public, seeing the GOODNESS OF
Senior Sagasta should comprehend that he
means acts and not words. However
| limited ths public's confidence in the
premier, they, like ourselves have conf
dence that better days will dawn prompt
ly."
Bristol, R. l., March 3.-The two new
govefnment torpedo boats, the Gwyn
and Talbot, just completed by the
Herreshoffs, were given their official
speed trials today In Narraggnsett bay
under favorable conditions and both ex-
oeeded their contract speed, the former
making an average Of 200 knots per hour
and the latter 21.1.
GEN. HYDE IN HAVANA.
Havana, March Sit Is believed now
that the body recovered last Friday and
boried here was that OF Robert ,Burk hart,
of Germany, quarter1naster. 1t was iden-
titled by description by piece of cloth
and a.paper bearing his name. 1t Is pos
sible, but not certain that another body
buried last week, was that of Charles A.
Scott of Orange, n. j., carpenters mate.
1t had Odd Fellows links tattooed on
the arm. The Spanish divers did not go
down today, but the American divers got
some fixed ammunition out of the for
ward part of the wreck