The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-03-22

LIEUT. COMMANDER MAltIN.
of inquiry, came ashore at o'clock |
yesterday afternoon accompanied by an
armed orderly from the Iowa, who car
ried a bulky package Of official docu-
ments which was handed over to Rear |
Admiral Scard. 1t is believed the /
documents are the fun findings Of the |
court of inquiry. Lieutenant Com |
mander Mark, when questioned on this |
subject, refused either to deny or to |
confirm, but an officer from the Iowa |
said the documents were the long eX-
pected report on the Maine disaster. .
The papers were Immediately examined
by the rear admiral and Commander
West 1t is presumed that if these
documents are the anXiously expected
report they will be taken to Wash
irgton today by Lieutenant Com
mander Mark.
The procedure in connection with the
| submission of the report of the court
| of inquiry by the president to congress
| Is now clearly outlined, and a cabinet
officer today explained the general line
of action at present intended to be pur-
sued. A copy of the report will be laid
before the Spanish government very
! early, and as soon as can be consist
emily done the report will be sent to
! congress and made public at the same
! time. The report to congress will be
accompanied by a message from the
! president stating that, after receiving
the report, the conclusions were laid
before the Spanish government and
appropriate action from that quarter
asked.
1t is stated positively that no part
of the report and no lutimation of the
a
thorities at Washington as yet. At the
same time, it is a noticeable fact that
the current of official opinion is be-
ginning to follow that Of the unofficial
opinion expressed so positively and
persistently at Havana and Key West
that the cause of the explosion was
external to the battleshp. Opinion eX-
pressed by the Maine survivors who
reached here last Saturday doubtless
has contributed largely to this view in
official circles, In this connection IL
Is understood that one Of the officers
who arrived on Saturday stated, not as
opinion, but as his personal Observa-
tion on the night Of the disaster, that
there were two distinct explosions.
The tendency of this Is to support the
theory of external cause as this is
based on the idea that the first eX-
, ternal explosion was followed by a
second internal explosion.
The intense interest in the report was
manifested yesterday at the White
o. House and at the state, war and navy
. departments. The president received
a number of congressional leaders,
among them being Speaker Reed and
Chairman Hit, Of the house committee
on foreign affairs, The visit of Mr.
S Reed naturally attracted much atten-
G tion, as he seldom leaves the congress
sonal sphere to make calls on the
executive branch, and it was naturally
inferred that the purpose of his visit
: was to confer upon the Cuban situa-
!. tion and it's future before congress
t though neither he nor Mr.. Hit was
a communicative Secretary Long alsC
n had an extended conference with tn,
o president, but so far as it could b,
l. learned it developed nothing addtiona
st relating to the Spanish question.
II The army and navy preparations ar
10 continuing without interruption, al
m though they have now become 81
to regular as to lapse into routine on
gigantic scale. No further purchase
m of warships were concluded yesterday
te and the negotiations are not assuming
es a promising aspect except in showing
m that the United states can command
in the market against Spain
2 Tha evietCent hranGh. Of. the nav,
CONTINUED on Fourth Page.)