River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1898-03-31

officer and was in charge of the electric
plant, testified that ali possible precaution
was taken to prevent accident. The tenn
reratuTe of the magazines was taken daily.
The electric wires were separated from
the magazine by double plating of glass.
He noticed nothing at the time Of the eX-
piosion to indicate that anything was the
matter with the electric works
The examiner referred TO Homan's large
experience in matters of explosives and
asked hls impression of the whole affair.
He said:
My impression not yet verified by div
ers' findings. l. that very heavy mine
went off under the Names bottom. The
noise produced by a heavy mine would
| be great in itself and adding to the second
explosion would make the two practically
ore and the same explosion"
Technical Testimony.
Naval Constructor J. r. Hoover appeared
as a witness March s. His testimony was
very technical describing the various parts
of the ship by number of frame and sec
I ton. Summed UP il was that the bottom
| plates of the ship at the point of explosion.
/ the berth deck over them and protected deck
/ had been turned over and forward, revolv
( ing through an angle of 80 degrees. The
six-inch magazine was just below these
4 pieces of the deck as they originally stood.
Gunner's Mate Rundquist.
Gunner's Mate Carl Rundquist, one of the
! divers, said he went down IN the after part
| of the ten-inch magazine and found a lot
! Of empty ten-inch powder tanks-dOZens of
! them with pieces blown in all directions
| They did not look as if they had been ex-
ploded by a charge inside. II looked as If
/ a pressure from the outside had opened
4 them up. The ragged edges of the ship
/ were bent inhoard. The bottom of the
/ ship was all blown up. Found a hole in
the bottom of the ship Looked as if it
was blown up from the outside, because
/ no explosion from the inside could make
/ hole like that: the pieces of armor plates
also showed they were blown from the
outside from the way they were bent"
Rundquist, being recalled testified to
the progress of his exploration. He went
| down March l, on the port side and found
/ the berth deck sloping aft to starboard.
| There was coal several feet deep just for
ward of the crane; none of II had been
| blown out of the ship on that side. He also
! found a ten-inch tank and powder bags,
/ which he sent up lie also found bunch of
/ wires, bout so OF them in a bunch"
In the afternoon he went down in the same
place and followed the armor plate and
found the break where the armor plate
ended, Here he found a long string of
heavy wire 10 feet long. Asked as to the
condition of the backing of the armor,
he replied:
THE end was all twisted and torn, and
ragged edges, and then they all looked and
pointed inboard. I also examined the up
side corner gone"
Powder Tanks Crushed In.
On the 18th dag Lieutenant Commander
/ Wainwright said: Nearly all the powder
| tanks show signs of having been subjected
to outside pressure as if pressed against
the powder inside and their ends are also
crushed in. / saw two siX-inch tanks that
were opened at the seams and were pressed
down fiat as # by exertion of considerable
force"
Saw No Boats Approach.
Lieut. John Hood senior watch officer in
charge of the powder division, said he had
| inspected the magazines and shell rooms
ana there was nothing stored there con-
trary to the ordnance regulations.
Mr. Hood was officer of the deck at the
time, and while acting in that capacity he
had not noticed any hostile demonstra-
tion afloat in the way of boats approaching
the ship.
Saw Jenkins Fall.
Mess Attendant John II. Tarpin was the
last man who saw Lieut. Jenkins He said
it was a Earring explosion. just one solid
explosion and the ship heaved and lifted
and then all was dark. Tarpin met Lieut.
jenkins in the messroom and by the time
the water was up to his waist and running
aft 1t was dark and Mr.. Jenkins asked
him twice; Which way" to which he
had responded that he did not know When
Jenkins called the last time the water was
ward and the whole compartment lit up.
That whole compartment where the tor
pedoes were lit right UP and l saw Mr..
Jenkins throw M both hands and fall right
by the steeraGe pantry" He said the OK
p!osion sounded to him like distant thun-
der.
Eject of Explosives.
Cant G. A. Converse, of the navy, sum
moned as witness, testified he had made
A study of the nature and effects of explo-
lar O.f
he had ever seen used consisted of tor
pedo containing 500 pounds OF gun powder
and POO pounds of dynamite, all in separate
cases, 100 pounds in each case, securely
dashed together. Being shown blue print
of the forward magazine and shellroom of
the Maine, and asked ii one or more of
these should explode or partially explode
il would lift the forward part of the ship
partly out of the water, he replied that he
did not think it would.
After a long description of the effect of
torpsdoes, he was asked what his expert
ence was in the case of the explosion of a
submarine mine; as to what became of
the mine? He replied that they are al
most invariably ruptured and lost; blown
IN, and pieces of them are rarely FOUND.
This experience did not allow him to re-
member a case where he saw any consid-
cradle pieces remaining from a submarine
mine or its iron case after its explosion.
on one or two occasions small fragments
complete demolition of the case containing
the explosive.
When asked if a submarine mine ex-
ploded under the bottom of ship and con-
tanning enough explosive to complet ely
destroy that part of that ship would be
similarly demolished, he replied that the
violent explosive would cut a hole in the
shin, blowing out the part that was cut in
small fragments. Being shown sketches
of the forward magazines, and asked II
their explosion or partial explosion would
leave the bottom of the Maine in the con-
dition il was. shown in the sketches,
he stated that the distortion of the keel
of the Maine was too far forward and too
remote from the magazine to have been
caused by their explosion. He was OF the
opinion that the binding of the plates on
the bottom of the Maine could he produced
by the explosion of a submarine mine con-
tanning large amount of the lower eN-
piosive-guu powder or similar-n0t in
contact with the ship, but some distance
below it, perhaps On the bottom. Continu-
ing, he said he had never in his experience
seen any interior explosion that was pos
sible to produce the effect upon the Maine.
do you think that necessarily there
must have been an underwater mine to
produce these explosons?"
indications are that an under water
explosion produced the conditions there, :
was the reply with further statement
| regarding the impossibility, in his opinion,
ofan internal explosion causing the Maine 5
wreck His testimony was closed.
Outside Testimony.
Sigmund Rothschild. one OF the passen-
gers on the City of Washington. was an
eyewitness to the explosion. In company
, with his friend, Luis Wertheimer. who was
aboard the City of Washington on the
night Of February Is as she sailed into Ha-
vana harbor. He was on the stern of the
Washington, which was astern and on
Z the port side of the Maine. The vessels
were about 100 yards apart. Rothschild
said he was naturally interested in the
Maine, and had taken position where they
could get a good look at her, Just as he
had taken his eyes off her to move his
chair, there was a sound like cannon
shot in the darkness. He Immediately
looked toward the Maine. He saw the
/, | forward end of the vessel rise, he thought
, a couple of feet, out of water An instant
later came a second distinct explosion.
This seemed to burst from the interior
of the vessel forward in a dull flame, and
the air was instantly filed with flying
debris The vessel lurched back in the
water after the force of the first detona-
ton that had lifted her bow, and quickly
began to sink forward. In less than min
ute her bow had disappeared The wreck
took fire and burned for two hours. There
were single reports that kept up through
all that time as the fixed ammunition was
I -oor1,a9 nv tho 10 mos nut these were not