The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-21
READY FOR INQUIRY
INVESTIGATION OF MAINE DISASTER
TO BEGIN TODAY
Naval board Now in Havana Pre-
pared for a Thorough Probing of
All Accident Theories and Ru-
mors Of PlOts--The SobraI Incl
dent Overlooked,

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20-The naval
court of inquiry appointed to investi-
gate the Maine disaster will begin its
work at Havana tomorrow. This news
came to the navy department this
morning from Admiral Sicard, at Key
West. He simply telegraphed as fol-
lows: The court of inquiry sail for
Havana goth by lighthouse steamer
Mangrove. Mark arrived today"
This prompt action is undoubtedly
due to the express direction from Sec
retary Long, sent yesterday, to have
the investigation begun at the earliest
possible moment. The telegram was
dated SO the board should have arrived
there before nightfall and be ready to
begin its work tomorrow morning.
BY an error incident to the haste with
which the orders were gotten out. the
hrst accounts placed Lieutenant Com
mander Seaton Schroeder on the board
as the third member, While, as a mat
Ter OF fact, Lieutenant Commander
Potter, the executive officer of the flag
snip New York, holds that place. The
board undoubtedly would have started
previously, but for the necessity of
awaiting the arrival at Key West from
w washington of Lieutenant Commander
Mark, a naval officer well skilled In
the lntr1cacies of marine law, who is
to be judge advocate of the court.
Capt Sigsbee was heard from late
last night, but the telegram was not
delivered at the navy department until
Lhls morning. His message goes to con-
firm the press reports of the events
or yesterday in Havana harbor so far
as they relate to the exploration of the
wreck. 1t read as follows:
Sissbee's Telegram.
"recklhg divers can do effective work on
the Maine. In the upper work I can use
service divers. Did some work TODAY but
with little success VIII do better tomor-
row Parts Of the Maine especially the
superstructure and connections are ono
confused mass of metal
Another brief telegram from Cant
Slgsbee read:
tba aaTana; ana. Feb: ,t. 1s-Rache (Which means
at Havana. bringing on board all the div
ing apparatus sent from the squadron.
The statement referring to expert
enced divers is explained at the navy
department as no reflection upon the
men now engaged in the work. they
being enlisted men belonging to the
navy. 1t is the practice on board of
men OF war to assign a few men, al
ways volunteers on account of the
n,
as divers In connection with their reg
ular work The scope of their work is
the exploration of the ships bottom
generally, the disentanglement of ca
bies from the propeller shafts. and
some times the search for q lost tor
pedo or anchor. Such work rarely
carries them deeper than twenty-five
feet into the water, and it is said that
for operations in deeper water, such SIS
WOnl6 he inUn1Ul6 in o
the Names bottom, their training has
not fitted them. They are also lacking
in that kind of skill necessary to en-
able a diver to sgrope. his way safely
thr ough the internal parts of mighty
ship like the Maine, torn and disrnem-
hered as she is, and this work is high
ly dangerous. Creeping through mar
row, Unbound passages and groping
for the doors of the numerous water
tight bulkheads which divide the hull
into many compartments, on Shiny
floors and in perfect darkness requires
the highest expert skill, and that is
why Capt. Sigsbee. with only his sailor
divers at command had not been able
to do much SO far towards unraveling
the mystery of the Names untimely
end
Raising the Wreck.
1t is to meet just this emergency that
the navy department is making every
effort to hasten the beginning of the
work of recovery of the goods and per-
haps the raising of the hull by pro-
fessionals. To that end Capt. Lemly.
the judge advocate general of the de-
partment, was at work today in his
office with representatives Of wreck
ing companies, trying to draw up CON
tracts for the immediate prosecution
Of the work. He has been at the task
now two days. and it has not been easy
to dispose of. This is owing to an ap-
parent disposition on the part of at
least one of the concerns to drive a
hard bargain, leaving the department
in the dark as to the amount of money
to be paid for the services But it is
been surmounted and that the con-
tracts can be signed tomorrow.
1t is the purpose Of Capt Lemly to
hurry this work, and to that end he is
arranging to have two of the compa-
nies combine their forces. They will
be paid on the scale of days work with
a provision for a bonus if they succeed
in raising the vessel, thus insuring the
recovery of as much of the valua BILE
equipment as is possible, should it not
be practicable to float the Maine again.
Great difficulty is expected in recover
ing the big ten-inch turret guns, each
worth $40, 000 owing not only to their
own weight, fifty tons apiece without
carriages, but to the enormous tur-
rets enclosing them with 100 tons of
steel. 1t is doubtful If the tops of these
tUrrets can be removed as was at first
supposed, by cutting off the bolt heads
that fix them to the sides. as these
large bolts are probably cOuntersunk
hla1 1no fnn1n = !, Il
metal, While the confined space within
the turrets would make it very difficult
to operate there on the outside ends
under water. 1t is hoped that it may
be feasible to raise the turrets entire
with the guns, if lifting apparatus Of
sufficient power can be applied
The newspaper productions Of pho
tographs taken Of the wreck were stud
led with much interest by the naval
officers here today. Great surprise was
expressed at the extent of the wreck
and the vast mass of steel and iron
heaped in the forward part of the ship
was a particular object of attention.
The experts who had first ventured the
theory of q bursting boiler as the
cause Of the destruction claim to find
strong reinforcement in the pictures for
that belief. The great mass of metal
to be thrown up over the
boiler space, and not over the forward
while the forcing apart Of
the forward body Of the hull, they say,
might have been accomplished by the
enormous expansive power of the high
pressure of steam carried in these
boilers with their shells more than an
inch thick. AS to what caused a boiler
to explode; whether a disguised bomb
in the coal. low water or faulty con
they do not now undertake
to say
Secretary Long said this afternoon.