Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1898-04-01

munitios was handled. -
Nothing was slowed In any one Ct
the magazines or she'll rooms when
was not permitted to BE- slowed there.
/ .>> csptaia Had the Ksys. @
The magazines and she'll rooms wore
always locked after having been
opened; and after the destruction OF
the Maine tho keys we're found in thor
proper place in the captains cabin.
everything having been reported ~
sure that eve st 8 p. m.
Tho temperatures Of the magazines
and shell rooms were taken daily ana
reported. The only magazine which
had an undue amount Of heat was the
after lO.inoh magazine and that did
not explode at the time the Maine was
destroyed. The torpedo war heads
were all stored in the after part OF the
ship under the ward room and neither
caused nor participated in the destruo'
tion Of the Maine. -" t.e
The gun cotton primers and deton.
aters were stored in the cabin ait ana
remote from the scene of the explosion.
The waste was carefully looked after
on board the Maine to obviate danger.
Special orders in regard to this had
been given by the commanding officer
Varnishes, dryers. alcohol and other
combustiles OF this nature were slowed
on or above the main deck and could
not have had anything to do with tho
destruction of the Maine.
The medical stores were slowed att
under the ward room and remote from
the zone Of the explosion.
No Dangerous Stores Around.
No dangerous stores of any kind were
slowed below in any OF tho other store
rooms.
The coal bunkers were inspected. VI
those bunkers adjoining the forward
magazines and she'll rooms, four were
empty, namely BS, b, B5, BIZ. "Al6"
had been in use that day, and "Alo:
was full of New River coal. This coal
had been carefully inspected before re-
ceiving it on toard. The bunker in
which it was slowed was accessible on
three sides at all times and the fourth
side at this time on account OF bunkers
"B4" and "B8" being empty. This
bunker "Al6'' had been inspected that
day by the engineer officer on duty.
The fire alarms in the bunkers were
in working order, and there had never
been case of spontaneous combustion
- o..l 80, hood Mann
Only Two Boilers in Use.
The two after boilers Of the ship were
in use at the time ofi:the disaster, but
for auxiliary purposes only with com.
paratively low pressure %>ofs steam, ana
being tended by reliable watch! These
boilers cou. d not have caused the ex.
plosion of the ship. The four forward
boilers have since been found by the
divers and are in, fair Condition.
On the night Of the, destruction Of
the Maine everything had been report
ed secure for the night Ut Sp.i M, by
reliable persons, through tho proper
authorities, to the commanding officer.
!. At the time the Alaines vas destroyed
the ship was quiet and therefore least
liable to accident caused by movements
from those Oh board. ,:'a-:
Two Distinct Explosions.
t. T. The destruction Of the Maine &C.
Cured at $40 p. H.. on the 18th day OF
February. 1893, in the harbor OF da.
: vana, Cuba, being at the time moored
to the Same buoy to which she had
been taken upon her arrival.
There were two explosions OF dis
tinctly different character, with very
short but distinct, interval between
them, and the forward part Of the ship
was lifted to q marked degree at the
time of the first explosion.
The first explosion was more in the
nature of report, like that OF q gun;
while the second explosion was more
open, prolonged, and OF greater volume.
The second explosion was, in the
| opinion of the court, caused by the par
tial explosion of two or more of the
forward magazines OF the Maine.
Condition OF tho Wreck.
a. The evidence bearing on this, be-
; ing principally Obtained from divers,
did not enable the court to form def.
nate conclusion as to the condition Of
the wreck, although it was established
that the after part Of the ship was prac.
tically intact, and sank in that oondi'
ton q very few minutes after the de-.
struotion Of the forward part.
The following facts in regard to the
forward part OF the ship are, however,
established by the testimony:
! That portion Of the port side Of the
protective deck, which extends from
about frame ~ to about frame Al, was
blown up aft and over to port. The
main deck from about frame 80 to
about frame al was blown up aft and
sliQhtlv over to starboard, folding the