The San Francisco call., 1898-03-30
An Interesting Feature of the. Report on the
 Maine Disaster.
Information Con- cerning an Alleged Plot and
 Death of PlOtterS.
But the Story Sent to the Havana Consulate Was Inaccurate and
 Could Not Be Verified.
Special Dispatch to The Call.
Call Office, Riggs House, Washington. March 29.

An interesting feature of the pub lished report of the Maine testimony issued from the Government printing office to-day was the famous anony nous letter mentioned in the testimony of Henry Drain, clerk of the Ameri- can consulate at Havana. The letter was received by General Lee a few days after the Maine disaster. It was dated February IS, 1898, and signed, An Admirer." It was in Spanish, written apparently by a fairly well ed ucated person. It follows:
 It should be remembered that at dawn on the day of the terrible catastrophe together with another who was found wounded and a prisoner. They were go- ing about the cruisers Maine and Alfonso XII, and as the said individuals are of the worst antecedents as harbor thieves, I have interested myself in investigat- ing what connection this occurrence could and I have discovered that these two men, together with another, who is called Pope Taco, had bought in a hardware store in Mercadores street, called Marina, a hose such as Is used by divers, and that the three left Regla in a small boat. which they placed under the wharves of Santa Catalina, and they were lettering about more than an hour and a half, while Pope Taco, who is caulker and diver. probably the best in these parts, did the work to bring about the explo-- to Regla and discovered that the family of the dead man, who lived in the ut most misery in a hut Tn Rodriguez Bap- nished one on Gelabert street. There learned that they had agreed with some merchants Is of Muraila .to IhIH street t. for for the of S6O00-$2000 in advance and the other s4000 after seeing the result.
 But, as they did not come out of the adventure very well, having been at tackled when they were retiring, the re- suit of which was the death of one, who left his teeth in the boat, and another one sented himself to collect the rest of the money, and 1t could be probably secretly done that, by paying him the rest that the others will not now pay him, he would declare the truth of all this. The one whom I called the third party Is the diver Pope Taco, who is unwounded who Is no doubt afraid to present himself to collect the rest. In Muralla street they tell me, was the place where the business was arranged with Garcia Corujedo, Vil- las Ussa, Maribona and others whom do not remember. The man who Is arrest ed is being administered with morphine constantly to see If he will die and not give evidence, so as not, they express it to spoil the affair after it has come off so much to their taste.
 I certify that the above is true copy
 A. MARIX
 Lieutenant-C U. S. N, and
 Judge-Advocate.
 Drain, the consular clerK, stated in his evidence that an effort was made to ascertain the authenticity of the let ter, although the consulate was hand icapped, having no secret service fund. Witness discovered, however, that the name Pope Taco must have been a mistake, as the man mentioned died a few days before the explosion took place Witness thought the name should have been Pope Barquin, who died a couple of days after the explo- sion.