Arizona republican., 1898-03-29
SIGSBEE'S STORY.
The Maine Was Plainly Marked fol
 Destruction.

WdSuIHSlOH, MdTcQ ZS. - CdptdlQ Sigsbee, in testifying before the court of inquiry, said that he assumed com- mand of the Maine April 10, 1897, and that his ship arrived in the harbor Of Havana for the last time on January 24, 1898. The authorities at Havana knew of the Maine's coming, Consul General Lee having informed them ac- cording to official custom. After he took on an official pilot sent by the captain of the port of Havana, the ship was berthed in man-of-war anchor age, off the "Machina," or the shears, and according to his understanding it was one of the regular buoys of the place.
 He then stated that he had been in Havana in 1872 and again in 1SSS He could not state whether the Maine was placed in the usual berth for men-of- war, but said that he had heard re- marks since the explosion, using Cap tain Stevens, temporarily in command of the Ward Line steamer City of Washington, as authority for the statement, that he had never known in all his experience, which covered visits to Havana for five or six years, man-of-war to be anchored at that buoy; that he had rarely known merchant vessels to be anchored there, and that it was the least used buoy in the harbor. In describing the sur roundings when first moored to this buoy, Captain Sigsbee stated that the Spanish man-of-war Alfonso XIII was anchored in the position now occupied by the Fern, about 25O yards to the northward and westward of the Maine. The Maine coaled at Key West, taking on about 150 tons, the coal being regularly inspected and taken from the government coal pile. This coal was placed generally in the forward bunkers. No report was re- ceived from the chief engineer that any coal had been very long in the bunk CTS and the fire alarms in the bunkers were sensitive.
 The regulations regarding inflamma bles and paints on board, Captain Sigsbee testified, were strictly carried out in regard to storage, and that waste also was subject to the same tion of the paint room, he fixed it as in the caves of the ship just below the berth deck in an extreme forward compartment. Inflammables were stores in chests according to regula- tions and when inf1ammables were in excess of the chest capacity they were allowed to be kept in the bathroom of the admiral's cabin.
 Regarding the electric compartment of the Maine, Captain Sigsbee stated nor sudden flaring up of the lights be- fore the explosion, but a sudden and total eclipse. As for the regulations affecting the taking of the temperature of the magazines, etc., Captain Sigsbee stated there were no special regula- tions other than the usual regulations required by the department. He had no recollection of any work going on in the magazine or shell rooms on the day of the explosion. The keys were called for in the usual way on the day in question and were properly re- turned
 Speaking generally of the relations with the Spanish authorities, Captain Sigsbee stated that with the officials ! they were outwardly cordial. Mem bers of the autonomist council of the government, however, seemed to have brought the attention of the navy de- partment to the fact that he did not visit them and it brought embarr ass ment to the government at Washing ton. He took the ground before the department at Washington that it was unknown etiquette to call on the civil members of a colonial government other than the governor Without wait i ing for such an order, Captain Sigs- bee made a visit afterwards, and, as he states, was pleasantly received and ! his visit promptly returned by certain members of the council A party of | ladies and gentlemen called and the president of the council made a speech which Captain Sigsbee could not un- derstand, but which was interpreted to him briefly. My reply" said Captain Sigsbee, was afterwards printed in at
 least two papers in Havana but the
 terms made me favor autonomist gov ernment in the island. I am informed
 that the autonomist government in
 Havana is unpopular among a large
 class of Spanish and Cuban residents.
 l have no means of knowing whether
 my apparent interference in the po-
 litical concerns of the island had any