The record-union., 1898-02-18
A PILE OF WRECKAGE.
View of the Batt1eship After the
Explosion Occurred.


disaster to the Maine light wind from
the southwest was blowing. and her head
pointed in southeasterly direction. She
was moored in about II meters of water
| forward and drew about Is meters aft
The Spanish cruiser Alphonso MI. was
about 300 meters from the American
battleship.
The correspondent of the Associated
Press was in the cable office filing a
message when the explosion occurred
| He saw from the window of that office
great column of fire shooting upward
and he hurried to the wharf and.to the
quarters of Admiral Manterola BY that
time the flames extended over the whole
ship and in a few moments the Maine
sank.
The explosion so disjointed and twisted
the battleship that her remains now APP
pear like a pile of wreekage. All the
upper deck structure. turrets and guns
are in heap and one boiler has been
blown out of its place, and at , O'Clock
yesterday afternoon was still smoking
on deck
The foremost and bow of the Maine
have collapsed. and now only the end
of her mainmast remains above water.
The boats of the Spanish cruiser AL
phonso XII. have picked up a quantity
of wreckage, including boats and a flag,
and to-day ten more bodies We're found
in the harbor and taken to the Morgue.
Ii is impossible to identify them.
Captain Sigsbee went on board the
Alphonso XII. yesterday and thanked
the Spanish Commander Captain Man
uel Elias for the services the Spanish
sailors had rendered upon the occasion
of the great disaster.
Contrary to the reports current here
to-day, the divers have not made any
investigation of the wreck and the gem
eral opinion expressed in Spanish circles
is that the explosion occurred inside the
Maine.
Captain-General Blanco has sent to
the Spanish Charge d Affaires at Wash
ington q. cable message on behalf of the
Colonial Government requesting him to
tender to President Mckinley the con-
dolence of the Cabinet upon the terrible
disaster that destroyed the United
States warship Maine, requesting him,
moreover, to tender our profound SYM
pathy to the American Government an
assurance of how deply we regret that
this port should be the witness of such
a tremendous accident to the American
Navy"
The correspondent of the Associated
Press visited the hospitals of San AM
brosa and the Alfonso XIII. yesterday
and again to-day, and met Miss Clara
Barton and John Elwell of the Red
Cross Society. The scene was heart
breaking. Some of the men, however,
are already much better. and they are
carefully attended by DR.. Bernardino
Mas whose treatment is kindness it
self. Two are near death, Carl A.
Smith, whose leg and jaw were broken,
and who is badly burned, and A. Ander-
son, who has burns all over his body.
Both have received the sacrament.
Elaborate preparations are being
made for the interment of the dead. In
the morning twenty-five bodies We're
brought to the City Hall, where they
rested in collins covered with beautiful
crowns of silk ribbons, with appropriate
inscriptions. The crown from the City
Council bears the inscription:
THE people of Havana to the victims
of the Maine
There was a handsome crown of silk
ribbons in the Spanish national colors
with the inscription:
The Navy Department at Havana to
the victims of the Maine.
Among other tokens is an emblem
from the Havana Yacht Club
In connection with the theory of
spontaneous combustion, the character
of the coal supplied to the Indiana as
sumed some Importance. This is sup
piled at present to the Bureau of Equip
ment, and the head of that bureau,
Captain Bradford, asserted to-day pos
itively that the coal was the very best
He produced the quarterly report re-
quired by the regulations to show ex-
actly the state of the Names coal sup
ply and the quality of the coal. At
the end of December the vessel had
ffty-two tons of coal only in her bunk
ers This was Pocahontas and New
River coal. Captain Bradford said that
Pocahontas is a standard naval coal,
and is rated at 100. New River follows
next, and is set down at 80 per cent.
These are semi-bituminous Goals of
quality closely approaching that of the
celebrated Walsh navigation coal. the
British naval standard. In the opinion
of Captain Bradford neither of these
Goals is particularly subject TO sponta-
neous combustion.
Since the Maine has been in the Gulf
of Mexico however, she probably has
consumed a good part of this coal and
has replenished her stock from the ma
val store at the Key West station. The
coal there taken on was anthracite,
which, said Captain Bradford, lis no
more subject to spontaneous combus-
ton than a pile of stones
Moi rS0 Of J,
in December, and in January, before she
tons more This coal at Key West is
kept behind a picket fence very much
exposed to any evil-minded person who
might desire to conceal a bomb therein,
something that could only be effected
stored in the bunkers
These obscure fires arising from
spontaneous combustion are very diff
cult to detect Such fires have been
known to smolder undisturbed in piles
of coal at the Washington Navy Yard
here for many days before breaking out,
and this. too. notwithstanding the fact
that the piles were visited almost daily.
Aboard a ship the taking of the tenn
perature of the magazines daily is one
Of the precautions to guard against
such fires. In the case of the Maine
this observation was usually taken at
9 o'clock in the morning, so that it was
entirely possible for a bunker fire to
have developed sufficient heat during
the twelve hours that lapsed before the
explosion to have ignited the ammuni-
ton. While the brown powder used
for the 10-inch guns is difficult to ignite
without a detonator still application
Of baot ovonc.c Of S.QA ,lorroo- g.