Evening star., 1898-02-18
Official Belief That the Maine Disas-
ter Was an Accident.
WHAT SECRETARY LONG SAYS
Flowers for Mrs. Sigsbee and the
Relatives of the Dead.
PREPARING CUBAN REPORTS


from any official in Havana to lay before
the cabinet at its session today. The only
message of any kind was that of Captain
Sigsbes telling of the funeral of the dead
seamen OF the United States.
The cabinet convened at the usual hour
and was In session less than the usual time.
Secretary Long stated that the official body
headed by the President had nothing to
discuss, and that there were no develop
ments. He emphatically denied many OF
the sensational stories now afioat. some Of
which have obtained publication. One Of
these is that there have been secret ses-
sions of the cabinet: another 10 that tele-
grams have been received and sent which
have been suppressed. The Secretary said
that he had suppressed no information Of
any kind. The only special session Of the
cabinet to talk over the disaster. he said.
was ON Wednesday. 1t Is further denied
that the President has talked with army
and navy and congressional people to as
certain the condition of the fighting forces
of the country and to find out how quickly
consent to a war loan could be obtained
from Congress
Another Warship to De Sent.
An important statement made by Secre-
tary Long. however. was that in the course
Of time another warship will be sent to
Havana .-
liz" iOu5 Will oS iS6dtuSo dS piopcI pO-
fore this step is taken?" the Secretary was
asked.
The reply was that the time cannot now
be fixed. The Secretary did not care to
further discuss this point.
The cabinet meeting was a sad one, in
view of the terrible misfortune, and much
OF the talk was over the sad side of the
affair.
| that a bouquet of flowers be cut from the
White House conservatory and sent to Mrs
| Sgsbee. wife of Captain Sigsbee. This was
! done and Ensign Kattelle, son-in-law of
Captain Sigsbee, was sent for to receive
| them. The bouquet was a beautiful one
consisting of roses. orchids, hyacinths
lilies of the valley and greens. The tribute
| to the bravery of the captain Of the Maine
| is one which will be appreciated by mem
| bers of his family and friends. The Pres
| ident has not forgotten the brave seamen
who were killed. He gave orders that the
families of any of the dead seamen resid-
| ing in Washington be sent bouquets. He
! did not know the names of Washngtonians
| who were sacrificed and instructed that
| they be looked up.
The Official Belief.
| The official statement Is made that the
| President and practically every member of
| the cabinet now believe that the Maine was
| blown up the result of an accident
I hat was the unanimous opinion of the
| NE mbers of the cabinet assembled around
| the cabinet table, and the President shared
the same views. The exclusive statement
was made in The Star on Wednesday that
| the President was convinced that the
catastrophe could he attributed to an acct
| dent. The chief executive has not since
u dergone change, i'll his views. There
| have been times when his mind was i'm
| Pressed with the mysterious phases of the
| explosion. but he has consistently believed
| that there was no reason for treachery
Secretary Long. Secretary Gage. Attorney
General Mckenna and Secretary. Bliss have
all been talked to and do not hesitate to
| give as their opinion that an accident
| caused the horror. -',' e
There is hardly question about 1t
| now." said one of these men. There is a
| bare possibility that something to the con-
| tary will be shown by the Investigations
| of the court of inquiry, but every fact now
| tends the other way ~ -. =
The President considers that thcreowflf
be nothing new on the subject until the
court OF inquiry gets to work; probably Tot
until II makes report. = - =<i -f'- - -
Making Up Cuban aReport...; o4n
| : Another scare story is that the Presi-
! dent is going to send a message to Con-
| gress. This is officially pronounced untrue
| today. The facts are that the State De-
rartment is making up the Cuban reports
| called for by the House resolution the
| other day. These reports will be trans
| mitted to Congress in the most formal
manner and without a line Indicating amy
| belief policy of the President. The
| reports of the consus and of General Les
| are now being arranged in the State De-
| partInent ready for transmission.
Senor Du Bose, the Spanish charge daft
| faires, called at the White House with
| Assistant Secretary Day just before the
| cabinet meeting and personally expressed
| to the President the sympathy of the
! Queen of Spain in the, tragedy at Ha-
! vana. a&e5.
| Secretary Bliss submitted to the cabinet
| meeting today the report Of the governor
of Alaska On a subject now before Con-
| gress.