The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-03-29
own to atoms if that magazine had ex-

The gun cotton. the captain said, was
kept aft under the cabin. The war
heads were all slowed in that part of
the snip which was not affected by the
explosion. 1t was away aft The gun
cotton primers and detonators were al
ways kept IN the captains cabins. He
stated positively that no torpedo of the
Maine was fitted with its warhead at
the time OF the explosion. In response
TO Il request for information as to what
steps he had taken to ascertain the cause
and what results has been accomplished
Capt. SigsbCe said:
u have examined the wreck myself, to-
gether with other officers and men, and
to some Slight extent In categorical
way. with the Spanish admiral. ! have
had a board of three officers make in
quiries throughout the bay, but / have
not Yet received the reports from all the
officers. nor have l had time to read the
preliminary reports now in hand. ! have
not sent down any divers until this
| morning. not having had the necessary
facilities. The best divers here are APP
pareHtly in the employ Of private parties
and since the Spanish authorities are
very much averse TO an investigation ex-
/ cept officially. on the ground as stated
/ by tho Spanish admiral that the honor
OF Snain is involved, l have foreborne to
examine the wreck for the cause of the
explosion until this morning. / had div
ers in the cabin this morning and have
recovered ty that means the cipher code
and the na gazine KEYS
The condition of the Maine as far as
discipline was concerned was excellent
This was atteSted by the fact that she
was chosen for the duty in which she
was concerned. The marine guard was
! in excellent condition. / think the pun
ishment reports of the Maine are as
small as that of any other vessel of the
navy in proportion to complement They
are unCommonly small. j quieter. bet
ter-natured. well-ordered and apparently
satisfied crew ] have never known on
board any vessel in which l have served.
! l consider that the conduct of every man
! at the time of the disaster was admir-
! able. The behavior of the officers to-
ward me personally, and the prompt and
responsive recognition OF my authority,
was admirable; and instances of bravery
/ are known both among the officers and
crew in the direction of rescuing ship
mates"
On the subject of the highest tempera-
ture reported in the forward magazines
/ Capt. Sigsbee said the highest ever re-
/ ported was 112, but that was in the aft
| magazines, where the temperature was
always higher. No loose powder was ever
4 permitted to be kept around. All the
! DuNhtIS were ventilated through ar
. tubes, examined weekly by the chief en-
gineer, ana otherwise as was necessary
and they were connected electrically to
/ the communication near his cabin door
! The forward coal bunker on the port
side was full, as he understood. The
I forward coal bunker on the starbOard
side adjoining the magazine was reported
to him as being half full, and it was in
use at the time Of the explosion
III
1 recalled. swore that no torpedo warheads
were affixed to any terpedoes on board
the ship. nor had been since he assumed
command. This made it actually impos-
sible for a single torpedo to have ex-
ploded Lieut.. Commander Wainwright
also swore positively that no war heads
had been affixed to the torpedoes. He
also swore that the ship had never be-
fore occupied the position she did on the
night Of the explosion. She had swung
in almost every other direction but not
TO the one she occupied when she was
| blown up.
Ensign Powelson also was recalled or
/ the sixth day and demonstrated that the
explosion had come from the outside.
Ensign PoyycisOn's Testimony.
Ensign W. Y. N Powelson was one o.
the most important witnesses exam
ined, because Of his profound technica
knowledge. The main points of his ties
timony were as follows:
Il have been in the Maine every day
since Wednesday, February 16, and near
ly all of each day.
The forward part of the ship, for
ward of the after smoke pipe, has beer
completely destroyed as far as all ap
pearances go. The coming tower nov
lies in a position opposite the doc
leading to the superstructure aft, and L
starboard. The coming tower is inclined
1 at about l10 degrees to the vertical witt
| the top of the coming tower inboard
The forward siX-inch superstructure gun
now lies completely turned upside down
over the after starboard siX-inch super
structure gun. The frames which sup
ported the deck plating and planking o
1 the port gangway forward of the mail
deck are bent upward and against tn
superstructure, the angle of bend in
| creasing as you go aft. The fixture
underneath the main deck on the por
side consisting of pipes, wood for casin
/ the electric wires, standing lights, etc
have been completely wrecked, while o.
the starboard side these fixtures, occu
pying similar position, are in som
cases almost intact. This is especial
so under the coming tower at the star
board side whore the woodwork of tn
| electric wires is scarcely burned at al
The port bulkhead, between the mai
deck and the berth deck, at the connin
| tower support, has been blown aft o.
both sides, but a great deal more on tn
port side than on the starboard.
Tho fireroom hatch, immediatel
abaft the coming tower support, be
tween the main and the berth deck
has been blown open in three direction.
aft to starboard. and TO port. The for
ward side Of the hatch, being stronger
forming the support of the coming tow
er, was not much injured The protec
tive deck under the coming tower sup
ports, where il is secured to the armo
tube from the coming tower, is ben
in two directions The plates on tn
port side are bent up, and the plate o
the starboard side is bent down."
BY the Court:
do you mean with reference to thei
original positions?"
Answer of witness:
with reference to their original pc
sitions There is a beam supporting III
| protective deck few inches abaft tn
armored tube. This beam, to port {
| the midship line was bent up TO stal
board of the midship line. The rivet
were sheared. The beam broke at tn
: midship line, due to weakening al TIL
? point by the pipes passing through
! These rivets, holding the beam TO til
deck. were sheared almost at right AZ
! giles 10 the fore and aft line. The stal
, / board crane was broken completely Of
, due to the superstructure falling upo
it. The port crane supports are ben
| but the crane itself intact The fol
I ward smokestack now lies forward sid
} up along the starboard quarter-decl
! about the position of the waterway
and almost clear of the coming stancl
= ions. The after smokestack lies with il