Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-29

various spanish OII1ClalS came OH
board and expressed sympathy and sor-
row for the accident. The reports OF
General Blanco and Of the admiral OF
the station were among the Spanish Of
ficials who rendered their respects
About 81 or So men were found that
night who survived.
By the time Captain Sigsbee reached
the quarterback it was his impression
that an overwhelming explosion had oc-
| CURED. When he came, he was blinded
for a few seconds; his only thought was
for the vessel, and he took no note OF
the phenomena of the explosion. In re-
ply to the direct question of whether
any Of the magazines or shell rooms
were blown up, the captain said it was
extremely difficult to come to any con-
cluion The centre Of the explosion
was beneath, and a little forward, OF
the coming tower on the port side. In
the region Of the centre axis of the ex-
plosion was the six-inoh. reserve mag
| azine, which contained very little pow
der, about 300 pounds.
The ten-inch magazine was in the
same general region, but on the star
| board side. Over the ten-inch magazine
in the loading room of the turret, and
in the adjoining passage, a number OF
ten-inch shells were permanently
placed. According to Captain Sigsbee
it would be difficult to conceive that the
| explosion involved the ten-inch maya
zine because of the location of the eX-
plosion, and that no reports show thai
! any ten-inch shells were hurled into the
air because of the explosion. The cap
tain went into details as to the location
of the small arm ammunition. He said
that he did not believe that the for.
ward siX-inch magazine blew up. The
location Of the gun cotton was aft UNI
der the cabin. The gun cotton primers
and the detonators were always kept in
the cabin.
Capt. Sigsbee stated that he had ex-
amlned the wreck himself, conversed
with other officers and men, but as the
spanish authorities were very much
averse to an investigation except Off
cially on the grounds as stated by the
Spanish admiral, that the honor of
Spain was involved, he forebore to ex-
anime the submarine portion of the
wreck for the cause of the explosion
until the day the court convened. He
said the discipline of the ship was ex-
cellent. The marine guard was in ex-
cellent condition.
The reports of the medical depart
ment show that about one man and a
quarter per day were ON the sick list
during the past year.
In the engineers department the ves-
sci was always ready and always re-
sponsive. He paid tribute to the
crew and said that quieter, better ma
tured lot Of men he had never known
on board any vessel in which he had
| served.
Capt. Sigsbee added that he had no
fault to find with the behavior of any
officer or man at the time of the dis
! aster. On his examination by the court
Capt. Sigsbee said that the highest
temperature he could remember was
| 112 but that was in the after maya
zine, the temperatures in the forward
magazines being considerably lower
There was no loose powder kept in the
magazine All the coal bunkers were
ventilated through air tubes, examined
weekly by the chief engineer, and were
connected electrically to the annun-
| ciator near his cabin door.
The forward coal bunker on the port
| side was full
| The forward coal bunker on the star,
| board side was half full, and it was in
use at the time Of the explosion.
ENSIGN POWELLSON
Ensign w. v n. Powellson wa
called the third day of the court H,
testified that he had been present OIL
the Maine every day from the arrival o
the Fern and during great deal of tn,
diving In reply to question to tel
| the court all about the condition of tn,
wreck, he said the forward part of thu
ship, forward of the after smokestack
| had been to all appearances completely
| destroyed. The coming tower lay in G
| position opposite the door leading to the
superstructure aft, and to starboard, in.
clined at about 10 degrees to the yer.
| teal with the top 1f the coming tower
| in board.
Continuing, he described with close de.
! tail the condition under the main deck
on the port side. The fixtures were
completely wrecked, while fixtures in
the same position on the starboard side
were in some cases almost intact. The
| port bulkhead, between the main and
berth decks at the coming tower sup
| port, had been blown aft on both sides
but great deal more on the port than
the starboard side. The fire room hatch
Immediately abaft Of the coming tower
had been blown in three directions, aft
to starboard and to port. The protect
| i've deck under the coming tower sup
port, was bent in two directions. the
| plates on the cardboard side being bent
up, and on the port side bent down.
! Just forward of the coming tower un-
derneath the main deck, two beams met
at right angles; one beam was broken
and pushed from port to starboard
| grating was found on the poor
awning, just forward of the after
| searchlight A piece of the side plat
| ing, just abaft of the starboard turret
was visible This plate was bent out
ward, and the forward end bent upward
and folded backward upon itself.
| Near the piece of outside plating tc
which witness referred above he said
! ME of lsa1 an11 a1r ,l
planks.
| On these planks was bolted a compo-
| sition track two inches wide and an inch
thick
Ensign Powelson then asked if the
| court meant for him to say anything
| about what the divers reported, or Just
what he saw
| The judge advocate replied that he
| would like to have him state any i'm
| portant discoveries which might lead
| the court to draw some conclusion as to
the cause, and if diver gave such in
| formation, to state the divers name
! Before doing SO, the judge advocate
| asked witness to state If the forward
| and after part of the ship were in line.
! Ensign Powelson replied that. as far
| as he could 'judgeg they were not. The
end where the explosion occurred
seemed to be pushed from port to star
| board from nVe ito ten degrees, he
| should judge, with the apex to the star
| board.
The divers reported to witness that
| at point where the ten-inch shell room
should be, they discovered 10-inch shells
regularly arranged, but the ship had
sunk down so much that some of the
shells were in the mud. Gunner Morgan
reported that in walking on bottom, he
fell in a hole on the port side and went
down into the mud. He also reported
that. as far as he could judge, every
thing seemed to be bent upward in the
vicinity of this hole. He also reported
i tl,nA 70, l,e,.,..