The Portland daily press., 1898-03-29

lfdiilc elSD Teen, Cenbfe OF impact. Inc
ship yielded at seventeen and also at
fifteen, but it was pretty hard to say ex-
actly where the impact came Frame
fifteen was blown in.
= When you say some of the powder
tanks had, in your opinion, exploded,
and some had not, do you refer to six
inch tank only or two inch tanks also?''
MIR. Powelson was asked.
II refer to both as l have seen q six
inch tank that was very little ripped open
and L saw one this morning that had been
burst open and flattened out, with evil
dences of burnt powder on it. saw one
ten inch tank that was scarcely battered
at all and only the head of it gone. al
so saw ten inch tanks with the packing
which looked like excelsior, unburnt, so
that in my opinion some but not all OF
tte ten inch and six inch charges were ex-
ploded''
cit struck me-" continued Mr.. Powell
son, speaking of the same part of the YES
sell" that the mine there could not have
been very close to those plates that were
lifted up because as l say the plates are
not so much damaged as bent in the form
OF V and raised up vertical sSdistance.
1t seems to me that the mine was some
what removed and the pressure came
through the water which produced that
cushion sort of pressure q
On the 18th day Ensign Powelsou was
recalled and described the reports to
him by the divers which were afterward
directly testified to before the board.
"March 8, testified Powelson, 81 sent
Olsen down the piece of keel. the vertical
keel, TO make further explorations in the
region Of lo-inch magazine. He went
down to where the keel became horizontal
at frame %, walked about % feet and
climbed over lot of wreckage consist
ing of plates and bulkheads standing
upright. The upper ends of these plates
were ragged and he crawled over to what
he thought was part of boiler. He
could not give definite details but he
thought it was a boiler
IA little after this he walked out to
port, clear into the mud. He was at
this time forward of the break of the
ship at frame Al. returning about 10
feet in he found wreckage. He examined
this plate and found 1t curved as if it
were n part of the ship 1t pointed TO-
ward the starboard bow, but 1t was SO
dark he could not distinguish the color.
All the edges of the plating were rough.
The compartment seemed to be about
two and half or three feet wide For
inch tank. 1t was intact and was sent
up. 1t proved to be a full tank. He
found lot of broken tanks split up on
the seams and IN one tank, the cover Of
which has holes in it, he found lot of
mud which was brougt up and which
looked like dissolved powder. There
was any quantity of similar mud in the
same place. The mud around the tanks
was black, that of the harbor is gray
Ensign Powelson was recalled on
March 18th and explained how he got
the data for his sketches which played
such an important part in the work of
the court. He was able to plan map
Of the wreck both above and below wat
er that was mathematically correct.
CAPTAIN SIGSBEE'S TESTIMONY.
Captain Sigsbee in testifying before
the court of inquiry which convened in
the harbor of Havana Monday, February
81, said that the ship arrived at Havana
the last time January "a, 1888. The
at Havana knew of the
Maine's coming. After he took on an
official pilot sent by the Captain of the
port, the ship was berthed in the manor
war anchorage of the Nochina, or the
Shears, and according to his understand
ing was one of the regular buoys OF the
place. He could not state whether the
Maine was placed in the usual berth for
men -of-war, but said that he had heard
since thu explosion, using Capt
Stevens of the Ward line steamer Getty
of Washington, as authority for the
statement that he had never known in
all his experience of man-of-war to be
anchored st the buoy; and that it was
the least used buoy in the harbor. Capt.
Sigsbee stated that the Spanish inan-of-
war A1phonso XII, was moored in
position now occupied by the Fern about
$50 yards to the. northward and west
ward Of the Maine
In describing the surroundings at the
time of the explosion, Captain Sigsbee
stated that the night was calm and still.
The Alphonso XII. was at the same
BERTH The Maine coaled at Key West,
taking on about $50 tons, the coal being
inspected and taken from the
coal pile. This coal was placed generally
in the forward bunkers. He examined
the temperature himself and conversed
with the ordnance officer as to the various
and the contents OF the
and according to the opinion
of this officer as well as Sigsbee the tenn
peratures were never at the danger point.
81 do not think there was any laxity IN
this direction said the captain in reply
to the question of Judge Advocate Mark.
He had no recollection of any wrong go
ing on the magazines or shell rooms On
the day of the explosion.
Speaking generally of his relations with
the Spanish authorities. Captain Sigsbee
stated that with the officials they were
cordial The members of the
council, however, seemed to
have brought to the attention Of the navy
thes fact that he did not visit
them and that fact brought some embar-
rassment to the government at Washing
ton He took the ground to the depart
ment that it was unknown etiquette to
call on the civil members Of the colonial
other than the governor.
Without waiting for such an order, Capt.
Sigsbee made visit afterwards and he
states was pleasantly received and his
visit returned by certain members of the
council.
When asked whether there was any
of animosity by people
af1oat, Captain Sigsbee said that there
was never on shore, as he was informed,
but there was afoat. He then related that
o,i the first Sunday after the Names ar
rival, ferry boat crowded densely with
people, civil and military, returning from
i bull fight in Ragla, passed the Maine
and about forty people on board INDUCED
in yells, whistles and derisive calls.
During the stay in Havana, Captain
Sigsbee took more than ordinary precau-
lions for the protection of the Maine by
placing sentries on the forecastle and
poop, quartermaster and signal boys on