The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-02-20

awe inspiring, terrifying, of noise, rend
ing, vibrating, all-peryading. There i
! nothing in the former experience o
| anyone on board to measure the explo-
| sion by.
After the first great shock / canno
| myself recall how many sharp detona.
tlonS 1 heard. not more than two ol
three-I knew my ship was gone. Ir
such structure as the Maine. the
e1ects of such an explosion are not fol
the moment in doubt.
made my way through the lons
passageway in the dark, cropping from
side to side in the hatchway and then
into the poop. being among the earliest
TO reach that spot. So soon as l recog-
niZed the officers I ordered the big ex-
ploslves 10 be flooded and / then direct
ed that the boats available be lowered
to rescue the wounded or drowning.
discipline in perfect measure pre-
Valied. There was no more confusion
than a call to general quarters would
produce, nor as much.
soon saw by the light of the flames
that all my officers and crew left alive
and on board surrounded me. l cannot
form any idea of the time. but it seemed
nVe minutes from the time l reached
the poop until I left. the last man IL
was possible to reach having been
saved. 1t must have been three-quar-
ters OF an hour or more however from
the amount of work done.
remember the officers and men
worked together lowering the boats.
and that the gig took some time TO
lower. | did not notice the rain of de-
brls described by Lieutenant Blandin
or others who were on deck at the time
OF the first explosion, but / did observe
the explosion OF the fixed ammunition
and wondered that more We're not hurt
thereby.
Without going beyond the limits of
Wnat was proper in the harbor of a.
friendly power, / always maintained
precautions against attack, and the
quarter watch was ordered to have
ammunition for the smaller guns ready
10 hand so that in the improbable event
OF an attack on the ship it would be
found ready. 1t was this ammunition
which exploded as the heat reached it,
captain Sigsbee and all the officers
mere are very anxious for news from
the United States as to the public oDin
ION there The captain has done all he
can to calm the excitement in the
United States and to induce The public
to wait for the results of the inyestiga-
ton before forming a Judgment as to
the cause of the explosion.
As the Olivette entered the harhor
early this morning the passengers
crowded to her upper decks. not to see
the yellow forts and long lines of walls
Ny 5oidlHIS, the beauties of
palm crowned hills or the thousand
sights new to many eyes. All interest
in the first view of the wreck
Of the ill-fated battleship and the sight
was ghastly enough, when reached to
satisfy all who were desirous of wit
Messing horrors.
The wreck is the central figure of an
bright picture and it is as
sad as It is terrible. The huge mass of
lame -charred debris forward looks as
,nough 1t had been thrown up from a
storehouse of fused ee-
nent. steel, wood and iron. Further
at, one military mast protrudes at a
'ight angle from the perpendicular
Vhile the poop. on which gathered the
oana, offers resting place for the |
or divers. OF the predoni- /
rant white which marks our war yes /
sells, not vestige remains. In its place I
s the blackness of desolation and
ieath A
1t is known that Lieutenant jenkins
Tho Is among those missing. was alive I
liter the explosion. A colored mess at
now a Key West met jenkins
unning forward. He evidently thought
n the confusion that the Maine had
zen hred on, and he was rushing fo
ne forecastle. where he was located by
ne six-inch gun of which he was in
harge. -