New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-29


had nothing 10 support him. 49,. ohout
Mr. Powelson said Olsen testiheo 'n"' 49,
twenty feet from the sluicc valve ne fou"" or 80.
,,r In the ship's side. He had found poa' ''"e 49,
the sea suction In apartment ~ ABOUT 80
feet from the sluice valve. In nm amos. ,e''
siton although II originally horIIo"'"''
Mr. Powolson said that he thought the ehp.o''o''
occurrcl on tho Fort side somewhere ABOUT li''''s
IS centre OF impact The ship yie'"eu az - 90
also At Is. but II was pretty hard 10 say
where the impact came. Frame 10 was p'o"
How do YOU account FOR the immense damage
,o,a ahr,os, ., the reserve magazine. where there
ia nothing left whereas between frames 10 ana 10
you have found damaged platesT' Mr.. fo"eison
was asked.
EXPLOSION OF MAGAZINES.
MY idea" he replied. rs that after the snip was
raised I'D at frame No. 49, the magazines one OF al
of them after that were exploded, for some powder
tanks that | have seen. ! think were eApioueo'
while others have seen we're not expiodeo' Sd"
a coffee can that was brought up TINS morning.
which wns about as badly battered as most OF the
powder cases that came up. 1t looks In very much
tho same condition.
When you say some OF the powder tanks had' IN
your opinon exploded and some had not. do you re-
fer to 6-inch tanks only. or pinch tanks also'
Il refer to BOTH as / have 6-inch tank that
was very little ripped open. and saw ono 'hls
morning that had been burst open and ha'ened out
with evidences or burned powder OH H. ca '"e
10-nch tank that was scarcely battered at ALL ana
only tho head Of IL gone. / also saw l0-inch tanks
with the packing. which looked like excelsior I'M
burned so that in my opinion some. but not all, OF
the lO-inch and 6-inch charges were exploded.
Mr. Powelson said four five tanks had been
brought up that morning. but he did not see all OF
them. The only one he remembered seeing was ex-
poded and burst out. so that the case formed al
most a plain surface. The l0-inch tank had It's
head removed but 1t had preserved It's approximate
shape.
EVIDENCE OF OUTSIDE EXPLOSION.
When questioned further as to what he regarded
as the cause OF the injury Mr.. Poweson said: ION
the bottom forward. where that frame vas thrown
up It would seem to me tho force was communicated
distance through the water. because 1t was
lifted up instead Of being battered In. 1t was force
that was cushioned in some way. because the diver
tells me that there was bulge in plates between
the two frames and such force rs that would be
n cushion pressure. SO tho plates in that part OF
the ship not having been broken in this explosion.
and the frames forward OF the transverse armor
being weaker than they are aft. the ship might
have been lifted up there by thus cushion pressure
from further aft.
1T struck me-" continued Mr.. Powelson speaking
OF the same part OF the vessel that the mine there
could not have been very close 10 those plates They
were lifted up because. say the plates are not
much damaged bent in the form of a and
raised up a vertical distance. 1t seems TO me that
the mine was somewhat removed and the pressure
came through tho water. which produced that
cushion sort OF pressure.
MORE DIVERS REPORTS.
On tho tenth day OF the investigation Mr. Powell
continued his testimony regarding reports he
had taken from Olsen In part he said: Olsen fol-
lowed the second longitudinal down until he got to
frame No. r. Then he worked himself down toward
the direction Of the keel and there he found the
first longitudinal fracture. He then worked himself
forward until he came to the edge OF plate A. and
then went down TO the keel the bottom plating
until he got into the mud
"On tho forenoon Of March Diver Rundquist
went down the port side OF the ship abaft the
port crane. He went down ladder placed about
five fcet abaft the port against the port super
structure and leading down 10 the main deck Then
he went over the side at point about twelve inches
abaft the break in the main deck He found still
attached 10 the side underneath the waterways Of
tho main deck strip Of plating three or four feet
wide This plating. ne said. bent inboard"
on tho afternoon 81 March Rundquist went down
to examine the side plating under the waterways
on the port side abaft the port crane. Mr.. Powell
said "ffe back to the ships side and ex-
amned the backing OF the armor. That looked TO
be pushed from ont in. because at the place where
the plate gone the wood backing about six or
seven inches thick splintered and all the
splinters pointing nhonrd"
Mr.. Powelson said that February q Diver
Smith went down 10 examine the forward part 1T
the keel far forward to the bow as he could get
He went down AT the point d. and walked down
on the green plating until ne got near the keel.
lie worked his way aft He found" said Mr..
PoWelson. the Nat part Of the keel TO be fourteen
inches wide. ard found that the outer keel plato
Tapped up along the bottom plating each side
distance OF one foot eight inches He examined
the top OF the wood backing level with the armor
NVQa eriIf n and
vertical plane. and the inboard part OF the backing
was torn of. The outward part of the backing
was still attached to the plate. The splnters
on tho forward edge OF the backing md pointed In
board as ne indicated in a sketch These splnters
were about six or seven inches long, and pointed
!nboard he drew them at angle OF about
IS degrees"
RurdquIst found a hole about Frame No a.
where the splinters on the forward edge OF the
backing pointed outward.
Mr.. Powelson sont Schluter on the morning Of
the 5.h to examine the plating the port side.
abaft the crane. Just under the main deck. The
outside plating he found bent sharply from
outside In making acute angle at the water
way.
SECURED MAP OF THE WRECK
Ensign Powelson was recalled at the beginning
OF the thirteenth days hearing. and after correct
ing his preceding testimony ne asked whether
he had taken angle which would show the posi-
ton of the ram with regard 10 the keel OF the
ship. He said he had sent the diver down TO
make n leadne fast TO the point Of the
ram rs possible. He could find the point Of the
ram. It was In the mud and he made his lead
limo fast to some weights along a ram plate at a
distance which he estimated from the curve Of the
keel at that point and the stem OF the ship. be
about five feet abaft the ram point. The man
cent ont 10 plumb this point on the ram
plate y diver also sent down to make A
limo fast to the vertical keel. where the broken
place occurs at Frame No. 10 Powelson then
got into the boat and plUmbed the latter point
taking the angle between the pumbline OF the
armor plate and tho OF the aft funnel Of tho
Maine.
Ensign Poweson was recalled on March Is. and
explained how he got the data for his sketches