Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-03-29

lllt CApioSlOI us OUcIdllOuS nave
been conducted with the utmost de-
liberation and Judgment, and while ia
dependently pursued no source Of infor-
nation was neglected, and the fullest
opportunity was allowed for stimuli
taneous investigation by the Spanish
authorities
/ he finding of the court of inquiry
was reached after twenty three days of
continuous labor, on the 21st of March
inst, and having then been approved
on the 22d by the commander-in-ch
of the United States naval force on
the north Atlantic station, was trans
mitted to the executive.
1t is herewith laid before Congress.
together with the voluminous testi-
mony taken before the court
Its purport is, in brief, as follows:
When the Maine arrived in Havana
she was conducted by the regular gov
eminent pilot to buoy No 4, 10 which
she was moored in from five and a half
to six fathoms of water
THE STATE OF DISCIPLINE
on board and the condition of her ma
gaines, boilers, coal bunkers and
steerage compartments are passed in
review, with the conclusion that excell-
ent order prevailed and that no indica-
ton of any cause for an internal explo-
sion existed in any quarter
AT eight O'Clock in the evening of
that day everything had been reported
secure aud all was quiet.
At g.: 40 the vessel was suddenly de-
stroyed
There were two distinct explosions
with a brief interval between them.
The first lifted the forward part of the
ship very preceptibly; the second.
which was open, prolonged and of
greater volume, is attributed by the
court to the partial explosion of two
or more Of the forward magazines
The evidence of the divers establish
es that the after part of the ship was
practically intact and sank in that con-
dition very few minutes after the eX-
plosion. The forward part was COM
pletely demolished.
Upon the evidence of a concurrent
external cause the finding of the court
is as follows:
At frame II the outer shell of the
ship, from a point eleven and one-half
feet from the middle line of the ship
and six feet above the keel, when in
its normal position. has been forced up
so as to be now about four feet above
the surface of the water; therefore
about thirty-four feet above where it
would be had the ship sunk uninjured
THE OUTSIDE BOTTOM
plating is bent into a reversed V-shape
the after wing of which. about fifteen
feet broad and thirty-two feet in
length (from frame IL to frame 25), is
doubled back upon itself against the
continuation of the same plating ex-
tending forward.
At frame Is the vertical keel is
broken into and the fiat keel bent into
an angle similar to the angle formed
by the outside bottom plates This
break is now about six feet below the
surface of the water and about thirty
feet above its normal position.
In the opinion of the court this eff
feet could have been produced only by
the explosion of a mine situated under
the bottom of the ship, at about frame
IS and somewhat on the port side OF
the ship.
The conclusions of the court are.
THAT the loss of the Maine was not
in any respect due to fault or neglig-
ence on the part of any Of the officers
or members of her crew.
THAT the ship was destroyed by the
explosion of a submarine mine, which
caused the partial explosion of Two or
more of her forward magazines; and
THAT no evidence has been' obtained
fixing the responsibility for the de-
struction of the Maine upon any per-
son or persons.
Il have directed that the finding of
the court of inquiry and the views OF
the government thereon be commune
Gated to the government Of Her Males
~. the Queen, and l do not permit my
self TO doubt that the sense of justice
of the Spanish nation will dictate a
course of action suggested by honor
and the friendly relations OF the two
governments. 1t will be the duty of
the executive to advise the Congress
of the result and in the meantime de-
liherate consideration is invoked
WILLIAM M'KINLEY.
Executive Mansion, March %, 1893.
There was an outburst of applause
IN the galleries and on the floor when
the reading of the message was con-
cluded
dahate to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs under the rules. no motioh
was made. Immediately after the an
nouncement of Representatives olmp-
l,in,s death, the House at lzlS p. H.
odio,,rupd