The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-02-24

| that on account of the Names we'll
known tendency to be down by the
head the coal bunkers surrounding the
| forward magazine had been the first to
! be emptied.
1t was also pointed out that they
were probably cleaned thoroughly of
coal, as on board ship every available
space comes in for use, and this space
was probably occupied by shovels and
tools. 1t is admitted, however, that
some waste might have been thrown in
there in which fire might have been
generated by spontaneous combustion
Commander R. r. Bradenford, chief
of the Bureau of Equipment, told me
to-day that when the Maine left Key
West for Dry Tortugas and Havana
she took on board a supply of coal
which took the place of a supply of
bituminous coal of excellent quality
which had been practically exhausted
Commander Bradenford declared his
conviction that spontaneous combustion
could not have been the cause of the
disaster.
The fact that the court desires that
the ship be lifted without delay is con-
strued in two ways by department Of
f1cialS-firSt, that the wreck is sinking
into the mud so fast as to make delay
dangerous; and, second. that it desires
to make an examination of the hull
before finally determining upon it's
findings. The officials hope the wreck
ing boats will arrive at Havana in a
week, in which event it will take some
time for the court to examine the hull,
if it desires to do so. 1t is believed at
the department that the court will
complete it's work in Cuba within a few
days and then proceed to Key West,
where it will examine the survivors
who are at that point.
Secretary Long, after seeing in the
morning papers to-day indications that
divers who are examining the wreck had
talked with newspaper correspondents,
cabled to Captain Sampson, president
of the court of inquiry, asking him to
inform the department if the divers
had made the statements attributed
| to them and as to whether they were
true. During the afternoon this reply
was received from Captain SAMPSON
ANY reported interview with divers
untrue. Every precaution has been
taken; officers always present"
AS DcdI iI6 upOll plODdbiC ScucC
of the Names destruction, this letter
was received by Secretary Long to-
day from Joseph Wrensky of Chicago.
formerly a naval officer of the Aus
trian navy:
Relative to the explosion Of the bat
tle-ship Maine, [ wish to state that l
have seen three warships blown into
the air, in all of which the powder
chamber, or ammunition magazines,
exploded. All three sank Immediately.
According to the dispatches the Maine
could not have been blown up as re-
suit of internal explosion. A mine or
torpedo must have done the work. The
ships which l saw blown up were as
follows: Imperial Royal Brigand
training ship Triton, in the harbor of
Cravaso, Dalmatia, in 1853 The sec
ond was the Royal Italian armored
frigate Exherzog- Ferdinand Max. The
third was the Austrian frigate Rodetzy
in 1868. in the port of Lisa. In this case
the ammunition magazine caught fire
and the ship sank at once. At the ma
val maneuvers and naval battle exer-
cises have seen some old hulks blown
up by means of torpedoes and they did
not sink at once, but kept above water
for some time. Therefore, the battle
ship Maine was sunk by torpedoes."