Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-04-15

to the Weyler telegram. had been fllrn-
ished to the court of inquiry which in
vestigated the Maine disaster but had
not been sent to Congress nor publish
ed because of a request of his made to
the State Department not to make them
public. as | was afraid the Spanish
papers there would republish it and
they would probably kill the man that
gave it to me"
Continuing his testimony, General
Lee said that ten minutes after the ex-
plosion he was at the palace talking to
General Blanco, and that the latter gave
him
AN ORDER FOR A BOAT
to take him out into the harbor. Sen
ator Morgan asked if when he got to
the waters edge he saw any lights
burning?
Il did not notice that" said General
Lee, "but | have made inquiries since
and have ascertaned that no electric
lights went out, I sent for electric
light men and gas men? Some gas
jets went out in one or two places,
caused by the shock or something, but
| could not ascertain from these men
that a single electric light went out.
One of the electric light men whom
| called up is a friend of mine and he
sent for the man who has direct
charge of the lights, who came to my
office. This man said he had not
4 ~ t-ail rnY1t
ed to know with certainty. The man
then made an exploration of an hour
or two and returned, saying that with
the exception Of one electric light near
the harbor and one at another place
not very far distant, where he thought
perhaps the lights might have gone
out by the shock, no other electric
lights went out"
General Lee also said that he had
not felt the shock of the explosion at
his hotel.
Have you heard since the explosion
Of the Maine any expression by Span
ish officers in relation to it, indicating
their pleasure at the fact?" asked SEN
ator Frye.
General Lee responded: II heard
two or three days afterward from var
ious persons VINO came in that there
was
A GOOD DEAL OF REJOICING
among some Of the officers. All re-
ports | got said they We're drinking
champagne-quite a thing to do in
honor of the eyent-and in different
portions of the city officers were max
ing merry. | attribute it to the fact
that what they considered almost an
no h1nu-7 mn
and it was that much in their favor"
He said that he had not heard any
threats of or illusions to the destruc-
ton of the Maine previous to the eX-
plosion. Senator Lodge asked if he
| had heard of an attempt on the Mont
! gomery.
! Il heard" responded General Lee,
| that there was something Of that sort
| one evening. but | believe upon inves-
| tigation it was found that it did not
amount to anything
| The following colloquy between SEN
| ator Foraker and General Lee brought
| out some further opinions Of the Gen
eral in regard to the destruction OF the
| Maine:
Senator Foraker: you think thai
no novice could have destroyed the
| Maine
Consul General Lee: "Oh. no, sir.
| The man who did that work was ar
officer thoroughly acquainted with ex'
| plosives of all sorts and who knew al
about it, 1t was very well done
Senator Foraker: "A man who had
expert knowledge, necessarily
Consul General Lee: Yes sir"
Senator Clark: And who must have
| had knowledge of the location of tn,
torpedo?"
Consul General Lee-Yes. | never
| have been certain that the submarine
explosive was placed there prior to
the entrance of theMaine into the har-
| Dor. 1t might have been done after
wards The Maine was anchored to a
buoy by some little chains A vessel
swinging around that way sometimes
GETS AT VARIOUS PLACES
all around the circle. When she would
swing off that way, with the bow next
to the buoy and these boats plying
| about the harbor all the time anybody
could go pretty we'll in front Of her on
| a dark night and drop one of these
i submarines of 500 pounds. They have
| fingers, as it were. and as the boat
goes around it would touche the finger
which makes contact and explodes the
mine. That might have been done
after the Maine got in there and not
be discovered One or two men row.
ing quietly in a boat could drop il of
the stern Of the boat on dark night
/ though Sigsbee had his patrols out A
| boat would not have been noticed, be-
cause beats go there always to a late
hour of the night. The harbor is fun
Of these little beats. A mine weighs
about 800 pounds. and I suppose il
would take two or three men-one man
to row and probably three on four to
handle the mine
| In reply to a question from Senator
Continued ON Third Page.