The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-03-26
step following another In rapid success


sion.
Representative men OF the admins
tratiOn, public men In all branches of
official and congressional life, no less
than the public in general, shared in
the tension to which the situation has
been wrought. There was no effort
among the highest officials, nor, in
deed, was it possible from what was
clearly apparent In the developments
of the day to minimize the situation.
Viewed in detail, the findings of the
court of inquiry were the most vital
feature. Commander Mark, Judge ad-
Vocate of the court of inquiry, deliV-
cred the report to Secretary Long early
this morning, and shortly after 1t was
carried to the White house and placed
In the hands of the president. At 1920
the cabinet assembled, half an hour
earlier than usual and began the con-
sideration of the document. Even the
rigid rules of secrecy which prevail
at cabinet meetings We're made doubly
strict In this case, and no intimatiOn
of the results reached Ivy the court were
known until 2 o'clock, wen a bulletin
gave the information to the country,
as well as the eagerly waiting officials
throughout Washington.
These results, briefly stated, are:
The loss of the Maine was due to an ex-
plosiOn from the outside.
The court being unable to fix the respOn-
slbllIty for the explosion, does not express
an opinion to the character Of the ex-
pOsion, but the testimony goes to show
that 1t was powerful submarine mine, the
exact character of which is not determined
by the testimony, though the belief was ex-
pressed that il a floating submarine
mine
There were two explosions The first was
from the outside, and that set off one of
the smaller magazines.
Report Considered.
1t was this result, expressed in detail
and with the precision of court deep
ly conscious of its responsibility. to-
gether With the evidence on which it
was based, that occupied the attention
of the cabinet throughout it's extended
sessions. All other and lesser subjects
gave way to this foremost question.
There was no change in the plan of
making the report public and trans
hitting it to congress early next week
accompanied by Il brief message from
the president.
While interest was thus centered at
the White house, the navy and war de-
partments We're hurrying forward their
work of preparation. The advance of
the Spanish torpedo flotilla continued
to receive the closest attention of naval
officials, and WHILE so far as could be
ascertained, no definite line of action
was determined upon, the need of in
tercepting this fleet was urged by the
highest naval authorities.
From the standpoint of the Spanish
government this movement was not a
menace, having been decided upon
many weeks ago. On the contrary, the
Spanish. government holds that the ex-
tensiVe armament of the Dry Tortugas
is more direct hostile act against
Spain than any movement of the flo
tiila. In stead Of stopping the f1otilla,
the present attitude Of Spain tends
toward reinforcing it with other Span
ish war vessels, not as menace, but
from what the Spanish government
feels is a requirement called for by
the existing condition of affairs.
Hardly less suggestive than the ap-
prOach of the torpedo fiotilla was the
information received today by the high
est military authorities that the Span
ish government had hurried to compile
ton extensive fortifcati rs on the ISL
and of Porto Rico. lying 5lst off Cuba,
and the only Spanish possession in this
hemisphere other than Euba. The ex-
act character Of these new defenses has
been made known here. and they are
being given weight with the military
authorities as showing the disposition
of Spain.
Naval orders.
The orders issued by the navy de-
partment during the day covered ev-
cry branch of naval armament The
flying squadron" was definitely estab-
lished, with Commodore w. S. Schley
in command. He will hoist his COM
modore's flag on the flagship Brooklyn
next Monday. The squadron IS to con-
Slst or exactly five ships, no more and
no less, despite conjecture as to DOS
sible ships that might be added Those
of the squadron will be the crack ar
mored cruiser Brooklyn. the battle
ships Massachusetts ana Texas, and
the cruisers Columbia and MINNEAPOLIS.
Other ships which are now or here
after at Hampton Roads will not be
OF the flying squadron, but Will belong
to the North Atlantic squadron under
Capt. Sampson. The flying squadron
is to be a small, compact fleet Of the
best ships in the navy, for quick serv-
ice at any point along the Atlantic
AT the same time the North Atlantic
station under Capt. Sampson is to be
further augmented. The cruiser Gin
cinnati, which left Port Antonio three
days ago under sealed orders, is to re-
port at Key West and become a part
of Capt. SIMPSONS fleet The gun
boat Wilmington, also en- route from
Capt. Sampson at Key West, as we'll
as the gunboat Vicksburg, now at
Hampton Roads.
acquisitions were made today on the
naval ordnance bureau for a large
number Of quick-fre four FOUNDER and
siX-pounder guns to be mounted on
the revenue cutters and the steam
yachts about to be purchased. The
bureau determined to use the quick
fire guns for these craft which had
been originally intended for the At
lantic liners, st. Paul and St Louis
Capt. Bradford, chief of naval equip
ment, completed plans for securing a
naval coaling station in waters south
of Cuba, and the papers are now ready
for final action. The station will not
be on Navassa island, as has been sug-
gested. but is likely to be at one of
the several fine harbors of Hayti or
San Domingo, or else on the Danish
island of st. Thomas, which IS open to
purchase from Denmark for a consid-
cradle sum. Late today the battleship
Texas was ordered from Hampton
Roads to the New York navy yard to
receive her machinery for hosting am
munitiOn and guns.
Favorable answers were received
from the New York naval militia Of
their readiness on short notice to sup
ply officers and men to man the single
turreted monitors now called into serv-
ice.
EXTRA CABINET SESSION.