The age-herald., 1898-02-17
MAINE BLOWN UP BY FLOATING TORPEDO
Informed the State Department and Demands an Immediate Investigations
light of which the horror may be justig

light of which the horror may be justly viewed
 Secretary Long has undoubtedly sum4 marized the general opinion of the majors ity of the naval experts in finding 1t ina possible just now to state the cause of the destruction of the Maine.
 There are a great number of theories, but most of them are of a character that makes it easy to prove or upset them by a single investigation of a diver. Steps for an Investigation Secretary Long has taken immediate steps to make this inveStig igation Late this afternoon he telegraphed to Admiral Sicard | at Key West to appoint board of naval | officers to proceed at once to Havana, eTls | ploy divers and generally to make such inc , quiry as the regulations of the navy des | mand shall be made In the case of the loss | of ship. It is expected that this work will take some time, and while there are officers who say that in their opinion t will not be possible, owing to the probably disrupted condition of the ships hull plates in the neighborhood of the hole which sunk her, whether not they are bulged outS would be the case if the explosion came from the inside, or whether they are driven in as would result from the attack of q torpedo or the explosion of mine beneath tho ship.
 From Spontaneous Combustion
 The large majority of naval officers arg
 
 resulted from spontaneous combustion of a coal bunker the over-heating of the Iron partitions between the boilers and the magr azine or from the explosion of boilers though the last theory finds little supports
 The list of survivors that came to the navy department this afternoon in answeY to telegrams inaccurate and made out the loss of life eight more than the sum. mary originally given by Capt. Sigsbee in an earlier telegram, so Secretary Long tek egraphed for another corrected list and one that shows who were and who were not wounded of the survivors. It was found necessary to do this owing to the great number of pitiful appeals for inforn- ation as to the safety of some unfortunates on the Maine that came from all parts of the country.
 It Is said at the department that this dis, aster is the greatest of the kind in naval history since the sinking of the big Brit. fish battleship Victoria by collision with the Camperdown in the Mediterranean off Malta, in June, 1893. By that accident the British admiral commanding 22 officers and 336 men lost their lives.
 spanish Legation Advised The Spanish legation was early advised of the horror by Captain-General Blamed, added that the occurrence was a chance adde that tale occurrence was chance accident, the undoubted cause being an explosion of the boiler of the dynamo, This was ths only specific cause assigned from any official source during the day. M. Du Bose. the Spanish charge dfaf, faires called at the state departmentl t6 express his profound regret and the entire Spanish staff left their cards at the navy department as a mark of personal condo4 lence At all of the foreign establishments there was the deepest interest and solici- rude over the affair.
 The disaster is remarkable in that only two officers lost their lives and these were of junior grades. They were Lieut.. Friend Ta,nI xf-.k~ win R. Merritt. The former was unmar- ried, but leaves a mother and sister. The latter, 1t Is thought also, was unmarried, but the department was unadvised con< cerning his family.
 A Consultation
 Both Secretary Long and Assistant Sec retary Roosevelt called a consultation ip the forenoon of all of the chiefs of the navy department and several of the officers of high rank not immediately attached like Commodore Schley, president of the lighthouse board, who has a brilliant repu- tation as a gallant officer and is possessed of great discretion. The purpose of this consultation was to secure the best expert testimony as to the probable cause of the disaster while at the same time ascertain- ing to what extent the naval situation has been affected by the loss of the Maine. good deal of disquiet was exhibited when 1t was shown that the loss of this fine battleship had done good deal to destroy the balance of power theoretically between the navies of Spain and that of the United States, leaving the United States six eers viceable ironclads against seven in the Spanish fleet.
 Confidence in sigsbee
 Every confidence is felt at the department in the commander of the Maine, Capt, Sigsbee, and until it Is really established otherwise there Is every disposition tQ charge the accident, if accident 1t wa that destroyed the Maine. to some causS -~-----~><3S2 (Continued on Second Page).