The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-02-26
THE wRECKED MAINE SINKING.
No Attempt to Raise the Bnttleshlp
VIII lie Made.

Havana, Feb. 26-The wreck of the
Maine is slowly but surely sinking into
the mud. Before the hull could be
raised 1t would b. necessary to re-
move the guns and deck debris. For
lack Of proper appliances, practically
nothing in this line has been accom-
plished. Aside from the officers and
cabin effects the salvage thus far has
been pitifully small. The cloudy
weather and rain made the work of
the divers unsatisfactory yesterday,
and very little was done. 1t /. said
that hole has been made by the
divers in one of the forward matches,
and it is hoped that number of
bodies will be recovered. The court Of
inquiry sat longer than usual yester-
day. the six divers being examined
more in detail than heretofore. A
civilian, whose testimony is said to be
of some Importance, was also eXanln-
ed The name of the witness and all
the particulars of his evidence are
withheld.
Late yesterday the paymasters safe,
with S2,5O0 and his papers, was taken
from the wreck. Beyond this no state
meut is made as to the value and ma
ture Of the contents, but large guam
tity of water ran out of 1t when the
safe was raised above the surface.
The complaint Is still made that the
electric lamps are of little use to the
divers, as the light is faint and un-
certain, and to hold them takes one Of
the divers hands They have as
suredly proved of little value in the
present investigation. So far as re-
ports made public go, the workmen on
the tug Right Arm, with the assistance
of the naval divers, are laboring hard
to recover the bodies under the hatch,
which led to five room platforms.
Snoring with timbers was necessary,
and the divers had to wait for the
lumber. 1t is hoped the bodies will be
taken out that way, but this has been
hope often disappointed.
The special correspondent of a New
York newspaper has sent this dispatch
to his paper regarding the court of in
quiry and its work: while, of course,
the members Of the court will not talk
for publication, l am informed on the
highest authority that the evidence of
Diver Morgan as to the condition of the
Maine shows almost beyond the pos
siblity of a doubt in the opinion of
my Informant, that the Maine was
blown up by an outside agency. Fur
thermore, Morgan's report was veri-
fled by the other American divers who
descended yesterday.
"The court has decided against any
attempt to raise the ruined battleship.
The members are convinced that it
l;ould be useless, as she could never be
kept afoat, and the Spanish authori-
lies here will be informed that If they
wish the wreck removed from the har-
Dor they must attend to the work
themselves. This decision gives a bet
ter idea of the terrible havoc wrought
in the Maine than columns Of descrip-
tion could do. The Merritt Wrecking
company, 1t was announced wanted
2.OO0,OOO to raise the wreck. The COM
pany's representatives made this de-
mand after viewing the condition Of
the ship.
The Wreckers yesterday turned their
attention to salvlng the great guns.
These at least can be recovered in
sufficiently good condition to warrant
the effort.