Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-03-31

,r,sbiugton, March s.-The i'm
,sa mass of testimony taken by the
,r,ira court of inquiry was sent to the
l,g,s Monday. With the presidents
-1assgge the findings of the court were
tsrrsd 10 the committee ca foreign
citations The testimony was taken
eighteen different days, the four
zenith day, however, being devoted to
chewing the wreck Every witness
,ba vas known to have any informa-
..,r was called The story of the de-
sanction Of the vessel was told, not
,r.phfcalIy. but in a manner which
lives all the obtainable facts. No
taebpica detail was omitted Those
who read it can have little doubt
u.giher there was an Internal or ex-
.srral explosion. Perhaps the most
significant test mony was that show
ING that the bottom plates on the port
,5s of the Inflated Maine were bent
inward and upward, a result that could
have hardly followed anything save an
eypI0sion fro~ the outside. The
testimony of Captain Sigsbee is of the
greatest Importance and caused more
general interest than that of any other
man before the board. With great
care and minuteness, he gives an ac-
count of the management of the ship,
how she was handled what was done
rom day to day on board, how she
hpr
and what he knew about it and in
fat every point upon which the gov
eminent and country desire to be
informed. Nothing in Sigsbee's tes-
Lm0ny shows that the anchorage was
changed or that it was considered dan
gerous by anyone.
Ensign Powellson, who had charge
0. The divers and knew from day to
day what these divers found, testified
10 a certain extent upon the technical
construction of the ship net plates,
etc. but it was from jhese plates, he
Was able to declare that the explosion
100. place from the ca SIDE Divers
Morgan, Olsen and Smith al contrib
ut1d important testimony They tes-
tilted that the plates were bent in
ward on the DO tom pc side and out
ward on the starboard side. Nothing
in the testimony fixes the responsible
l.y no conspiracy eing apparent and
1o knowledge of the planting OF a
mine shown Captain Sigsbee states
j-ted against the American ship and
Americans generally and tells of over
hearing a Convers ltion among Span
sh officers and a citizen indicating
a fore knowledge of the destruction of
me Maine by intention to blow her
1p The official American consul
tells Of Information received anony-
mausly tending to show that a con
sP'racy existed. But nothing is defn-
'tey stated which fixes the RESPONSE
oI1,y upon Spain or her subjects.
The following is the full text of the
report Of the court Of inquiry:
'I, S. s. Iowa, First Rate, Key
West Fla. Monday, March q, 1898
After full and mature consideration of
al. the testimony before it, the court
fuds as follows:
That the United States battleship
Maine arrived in the harbor Of Ha-
vana Cuba, on Jan. %, 1898, and was
.aatU 90 buoy No. 4 in from five and
q half to six fathoms of water, by
the regular government pilot The
United States consul general at Ha-
.ara had notified the authorities at
That place the previous evening Of
.ae Intended arrival of the Maine,
The state of discipline on board the
haine was excellent and all orders
and regulations in regard to the care
aHa safety Of the ship were strictly
carried out. All ammunition was
slowed away in accordance with in
'.'nltions and proper care was taken
whenever ammunition was handled.
Nothing was slowed in any one of the
magazines or shell rooms which was
not permitted to be slowed there, The
magazines and shell rooms were al
'~iANh dlttl nav AlIE Dtth OpCli'i'
ana after the destruction of the
Naine the keys were found in their
proper place in the captains cabin,
everything having been reported Sc
cure that evening at s p. m
me temperatures OF the magazines
a." shell rooms were taken daily and
"led The only magazine which
.4. am undue amount Of heat was the
-'.-1 ien-inch magazine and that did
w explode at the time the Maize was
|ayed. The torpedo war heads
-1' AN slowed in the after part Of
nip under the wardroom. and
PER caused nor participated in the
4Ia-.on Of the Maine
aa dry gun cotton primers and
tors We're slowed in the cabin
ana remote from the scene of the
on The waste was carefully
after on board the Maine to OBJ