Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1898-02-19
LONG DENIES RUMORS.
Without Information as to the
Cause of Maine Disaster.
BELIEVES 1T WAS ACCIDENTAL.
He Praises the Goodness and Bravery of
Captain sigsbee--In SO Doing says He
Thinks He Expresses the Feeling of
the President.

WASHINGTON, Feb. $50 large a
number Of rumors Of a warlike tendency
came to the attention Of the war depart
ment officials that Secretary Long was
induced to make the following state
ment - the easiest manner Of disposlng
at one time of all these stories:
Reilly, no information has been re-
ceiyed since Captain Sigsbee's first dis
patch adding anything to our knowl-
edge Of the disaster All we know is
that the Maine blew up. THERE'S abund-
ant room for speculation of all sorts, but
no conclusion can be arrived at until an
examination has been made by the
divers and more facts obtained. 1t is a
simple fact to say that such a thing
might happen by design, or it might
happen by accident As yet there is no
ind cation of design. Therefore, my
impression has been all along, and /
rather think the general opinion pre-
ponderates i'll the same direction, that
it must have been accidental.
cat the cabinet meeting, the matter
was not discussed, except as any body
of men talk about an event of that
kind and most of that talk related to
the terrible loss Of life and to express
sioDs OF sympathy for the sufferers.
cit certainly was very kind thought
III the president to send flowers to the
families of Captain Slgsbee, of the eX-
eentiye officer, Wainwright, and Of the
lost seamen, whose residences are i'll
Washington.
on may say absolutely that there
has been no secret cabinet meeting;
that nothing has taken place in the
cabinet that the public have not been
informed about; that the whole policy
OF this department has been to give the
public all the dispatches; that the de-
partmcnt has no more knowledge on
the subject of the cause Of the disaster,
or even of the circumstances attending
it, than have the public, and that the
report which was to the effect that
Captain Sigsbee had warned the depart
ment that the Maine was in danger
from submarine mines or torpedoes is
utterly without foundation, no such
report ever having been received from
him or from anybody else. y
The secretary also denied briefly and
ompreAensively wild rumors that he
had requested the chief of police Of New
York to guard the Vizcaya and that he
had selected Constructor Bowles to go to
Havana and raise the Maine. The Sec
retary consulted the representatives of
the wrecking companies who probably
will have charge Of this work and en-.
deavored TO arrange for both of them to
work together SO as to secure the use of
each peculiar plant and to save time.
The secretary, when asked what was
the department. estimate of the con-
cue Captain Sigsbee in the terrible
situation IN which he had been placed,
replied;
81 think | express the feeling of the
president, as well as my own, when
say that Captain Sigsbee has conducted
himself as an officer of our navy should.
He was the last to leave his ship when
she went down. His dispatch to me
that night was so complete that since
then | have thought of no question of
fact to ask him which is essential to the
situation and which he could answer
which is not covered by that dispatch.
Its tone, too, is that Of discreet and
levelheaded man who realized the inn
preston any word from him at that
time would have ON the public mind.
Nothing is harder than for a naval Off
Ger to lose his ship, so that | have great
sympathy for aim. / await with conf
dence farther reports"
The department was IN receipt of
number Of kilograms from different
parts ol the country asking in behalf of
relatives Of the dead sailors that their
remains be brought back to the United
States foe interment. Among them
were queries from friends of the two
officers, Merritt and Jenkins. The de-
partment forwarded these to Captain
Sigsbee, whose reply was that the off
GERS bodies have not been found; that as
to many others Identification is not DOS
sible, and throwing great doubt upon
the % aeticability of taking any of the
remains away from Havana. While no
decision has yet been reached formally
upon the application Of the Spanish
government for authorization to exam
inc the wreck of the Maine to ascertain
the cause of the explosion, the officials
seem inclined to regard her request as
one that could not properly be refused,
and it is likely that each government
will make an investigation of this char
acter concuTently
The miniature United States flag on
the model of the battleship Maine. in
the corridor Of the navy department,
was lowered to halfmast by direction of
the secretary of the navy.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19-President Nc
Klnley has received Senior Du Bose, the
charge d'affaires of Spain, who had
been commanded by the queen regent
OF Spain to bear in person to the Presi-
dent her expression of profound sorrow
over the calamity to the Maine.
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