Evening star., 1898-02-18

siXty-two survivors of the Maine On board,
arrived here at 1920 tonight seven and
half hours from Havana. OF the number
twenty are wounded, ten seriously and one
fatally. Captain Merrill with a company
of the 1st Artillery took possession of the
deck before the vessels arrival and kept
back the excited crowd, which included
half the population of Key West. The ma
jority were Cubans and mulattoes. No one
not in uniform was allowed to go on
beard.
The Associated Press correspondent saw
Purser Denison of the Olivette. who gave
the following brief account of the dis
aster.
Explosion is Mystery.
'The explosion is an absolute mystery to
every one. 1t occurred in the forward
magazine, which is just forward of amid
ships and below the water line. The coal
bunkers are outside, but separated by two
feet of space. According to custom the
magazine was inspected at o'clock in the
evening and the temperature found to be
80. The magazine was locked and the keys
given to Captain Sigsbee. The men went
to their hammocks in the forward part CT
the ship soon after o'clock.
THE explosion occurred at 9.tp and
hence the awful and overwhelming .oss OF
life. No one can yet give 4 connected ac-
count. About ten men who Were in ihe
forward part of the ship Were saved, aid
Of these several had their hdmmocks slung-
on the lower deck. The explosion split the
big ship in two and threw these and one
marine who was sleeping on the super
structure forty feet in the air and into the
water.
I'm the magazine were twenty-five tons
of coarse powder. used for charging the
big guns. there being no dynamite. detonat-
ing powder nor torpedoes. In the main
magazine aft the high explosives were
stored and this magazine did not explode.
No Electric Wires Near.
There are no electric wires connecting
with or near the magazine. 1t Is not be-
lieved that the Maine was destroyed by
torpedo underneath. as if this were the
case a hole would have been torn in the
bottom and the ship would not have been
riven to atoms. was the case The aft
part of the ship sank in three minutes and
the officers and survivors of the crew eS-
capped half clothed. Pieces of the wreckage
flew a distance of five hundred yards. One
large piece of cement struck the quarter
deck of the City of Washington of the
Ward lire. which anchored ahead of the
Maine twenty minutes before the explo-
sion.'
Many of the sailors We're outspoken in
their declaration of belief that the explosion
was a deep-laid plot of the Spaniards. They
are greatly incensed against the Havana
reople who have shown them small court
esy who looked upon their presence as
national affront and who have published
anonymous circulars, captioned Down
with America" They believe that the au-
thor of such expressed and cowardiy hatred
would not stop at an act of such terrible
vengeance as the blowing up of the Maine.
These sailors. acquainted with the drills.
discipline and ensemble of a man-of-war.
pooh-pooh the idea of an internal explosion
as the last thing to be thought of.
The dynamite cruiser Nesuvius left Jack
sonrile. Fla. last night for Key West
there to await further instructions.
The torpedo boats Gushing and Ericsson
have been down to the fleet and returned.
They report the flagship New York Will re-
port at Key West bar at O'Clock this af-
ternoon awaiting orders from Washington.