The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-03-30
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
His Comments on the Maine Disaster Ae-
comparing the Transmission
Of the Report
THE EVIDENCE WAS SUBMITTED TO
SPAIN.

Il
representatives pointed out the adTanta-
ges TO flow from the visit of national ships
to the Cuban waters, in accustoming the
people TO the presence of our flag as the
symbol Of good viii and of our ships in
the fulfllment Of the mission Of protec-
ton 10 American interests, even though
no immediate need therefor might ex-
ist.
Accordingly on the oath of January
last. after conference with the Spanish
Minister, in which the renewal Of visits
Of our war vessels 10 Spanish waters was
discussed and accepted. the peniasular
authorities at Madrid and Havana were
advised of the purpose of this govern
ment 10 resume friendly naval visits at
Cuban ports and that in that view the
Maine would forthwith call at the port of
Havana This announcement was re-
eeived by the Spanish Government with
appreciation of the friendly character Of
the visit of the Maine and with notifica-
ton of intention to return the courtesy
by sending Spanish ships to the princi-
pal ports Of the United States. Mean
while the Maine entered the port of Ha-
vana on the 18th Of January, her arrival
being marked with no special incident
besides the exchange of customary salutes
and ceremonial visits.
The Maine continued in the harbor Of
Havana during the three weeks follow
ing her arrival. No appreciable excite
ment attended her stay; on the contrary.
a feeling of relief and confidence followed
the resumption OF the long interrupted
friendly intercourse. So noticeable was
this immediate effect of her visit that the
Consul General strongly urged that the
presence of our ships in Cuban waters
should be kept up by retaining the Maine
at Havana, or. in the event of her recall,
by sending another vessel there to take
her place.
At forty minutes past in the evening
of the 18th of February the Maine was
destroyed by an explosion, by which the
entire forward part of the ship was ut
terly wrecked. In this catastrophe two
officers and 264 of her crew perished,
those who were not killed outright by
her explosion being penned between
decks by the tangle of wreckage and
drowned by the immediate sinking of
the hull. Prompt assistance was render
eo by the neighboring vessels anchored
in the harbor, aid being especially given
by the boats of the Spanish cruiser AL
phonso XII. aud the Ward Line steamer
City OF Washington, which lay not far
distant. The wounded were generously
cared for by the authorities of Havana,
the hospitals being freely opened to them,
while the earliest recovered bodies of the
dead were inferred by the municipality
in public cemetery in the city. Tributes
of grief and sympathy were offered from
all official quarters Of the island.
The appalling calamity fell upon the
people of our country with crushing force,
and for brief time an intense excitement
prevailed, which in a community less
just and self-controlled than ours might
have led to hasty acts of blind resentment
This spirit, however, soon gave way to
the calmer processes of reason and to the
resolve to investigate the facts and await
material proof before forming judgment
as to the cause, the responsibility, and if
the facts warranted, the remedy due.
This course necessarily recommended
itself from the outset to the executive, for
only in the light of dispassionately as
eertained certainty could it determine
the nature and measure of its full duty
in the matter.
The usual procedure was followed, as in
all cases of casualty or disaster to nation
81 vessels of a maritime state. A naval
court of inquiry was at once organized,
composed of officers well qualified by
rank and practical experience to dis
charge the onerous duty imposed upon
them. Aided by a strong force of wreck
ers and divers, the court proceeded to
make a thorough investigation on the
spot, employing every available means
| for the impartial and exact determina-
ton OF the causes of the explosion. Its
operations have been conducted with the
utmost deliberation and judgment, aid
while independently pursued no source
of information was neglected, and the
fullest opportunity was allowed for a ST.
multaneous investigation by the Spanish
authorities.
The finding Of the court of inquiry was
reached after . lays of continuous labor,
on the Dist of March inst, and having
been approved on the 22d by the COM
mander-in-chief Of the United States ma
val force on the North Atlantic station,
was transmitted to the executive.
It is herewith laid before the Congress,
together with the voluminous testimony
taken before the court.
Its purport is in brief as follows:
When the Maine arrived at Havana she
was conducted by the regular govern
ment pilot to buoy No. 4. to which she
was moored in from five and half to
six fathOms of water.
The state Of discipline on board and the
condition of her magazines, boilers, coal
bunkers and steerage compartments are
passed in review, with the conclusion
that excellent order prevailed and that no
indication of any cause for an internal
explosion existed in any quarter.
At so'clock in the evening of that day
everything had been reported secure and
all was quiet.
AT $40 the vessel was suddenly de-
stroyed.
There were two distinct explosions with
a brief interval between them. The first
lifted the forward part of the ship very
preceptibly the second, which was open,
prolonged and OF greater volume, is at
tributed by the court to the partial ex
plosion OF two or more of the forward
magazines.
The evidence o. the divers establishes
that the after part Of the ship was prac-
tically intact and sank in that condition
a very few minutes after the explosion
The forward part was completely demol-
Ished.
Upon the evidence of a concurrent ex-
ternal cause the finding of the court is
as follows:
At frame IL the outer shell of the ship,
from point eleven and one-half feet
from the middle line of the ship and
six feet above the keel, when in its nor
mai position, has been forced up so as to
be now about four feet above the surface
Of the water: therefore about thirty-four
feet above where it would be had the ship
sunk uninjured.
The outside bottom plating is bent into
reversed V-shape, the after wing of
which, about fifteen feet broad and thir-
ty-two feet in length from frame II to
frame 25l, Is doubled back upon itself