The record-union., 1898-03-29
STORY OF The
DISASTER TO
The MAINE.
CONTINUED from First Page.)


every day from the arrival of the boat
Fern and did a great deal OF the diving
In reply TO a question to tell the court
all about the conditions Of the wreck, ne
said the forward part Of the ship forward
OF the after smokestack had been 10 an
appearances completely destroyed. ne
coming tower lay in a position opposite
the, door leading to the superstructure at6
and to starboard, inclined at about ll0
degrees TO the vertical with the top OF the
coming tower inward.
CONDITION UNDER MAIN DECK.
Continuing, he described with close de-
tail the condition under the main deck
on the port side. The fixtures were com
pletely wrecked, while fixtures in the
same position on the starDoard side were
IN some cases almost intact The port
bulkhead, between the main and berth
decks az the coming tower support, Hau
been blown aft on both sides. but great
deal more on the port than on the star
board side. The fireToOm hatch. immedf-
ately abaft of the coming tower, had
been blown in three directions. aft. TO
starboard and to port. The protective
decks and the coming tower supports
were bent in two directions, the plates
on the starboard side being bent up and
on the starboard side bent down.
In reply TO an inquiry whether she meant
with reference to their original position,
Ensign PoWellson replied affirmatively.
The beam supporting the protective deck
a few inches abaft Of the armored tube.
to port of the midship line. was bent up
to starboard of the midship line. Just
forward of the coming tower and under
meath the main deck two beams met Il
right angles; one beam was broken and
pushed from port TO starboard. A grating
was found on the poop awning just for
ward Of the after Searchlight
The piece of side plating just abaft of
the starboard turret was visible. This
plate was bent outward and then the
forward end bent upward and folded back
ward upon itself. This plate was severed
from the rest of the plating below the
water line. This plating below the water
line had been pushed out to starboard.
The gratings Of the f1rerOOm hatch were
blown off. composition strainer was
picked up from the bottom, on the star
board quarter, at a point about opposite
the poop capstan, and about thirty feet
from It. The Chief Engineer thought the
strainer was from the firemen'S wash,
room There was not a strainer IN the
ships side, nor the piece of outside plat
ing to which was referred to. Above he
said, were pieces of red sheilaced planks
ON these planks was bolted a compost
ton track two inches wide and an inch
thick
Ensign Powellson asked if the court
meant for him to say anything about what
the divers reported OF just what he saw
WHAT DIVERS DISCOVERED.
The Judge-Advocate replied that he
would like to have him state any import
ant discovery which might lead the court
TO draw some conclusion as to the cause
and if a diver gave such information TO
state the divers name. Before doing so
the Judge-AdvOcate asked witness to state
If the forward and after part OF the snip
We're In line.
Ensign Powellson replied that as far as
he could judge they were not. The end
where the explosion occurred seemed to
be pushed from port to starboard from
five to ten degrees. he should judge, with
the apex to the staCboard.
The divers reported TO witness that at
q point where the l0-inch shellrOom should
be they discovered the 10-inch shells reg
ularly arranged but the ship sunk down
SO much that some of the shells We're in
the mud.
Gunner Morgan reported that in walking
on the bottom, he fell into a hole on the
portside and went down in the mud. He
also reported, as far as he could judge.
everything seemed to be bent upward in
the vicinity of this hole. He also report
ed that the plates seemed to have been
pushed over toward starboard and then
bent down.
Ensign Powellson then said that a pow
der kalk that he saw appeared to be an
empty tank broken by the explosion. as
it was not badly dented and merely rip
ped the length of the seam The 10-inch
tank was badly battered out of any con-
ceivable shape.
Continuing the witness said the divers.
up to the night before he was then on the
stand. had not been on the outside of the