The herald., 1898-02-18

Blandin was on the Trenton at the time Of
the disaster Off Samoa, In March, 1855. when
American and German vessels lost 244 men
all told.
Lieut. BIandin says: IT was on watch,
and when the men had been piped below
looked down the main matches and over
the side of the ship. Everything was abso-
lutely normal 1 walked aft to the quarter
deck. behind the rear turret, as was al
lowed to do after o'clock In the evening,
and sat down on the port side, where
remained for few minutes; then, for some
reason cannot explain to myself, moved
to the starboard side and sat down there.
was, feeling a bit glum, and In fact was
SO quiet that Lieut.. ]. Hood came up and
asked me laughingly' IL was asleep.
said, No. am on watch
Scarcely had spoken when there came
dull, sullen roar. Would to God could
blot out the sound and the scenes that fol-
lowed. Then came sharp explosion
some say numerous detonations. / remeb-
ber only one. 1t seemed to me that the
sound came from the port side forward.
Then came perfect rain of missiles of
all kinds, from huge pieces of cement to
blocks OF wood, steel railings, fragments
of gratings and all kinds of debris that
would be detachable in an explosion.
II was struck on the head by piece OF
cement and knocked down, but / was not
hurt and got to my feet in moment.
Lieutenant Hood had run to the poop and
suppose as 1 followed he was dazed by
the shock and about to jump overheard, /
hailed him and he answered that he had
run TO the poop to help lower the boats
When got there, though scarce min
ute could have elapsed had to wade in
water to S2y knees, and almost instantly
the quarterback was awash. On the poop
l found Captain Sigsbee as cool as il al
ball, and soon all the officers except
jenkins and Merritt Joined us. The poop
was above water after the Maine settled
10 the bottom. Captain Sigsbee ordered the
iaunch and barge lowered and officers and
men, who by this time had assembled. got
the boats out and rescued number in the
water.
captain Sfgsbee ordered Lieutenant
commander Wainright forward to see the
extent OF the damage and IL anything could
Dc done to rescue those forward or to ex-
tinguish the flames, which followed close
upon the explosion and burned fiercely as
long as there was any combustibles above
water to feed them.
Lieutenant Commander Wainr,ght unon
MS return reported the total and awful
character Of the calamity and Captain
oigspee gave the last sad order, Abandon
SNIP to men overwhelmed with grief in
deed but calm and apparently unexcited.
meantime four boats from the Spanish
cruiser Alfonso XIII arrived, to be fol-
lowed soon by two from the Ward liner
City of Washington. The two boats low
cred from the City of Washington were
found to be riddled with flying debris from
the Maine and unfit for use Captain Sigs-
bee was the last man to leave his vessel and
left in his own gig.
Il have no theories as to the cause of
the explosion. / cannot form any An
examination by divers may tell something
to court of inquiry. I. with others, had
heard that the Havana harbor was full
of torpedoes, but the officers whose duty II
was to examine into that reported that they
found no signs of any. Personally, / do
not believe the Spanish had anything to do
with the disaster. Time may tell. I hope
so. ~
We were in a delicate position on the
Maine so far as taking any precautions
were concerned. We were friends in
friendly or so-called friendly port and could
not fire upon or challenge the approach of
any boat boarding us unless convinced that
her intention was hostile
II wish to heaven could forget IT, III
have been in two wrecks now and have had
my share, but the reverberation Of that
sullen yet resonant roar. as II the bottom
Of the sea were groaning in torture will |
haunt me for many day and the reflection
Of that pillar of flames comes to me even
when I close my eyes,