The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-17

aster. Perhaps it never will DO determined.
the, real cause, true. American citizens should
withhold Judgment, refrain from calling. hard
names. and. as l said before, keep their heads
shortly aftor interviewing. Gen. Tracy The
s Sun man n met an officer SSs,. q h 4p1, rank ne, Sta,
Gem, Tracy, knows what war is like. Since
tho days Of the civil war no has grown gray in
this 70 what he said:
Of Havana is most deplorable. Yet In the face
OF so terrible a disaster and with every, provo
treSchcryy, there has not come to US to-day,
from any part Of the, country, news. Of a single
act on the part, Of tho citizens Of the United
States to which the Government at Madrid
could take exception. This furnishes to Spain
an example which she would do well to re-
rolled into one, IS animated by the spirit Of
to the cause Of the disaster which overlook the
Sattleship. Until that cause has been definite;
Continue si1SS"t to 30 0 gpat Z nau With d the hhhss sons OF Of SPAIN spain
and not think of charging the subjects Of q
t thsn tsat p 90 Sim WITH vyh6 staS sri 4 fp,s mSr In d las SSSE.
mast on nearly every building. This, is the
who, in meeting the death they did, in the haT.
Dor Ct Hayana, are as truly the nations heroes
that were shcllins tho fOrtiacatioSns Of the
Cuban capital. Let us mourn, our dead and
PERSONS pSe %sf @ai o1E %Psr unefi We Sf Sa1s Clearly ~ e estaS.
hshed who was repopsi5le for their DEATH"
knots 0tsr d e. sss Msy tSe ss erp, ostseF' H fto0S Sa ID b Seen
aid II" An Of them. however; secuted The Idea
SCI Lieut.. Ward 81 RdmIrai ,buSco's .sss
tn, Maine had been blown up by design. He
From the reports received, II would seem al
| most certain that one OF the forward magazines
blew up. These:mayazinse, were directly be-
p piains thu the fa SsF ss.t d al the 81 f%s shS stsw were ps an,o sa;
sSiy Killed ins stan nh Tho oaie { "s ssa stsS
30 s'f aff stsi dnS BY sn the ~ saplO oslo nN' 4sks y Maine fSGr'f Ia Z
two turrets, the forward ,turret being on the
aft being on the port side.- Under each turrot
was a nasazine. and. as I have said, the r.;
magazine caused the trouble,
Now. the question arises, how could an ex-
are always Kept carefully fiocFed. and. bes iidaes
Maine was lying at anchor in a friendly port.
There was no occasion for the magazines to te
opened. A look at the plan of the ship shows
two magazines under the forward turret. The
from the bow oft no vessel and contained sew
eral tons Of powder. The other magazine was
one Of these magazines was opened shortly be.
fore the explosion remains to %be.found out. 1t
4 eG %asS2i fnss S SnG o. a ind tSaisf that Ssn oaa.S SaG tS %
Naval Constructor Bowles did not hesitate
for a moment to say that the destruction of tho
Maine could not have been the result of an
such a theory" said Mt. Bowles, sis rot.
The Maine had been in commission several
years. She had had more rough experiences
Yet nothing Of the sort happened to her until
she nay n9ns a1 ~ * at alsn anGhor n IN Haya an f hsFb o.
stir up her am N tt boxes nos.i so that an an c X
plosion might DO expected. The magazines
probably were. for only during target practice
at sea are they opened. Some Of the petty Off:
GERS were quartered near the magazines. !
have been tho result Of an accident;
lit, 1T has been suggested that exploding gun
hardly have been possible. The gun cotton on
our ogrh ships is I. taken in 9Ht every month and thor,
this Work iea IS DONE ne as asssi precaU WdoGr every A%y't thirfiS
days, 1t is always found that the water has
OF gun cotton the evaporation usually amounts
to about half an ounce in a month. The CUR
cot cotton T d is also al%sys carefully guarded; There.
ton"
what Would 4 have Al eASs sp yene 0I Ind q SUBJ su5m astss
torpedo BEEN exploded near the ship. TAere
S SSs e th SiyG ssa etf Ss 0p Masia as dls ss this II a, I rs
cases. One officer had this'to say:
IT a torpedo, or interchangeable contr.vsneo
would have been torn in her hull that she
would have sunk almost Immediately: The
explosion. This seems to me proof that tie
explosion took, place inside tho hull. .Thss
These: two fscts lend me to believe that Il Il
quite possible one of the boilers may have ex-
en- Sl'o ono of tbs eight Ugh t EH1ssdts the the Mans snS wS CARED nssd
may have exploded. The heats are tilsG with
wet gun cotton. which. should It become dry.
would explode from spontaneous combustion,
! don't take much stock In this theory, how
eve; ;as:the gun:ootton Is kept constantly we. to
The Maine were all kept In separate compart-
ments., ! am inclined to the belief that the
maESsinss.' Fifty t It S%S d pounds s"H sSe Of ' p9 %der
and l1o: loaded shells were stored in each
course. II isn't clear to mo how such &c
explosion could have occurred. 1t seems to
me also practically impossible that an informal
to the reports which:I have seen, ali
hat was taken on board the ship YESTERDAY were
IN broad, daylight. Had an internal machine
been hidden among tho %rations. 1t would either
been found when the ~rations were Inspected"
The engines and boilers OF tho Maine were
7l2 East Twelfth street. The Superintendent Of
s the sr works ;. is ! EJst Mason y SON. He and Assist.
likelihood .of,ono Of the boilers exp'odins. Mr. III
Mason said that.of course, such a thing was nos.
ss6le. but 1t was hardly, probable. He said that
IN thickness. These boilers were set athwart
the ship, two on each side; They were sur;
ShtiuSa ~ "NSkS LiBHu Dulhutdub dlu coal
.unkers. The bulkheads were Of steel, about
three eighths of an inch thick. Directly for. ,
ward of the coal bunkers of tho forward boiler
on each side of the ship was a magazine. The
from the explosion of a boiler would
have had to pass through tho bulkhead and
through tho coal bunker before reaching the ,
acter of tho boilers and their surrounding. /
neither Mr.. Mason nor Mr.. Fisher had any OK.
Rear Admiral Erben. retired. had this to say :
Of the disaster: {
"It does not seem probable that tho Maine
Was blown up by the Spaniards. because they :
don't want war with us. Such explosives as :
the Maine are not lying loose about !
Havana. Any Spanish sympathizer who was :
inclined could not have obtained the. mate. |
rial to do.eo great damage for the asking. !
nm inclined to bel.eye that the shit. was blown l
up by her own magazines. Several years ago .
he lBritish ship, Dottrei was blown up in the :
straits OF MAGELLAN. So much Of her as didn't I
treat loss Of life. No one ever knew Just what 2
but y was supposed that her own U
did the work."
Al the Cuban Junta they said for publIca.
Ion, that they believed the explosion was the
eBult OF an accident and than fhav aifa1 a.,