Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-03-31

bottom on the s~tarboard quarter at a
point about opposite the poop capstan
and about seventy feet from it. The
chief engineer thought the strainer was
from the firemen's wash oonl. 1t was
not a strainer In h ships side.
Near the piece of outside plating to
which witness referred above, he said
there We're pieces of red. shellaced
planks. On these planks was bolted a
composition track two inches wide and
an inch thick.
The cardboard Turret.
Ensign Powelson then said tina a g.
inch powder tam that he saw appeared
to be an empty tank broken by the ex-
plosion, as 1t was not BADLY denied and
merely ripped the leEs i CT the seam.
A 10-ineh tank was badly battered out
Of any conceivable shape. Continuing,
witness said the divers up to the night
before he was then on the stand had
not been on the outside of the ship.
The mud was too deep for them to walk
on the bottom. What is the condition
Of the starboard turret?" witness was
asked.
ITO my knowledge it was not found,
sir" was the reply.
He understood something had been
found under the place where the tur-
ret formerly was. but its exact charac-
ter a not been determined.
"What impression is produced upon
our mind by the reports as far as you
have quoted them?" Ensign Powelson
was asked.
From reports alone. or from the ap-
pearance of the wreck?"
Either from such reports OF he con-
ditions which o believe exist"
THE impression produced upon me-"
replied the witness, lis that an explo-
sion took place well to the port of the
midship line and at a point in the length
about opposite the coming tower"
No Weight to Morgan's Statement.
Witness, in reply to further questions,
said his opinion was based upon h OBJ
servation of things above water. He
gave no weight to Mr.. Morgan's state
ment about falling into a hole on the
port side because Morgan might have
been mistaken about it. Referring to
his notes made of things on the Maine,
Ensign Powelson said that the arc of
the engine room telegraph n the
shaft of the steering gear coming down
through the armored tub (turret) was
benz from port to starboard. The port
side Of the protected deck was covered
with a greasy deposit, h starboard
side being comparatively free from it.
The forward smoke pipe. between the
main and su~perstructure decks. did not
show signs of the internal pressure Of
gases. On the main deck, Onward of
the coming tower, where the fore and
after angle bulb beam was located, the
planging was blown off on h only re-
manning plate Of the main deck on the
port side, while the wood was still at
tached to that part on the s~tarboard
side, between the coming tower base
and turrets. What witness saw would
Indicate that the pressure lifted the
protective deck up on the port side,
and the protective deck or the star
board side, and the protective deck on
the starboard side held fast and bent
that deck downward. Witness here ex-
hibited two sketches to the court show
Ing diagram or ydrfouS parts or the
sunken ship and explained them to the
court.
Could See the Plate.
The witness evidence about the strip
on the starboard side of the outside
plating Of the ship which was folded
and rolled back was recalled to him,
and Powelson said he could see plate
underneath 1t was bent outward, as it
was only two feet under water where
the shear occurred.
Witness had taken soundings and had
found FIVE fathoms of water on both
sides of the Maine down to the mud.
Taking a 14-pound lead line and drag
ging with a wherry for distractions on
the port side, dragging close TO where
he thought the water ways would be
found, he found nc distractions what
ever. On the starboard side he found
Instructions for twenty feet where he
had reason to believe hat the water
way had originally been.
In answer to questions he said there
was nothing left Of the port plating at
all. He dragged along the outside to
see If anything had fallen out and
found nothing. witness thought the
ship on the port side was entirely gone
opposite points indicated on a diagram
handed the court. 1t was entirely
blown out.
This concluded Ensipn powo1ron,s
testimony or the third day.
Captain Sigsbee's Testimony.
Captain Sigsbee In testifying before
the court Of inquiry, which convened
in the harbor of Havana Monday, Feb.
q, said that he assumed command of
h Maine, on April 10. 1897, and that
his ship arrived in the harbor of Ha-
ana the last time Jan. "a, 1898. The
authorities at Havana knew Of the
Names coming, Consul General Lee
having informed The authorities ac-
cording to official custom. After he
took on an official pilot, sent BY the
captain OF the port of Havana, the ship
was berthed in the man-of-war anchor
age Off the Machina, or the Shears, and
according to his understanding was one
Of the regular buoys of the place. He
then stated that he had been In Ha-
vana In 1872 and again in 1898.
He could not state whether the Maine
was placed in the usual berth for mem
of-war, but said that he had heard re-
marks since the explosion, using Cap
tain Stevens. temporarily in command
of the Ward line steamer City of Wash
ington as authority, for the statement
that he had never known in all his ex-
perience, which covered visits to Ha-
vana for five or six years, a man-of-
war to be anchored at that buoy; that
he had rarely known merchant vessels
to be anchored there and that Ii was
the least used buoy in the harbor.
Surroundings OF the Maine.
In describing the surroundings when
first moored to this buoy Captain Sigs-
bee stated that the Spanish man-of-