The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-03-29

''fa@aedt was not appended.
Iri~response to the question as to whether
anything had been done TO ascertain the
truth of the statements contained in the
letter. the witness said that there had. He
asked General Lee to look into the matter
and he did not appear tc know what 10 DO,
Stating he nad no secret service money.
man by the name of Pope Taco was-
mentioned in the letter. Witness said he
lad tried TO discover the whereabouts Of
the man and the one TO whom he spoke
sid the name wos misttSst that the man
mentioned had died few days before the
e. plosion OF the Maine and tliat the LET
TER REFERRED TO a PETE BARQUlN;
THAT HE ALSO DIED SUDDENLY
ABOUT TWO OR THREE DAYS AFTER
THE EXPLOSION OF THE MAINE, The
witness declared his informant was Mr..
Charles Carbonnell, an American citizen.
Ensign w. V. y. Poweilson was called
the third day of the court. He TESTIFIED
he had been present on the Maine every
day from the arrival of the Fern and dur
ing a great deal OF the diving
In reply to a question TO tell the court
about the wreck he said the forward part
of the ship forward of the aft smoke
stack had been, 10 all appearances, COM
pleiely destroyed The divers reported 10
witness that at the point where the ten
inch shell room should be they discovered
ten-inch shells regularly arranged, but the
ship had sunken down so far that some
OF the shells were in the mud
Gunner Morgan reported that in walking
on the bottom he fell into n hole on the
FORT side and went down in the mud ne
also reported that as far rs he could Judge
everything seemed 70 be bent upward in
the vicinity of the hole. He also reported
that the plates seemed 10 have been pushed
over to the starboard and then bent down
What impressions were produced on
your mind by the reports so far as you
/ a. nell IN AL
asked.
THE impression created Is that an en-
plo.ion took place well to the port OF the
mdship line and at point opposite the
coming tower.
Witness, In answer to further questions,
said his opinion was bastd on the obs r
walton OF things above water. He gaT2 no
weight 10 MIR Morgan's statement alb "
falling into the hole on the port side, be-
cause Mr.. Morgan might have been inis-
| taken about 1t. In answer To questions
he said there was nothing left OF the port
plating al all. He dragged along the T.
| side 10 see II anything had fallen out, ana
found nothing. Witness thought The ship
| on The port side had been entirely torn out.
/ This concluded Ensign Pow eison's isj-
| timopy on the third day.
! Ensign powe1lson was recalled ON the
! sixth day. when he said that since his last
testimony he had received "a book Of speel-
I ficntions OF the Maine. He said the piatfs
! OF the protective decks were one inch thick.
weighing about forty pounds per iquare
| foot.
Ensign powellson. wishing TO give some
testimony regarding the condition OF the
wreck GuDners' Mate Olsen, the dJyer.
was admitted, in order that he might cor
rect any erroneous statement the two
having worked together.
i The judges asked Mr.. Powfllson how he
looked upon 0lsen's testimony In view Of
his knowledge OF the Maine and the draw
ings OF the vessel. He replied that he re-
garded II as extrAmely accurate.
The judge advocate asked Powellson
what be deduced from all the testimony
received from the divers that forenoon
together with what Information he had be-
fore He replied that he thought the ex-