The Meeker herald., 1898-04-02

f.
that about twenty feet from the sluice
valve be had found an opening In the
ahip.s side, He had found boarding
near The sen suction In apartment A-10
about twenty -one feet from the slulce
valve in an almost vertical position, Al
though It was originally horizontal.
"If you consider the section Of the
ship between frames 18 and 13," con-
tinued Mr.. POwels0n. land consIdef
that the part Of the bottom floating be-
tween from 1S and frame 15 IL bent
out at q right angle, and then that the
whole section IL turned forward
through ninety degrees, you Will pic
ture the position In which the plates
are now found. This plating could
either have been showed out from the
after side or 1t could have been pushed
In from the forward side. The only
indication MS to how this WAS done is
the wooden boarding. II the latter part
Of the plating had been pushed out
from the inside. the boarding would
have been broken at the angle which
the plates makes. II the forward part
Of the plating has been pushed In the
boards would have been pulled away
from the nfter. plating as is the case
with the plates now"
The Judge advocate asked Mr.. Pow
elson how he looked upon Olsen's teS-
timony in view of his knowledge OF
the Maine and the drawings OF the
vessel He replied that he regarded 1t
ms extremely accurate.
The Judge advocate asked Mr.. Pow
elson what he deduced from all this
testimony received from the diver that
forenoon, together with such informa-
tion as he had before.
MFR. Powelson replied that he thought
the explosion occurred on the port SIDE
somewhere about frame 18, center OF
impact. The ship yielded mt II and al
so ut 10, but 1t was pretty hard to say
exactly where the impact came. Frame
10 was blown in.
How do you account for the Inn
mense damage done abreast of the re-
serve magazine. where there is nothing
left: whereas, between frames 16 and
18 you have found damaged platesT
Mr.. Powelson was asked.
My idea" he replied, "is that after
the ship was raised up Mt frame IL, the
magazines. one or all of them. after
thar were exploded, for some powder
tanks that have seen think were ex-
ploded. willie others have seen were
not exploded. I saw coffee can thnt
was brought up this morning which
was as badly battered rs most OF the
powder cases that came up. 1t looked
in very much the same condition..
Lieutenant George NJ. Holman. In
his testimony. said the explosion
like mine, and he had heard
mine explosions in the sea.
Consul General Fitzhugh Lee appear
cd before the court on March Sth. His
related to the official formal
tiles preceding the Names arrival. On
January oath he received a message
from the State Department saying
that the Maine would be sent to tfa-
vana on n friendly visit to resume the
regular status Of naval relations be-
tween the two countries, and he was
ordered to make arrangements at the
palace for the interchange of Offc!nl
courtesies. After cali at the palace.
he sent the State Department . cipher
~Authcrities blosEis to think tie
United States has Interior purpoecs IN
sending the ship. Say 1t will obstruct
autonomy and produce excitement and
most probably demonstration. Ask
that 1t be not done until they can get
from Madrid. Say TINT II
IL unimportant."
1t was too late. however. the Maine
having already sailed. She arrived
next day. and he reported her arrival
10 the State Department.
Captain Sigsl,ee said that he assumed
of the Maine on April 10,
1897, and that his ship arrived in the
harbor of Havana the last time, Jam
nary q. 1888. The authorities at Ha-
vann knew of the Names coming.
Consul General Lee having informed
the authorities, according to official
custom. After he took on an official
pilot sent by the captain Of the port
,f Havana, the ship was berthed In
the man-of-war anchorage on tho Ma
china, or the Shears. which, according
to his understanding, was one Of the
regular buoys Of the place.
He then stated that he had been in
Havana in 1872 and ngain in 1898
He could not state whether the
Maine was plnced in the usual berth
ror men-of-wnr, but said that he had
heard remarks since the explosion, u.s.
ng Captain Stevens. temporarily In
of the Ward line steamer
City Of Washington, MS authority for
he statement. that he had never
Known in all his experience, which
covered visits to Havana, for five or
,ix years. a man-of-war to be anchored
1t that buoy; that he had rarely known
merchant vessels to be anchored there,
md that It was the least-used buoy In
he harbOr. et
In describing the surroundings when
lrst m0ored to this buoy Captain Sigs-
nee stated TINT the Spanish man-of-
rar Alfonso XII was moored In the
,osition NOW occupied by the Fern,
bout $50 yards to the northward and
westward OF the Maine.
The German ship Griesenau was an
hored at the berth now occupied by
he Spanish man-of-war LIE Gaspe,
which is about 400 yards about due
lorth from the Maine. He then located
he German man-of-war Charlotte,
which came into the harbor day or