Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-03-10

WAS 1T ACCIDENT OR CRIME,
l. What possible force could do
troy by explosion a battleship m.
the Maine, at anchor in harbor?
Only an explosion IN the great rnae-
azines Of the ship OF the explosion a,
a submarine mine under her.
z. Could not her boilers do II,
No At anchor there is no steam n,
the boilers. One boiler only Is In u.s
to supply power for dynamos, etc, II
Is doubtful 4 an explosion of all tbs
ships boilers together could mako
such wreck. Certainly one could
not.
3. How many magazines did the
Maine have?
Eight; four aft and four forward
and those aft did not explode, Is pos,.
lively known.
A. How We're the forward magazines
situated?
The principal one, containing about
twenty tons OF powder for the 1O-inch
guns, was on the starboard side, b.
low the starbcard gun turret. Another
called the 6-inch magazine, adjoined
II toward the port side. These were
the big forward magazines. Ths
others had ammunition for small
arms.
5. Could any one Of the forward
magazines have exploded without ey-
ploding the others?
Probably not. If one went they
must have all gone. An explosion In
small magazine might not have des-
troyed the ship itself, but It would
certainly have destroyed an adioin-
ing magazine.
/ g. Is there not some evidence that
some of the forward magazines did
not explode?
/ Yes. A sailor was asleep immedi-
ately above one and two sailors above
another, and those three men are
alive
/ T. AS these men could certainly not
be alive II the magazines had exploded
under them, and as those magazines
could not have remained unexploded
/ If any others near them had exploded
this seems to show that none OF the
forward magazines was exploded, does
it not?
Very certainly.
s. Is there any further evidences
on this point?
An immense mass Of evidence IN
wood and iron. Every atom OF the
wreck shows that the force of the ex-
ploson was exercised from the port
SIDE of the ship toward the starboard,
and that it was applied at point on
the ship aft of the forward magazines.
8. How does this prove that the
explosion was not In the magazines!
The gigantic forward magazine is.
as said on the starboard side OF the
ship near the starboard gun turret,
and the force OF It's explosion would
have acted from the starboard toward
the port-in fact, exactly the other
way from that In which the wreck
shows the destroying force did act.
10. IF then the explosion was not
in the ship's magazines, was it sub
marine mine?
Physical science cannot name any
/ other conceivable cause.
II. What is a submarine miner
1t is a torpedo or a group OF tor
pedoes giving an enormous aggregated
of explosive force, fixed at a given
point in the bottom OF a harbor, or at
such q depth as to be in contact With
a ships bottom, and connected by
electrical machinery so that 1t may bel
exploded by a man on shore.
IL. Would the explosion Of such
mine under the Maine or on her port
side account for the facts as known
! Yes: for every one.
! u. Could any other conceivable,
known or imagined cause account for
the facts?
, Absolutely none.
! IA Is it believed there was such
a mine in Havana harbor?
It is reported as a fact That such
mines We're prepared whom Weyler
was In command
IS. What did Weyler mean when
he said that the Incidence" OF our
officers led to this tragedy
He probably spoke from his kno"I-
edge and meant to say that our OF
fcers might have discovered that
there was a mine under the ship
New York World.