New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-17
HARD THING TO PROVE.
ORDNANCE rXrEETs Of TIE EFFECT OF ."
EXPLOSION oN \ SHIP AND ToHPi1r0

oPD~ANc9 TNPEETs OF TIE EFFE'r "F ~"
EXPLOSION oY \ SHIP AND A ToRPEpo-
Evidence LIKELY TO BID DESTROYED
orc,cis connected with tho Ordnance Depart
,,o,t ~ the Navy Yard surprised iha- the '"ss
~ life on the Maine was not even greater ,i''" "
was 4 Tribune reporter who VlsNeo '"e VI
,,r.-,.,,, vseterdav was Informed that I'm the 1.-TWO
forward MAGAZINES. one OF wnlch nj Ie"9'
ploded. there were nearly forty thousand pou"os
~ rovder When Il f. considered for moment
that the Government vessels when blowing up
derol,cts which threaten navigation, use Only one
hundred or two hundred pounds OF po"ue' "''"
nv this means shutter hulks which are INeN 10
send vessels 10 the bottom. as the Neehdaih was
sent few days ago the terrific force OF an 60
nlosion caused by fortv thousand pounds OF pow
der ,gnl,ed at once can better be imagined man
described
One o, the interesting thinss discovered yester-
day RI the Ordnance Department IL the tact '"a'
II hostile hands wrought the destruction OF mo
battl,.ship by placing torpedo under the 90"
.here win be tho greatest difficulty IN discovering
TANGIBLE evidences OF the fact from an cXamin"-
lion of nc hull of The Maine This - accounted
for by the fact that the Maine. Ike other battle
ships OF ne Glaze. has thick protective oe'A'
made OF nickel steel This deck IS for The puT-
nose OF protecting the powder magazines from the
effects OF shells which might be dropped on the
deck OF tho vessel while IN action. The decA WouiH
offer great resistance IN case Of an explosion IKE
the one OF Tuesday night Tho deck Is SO InueH
stronger than the bottom OF the vessel mat 'he
bottom would he Immediately blown out oe'oTe
tie deck would be fractured above u, ana the
explosion OF thirty thousand or forty thousand
hounds o, powder would be 50 terrific mat II
would be likely 20 destroy the torpedo completely
as well rs tho lower part OF the hull OF the vessel
This removes the likelihood OF discovering torpedo
marks on any Of The plates on the bottom or 'he
vessel as they would doubt be driven 10 the
.tr r,o nd ho
Commander william Swift. I'm charge OF The ord
nance Department. yesterday said. ~ speaking OF
the Names torpedo equipment: Tho vessel no
doubt carried small quantities OF gun cotton out
Il IS extremely doubtful whether an explosion OF
this gun cotton caused the blowing UP OF the yes
sell The gun cotton battle-ships is kept IN wet
condition and IN order 10 explode II a specia
method IL used A illuminate primer Is placed "a
q small quantity OF dry gun cotton. and this dTy
gun cotton in tho torpedo IS placed against larger
quantity OF wet gun cotton The dry gun cotton y
exploded with comparative ease by the primer az"
tho dry gun cotton IN turn eXplodes the wet me
primers and the wet and dry gun cotton are kept
IN different parts 81 the ship, 80 there is never
any danger OF explosion or Ignition from these
Iiee STlIcs Forward Of he middle part Of the snip
account OF tho Killing or me lhIsJ i'i. 70 ~
the crew VINO have quarters there LAO me ne, eN-
pcsou taken place IA thc after part or the snip H.
number OF officers would nave peen kle9, = $40 80
not ueccssarlly follow, said tonmander S"l.'
chat the blowing up Of one magazine would eN-
plCqe the other Such "a thing j. rdtneT prObADlr'
I'm, n &c Doeellle that one or Oh, other % the FOR
ward magazines could explode without exploding Us
mate The forward magazines arc separated oy Il
number OF bulS.cads. ana there Is distance or
about twenty foe. between them IT both maya
zines exploded there should have been an interval
OF two or three seconds between conclusions tn-
I'll we get more detailed Information from Havana
tb.e po.nt cannot be settled u D. impossible 10
give INV adequate idea OF what the effect OF an
explosion of such a largo amount Of powder would
be like"
The forward magazines of the Maine were about
p feet long by rs feet wide and feet In height
'rha officers connected with the Ordnance De-
partrneut would not give the exact figures but
the magazines they I'D go. go
Contrary 20 common belief the Maine ga not
carry ID large equipment OF ten-.nch pro1ectiles.
II was learned yesterday that she had on board
not 10 exceed W. hundred and lfty Of these. and
probably not 70 exceed eight hundred Of the six
inch nfniont!Ies.