The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1898-03-10

| Spons.G,ltY. The "nfIiciaI uort;c;n,-
| non OF Spain was one thine. ,vhiIo
the responsibility Of Spain in ease the
disaster proved to he of evtnrn,l
origin. was quite another thing rho
SecretaryS statement was rastrictod
| IT WIS explained. to CIRCULATING Sn,in
from direct, official knowledpe and
participation in the affair. In case II
was shown that the act was dine In
some fanatic or person not connected
with the government. then the ouos.
ton OF SPANS responsibility would be
still open
No dispatches Of any character from
hey West, where the court of iuuuirv
is sitting. We're given out during the
day, and as the rule u publicity is still
IN force, presumably nothing came
from that quarter. The vessel move
ments announced during the day were
devoid Of Significance.
Orders went out from the navy de-
partment to PUT the ironcads Man.
tonOmah and Katahdin into commits
sion by the 10th inst. They are now
ut the League Island navy yard. where
they have been laid up for n year or
two past. 1t Is said NJ the department
that the purpose of putting them into
commission is 10 make berths for the
survivors Of the Maine now at Key
West awaiting on the court of inquiry
which, without doubt. will have lin
ished with them by the 10th inst.
Havana. March 4.-Without adding
unnecessarily to the SurmseS. conjec-
lures and prophecy concerning the
finding of the court of inquiry. il is fair
to say that, as n matter of fact. most of
the naval officers here and ut Key
West incline Ia the opinion that the
court will find that the disaster TO the
Maine was caused by the explosion Of
floating submarine mine under the
port side of the ship. forward. Opn-
ions agree. not only as TO the existence
of mines in the harbor, but that this
one was laid purpoSely near the buoy
where foreign war vessels were direct
cd To moor, and was fired from IN
electric battery OF shore. 1t Is believed
barely possible that the explosion of
the mine was the result of the care
lcsSncSS or ignorance Of Spanish Of
ticcrs in charge OF the mine station
keys when testing the circuit. but the
latter SuppositiOn is not felt TO he prob
able. II is further regarded as settled
10y the evidence before the court that
the port side Of the hull forward was
completely blown To pieces. and the
only explosion on the Maine, except
Of isolated cases Of fixed ammunition,
was that of 1000 pounds of saluting
powder. stored forward, and Of which
no trace can be found. These views
are gathered from officers who
Talk with Great Reserve
and only upon the assurance that their
identity will never he revealed. The
fact remains that only the members Of
the court Of inquiry know all the tcsti-
mony elected, and no one is authorized
to make public matters in advance
of the final judgment.
\ good deal of surprise was eX-
pressed here at learning that the
Spanish divers were 10 bc permitted to
make an examination of the wreck OF
the Maine especially as it was also
said that American naval officers
would give such divers all consistent
facilities and would throw no obsta
clCs in the way of thorough sub
marine inspection. That the permits
sion was not accorded until after the
court Of inquiry had finished its work
here and gone to Key West is regarded
rs significant. 1t opens a wide field
for speculation. Some assert that the
court now has NJ objection to a Span
ish inquiry for one of two reasons:
Either the court has sufficient evidence
already of accident or malice-cyidencc
that cannot be cOntroverted by TIL.
SDaniards-or. after Il diligent search,
the mystery remains ut deep as ever
and the court does not think the
Spanish will reach conclusion where
the Americans have failed. That anv
important testimony before the court
has found its way 10 the public is
very unlikely. Some Of the witnesses
have told certain c1rreSpC ndentS OF al
legged testimony but in every case in
yestigation has showed their stories to
he wildly improbable and controvertcd
by known facts or else absolutely ir-
relevant. There are no signs OF DEM
onstration against Americans.
Washington, March !. Secretary
Long said at the close of his day at
the navy department that no word had
been received from the court Of in
quiry and that no orders had been, or
would be given as 10 the movements
of the court from Key West, as the
court was fully authorized TO shape It's
own movements. The original orders
To the court were issued by Admiral
Sicard. rs commander Of the fleet to
which the Maine belonged. and 1t has
the technical status of an admirarS
court. reporting directly to him. both
as to its movements and rs to It's final
report on the cause of the disaster.
The understanding here Is that the
court has not concluded its work. but
will return TO Havana to take testi-