The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1898-02-20
was NoT AN AccIpENr.
snptais zaiinski Positive the Erpiosioa
WAS from without

Nrw YORK. Feb. Captain Ed.
mund l.. lalinslSi. inventor OF The dy-
Mantle gun aud an expert on cxplos-
ives, declares that the Maine was not
blown up from within. Accidents.
carelessness and spontaneous combus.
tion, he said, "have been eliminated
from the navy ANA army.
There was a time when the acci-
dental droppin & Of a shell might have
blown a vessel into atoms. and has
done so. But that tine is past Then.
this theory is wiped away at once
when IL is known that all magazines
were under lock and key at the time
Of the occurrence, The boat was not
in action, but lying peacefully at
anchor In still waters
"The theory OF carelossness some
where must also he dismissed at once
know the discipline on board n war
vessel too well TO imagine any possi-
BILE careless act that would ignite a
magazine at that hour OF the night or
TO believe that a spy or traitor could
pass beyond the guards and enter
them. Why, a member of the Names
crew would not dare to handle those
explosives at that hour.
AS to spontaneous combustion,
that the ory must also be dismissed at
once. There is no such thing known
to-day in the manufacture and handl-
ing Of explosives as spontaneous com
bustion because of the perfection in
material and the thorough tests it
must undergo before being accepted
by the government
Ten years ago minor accidents were
numerous, but they were principally
due to the inferiority of the material
manufactured or the ignorance in
handling it. can recall one or two
terrible accidents in those days, but
Il is useless to speak of them, as the
causes do not enter at all into the
consideration of what has befallen the
Maine.
81 imagine that some effort may be
made by the Spaniards to conceal the
real cause of the explosion by blaming
the gun cotton packed in the mag
azines and intended for torpedo uses.
This theory will not do The uses
and abuses of gun cotton are as well
understood to-day on board of man
of-war as in the laboratory. ltis man
ufactured in its perfection before be-
ing slowed on board, and there is no
more danger of its exploding, except
by great heat or impact, than there
is Of solid shell bursting.
There was no great heat in the
magazines of the Maine The tbel-
mometers tell of no greater degree Of
heat than 81. and gun cotton will not
explode under heat less than p de-
grces hotter than that Even then
explosion would be doubtful.
'But IL must be remem bered that
the gun cotton stored in the Maine was
mostly water soaked, kept damp for
the sake Of preservation and added
safety. This is the rule on all men-of.
war
"Of<course there is little always
kept dry for detonatiGg purposes, to
act as sort of Illuminating cap in
setting off the damp cotton. Bat the
dry gun cotton is of such high class
material and kept under perfectly safe
conditions that it, could not ignite by
| itself The same can be said of every
other ounce OF explosives on board
| the Maine
"A torpedo from below the water
line might easily have turned in the
plates ;ld set fire 20 the magazine, or
! but | am not theorizing on that
| The exterior and the interior of the
hull will tell the story. But ! repeat
that am firm in my conviction that
the Maine did not blow up from with
in The blow came from the outside
of her magazines