The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-04-15
T'lI'Hl:I'I|yS.5.II:s.1.El:NOUGHlI
The Story Of the Maine Tragedy.
Very Well Told
BY CONSUL GENERAL LEE.
WhoAppeured Before the Senate
Committee.
FlENDISn CONSPIRACY,

Y On the Part of''Soms spanisl, onieial,,
Thnt Resulted In the cow.rdiy .nIura.r
ofaoe American ssamen, and tLs Dee
straetion OF Magnificent natus,hlp
Some Fact, About the t,E1pio,lonp and
che Cuban lnsarEsnts That Were no
Made Pnblie-W.yior Implicated,
spain Can Never Conquorllis cab.n,. &
WASHINGTON, April H.-Thc itest!-
mony taken before Tho senate committee
on foreign relations in connection with
Tho investigation In the relations OF tho
q United States and Cuba was made pub
4 llc To-day. II constitutes q book OF
lsabout $50 pages and includes not only
the testimony taken since the disaster
to the Maine, but also much that was
4 taken before and running back for q
year or more.
y Tho abatement which contains the
greatest current interest is that made
by Consul General Lee on the 18th In
slant. lnfthis statement, General Lee
( said that he was informed on very good
authority that the spun!ards had placed
Z two rows OF torpedoes Just at the mouth
5uf tho Havana harbor by MORO Castle
within the past Two months, or subse-
auent to the Maine disaster, and that
i The switchboard Is in a room in the cas-
X sle, He said. however, that he had no
informatlon OF the placing Of any torpe-
does before the Maine was destroyed,
md mono In regard to tho purchase
abroad by The Spanish authorities.
Have you any reason to suppose that
The harbor was mined at all before the
! blowing UP of the Ma!ne?" asked Sena-
Tor Frye.
No sir; I had no. reason to suspect
+ anything OF that sort up to that time"
2 He then wen. on to Say that General
ssNNeyler's letter TO Santos GuZnan had
led him to believe that mines might
4 have been placed there previous to the
Maine incident, and he said that this
I supposltion was strengthened by tcle-
y gram from General weyler, OF which he
had coSnizance. Upon the whole he
Thought the Weyier letter (the Lame
I letter. was a correct copy of a genuine
letter. The tcleSraul to which he REFER
red was addressed to Eva Canal, n
noted Spanish woman, ard an admirer
4 OF Weyler,;S. and to SeEor Guzman, and
4; read as follows:
Grave circumstances cause me to ask
4 YOU TO destroy the. las: letter OF Febru-
.siary 18TH,
General Lee said that this telegram
had never before been published and he
found in /. strong contirma:ory evidence
z OF the gsnuineness OF the Weyler Letter.
Tie Responsibility.
With reference 10 the responsibility
for the destruction OF the Maine, Cen
Z eral Lee said: am satisfied the explo-
sion was from the outside. ] cabled the
i state department few days after the
{ board assembled that II was almost Ger
) board assembled that It was almost GER
4 terror. I have always had an idea about
& the Maine that, of course, 1t was not
blown up by any private individual or
by any private citizen, but twas blown
up by some OF the officers who had
charge OF the mines and electrical wires
e and torpedoes In the arsenal there who
thoroughly understood their business
for 1t was done remarkably well.
2S.I do not think General Blanco, the
present captain and governor general OF
4 the island OF Cuba, had anything TO do
with II. do not think he had any
( knowledge OF K. saw him Just shortly
after the occurrence. 1 was sitting in
my room at the hotel and from the bal
cony I could hear this. heard the cx-
plosion and saw great column of fire
so up in the air. A few moments after
d ascertainlng that 1t was the Maine, /
went right down to the palace and I
i asked for General Blanco. He came in
directly by himself. He had just heard
: st, and was crying; tears were. coming
V out Of his eyes. He seemed to regret It
as much as anybody saw In Havana;
Z but think IL came from some OF the
4 subaltern officers who had been there
( under Weyler and VINO were. probably
z anti BIanco anyhow end who had full
knowledge OF the business"
General Lee said that lie lad seen a
copy of q telegram from admiral Man
terola, dated In Havana, prior to the eS-
ploeIon OF the Maine, to the Spanish
commission in London. asking the COM
mission to Hurry up the electrical
cables Whether that referred to
wirefor submarine minis or torpcdoes,
II do not know" he continued.
Why Evidence WAS Withheld. ~
Il tried to ascertain ;f any OF the wire
or electrical cables had arrived there.
but they came on Spanish ships and
could not find out" General Lee said
,that this testimony in rsard to Mantle
rola, and also tha9 with reference to the
.&4yveylcr telegram had been furnished
to the court of inquiry which nyest!-
= gard the Maine disaster, but had not
! ~, ar hn
cause OF q request OF his made to tho
state department not TO make them pub
lie, ""As L was afraid the Spanish papers
would republsh It and they would
probably kill the man that gave It to
me-"
], Continuing his testimony, General Lee
q said that ten minutes after the explosion
b ne was at the palace talking TO General
4 Blanco and that the latter gave him an
order for boat 20 take him out into the
X larhor
y VA Senator Morgan asked Il. when he got
q 10 the waters edge lie saw any lights
burning. *
III 80 did not notice that" said General
Lee, but I have made inquiries since
and have ascertaincd that no electric
lights went Out, sent for electric light
men and gas men. Some gas Jets went
out IN one or Two places, caused by the
Z shock or something, but | could not as
/. certain from these men that a single
Il electric, lIsht went out. One OF the cleo
a trio light men whom / called up. Is q
II friend OF mine, and he sent for the man
who has direct charge of'thc lights.who
E came TO my Office. This man said he
mad not heard OF any such thing. said
Iswnnted TO know with certainty. The
" ma n sfilen made an exploration Of an