The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-03-12

it was the first and only interview he
had given any newspaper on the sub
ject of the inquiry Captain Peral
speaks excellent English. With him
in the naval court is Lieutenant Salas.
He has power TO call in for consulta-
ton any army or navy engineer or ex-
pert in explosives or marine building,
and he has twice called in such, and
will do so again when necessary
Captain Peral said: Our divers are
| hard at work examining the hull of the
Maine. Great difficulty is experienced.
owing to the deep mud in which the
/ hull is buried The whole forward part
of tho sap is a mass of iron and steel
debris. We have hoisted up much of
! it, but in the mud it is not always pos
sibIe to tell what parts of the ship, ar
NOR, decks, beams or stanchions are
found, the explosion so changed their
position.
We think we have located the ram
or prov, but not in the position sup
posed. The forward turret, mounting
two large guns, was blown clear of the
hull into the water on the starboard.
We shall continue our work and try to
eXaminNthe hull, forward, down to the
keep. 1t is probable that we may pro-
pose to the American authorities to
raise the hull by means of the floating
dock brought from England and now
in Havana harbor.
I'VE cannot believe there was an ex-
ternal explosion of a torpedo, for the
following reasons:
"A torpedo following the line of least
resistance, must have blown a great
hole in the mud at the bottom of the
harbor. No such hole was found. A
torpedo must have thrown large mass
of water into the air if exploded at a
depth of only Is feet or So 1r at least
have produced a wave reaching to the
other ships and the shore of the har
Dor. We have examined everyone on
shipboard and on shore who saw the
explosion, but no one can be found
who remarked any upheaval of the
water, or a big wave. a torpedo ex-
plcsion always kills fish in the vicinity.
No fish were killed by the Maine dis
ester, as fishermen who have known
this harbOr for many years testify.
ITO produce the effects noted in the
wreck, torpedo would have had to be
of enormous size, fully $50 or 200 kilos.
Il am, therefore, of the opinion that
the explosion occurred within the ship.
1 know and respect Captain Sigsbee,
and l believe the American regulations
affecting naval conduct, which / have
read and found admirable were care
fully observed. But some things which
cannot be foreseen are bound to hap
pen in any navy. 1 have been reading
VI liAG CADlOSlOl III lnt ILuSllSn snip
Dolera, which the English believe was
caused by chemical combustion in the
paint for quick drying.
Il have also read an English account
of shells that were found burst open, |
because of hardening points that split |
and produced heat, thus firing the pow |
der in the interior of the shell.
las I have said, / do not believe |
there was any carelessness on the part |
of the officers of the Maine. l do be- |
lieve this was an accident, which could |
not possibly have been foreseen- Such |
is my judgment at present. with the |
facts that are in possession of the court. |
When our court of inquiry finally de-
cides, the decision will be in accordance
with the best evidence that can be pro-
cured We are having plans, diagrams
and drawings of the wreck made as fast !
as the divers are able to give US def
mite Information.
Captain Peral was most courteous
during the entire interview illus
trated some of the points he made by
sketches on the desk before him. He
spoke as a judge would whose mind was
ready to weigh any evidence brought
before the court over which he pre-
sided.
Captain Peral requested the CORE
spondent to make it known that he had
granted the interview In his unofficial
and not as president of the
Spanish court of inquiry, which the
law forbids him to do.