The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1898-03-13
IN EXPERTS TESTIMONY
Gives Evidence in Rebuild Of WD0|
SgqlISh Divers Soy.
DISPOSES OF RANY OF THEIR CONVENTIONS
Tho Spanish Divers Hnye Mover Been
inside fthe wrcck-Thcy Discoy,
cred UnexpIodcd AmmumI,iou.
However, nnu Quickly Dropped II
Ovcrbonrd Again.
OF RANY OF THEIR CONVENTIONS
HaNama. via K:rl West. FJs'..

March l., 1898.
1t Is impossible TO send direct from
Havana anything in refutal of Cap
tatE1 Peral's statement of yesterday re-
galEirg the views Of the Spanish court
Of inquiry as To the M atae disaster
However, an American officer, who Is
an expert Gays III cffeca, ana his words
are worthy of weight, as he knows alb
solute:G' ofiSthat lie is talking:
Il am :, graduGi:c OF the toi.sndo school
. ard have studied the cfG3cis of tcrpa-
does or mines from observation and
experiments.
"A torpedo eNplodoIai At a depth Of six
feet would throw Il c-iumn CG water one
CJIndred feet MO the air: at twelve feet
deep, ten feet in the air. and ii: thirty
fs'et deep would hardly raise n snhli
wave. y detcGatOr of Su: cotton in the
op1nJair makes mark its own size in
steel or blows stone TO fragments. In
the lSnter Il torpedo itsalf would not be
felt at any grsat distance. 1t requires
the resistance OF :, solid body and would
Gtssipatc ir w1ysr or mud This dis
poses of the wave theory and the af-
fecting ol the shore o. boats in the
harbor."
AS to the hoI2, in Ila Maine. the expert
In question makes the most import ant
statement that the Mili.,e drew twentJr'
eight to thirty feet al the tine of lir1
paNplosiorI and had about ten feet CT wa
ter below her bottom 10 the surface OF
the harbor m3d. On the port side where
tile United States divers art ndM at
work. thcrr is at present fo!.y -Sevcn
feet of water. May net this be the hole
~ "a in .,,> h,
found? If 1t is the hole was more than
seven feet d:'ep whcy:r the explosion took
place, end has been greatly filled with
mud since. AS to the finding o: dead
fish. the UGaited States court Of inuu.DY.
Gas not Sc2n 4 solitary fish since work
begarl on the wreck Tha bc.Ecs rccov-
cred from the Maine have not been
touched by fishes. Sons, of the fisher
men in Havana testified that there IN,l.e
cho fish inside the ha.bGr, the waters
being too foul for them. san, tim:s
they come par; way in during iC:ie day.
bu: all go OUT At eight.
Further. as 10 the alleged dscnvc-
RES of Spanish divers reported to Cap
Hain Penal, five American divers havs
lF5erl working on she r.rt side OF the
wreck aCi average t,c seven hours each
pr day for c,'aarly three weeks in 3
space Of fifty feet long and twenty feet
wide The Spanishr divers have never
been inside tbs wreck at all, ne.th:r
have they ever bec:, on the port side
devCl-''I'g th, shcrt hours which :hey
have spent n",lcr wafer to the starboard
side forward and outside the hull. Re
Gently, to their own surprise, they
.DliGlGht IN '.wo cases Of 2ImInunition
for tn, six inch guns. no., cXploCly a.
Th5y drcrpcd th5,n back when the
light of the surface showed they were
u"leXp!odcd a,1l what III t&r Ic!aturc was.
Further the SIhzmish divers oftsn e.
down only long enough to wee their
sui.s and then G.ne up and hide he
hind Il blanket cr the barge. where
thsW sleep or n:.st for a couple of hours,
a"1i then 80 ash',rc anr report thai they
cannot see anything in the mud and
wafer They could not have fuur.d the
ram cf '.he MI2ttrt, since they have MT
been dow!G in the locality of THAI. part
CT the wreck. They have not located
the turret with the ;s-, inch guns, though
the sp.'t has besm poi:.:cd out by Cap
tain Sharp, in charge of the wreckers
where there is only siXtasr-, feet and
should be tw:c;'ty-siX fes:. THIS slrr is
outside the null on The starhuard side
II Is probable thai the turret is tn :,re
partly buried in the mud. All of :hese
facts are known by tina United S.ates
court of i"uuiry, having been ELECTED
in th1 eXaminat.CCI OF th-,se in r. posiforl
u know. The expert Interviewed by
the correspondent expresses The belief
that tha Main was blown up by what
Is knowCa as a Newport torpedo si!aticr,
torpedo '-r something of she same EIa-
ture. This engine of destructi n is the
Joint product Of the hila1rs of Command
der Converse, commander OF the Nllt-
g1mery: Leute.a,-'. Commanded Nc
Lean. now i: command of the torpeCo
station at Newport, and Senior Lieu
tenant, ordnance otiic:r Of the NIai-,a
at the time of the explosions The New
p2ct G1rpedo can be planted from n
small b.It and the expert beli:wes that
this c:ie was exploded by being struck
on the port side of the Maine forward
OF am!dships, rs She swu.y to her moor
inSsl He thinks this mor5, likely than
Ehat wires were laid from the shore, as
the wires, If laid fcr any leng tn III time.
would sink deep in the loose harbor
mud. 1t would be singular .f r. should
prora that the Maine w1s,s blown, up by
ct torpedo in the investigations Of which
on1cf her principal ,cfiicers, Lieutenar,t
Holman. bore notable part
All of the above Statements of facts
and surmises come from au;fhoritv
uron which the oHurt depends for
much of its evidence, and Is given II
the correspondent without reservas: ION
except as to the name and rank of the
giNcr. The expert further believes tina
the destroying mine was made up OF
four tOrpaQOeS ne thjrtytlx mounds