The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-02-22

stead of organizing the court here. AT
any rate the lighthouse tender Mangrove
with the court of inquiry aboard left for
Havana.
Upon arrival in Havana the court will
make personal examination of the
wreck, and will then take testimony re-
garding the loss of the vessel.
ALL BELIEVE 1T WAS DESIGN.
Passengers on Ward Line Steamer Think
Maine Was Not Destroyed Acciden-
tally.
New York, February s1.-The Ward
line steamer Seguranica arrived this
afternoon from Havana.
The Seguranica arrived at Havana at
ten a. M. on the morning after the
disaster to the Maine and passed close by
the wreck.
She brought thirty-five cabin passen-
gers, many of whom were anxious to OBJ
tain news and learn the public expressions
in reference to the disaster.
They said great excitement prevailed in
Havana and at the time Of sailing the
foreign population were general in the
opinion that the Maine was destroyed by
design. They cited among other things
that the Spanish man of war which was
anchored near the Maine changed her
mornings previous to the disaster.
One of the passengers, William l..
Garbin, went so far in his statements as
to say that he saw boats go near the
Maine a short time previous TO the eX-
plosion, and said he would go to Wash
ington to make statement before the
proper authorities.
g. P. Holcomb of New Castle, Della
ware, general manager of street railroad
in Philadelphia, one of the passengers
was outspoken in his belief that the in
vestieation at Havana would reveal some
startling circumstances. II went to
Havana" said Mr.. Holcomb, "not at all
in sympathy with the insurgents, but
on Wednesday, when we got to Havana, l
believe all of the Americans on board
were in mood to commit murder. The
flags of the Spanish warship were not at
half-mast The vessels of all other
nationalties had paid this slight tribute
to the dead. l had a telegram to bring
back the remains of Apprentice Glazier.
who is tho son of my bookkepeer. 1 found
that he was among the saved.
"'The contrast between the bearing of
the Spaniards and Cubans is strong. At
the funeral Of the Names seamen the
Cuban women in the streets were almost
all dressed in mourning, while the
Spanish ladies wore colors. The only
American flags saw in the whole pro-
cession were two small ones about three
byisix inches / went aboard the Alphon-
SO XII. and was received politely. The
only expression of regret l. heard there
was from an officer who complained that
the force of the Maine explosion had
broken his toilet bottles. There can be no
mistakingthe Indifference of the Spaniards
in Havana over the loss of the warship,
and those on board, On Thursday, when
driving to the cemetery with two Ameri-
can friends I was assaulted with jeer and
some one threw large stone at our car
riage,"
F. w. Bobbett of this city, who said
that he was with Mr. Holcomb in the
carriage added: sThats perfectly true.
In factSone or two children yelled after us
that they had blown up the Americana. 7
and they were glad of it. | did not hear
a single expression of regret for the ter
rible loss of life from any Spaniard
during the time I was in Havana. -
Frank Weinheimer of this city, an eye
witness of the explosion, told the follow
ing story: 'On Tuesday evening /
strolled down to the river front for q
breath of fresh air. Out i'll the harbor l
could see the dim outlines of the Maine,
and close by the Spanish warship. l was
about three hundred yards from the
Maine. The first intimation had of an
explosion was a crunching sound. Then
there came a terrible roar. Immediately
pieces of debris few skyward from the
Maine 1t looked as though the whole
inside Of the ship had been blown out.
Many persons on the pier were nearly
thrown from their feet by the force OF tho
explosion. The wreck burned for about
two hours, aud by it's fiaring light, we
could see the work of rescue in the bay,
but were unable to render any assist
ance "
Mr.. Weinheimer said he heard an ex-
cited Spandiard declare shortly after the
explosion that if the "Alnericanos' sent
another warship it also would be blown
up.
NJ. j. Naughton of Chicago, who was
staying with his wife at the Grand Hotel
Pasaje, said: ''We thought the whole
city had been blown to pieces Some said
the insurgents were entering Havana.
Others cried out that MORO Castle. was
blown up, On the PARADE is large cab
stand. The minute after the explosion the
cabnlen cracked their whips and went
rafting over the cobble stones like crazy
men,. The fire department turned out and
todies of cavalry and infantry rushed
through the streets. There was no nleep
in Havana that night. The Spanish
officials were quick to express their SYM