Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1898-04-01

0eckS by the Can8lo OF Wreck0g0 ana
drowned by the immediate sinking OF
the hull. Prompt assistance was rem.
dered by the ~neighboring vessels an.
chored in the harbor, aid being especi.
ally given by the boats Of the Spanish
cruiser Alphonso XII and the Ward
line steamer City Of Washington,
which lay not far distant. The
wounded were generously cared for by
the authorities Of Havana, the hospi.
calls being freely opened to them, while
the earliest recovered bodies Of the
dead were inferred by the municipality
in q public cemetery in the city. Trib.
utes of grief and sympathy were of.
tered from all official quarters Of the
Island.
Intense Excitement Resulted.
The appalling calamity fell upon the
people of our country with crushing
force, and for q brief time an intense
excitement prevailed, which, in a com.
munity less just and self. controlled
than ours, might have led to hasty acts
in resentment. This spirit, however,
soon gave way to the calmer processes
of reason aud to the resolve to investi.
gate the facts aud await the material
proof before forming Judgment as to
the cause, the responsibility, and, if the
! facts warranted, the remedy due. This
course necessarily recommended itself
FROM the outset to the executive. for
only in the light of a dispass,r anei7
hscertained certainty could it deter
mine the nature and measure OF it's 1ull
duty in the matter.
The usual procedure was followed, as
In all cases of casualty or disaster to
national vessels of any maritime state.
A naval court of inquiry was at once
organized, composed of officers we'll
qualified by rank and practical expe.
rience to discharge the onerous duty
imposed upon them. Aided by a strong
force of wreckers and divers the court
proceeded to make a thorough investi.
cation on the spot, employing every
available means for the impartial and
exact determination of the causes
Of the explosion. Its operations have
been conducted with tie utmost
elaboration and Judgment. and
while independently pursued no source
Of information was neglected and the
fullest opportunity was allowed for a
simultaneous investigation by the
Spanish authorities.
The finding of the court of inquiry
was reached after % days of continuous
labor, on the 21st of March and having
been approved on the 22d by the com.
Clander-in.chief of the United States
naval force on the North Atlantic sta
tion, was transmitted to the executive.
Findings of the Board.
1t is herewith laid before the ION.
xress, together with the voluminous
testimony taken before the court. Its
purport is i'll brief as follows:
When the Maine arrived at Havana
she was conducted by the regular gov.
ernment pilot to Buoy No. a., to which
she was moored in from five and one.
half to six fathoms at water.
The state Of discipline o. board and
the condition of her magazines, boilers,
coal bunkers and storage compartments
are passed in review with the conclu-
sion that excellent order prevailed, and
that no indication Of any cause for an
internal explosion existed in any quar-.
ter. At s o'clock in the evening of Feb.
Is everything had been reported secure
and all was quiet.
At 40 minutes past 8 o'clock the YES.
sci was suddenly destroyed.
There were two distinct explosions,
with a brief interval between them.
The first lifted the forward part of the
ship very perceptibly; the second,
which was more prolonged, is attrib.
uted by the court to the partial explo.
sion Of two or more of the forward
magazines.
The evidence Of the divers establishes
that the after part of the ship was prac.
tically intact and sank in that conul.
ton a very few minutes after the ex.
plosion. The forward part was com.
pletely demolished.
Outer Shell Forced Inward.
Upon the evidence of concurrent ex.
ternal cause the finding of the court is
as follows:
cat frame II the outer shell of the
ship from a point 1lH feet from the
middle line Of the ship and 8 feet above
the keel when in it's normal position,
has been forced up SO IS to be now
about 4 feet above the surface of the
water; therefore about 81 feet above
where it should be had the ship sunk
uninjured.
The outside bottom plating is bent
into a reversed ~" shape, the after
wing Of which, about Is feet broad and
81 feet in length (from frame II to
frame 25) is doubled back upon itself
against the continuation of the same
plating extending forward. At frame
18 the vertical keel is broken in two
and keel bent into an angle similar to
the angle formed for the outside plates.
This break is about 6 feet below tho