Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-17
MIGHT RAISE THE MAINE.
Naval Constructors That Say rs Biz
Ship Have Been Recovered.

NnSai contractors That Say as Big
Ships Have Been Recovered.
Secretary Long late yesterday afternoon
| telegraphed to Admiral sicard to appoint
board of naval officers to proceed at
| once to Havana. employ divers and gen.
| orally to male such inquiry the regu-
lattons of the navy demand shall be made
in the case of the loss of ship.
1t is explained by both constructors and
ordnance experts that 1t is possible for "a
torpedo to have exploded under the vessel
and the outward force of the magazine
explosion to blow the plates out again
and still leave 1T uncertain how the vessel
came to be sunk.
Constructors adhere to tine oonion very
strongly that by no possibility could the
Names ammunition have been set of
except through explosion of q boiler a
suck or dynamite or the conclusion OF a
torpedo from the outside. The fact that
no boiler was near the magazine takes
the question of that kind of an explosion
cut OF consideration, they claim.
me War Department is said to have
known that number of torpedoes were
planted in the harbor of Havana I'm the
past two years. and that all of them
worked by wire from the shore and were
no, not OF the kind that exploded on impac:
inese torpedoes were assumed to be
uead, however. that is, not kept loaded
out in readiness to be charged in an
emergency An admiral who holds a high
f,OS
slbie that a torpedo was fioated ont from
the shore and under the vessel
Might Rinse the Vessel.
The naval constructors, in the light OF
the dispatches thus far received, say that
II Is by no means certain the Maine cam
not be raised and again carry the flag
They say that while she is big ship.
others as large have been raised, and at
havana the new floating dry dock would
receive her if she could once be gotten
above the water. Captain Sigsbee evil
dently was taking an interest in the fu-
ture of the ship when he sent a telegram
to Commander Forsythe at Key West sug-
costing that e. light house vessel or som,
such small craft be stationed i'm Havana
harbor to watch the wreck The latter.
even If beyond resurrection. contains val
liable ordnance and other property that
doubtless can be secured by divers.
The Boiler Explosion Theory.
The boilers and engines of the Maine
were constructed at the Quintard iron
works. New York. Members of the firm ex-
| pressed themselves puzzled over the
| disaster. They did not see how an explo-
sion could occur in the magazines at night.
while the vessel was lying motionless in
the harbor.
Seeing that the ship was stationary"
said Henry Mason. superintendent of the
iron works. lit would have been almost
impossible for the boilers or engines to
have exploded. According to a dispatch,
General Bianco ascribes the explosion to
the bursting of a dynamo boiler. Now
there is no dynamo boiler in the ship. She
has Scotch boilers. The sides of these are
l 1-32 inches thick.
Had the forward boilers burst the fly
ing metal could not have done much harm
The nearest ammunition room is the shell
room Between IL and the boiler is coal
bunker heaped with fuel. The bunker is
also bulkhead, with light doors. made es-
pecially strong to Withstand pressure
The shell room is below the forward tur-
ret and is one of the magazines. The tor
pedo store room, in which the gun cotton
may have exploded is under the crew.
quarters. The torpedo operating room is
beside the bow. After it comes the store
room where the torpedoes kept. Di-
rectly beneath this is the room where the
| torpedo heads are placed"
A Splendid Vessel.
The Maine was accounted a splendid YES
sci, one of the best of the service Few
were her superior among the second-class
battle ships. and she was the most costly
| vessel the American naval service ever
| lost She cost more than half dozen ships
lost in battle in the last war She was
freer from defects than many vessels of
the navy. She was designed before many
of the present features were worked out
or devised, and was regarded as a thor
OF ghly equipped, well-manned and superb
ly officered vessel. AS Naval Constructor
Hichborn said when the vessel was first
ordered to Havana: The vessel is in fine
coE0ition and will render good account
of herself il occasion arises"
The loss of the ship is one that will mate
rally affect the strength of the fleet now
under Admiral Sicard, and probably the
present cruise evolutions around the Dry
Tcrtugas may be suspended or abandoned
entirely. When she sailed into Havana
no vessel OF the navy was in better fighting
condition.