The leader., 1898-03-30
HERE is THE REPORT
r. Shows That a Mine Was Ex-
ploded Under the Maine.
Court Cannot Find Evidence to
Fix tho Responsibility.
x.,,her spain Nor the spanish IL Men
,,ored-The Report Is Carefully
worded, But There Is No
Attempt at Indirection.

.;a,ad Press presents herewith a COM
,lo,e abstract of the report of the court
II inauary which investigated the
wrecking of the battleship Maine. This
distract is made from the report it.
sof access to which was obtained to-
a,v despite official secrecy unparalleled
in the handling of official papers. The
report is made up of eight parts, as fol-
lows:
rirst-The court finds that at the
,;me of the explosion the battleship
Maine was lying in five and one-half to
six fathoms of water.
Second Discipline aboard the ship
was excellent; everything slowed away
according to orders-ammunition guns,
etc The temperature of the magazine
atsp.m. was normal except in the after
magazine, and that did not explode.
Third-The explosion occurred at $3.50
o'clock on the evening of February 18th.
There were two explosions, with very
short interval between them; the ship
lifted on the first explosion.
Fourth court can find no definite
oninion of the condition of the wreck
from the dIvers' evidence.
Fifth-Technica details of wreckage,
from which court deduces that the mine
was exploded vnder the ship CD The
port side.
sixth-The explosion was due to no
fault Of those on board.
Seventh-Opinion of the court stat
ing that the explosion of the mine
caused the explosion of two magazines.
Eighth Court declares that it can
not find evidence to fix responsibility.
The report is unanimous and is signed
by all members of the court. 1t does
not refer to the existence or non-eXist-
ence of mines in the harbor of Havana,
except in the specific finding that
mine was exploded under the ship and
the opinion that the explosion of the
two magazines was caused by the ex-
plosion of a mine.
The report as a whole is a formal,
dispasSonate recital of facts, and bears
the stamp of that officialism which
marks naval procedure. 1t is brief, not
exceeding 500 words, and among the
eight parts goes to the greatest length
under the second heading, which deals
with the discipline and order of the
ship, This the court specifies with cx-
treme minutcness, the least detail of
the satisfactory condition of every
thing on board being given. The nor
NAL temperature of the large forward
magazines at S o'clock only an hour
and forty minutes before the eXplo-
sion -disposes of the question of acct
dental combustion within these maya
zines.
While the court holds that these mag
azincS did not explode from internal
causes, they nevertheless are of the
opinion that the explosion of the mine
under the port side of the ship caused
the explosion of the two magazines
This will explain the remarka BILE de-
struction wrought, the explosion thus
being shown to have combined the force
OF mine without and two magazines
within The two explosions which the
court finds to have occurred, with a
very short interval between them, is an
additional detail showing that two
forces operated in causing the destruc-
ton. The finding that the ship lifted
on the first explosion indicates an ex-
ternal source, and one of tremendous
power 10 be able to lift a battleship of
thousands of tons. The character of
the wreckage, technically described in
the fifth part of the report, from which
the court deduces that a mine was ex-
pioded under the ship on the port side,
sustalnS the view taken by some ex-
pertS shortly after the disaster that the
lorce OF the explosion was exerted from
port to starboard.
Inc feature of the report of deepest
interest to the navy is the complete ex-
oheratlon of Capt. Sigsbee and all on
BOARD contained in the second finding.
setting forth the perfect order and dis
elpIinc prevailing on the ship, and more
directly stated in the sixth finding,
winch declares the disaster to be due to
no fault of those on board.
The inability of the court to find evi.
oence to fix the responsibility, as stated
IN inc eighth part, makes the RESPONSE
oility so guarded in expression of
pane that neither Spain nor the Span
Sn are mentioned throughout.
Inc report will be sent to congress
tomorrow.