Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-29

| forward Of the coming tower the plank
ing was blown off on the only remain
ing plate of the main deck on the port
side, while the wood was still attached
| to that part OF the starboard side be-
tween the coming tower base and the
turrets. What witnesses saw would in
| dicate that the pressure lifted the pro-
tectve deck up on the port side, and the
protective deck on the starboard side
held fast and bent that deck downward.
Witness had taken sour1dings, and had
found five fathoms OF water on both
sides OF the Maine down to the mud.
Taking a 14-pound lead line and drag
ging with a wherry for obstruction on
port side, dragging close to where he
thought the water ways would be
found, he found no obstruction what
ever On the starboard side he found
distractions FOR 20 feet where he had
reason to believe the waterways had
originally been. He dragged along the
outside to see If anything had fallen out,
and found nothing. Witness thought the
ship ON the port side was entirely gone
Iopposite a point indicated on diagram
handed the court. 1t was entirely
blown out.
Ensign Powelson was recalled on Feb.
25th, and showed the plans of the Maine
from which he had identified the bottom
| plates that were blown up through the
/ upper deck. The finding Of these plates
on top of the wreck clear above water
I was among the first and most import
ant points of evidence clearly disproving
the possibility of an internal explosion.
After minutely describing the bottom
plates with their green coating of paint
and the other marks by which they were
idetified, Powelson stated that they
must have been blown up SO or 80 feet
to reach their present position.
| Ensign Powelsoll was recalled on the
B. fn DIVA fnCfi-
nony regarding the condition OF the
wreck, Gunnersmate Olsen, the diver,
was admitted in order that he might
correct any erroneous statement, the
two having worked together.
Olsen had reported the keel was slop-
| ing downward about 40 degrees ana TO
port, with the afterpart of the Keel up
permost. He said he had explored the
afterwing of the V and had found
u seni-circular hole about two feet in dda-
meter with rivet holes all around 1t. he
said that the semi-circular hole was
about 20 feet from the top of the V
made by the bottom plating
Mr.. Powelson said Olsen testified
that about 20 feet from the sluice valve
he found the opening in the ships side.
He had found boarding near the sea
suction in apartment A 10, about Il rect
from the sluice valve in an almost YER
tical position, although it was originally
horizontal.
Mr.. Powelson thought the explosion
occurred on the port side, somewhere
about frame 49, centre of impact. The
ship yielded at II and also at 10, but It
was pretty hard to say exactly where
the impact came. Frame Is was blown
in.
How do you account for the immense
damage done abreast Of the reserve ma
gazine where there is nothing left;
whereas, between frames 16 and Is you
have found damaged plates?" Mr.. Pow
elson was asked.
my idea" he replied is that after
the ship was raised up at frame Is, the
magazines, one or all of them, after
that were exploded; for some powder
tanks that I have seen, / think, were
exploded, while others l have seen We're
not exploded l saw a coffee can that
was brought this morning, which was
about as badly battered as most of the
powder cases that came UP. 1t looks
in very much the same condition"
'When you say some Of the. powder
tanks had, in your opinion exploded,
and some had not, do you refer to six
inch tanks only or two-inch tanks also?'
II refer to both, as l have seen a six
inch tank that was very little ripped
open, and saw one this morning that
had been burst open and f1attened out,
with evidences Of burnt powder on it.
saw one ten-inch tank that was scarce
| ly battered at ali, and only the head OF
it gone. also saw ten-inch tanks with
the packing, which looked like excelsior,
unburnt; so that in my opinion, some,
but not all, of the ten-inch and siX-inch
charges were exploded"
, Mr. Powelson said four or FIVE tanks
had been brought up that morning, but
he did not see adj of them. The only one
he remembered seeing was exploded and
, burst out, so that the case formed al
/, most a plane surface. The ten-inch
tank had it's head removed but it had
preserved it's approximate shape
When questioned further as to what
he regarded as the cause of the injury,
Mr. Powelson said:
'On the bottom forward, where that
frame was thrown up, 1t would seem to
me the force Swas communicated some
distance through the water because it
was lifted up, instead Of being battered
in 1t was a force that was cushioned
in some way, because the diver tells me
that there was bulge in plates between
the two frames, and such force as that
would be cushion pressure"
''It struck me-" continued Mr.. Powell
son. speaking of the same part of the
vessel, "that the mine there could not
have been very close to those plates
that were lifted up, because, as l say,
the plates are not so much damaged as
a vertical distance. 1t seems to me that
the mine was somewhat removed, and
the pressure came through the water
which produced that cushion sort of
pressure
On the afternoon Of March 1st. Rund-
quist went down to examine the side
plating under the water ways on the
port side abaft the port crane. Mr..
Powelson said: "He went back to the
| ships side and examined the backing
of the armory. That looked to be
pushed from out in because at bhe
place where the plate was gone the
wood backing about six or seven inches
thick was splintered and ali the splinter
ings pointing in board.
Ensign Powelson, when recalled on
March 18th, explained how he got the
data for his sketches, which played such
an important part in the work Of the
court He said he sent divers down at
various points along the line of the keel
as it lay broken and twisted on the
harbor bed Then he got in a boat and
located the points on the keel by lead
line. ION the wreck he established sta
tions at the mainmast, the port crane,
the smokestack, and so forth, and from
these bases ne would get the bearing
by angles Of his lead line as it rested
| on the keel and other points Of the
wreckage under water. Thus he was
able to plot map of the wreck both
above and below water, THAT was math-
ematically correct BY comparing this
with the original plans of the vessel, it
was possible to tell Just how much and
in what direction any part of the Maine
had been distorted by the explosion
without relying On underwater esti-
mates by the divers.
! C0NSITI, GEN TEE