Daily Kennebec journal., 1898-03-21

Congress as soon as received. if OF 8
: ture to permit that being done.
G. Y. Wheeler. president of the
Misunderstanding Projcctile Works OF
Mckeesport. Pa; arrived in Pittsburg
Saturday, from Washington with signed
contracts from the government for over
IA $ooo, 600 worth of proJcctilcs Of all quail
ties of armor piercing kind, from inches
up to II inches. the largest made for use
in the United tatcs army and navy. The
contract calls for $J51 800 worth of pro-
jcctilts for the navy, SVo0o9 for the army
an i S200Oo0 for both departments, 1t will
require at least Il year, working cOntiu-
ually on the contract day ana night, Sun
days included. to complete the contract.
Secretary of the Treasury Gage ar
rived in Pittsburg, Saturday, from
Cleveland. to attend the annual ban
quet of the Chamber Of Commerce ~
| tn" Duquesne Club. In an Interview
he said that if it were shown conclu-
| siVcly that the Spanish government
was responsible for the blowing up Of
| the Maine the United States would d =
| clare war within fifteen minutes. 50
| far as the people we're concerned. hc
was OF the opinion that 80 per cent.
| believed the explosion was an accident.
Great activity is displayed at the tor
| pcdo station at Newport r. !. Since the
! Maine disaster up to Friday morning. the
| station has gone on as usual ana there
was no evidence Of Warlike preparations.
| This, however Was suddenly changed by
| tht receipt Of an order from The navy de-
| partnlenf with rush Instructions To- get
in readiness for shipment Of Shells of the
/ dynamite cruiser N"suViuS dud 10 till a.
once the Wdrh"adS of all torpcdocS on tho
| island and of those that would be shipped
to thu station daily. until the outfits for
all cruisers and battlcshipS would hc
completed aud :. number Of spare ones for
whatever auxiliary cruisers that may he
purchased by tn" navy.
Al the meeting Of the cabinet, FIJI
day. Attorney General tiriggs was ask
"a ~ one Of the cabinet officers Wheth-
ei the recognition Of the Independence
Of 4 state Was an executive Or legisia
tive function. The attorney general.
uh" is regarded as an able intcrna-
lipual lawyer. gave il as his opinion
thar the President alone has the right
10 recognize, the Independence Of a for
rj&u state or sovereignty. This view j
in accordance with that held by Ricn-
ard OlueY. former secretary Of sta e !
ana attorney general.
In Ii semi-sitricaI editorial entitled |
'AN for Humanity. tn" Havana la Lu-
cha saturday. referred to tne fact that
spain i~ entertaining the people with a
carnival. ana Cuha is deeply Interested !
in thr coming elections while the United |
States seems 10 b" entirely devoted to |
humanity. The editorial says that relief |
work is So widespread aud greatly varied |
m cuba that it * impossible not TO Sus-
poet that ther. j. some other motive for |
il than charity. and hints at desire TO |
Americana, cuba. The paper says OF |
Mis- Barton Offer to build houses for !
ihe sufferers that I'm time these must |
grow in Yankee colonies. with the Stars |
ana Stripes floating from each house |
Thr editorial is written in good |
numorrd tone.
The New York World publishes the fol- /
lowing from Madrid: Marshal Martinez |
Campose writes as follows: when | was |
captain general Of Cuba for the first time |
| examined into the question Of land and |
coast defences al Havana. as well as at
the other Cuban ports. Nothing having |
been done. and in view of the improve |
mcnt in artillery, at the end of 1885 ! |
again paid attention 70 the matter But
| did nothing for the interior defenccs of |
the port. nor did think that it was the
moment for doing SO. In any case. |
would not have thought of constructing
mines in a port frcQuented by 50 many
vessels. 1t would have been very costly
work and would have driven commerce
from that port. tn" assertions that have
been made concerning mines IN that p?rt
are among the many infamous calumnicS
invented by the enemies OF Spain.
Both the navy and war departments
continue their active preparations for
emergency. and contracts in all
branches Of armament are being made
daily by the various bureaus. The
naval bureau of ordnance has con-
tracted for 100 GOO pounds of brown
powder, which is probably the largest
single order ever given. This WAS
divided between the California Powd 7
co. ana the Dupont Powder Go. These
a. iGhinr the /
bureau with about 2o,0o0 pounds daily,
and within week or 50 il is expected
the capacity of these two works will BE
brought up to 10000 pounds of powder,
on, of the most imposing relief cNpcdi-
tinnS ever sent from New York viii de
part for Havana. the latter part oil thlS
week under unique circumstances. At
the ships mast will float the flag OF the
American National Red Cross S"ci"tN-
such are the plans n"w being mad" 10
send 10 Havana AN expedition under the
Iuspir.S Of tht, central cuban relief COM
mitto". Of which stephen r. harloh.
hrothcr Of Miss Clara Barton. : rhdH-
man. ana eX-Mayor Charles y. SChlrr"h |
of Brooklyn. is treasurer The commit
Zee has arranged for a cargo of 2ptJ tons
of corn meal and -" tons oi bacon. ~ lS
proposed t. charter some m"rrhaht Silp
for tho trip. Negotiations hay" not yet
reached 4 dciiuit" stage. but one Of the
Ward Line steamships is most lik'I I"
i,. engaged for the expedition. As soon
as This question is disposed of the work |
of placing the relief cargo on board viii
begin.
The arrival OF several survivors of the
Maine at Washington. and their extended
with President Mckinley and
Secretary Long furnished the most m
terrsting feature in SATURDAYS, develop
mcnts on the Spanish situation. Three
officers of the Maine. Lieut.. q. +. w.
Holman. Lieut.. George +. Blow and Lieut.
A. w tatlan of the marine corps. accom-
panied by Boatswaiu Larkins. came ON
unexpectedly from Key West. 1t was
said their visit was purely voluntary on
their part. as they are now ON waiting or
dtrs and are free to so where they please
Their long conferences at the navy de-
partment and later at III" White House
led to much conjecture, it being asserted |
that Lieut.. BLOW brought with him the re-
port Of the court Of inquiry. or at least
the general conclusions reached by that
court 1t can be stated positively. how
ever. from an authoritative source. that
the officers did not bring with them the
report either as Il whole or its general
conclusions.
In addition to the torpedo outfits the
mtn at the torpedo station at Newport.
r. H. are working on Il death-dcalnS en-
gine in the shape of a buoyant mine. rms
is an orGan-shaped hollow affair The