El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-04-02
TESTIMONY TAKEN BY THE BOARD
of Inquiry Shows Concusey That the Maine Was Destroyed
Mine Exploded in the Water

bottom Of the Maine in the condition
it WIS shown in he sketch, be stated
that the distortion of the keel of the
Maine was too far forward and too re-
mote from the magazines to have been
caused by their explosion. He was of
the opinion that the rending of the
plates on the bot ON of the Maine could
he produced by the explosion of sub
marine niue containing large amount
of the explosive, not in contact with
the ship, but some distance below it.,
perhaps on the bottom.
Continuing, he said he never in his
experience saw any interior explosion
that vas pos sible to produce the effect
on the Maine.
Lieutenant Commander Wainwright
testified that the reJuls tions in regard
10 the paints and intiammsbles and all
other precautions were strictly carri-
ed out on board ship.
Every possible care was taken to
avoid &C ;ident. ALI visitors were scrut-
ia!z-d before being allowed to come on
board ship. Nobody was allowed I'M
accompanied. Special ''lookouts"
we're required at night. No unauthori
ed boats were allowed to approach the
ship.
u0Fo WIS uuo OO0U1oQt
crew and quite men. On the 10Th,
Lieutenant Wainwright said: NEARLY
a the powder tanks show signs Of
having been subjected to outside pres
sure, as if pressed against the powder
inside, and their ends are also crush d
in. | saw two six-inch tanks that
were opened at the seams and were
pressed down fiat rs if by exertion of
considerable force"
"A witness was introduced whose
name was suppressed by the court. He
This witness was crossing at about 1880
O'Clock the morning of the 18th from
Havana to Regla On ferry boat. he
was sitting near three Spanish officers,
two of the army one of the navy and q
citizen. They we're talking about the
Maine. One of the army officer said:
That is nearly arranged" The citl-
zen asked if making explosions in the
bay would endsnger Havana. The Of
fcer said: mo. it was arranged so it
would simply explode, open the vessel.
other man joyously exclaimed: 81 will
Some one came by and they suddenly
stopped the conversation. They sad
it was shame that she 1.-THE Msine)
should be in the harbor and they would
blow her up anyhow.
A mao by the name of Pope Taco
was mentioned in a letter. Witness
said he had tried to discover The
W hereabOu.s of the man and the one to
whom he spoke said The name was a
mistake; that the man mentioned had
died few days before the explosion of
to a Pete Barquin; that he also died
suddenly about two or three days af-
ter the explosion of the Maine. The
witness declared his informant was
Mr.. Charles Carbonnell, an American
citizen.
Ensign W. V. N. Powellson was
called the third day OF the court. He
testified he had been present on the
Maine every day from the arrival Of
the Fern and during great deal of
the diViog.
court about the wreck, he said the for
ward part of the ship forward of the
aft smokestsck had been, to all ap-
pearances, completely destroyed. The
divers reported to witness that at the
point where the ten-;nch shell room
should be they discovered ten-inch
shells regularly arranged, but the ship
had sunken down SO far that some Of
the shells We're in the mud.
Gunner Morgan reported that in
on the bottom he fell into Q
hole on tho port side and went down in
the mud. He also reported that as far
as he could judge everything seemed
to be bent upward in the vicinity of
the hole. He also reported that the
plates seemed to have been pushed
over to the starboard and then bent
down.
"What impressions were produced
on your mind by the reports so far as
you have quoted them?" Ensign Po-
wells0n was asked.
1.-The impression created is that an
explosion took place we'll to the port
IF thu midship line aud at a point OPP.
Oosite the conning tower"
He thought the explosion oc-
CURED on the port 81 ,e, some
where about frame 1s, center of the
impact. The ship yielded at II end at
boat 40, but it was pretty hard to say
exac ly where the impact came.
FL anne Is was blown in.
How do you account for the inn
nense d. mage done sbreass of the re-
serve magazine, where there is no.
hing left, whereas between frames l6
md IL you have found damaged
Jlates?"
My idea," he replied, sis that af-
er the ship was raised up to frame Is
he magazines, one or all of them, were |
some powder tanks |
hat I have seen, 1 think, we're ex-
'loded, while others have seen were !
lot exploded"
When que. toned as to what he re-
'arded as the cause Of the injuries.
Mr. POwellsou said: lon the bottom