The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1898-03-30
SOME OF THE TESTIMONY
Opon which the Naval Board Of Inquiry
Reached Conclusions.

Upon which the Naval Board of Inquiry
Reached Conclusions.
The following are portions Of the tes-
timony
Ensign w V. y. Powelson was called
the third day of the court. He testified
that he had been present on the Maine
every day from the arrival of the boat
Fern and during great deal of the
diving
In reply to question to tell the court
all about the condition of the wreck, he
said the forward part Cfthe ship forward
of the after smokestack had been to all
appearances completely destroyed. The
coming tower lay in position opposite
the door leading to the superstructure
aft and 10 Starboard. inclined a about
10 degrees to the vertical with the top
of the coming tower i'm board. Contin-
uing, he described with close detail the
condition under the main deck on the
port side. The fixtures were completely
wrecked, while fixtures in the same po-
sition on the starboard side We're i'm
some cases almost intact. The port
bukhead between the main and berth
decks at the coming tCwe' support had
been blown aft on BE- - GeS. but a
great deal more on the - than on the
starboard side The Err m hatch inn
mediately abaft of the coming tower
had been blown in three directions
aft. to starboard. and To port. The pro-
tective deck under the coming tower
supports was bent in two directions.
the plates on the starbOard side being
bent up and on the starboard side bent
down.
Bent Up to the Starboard.
In reply TO an inquiry as to whether
he meant with reference to their orig
inal positions Ensign Poweson replied
affirmatiVely. The beam supporting
the protective deck few inches abaft
of the armored tube to port OF the mid
ship line was bent up to starboard OF
the midship line. Just forward of the
coming tower. underneath the main
deck two beams met at right angles.
one beam was broken and pushed from
port to starboard. grating was
found on the poop awning, just for
ward of the after searchight.
a piece of the side plating, just abaft
of the starboard turret. was visible.
This plate was bent outward and then
| the forward end bent upward and fold
ed backward upon itself. This plate
was sheared from the rest Of the plat
| ing below the water line. This plating
below the water line has been pushed
out To starboard."
The armored gratings of the engine
| room hatch were blown off. a compo-
sition strainer was picked up from the
| bottom on the starboard quarter at a
and about seventy feet from it. The
chief engineer thought the strainer was
from the firemen's wash room. Ii was
not strainer in the ships side.
Near the piece of outside plating To
which witness referred above, he said
| there were pieces of red, Shellaced
planks. On these planks was bolted
composition track two inches wide and
an inch thick.
The Stsrboard Turret.
Ensign Powelson then said that a s.
| inch powder tank that he saw appeared
TO be an empty tank broken by the ex-
| nlosion, as IL was not badly denied and
! merely ripped the length OF the seam.
A l0-inch tank was badly battered out
of any conceivable shape Continuing,
witness said the divers up to the night
| before he was then on the stand had
not been on the outside Of the ship.
The mud was too deelk1or them to walk
on the bottom What is the condition
of the starboard turret?" witness was
asked.
ITO my knowledge il was not found,
sir was the reply
He understood something had been
found under the place where the tur-
ret formerly was. but its exact charac-
ter had not been determined.
What impression is produced upon
your mind by the reports as far as you
have quoted them Ensign Powelson
was asked.
From reports alone. or from the ap-
pearance OF the wreck"
Either from such reports or the con-
ditions which you believe exist"
The impression produced upon me-"
replied the witness. lis that an explo-
sion took place we'll 10 the port of the
midship line and at a point in the length
about opposite the coming tower.
No Weight to Morgan's Statement.
Witness. in reply to further questions,
said his opinion was based upon the OBJ
servation Of things above water. He
gave no weight to Mr.. Morgan's state
ment about falling into hole on the
port side because Morgan might have
been mistaken about IL. Referring to
his notes made of things on the Maine,
Ensign Powelson said that the arc of
the engine room telegraph and the
shaft of the steering gear coming down
through the armored tube (turret) was
bent from port to starboard. The port
side of the protected deck was covered
with a greasy deposit the starboard
side being comparatively free from il.
The forward smoke pipe, between the
main and superstructure decks, did not
show signs Of the internal pressure of
gases. on the main deck, forward Of
\ the coming tower, where the fore and
I after angle bulb beam was located, the
planging was blown off on the only re-
naming plate Of the main deck on the
port side, while the wood was still at
tached 10 that part on the starboard