The Monticellonian., 1898-04-01

PRESIDENT WILLIAM M'KINLEY
 of Havana This announcement was received hy the Span ssh government hy appreciation of the friendly character Of the visit of the Maine hnd with notification of intention To return the courtesy bg sending Spanish ships to the prin- eipal ports of the United States, Meanwhile the Maine entered tha port of Havana on the 18th af January her arrival being marked with no special incident besides the exchange Of customary salales aaj ceremonial visits
 The Maine continued th the Earbor of Ha- vaua during the three weeks following her ar rlyalz No appreeIable excitement attended her ztdy oil tHe contrary. feeling 9f relief md confidence followed the resumption of the long=iateffapte1 friendly intercourse. So no= ticeable WdS this immediate effect of her visit that the consul general strongly urged that the presence of eur ship in Cuban waters should be kept ID by retaining il at Havana or. in the event of her recall. by sending another vessel there to take her place. At forty minutes past nine in the evening Of the 10th of February the Maine was destroyed by an explosion by which the entire forward part of the ship was utterly wrecked. In this catastrophe two officers and 260 of her crew perishel those who were not killed outright by her explosion being penned betwe Il de Ks by the taHgle of wreck age and dfowRed by the immediate sinking of the hull Prompt assistance was rendered lev the neighborHg vessels anchored in the harbor aid being especially given by the boats of the Spanish cruiser AlphonSc XII and the Ward line steamer City of Washington which lay not far distant The wounded were generously cared for by the authorities of Havana. the hos pitalS being freely opened to them while the earliest recovered bodies of the dead were in- tefred by the municipality in public cemetery in the city. Tributes of grief and sympathy were offered from all official quarters of the is- land
 The appalling calamity fell on our people with crushing force. and for brief tune an ln- tense pxeitpfnpuf= =IrpVailal Kyb fr munity less just and Self-controlled than ours, might have led to hasty acts of blind resent ment. This spirit, however, soon gave way to calmer processes of reason and the resolve to in- vestgate the facts and await the material proof before forming q Judgment as to the cause, the responsibility and, if the facts warranted the remedy due This course necessarily recom- mended itself from the outset to the executive for only in the light of q diSpasSonatey aScer- tained certainty could it determine the nature and measure of it's full duty in the matter. The usual procedure was followed, as in all cases of casualty or disaster to national vessels of any maritime state. naval court of inquiry was at once organized, composed of officers well qualified by rank and practical ex- perience to discharge the onerous duty imposed upon them. Aided by strong force of wreclfers and divers, the court proceeded 10 make thorough iHvestiga- ton on the spot, employing every available means for the impartial and exact dotermina- tion of the cause of the explosion. Its opera tions have been conducted with the utmost de- liberation and judgment, and, while indepen- dently pursued, no source Of information twas neglected and the fullest opportunity was all lowed for a simultaneous investigation by the Spanish authorities
 The finding of the court of inquiry was reached, after twenty-three days of continuous labor, on the Fist of March, instant and having been approved on the 22d by the commander-ln- chief of the United States naval force on the North Atlantic station, was transmitted to the executive
 It is herewith laid before the congress to-day with the Youminous testimony taken bcforo the court Its purpert is in brief, as follows:
 When the Maine arrived at Havana she was conducted by the regular government pilot to buoy No 4, to which she was moored in from i've and one-half to six fathoms of water. The state of discipline on board and the condition of her magazines, boilers, coal bunlSers and storage compartments are passed in review with the conclusion that excellent order pre- vailed, and that no indication of any cause for nn internal explosion existed in any quarter.
 At eight o'clock in the evening of February i5 everything had been reported secure and all was quiet
 AL forty minutes past nine o'clock the vessel was suddenly destroyed
 There were two distinct explosions with a brief interval between them The first lifted the forward part of the ship very perceptiby; the second, which was more prolonged is at tributed by the court to the partial explosion of two or more of the forward magazines
 The evidence of the divers establishes that the after part of the ship was practically intact and sank fin that condition a very few minutes ufter the explosion The forward part was CAmpletely demolished.
 Cpon evidence of concurrent external cause the finding of the court is as follows
 At frame r the outer shell of the ship from a point eleven and one-haif feet from the mid de line of the ship and six feet above the keel, when in it's normal position, has been forced up so as to be now about four feet above the sur. face of the water therefore, about thirty-four feet above where it would be had the ship sunk uninlured.
 The outside bottom plating is bent into reversed "Vi shape, the after wing of which, about fifteen feet broad and thirtytwo feet is