The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-14
Montgomery Men Frightened,

The officers of the Maine who remained
in Havana with the board of inquiry tell
a weird story of their experience on board
the cruiser Montgomery one night, the
night after that ship arrived in the har-
Dor of Havana, says the Washington let
ter of the Chicago Record. The Mont
gomery was assigned to berth very near
to that which is now occupied by the
sunken Maine. and the sailors, having
viewed the wreck of the warship, were
naturally somewhat wrought up. Dark
ness had scarcely settled over the harbor
before the officers and men were startled
by rappings against the side of the ship.
Something was knocking there at a rate
of 40 raps a minute, and the crew con-
ceiVed the idea that some Spanish devil
try was at work below Capt Sigsbee
was aboard and at his sugges ton divers
We're at once sent down to ascertain the
cause. They went to the bottom of the
harbor and explored carefully every inch
of the hull and the bottom. They were
unable to locate the source of the disturb
ance or anything that seemed to threaten
the vessel
Their report, however, did not allay the
fear of the seamen, and an order was is
sued stopping every piece of machinery
on board the boat. 1T being thought posi-
bic that the raps were proceeding from the
dynamo. Within the ship all was made
as quiet as death, save for the rappings,
that continued al the same regular rate
of 40 to the minute. The rappings had a
metallic sound, just as would have result
ed from hammer or mallet tapping
against the side of the vessel and a
smal-sized panic prevailed among the
men, The officers, too felt somewhat
mystified and alarmed, but in order to set
a good example to the men they went be-
low and turned in, and many of them the
next morning expressed themselves as
having been exceedingly gratified when
they were able to get to sleep.
The example set by the officers was not
followed by the crew They would have
mutinied before they would have gone be-
low that night. Instead of seeking their
bunks, these gallant seamen, who are will
ing and ready to face a visible foe. but
dread to meet an Invisible one piled one
upon another in the small boats hanging
from the davits of the ship, and there they
spent the night The rapplng ceased about
/ o'clock in the morning, but the men con-
nnued to doze in the small boats until day
light, when they arose and busted them
selves'about the ship.
capt. Sigsbee says he believes the noises.
which the sailors considered supernatural
were caused by vibrations from the eIectri-
cal machinery of the Spanish cruiser,
which lay about 600 yards distant He can
not conceive of any other explanation. The
rappings continued after every piece of ma
chinery on the Montgomery was silenced
and every light extinguished But the night
was still, and from the deck of the Mont
gomery they could easily hear the fhrob-
bings of the dynamos in the Aphonso XII,
ana when they ceased the rapp!ngs were no
longer heard. Capt. Sigsbee thinks the two
ships accidentally took such positions as
to establish a current between them, and
that, although the phenomenon was never
observed before or after, the conditions
happened to be exactly right for it that
night. The superstitious sailors conceived
all sorts of theories. the most popular be-
ing that the spirits of their dead comrades
who were still imprisoned in the wreck of
the Maine were making signals for relief