Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-03-29

of the vessel. then an impression of
subsistence. attended by an eclipse of
electric lights and intense darkness
within his cabin. He thought imme-
diately that the Maine had blown up
and she was sinking. lie hurried to the
starboard cabin but changed his course
to the passage leading To the super
structure Then he detailed the manner
of meeting Private Anthony. which is
much the same as has bcen published.
( Lieut.. Commander Wainwright was on
deck when Capt. Sigsbee emerged
from the pnssageway and turning TO the
orderly he asked for the time. which
was given as $40 p. m. Sentries were
ordered placed about the ship and the
forward magazine flooded. lie called
for perfect silence. The surviving Off
GERS We're about him at the time on the
poop. He was Informed that both for
ward and after magazines were under
water. Then came faint cries and white
floating bodies in the water. Boats were
at once ordered lowered but only two
were found available, the gig and whale
boat. They We're lowered and manned
by officers and men and by the captains
| directions they left the ship and helped
To save the wounded Jointly with other
boats that had arrived on the scene.
Fire amidships by this time was burn
ing fiercely and the spare ammunition
in the pilot house was exploding. At
this time Lieut.. Commander VAIN
wright said he thought the 10-lnch
magazine forward had been thrown up
| into the burning mass and might eN-
| plode in time Everybody was then
directed to get into the boats over the
stern, which was done, the captain get
| ting into the gig and then proceeding
to the City of Washington. where he
| found the wounded In the dining
| saloon being carefully attended by the
| officers and crew of the vessel He then
went on deck and observed the wreck
! for few minutes and gave directions
| to have a muster taken on board the
| City of Washington and other vessels
| and sat down in the captains cabin
| and dictated n telegram to the navy
| department. Various Spanish officials
| came on board and expressed SYM
| pathy and sorrow for the accident.
| The representatives of Gen. Blanco
| and of the admiral Of the station were
among the Spanish officials who ten
| dered their sympathies. About four
| or five men were found that night who
| survived.
By the time Captain Sigsbee reached
| the quarter deck II was his impression
that an overwhelming explosion had
! occurred. When he came from the
cabin he was practically blinded for
! few seconds. His only thought was
for the vessel and he took no note of
| INT IHenoNlerd OF tfe tNplpSlpU.
In reply to the direct question: of
whether any of the magazines or
| shell-rooms were blown up the captain
said 1t was extremely difficult to come
to any conclusion. The center of the
explosion was beneath and a little for
ward of the coming tower on the port
side. In the region of the center or
axis of the explosion was the 6-inch
reserve magazine, which contained
very little powder. about 300 pounds.
The 1o-inch magazine was in the same
general region. but on the starboard
side. over the 10-inch magazine in
the loading room of the turret and in
the adjoining passage number of TO-
inch shells were permanently kept.
According to Capt Sissbee 1t would
be difficult to conceive the explosion
involved the 1O-inch magazine because
of the location of the explosion, and
that no reports show that any 1O-inch
shells were hurled into the air because
of the explosion.
The captain went into details as to
the location Of the small ammunition
He said that he did not believe that
the forward 6-inch magazine blew up.
The location of the gun cotton was
aft. under the cabin. The gun-cotton
primers and the detonntors We're al
ways kept in the cabin. He stated
that he had examined the wreck him
self, conversed with other officers and
| men, put as the Spunlsn authorities
were very much adverse to an investi-
CATION except officially on the grounds
as stated by the Spanish admiralty
that the honor OF Spain was involv ll ,
he forebore to examine the submarine
portion of the wreck for the cause of
the explosion until the day the court
convened.
He said the discipline of the ship was
excellent. The marine guard was in
excellent condition. The report of the
medical department shows that about
one man ana quarter per
day were on the sick list the past year.
In the engineers department the yes
sci was always ready and always re-
sponsive. He paid tribute to the
crew and said that n quieter, better
natured lot Of n he had never known
on board any vessel I'm which he had
served; He had no fault to find with
the behavior Of any man at the timo
of the disaster and considered thei.
conduct admirable
On his examination by the court,
Capt. Sigsbee said that the highest
temperature he could discover was li2,
but that was in the after magazine
the temperature in the forward maya
zines being considerable lower. There
was no loose powder kept in the maya
zine. All the coal bunkers were ven
tilated through air tubes examined
weekly by the chief engineer and were
!
tor near his cabin door. The forward
coal bunker on the port side was full,
The forward coal bunker on the star
board side was half full and 1t was
being used at the time OF the ex-
plosion.
Capt. Sigsbee. being recalled, stated
that he had detailed Lieut. Com
mander Wainwright. Lieut. Holman
and Chief Engineer Holman, all of the
Maine. to obtain information in re-
gard to any outsiders who might have
seen the explosion.
Capt. Sigsbee also gave as his opin-
ion that If coal bunkers A-l6 had been
so hot as to be dangerous to the six
inch reserve magazine. that this con-
dition would have been shown on three
sides where the bunker was exposed,
and that men constantly passing TO
and fro. by 1t, would have necessarily
noticed any undue heat.
Capt. Sgsbee was recalled and ex-
amined as to the ammunition on board
the Maine. He stated that there
were no high explosives, gun-cotton,
decorators. or other material in maya
zines or shell rooms which the regula-
tons prohibited. He testified that no
war heads had been placed on torpe-
does since he had had command OF the
! ship.