Evening star., 1898-02-18
LIEUT.. BLANDIN's NARRATIVE
Account of the Disaster by Sur
yfyOr,


Lieut.. John ]. Blandin of Baltimore, one
of the Names survivors, who is at Key
West, gave the correspondent of the As
sociated Press last evening 4 succinct ac-
count of the disaster, saying that not un-
til now has he beeu able to recollect the
sequence of events in the awful ten min
utes following the explosion Tuesday even
ing. Lieutenant Blandin was on the Tren-
ton at the time of the terrible disaster of
Samoa in March, 1882 when American and
German vessels lost 244 men all told.
Lieutenant Blandin says:
Il was on watch, and when the men had
been piped below / looked down the main
matches and over the side of the ship.
Everything was absolutely normal. 1 walk
ed aft to the quarter deck behind the rear
turret, as is allowed after o'clock in the
evening, and sat down on the port side,
where 1 remained for a few minutes.
Then for some reason l cannot explain
to myself now, l moved to the starboard
side and sat down there. | was feeling
bit glum, and, in fact, was so quiet that
Lieut.. j. Hood came up and asked laugh
ingly if 1 was asleep. said, No; l am
on watch
Scarcely had I spoken when there came
dull. sullen roar. Would to God that !
could blot out the sound and the scenes
that followed. Then came sharp eXpo-
sion, some say numerous detonations. l
remember only one 1t seemed TO me that
the sound came from the port side for
ward. Then came a perfect rain of mis-
sileS of all descriptions, from huge pieces
of cement to blocks Of wood, steel raiings,
fragments CT gratings, and all the debris
that would be detachable in an explosion
Il was struck on the head by piece of
cement and knocked down. but l was not
hurt, and got to my feet in a moment.
Lieutenant Hood had ran to the poop, and
| supposed as ! followed he was dazcd by
n rl
hailed him, and he answered that he had
run TO the poop to help lower the boats.
When | got there, though scarce a minute
could have elapsed | had to wade in water
quarter deck was awash. On the poop |
found Captain Sigsbee, as cool as If at a
ball, and soon all the officers except Jen-
kinS and Merritt Joined us. The poop was
above water after the Maine settled to
the bottom Captain Sigsbee ordered the
launch and gig lowered and the officers
and men, who by this time had assembled
got the boats out and rescued q number in
the water captain Sigsbee ordered Lieu
tenant Commander Wainwright forward to
see the eXront of the damage, and If any
thing could be done to rescue those forward
or TO eXtinSuish the flames, which followed
close upon the explosion and burned fierce
ly as long as there were any combustibles
above water to feed them.
Lieut.. Commander Wainwright on his
return reported the total and awful charac-
ter of the calamity, and Captain Sigsbee
gave the last sad order Abandon ship to
men overwhelmed with grief indeed but
calm and apparently unexcited
Meantime four boats from the Spanish
cruiser Alfonso XII arrived to be followed
| soon by two from the Ward line steamer
| City of Washington. The two boats lowered
! from the City of Washington were found TO
be riddled with flying debris from the
Maine and unfit for use. Captain Sgsbee
was the last man to leave his vessel and
| left in his own gig.
| Il have no theories as to the cause of the
| explosion. l cannot form any. An exam
ination by divers may tell something to a
| court of inquiry. /. with others, had heard
that the Havana harbor was full of tor
pedoes. but the officers whose duty it was
| TO examine into that reported that they
| found no signs of any Personally l do not
| believe the Spanish had anything to do
| with the disaster. Time may tell l hope
| so.
I'VE were in delicate position on the
| Maine, so far as taking any precautions
! friendly. or alleged friendly port and could
| not fire upon or challenge the approach OF
! any boat boarding us unless convinced that
\ her intention was hostile.
| Il wish to heaven / could forget it.
| have been in two wrecks now and have
had my share. But the reverberations OF
| that sullen yet resonant roar, as if the
| bottom of the sea were groaning in torture
| VIII haunt me for many day, and the re-
| Election of that pillar of flame comes ia
me even when / close my eyes
| To EyeurnE aMEDUcsE cuuuS