The times., 1898-02-28
BRITISH SKIPPERS TRIBUTE.
Captain Woods Says That SiaSi,.,,
Il n Hero

2 IL a nero
/ Galveston. Texas. Feb. NY vessel
was within half mile of the Maine.
said Capt Woods. of the British steam
ship Thurston. which has just arrived
here from Havana ''and my small
boat was the first To reach the wreck It
is beyond my power To describe the eS-
pIosion. 1t was awful. It paralyzed .ti,g
intellect for "a few moments. The cries
that came over the water awakened us 10
a realization that some great tragedy had
occurred
Il Immediately ordered the boat low
cred and made all haste To the wreck
There We're very few men in the water.
All told 30 not believe there We're thir-
". We picked up some of them and pass
ed them on to other vessels and then
continued our work of rescue. The sight
was appalling Dismem bered legs. arms
and trunks of bodies We're floating about
together with pieces Of clothing, boxes OF
meats and all sorts Of wreckase- Now
and then the agonized cry of some poor
suffering fellow could be heard above the
tumuIJ.
'Onc grand figure stood out in an the
terrible scene That was Capt Sigsbee-
Every American has reason TO be proud
of that officer He seemed tp have -cal-
lied i'm an instant ali that happened. Nar
for one moment did he show evidence 81
excitement. He alone was cool. Disci-
pline? Why. man, the discipline was
there as strong as ever despite the fact
that all around Was death and disaster
Capt Sigsbee refused all offers of as
sistance from Spaniards. tie ordered
them away. When he had to leave the
battleship-you know he was the last ts
Ieave-he gave the order for his gig And
he left that wreck in his gig. too. without
any sign OF haste. As long as he could
he remained on board 10 give such orders
as he could for the guidance of the res
cuers. When nothing more could be done
and the vessel was sinking gradually into
the waters he prepared 10 leave.
1T was 50 remarkable for a man tu
think of his rank and station at such a
time, and TO depart from a wreck IN the
style he would ordinarily leave had No
tragedy taken place. that I could not
but marvel. / really believe he would
have remained on board until the waters
engulfed him if his gig had not been
for; hCOmins
THE first message he sent out. advi--
ing a suspension of public Judgment in
the United States pending the Official in
vestiga zion. commanded the admiration
OF ali. He took the ground that il there
was anything wrong 1t was going to BE-
found out officially, but until that time
he didn't mean TO accuse anybody
What view do the residents Of Havana
entertain regarding the Disaster
That ! cannot say. Before 1 left EIa-
vana the Spanish newspapers had printed
the fact that the big magazine OF the
battleship was intact There was less
known in Havana regarding what the di-
vers We're discovering tnan seems 10 be
known here IN America. The feeling is
of course. intense. and i did not endelvor
to mix mp with any of the natives. bur
kept my opinions to myself.
h5r "a ff. Il yr-ff n
the Maine than the work Of rescue about
the wreck
Plenty All through the night of the
disaster / had my men on the watch for
corpses. We found three. They We're
lashed alongside the ThursJOn until the
morning All the time I remained al Ha-
yana | had my men watching for corpses.
Now and then We would see a leg OF an
arm of a shattered body and would direct
the attention of the regular sedTchers To
our discovery.
NO one who has not had ,he actual
experience can appreciate the horror ~
the scene in Havana The slore is lined
with bits of wreckage. While the presence
of locks OF buzzards here and there tell
a SrewsOmc story.
Il believe this Maine tragedy is one Of
the most fearful in the history Of ndvieS
/ do not want TO. venture an opinion rs
To what caused il. but the people of
America in their mourning for the dead
cannot but feel a thrill OF pride hen
they learn that the conduct Of the sur
ViFoUS was simply grand.