Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1898-02-18

| captain biRsbee'S statement
To the correspondent of the New York
Hearld Captain Sigsbee said: "There Is
very little can tell you. l was in the
cabin at the time. had just finished a
letter to my family when that enormous
crash came. The ship lurched heavily to
port, and l knew In an instant what 1t all
meant-that my ship had blown up.
"All the cabin lights were put out, and
as groped my way out Of the apartment
l met my orderly running toward me.
Reachingthe deck gave orders TO post
sentries, keep silence and to food the mag
azines. The magazines we're already
flooding themselves. l saw then that the
disaster was complete. Only three boats
were left of the number we carried"
Asked what he thought caused the
explosion Capt. Sigsbee said: "You
will have to excuse me from answer
ing that. In such cases it is best not
to think; it is best to know. That re-
quires investigation and time"
The News In Washington.
The news of the disaster caused pro-
found sensation in official circles in Wash
ington. The President and Secretary
| Long and other officials maintained their
| calmness and self-poise, saying, in sub
|
the sufferers, and after that to investigate
the cause Of the explosion with the utmost
| thoroughness. 1t is the disposition on all
sides TO regard the occurrence as purely ac-
/ cidental. All evidence thus far shows
I that the origin was from within and not
! from without.
Among the members of both Houses of
/ Congress conservative opinions prevail,
and the inclination is to follow Captain
/ Sigsbee's request and suspend judgment
! until an official report OF the catastrophe
and its causes has been received
! The government of Spain fastened to
| express to General Woodford, the United
! States minister, regret for the calamity
that had befallen the American battleship.
| The Madrid newspapers contain express
! sions of sympathy and sorrow. Their
tone and temper is beyond criticism.
| Secretary of the Navy Long has directed
the commander of the North Atlantic
squadron TO organize court of inquiry at
once to make thorough investigation Of
the affair. Members OF the court will go
/ to Havana, and divers will help them in
reaching positive conclusion.
Some London newspapers, while ex-
! pressing regret for the catastrophe, hint at
! treachery, AMI consider the calamity of in
/ NN'hoNIOh@i III POI tauNC'
Cause of the Explosion.
AS to how the explosion may have oc-
CURED, great diversity of opinion is ex-
pressed both in naval and civilian circles.
! Some navy officers believe spontaneous
/ combustion ignited the coal in one Of the
! Names bunkers, and that the burning fuel
! heated the metal partition between the
| bunker and magazine, causing an eXplo-
| sion OF the ammunition. Others think
some explosive substance in the coal caused
the disaster when the fuel was shovelled
into the furnaces.
The New York Herald says that Capt.
! Sigsbee used these words in conversation
with its correspondent on the bridge of the
Maine one day last week: 81 don't want
to be obliged to take any coal aboard from
| Havana, 1t would be risky experiment.
! Not that | suspect any one in authority,
but there is such an irresponsible rabble
here in Havana, and it would be an easy
matter TO get couple of sticks of dyna-
mite in the coal bunkers without knowing
! it."
II is noted that nowhere in his des-
patches has Capt. Sigsbee used the word
accident in speaking of the explosion.
| But this is only natural, since he was the
officer on whom full responsibility for the
vessel rested.
Despatch from Gen. Lee Wednesday
Night.
! HAVANA, Feb. l6.-Profound sorrow
expressed by government and municipal
authorities, consuls of foreign nations, or
! ganized bodies of all sorts and citizens gen.
orally.
Flags at half mast on governor generals
palace and shipping in harbor and in city.
Business suspended; theatres closed.
Dead number about 260.
Officers quarters being in rear and sea-
mems forward, where explosion took
| place, accounts for greater proportional
| loss of sailors.
Funeral tomorrow at +. NJ.
Officers Merritt and jenkins still miss
ing
Hope our people will repress excitement
and calmly await decision. LEE.
Cause May Never be Known.
General fear is expressed by the older
| officers of the navy department that the
destruction of the Maine has been so COM
| plete, at least in the forward portion of
the ship, where the explosion is believed to
have occurred, that it will be impossible to
find sufficient evidence in the wreck of
| the hull to show with certainty the cause
of the disaster. The fallen smokestack,
the disappearance of the big turret guns,
the overturning of the deck forward, all
seem to indicate that an enormous destruc-
ton has occurred below. As to the origin
of the explosion there is still a wide diff
! ference of opinion, but the coal bunker
theory finds many more strong supporters
than any other. This theory is based on
the suppOsiton that spontaneous COM
bustion in one of the bunkers, which in
the Maine are separated from the magazine
| forward by a single thin iron partition,
heated this partition red hot and ignited
the magazine and caused the destruction
of the vessel.
The fact is recognized that the ship may
have been wrecked by one of the perma-
nent or stationery torpedoes with which
the harbor of Havana is said to be strewn.
The Maine.
The Maine was one of the best ships in
our navy. She was a battleship of the
second class and very swift. She had
twin screws, and double bottom and
armoured turrets. She was launched at
the Brooklyn navy yard in 1890 She
was valued at $4,6S9,0O0.