Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-16

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dler said that no one could tell now how
the accident occurred. 1t might have been
| a torpedo under the bows of the ship. or 1t
| might have been an accident while ham
ding ammunition. But they are not likely
| to have been handling ammunition at 10
O'Clock at night" put in Senator Mason.
| "Oh. they might have been." continued
| Senator Chandler. IF the explosion was
| from within It was no doubt an accident;
| If from without, then no doubt it was by
dc sign
! Mystery Not to BE Solved.
Senator Carter said 1t was a most serious
and awful disaster He expressed the opin-
| ion that no amount of investis alton would
| clear up the mystery of how 1T occurred.
| The explosion would leave no trace of what
| took place before, and the burning ship
| would obliterate all possibility of learning
| much of what took place.
Mr.. Morgan Wants Two Battle Ships.
Senator Morgan Of Alabama, a member
Of the committee on foreign affairs. said:
'In the absence of definite information as
| to the causes and results of the Maine
catastrophe would not venture an opinion
| upon 1t. If 1t was an accident, as the first
! dispatches seem to indicate, it was most
deplorable; if it was due to treachery, as
some are inclined to believe, 1t was most
heinous and TO penalty would be too severe
| for those responsible for it. But whether
the calamity was due to accident or treach-
cry, should like to see introduced in Con-
! gress today joint resolution providing for
| the immediate construction of two battle
ships equal in size and equipment to tie
| Maine and costing not a dollar less than
| the Inflated Maine cost. That resolution
| would have passed by both branches OF
| Congress today. Such response as that
to last nights calamity in the harbor of
| Havana, whether it was due to accident or
| treachery. is the one to make in the cir
| cumstances One of these vessels should
| be constructed on the Atlantic and the
| other on the Pacific coast, and there should
| be not the slightest delay in their building.
Action of that kind by us would indicate
/ to the world that whenever or wherever
one of our tentacles was cut of two would
at once grow in its place.
mo" continued Senator Morgan. 81 do
| not care to comment upon the matter until
| am in possession of the particulars. 1t is
| too serious problem to be dealt with by
wild guessing and speculation. 1t seems
almost out of the question that 1t was the
result of an accident. Is 1t usual for ship
| of the Names class to carry her magazines
! in her bow, where the explosion seems to
| have occurred? But l can say nothing of
that now. 1 cannot guess and cannot spec
ulate. 1t is an awful calamity. Let US
await the particulars"
| MIR. Perkins Puzzled.
| Senator Perkins of California, who has
been a navigator all his life, and knows
| thoroughly every detail in the construction
and handling of great ships, said: Il cam
not conceive that such an explosion as that
which, by the earlier dispatches, is report
ed to have wrecked the Maine and sent to
instant death SO many of her crew could
| have resulted from accident The
| chances, it seems to me, are 30 in 1000
that the calamity did not result from acct
| dent. 1t has been suggested that the eXplo-
| sion might have occurred while ammuni-
| ton was being handled, but that is scarce
| ly credible, as ammunition warshp ly-
| ing at anchor is not handled at 10 o'clock
at night. Then. too, the ammunition on
a warship is fixed ammunition, which is not
| in contact with anything at all likely to
! produce an explosion. Every electric wire
! and every spark of fire on board the ship
| is far distant from the magazines and
| there is no possibility of danger by those
| means being communicated to the ammuni-
| ton. The discipline of both officers and
| men on the Maine, as well on every
other vessel, is such that the explosion
! could not have been caused by any action
| of any one of them.
Not Due to Accident.
| The magazines of the Maine and other
| ships of her class and the mechanism which
| operates them are constructed with all the
nicely Of a watch. By the simple pressure
| OF an electric button any magazine on
| board the vessel could be instantly SUBJ
| merged and no fire could gain such head
| way as to endanger any of the magazines
| without discovery. l am firmly of the be-
| lief that the horror in Havana hsrbor last
| night was not due to accident. j can
| scarcely conceive, either, that it was due
| TO the treachery of Spanish officials or was
| brought about through their cognizance.
| However, the situation in Havana is SO
| critical and the Spanish feel SO keenly what
appears to many of them an affront that
| the Maine should have been in the harbor
| that it seems not unlikely the catastrophe
| was due to the action of Spanish sympa-
thizers. That it was not an accident l feel
assured, and that it was due to treachery 1
am convinced
MIR. Mills Thinks 1t Was Intentional.
| Senator Mills of the committee for
| eign relations expressed the opinion that
| the occurrence was the work of torpedo.
| Il would not say he said. that the Span
ish were responsible for it, but some one
| must have been who had free access to the
| waters Of the bay. l don't think it could
| have been due to an accident, and think
! Congress should Immediately take the mat
| ter up for a thorough investigation. If the
| vessel had gone into the Havana harbor in
| a time of hostilites between this country
| and Spain precautions would, of course,
have been taken, but there was more
reason to expect anything of the kind there
| than there would be in one of our own har-
| bors. Yes. we should probe the matter to
| the bottom"
| Careful Inquiry Needed.
| Senator German of Maryland-"It Is a
| most appalling disaster, but no one at
| tempts at this distance and before any
| more facts are given to place the response
| bility. This will require careful inquiry
and 1 should not wish to express an opin-
| ion until 1t is made
Senator Morrill-"In my opinion the &C.
| currence is the result of an accident