The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-02-17
THE OLIVETTE ARRIVES.
Account of the Explosion as Re1at-
ed by Her Purser.

KEY WEST, Feb. LITTLE steamer
Olivette, with sixty-two survivors of the
Maine on board, arrived here at 1870
tonight, hours and.30 minutes from
Havana. OF the number twenty are
wounded, ten seriously and one fatally
Captain Merrill, with Company A of
the First Artillery. took possession of
the dock before the vessel arrived and
kept back the excited crowd which in
cluded half the population of Key West.
The majority were Cubans and mulat-
toes. No one not in uniform was al
lowed to so on board.
The Associated Press CORES ondent
saw Purser benson of the Olivette, who
gave the following brief account of the
disaster:
The explosion is an absolute mystery
to every one. It occurred in the for
ward magazine, which is just forward of
amidships and below the water line. The
coal bunkers are outside, but separated
by two feet of space. According to Gus
tom, the magazine was tested at s
clock in the evening and the tempera
ture found to be 80 The magazine was
locked and keys given to Captain Sigs-
bee. The men went to their hammocks
i'll the forward part of the ship soon
after 8 o'clock. The explosion occurred
at $40. and hence the awful and over
whelming loss of life. No one can yet
give a connected account. About ten
men who We're in the forward part of
the ship were saved, and of these several
had their hammocks slung on the lower
deck. The explosion split the big ship
in two. and threw these and one marine
W hp 81 IN ha tr,1 cf,r
forty feet in the air and into the water
I'm the magazine were twenty-five
tons of coarse powder used for charging
the big guns. There was no dynamite
defamation powder nor torpedo heads,
and nothing, in fact, that could be ex-
ploded by conclusion. In the main mag
azine aft the high explosives We're stored
and this magazine did not explode.
There are no electric wires connecting
with or near the magazine.
1T it not believed that the Maine was
destroyed by torpedo underneath, as
if this was the case the hold would have
been torn in the bottom, and the ship
would not have been riven to atoms as
was the case. The aft part of the ship
sank in three minutes. and the officers
and survivors of the crew escaped half
CiotiieU. IleCeS OF the WreckaSe new
a distance of 500 yards. One large piece
of cement struck the quarter dack of
the City of Washington of the Ward
line, which anchored ahead of the Maine
twenty minutes before the explosion"
The authentic figures as given of the
casualties are 104 saved and POI dead
1t was sad scene at the dock to-
night as the wounded sailors were car
red to the waiting ambulances by ar
tillerymen and officers, tenderly placed
on seats for conveyance to the marine
hospital. The brave fellows bore their
sufferings admirably, and some limped
through the lane of eager faces with
their arms in sings. heads bound AMI
biood-stained bandages on legs or
trunks. The crowd had been yelling
as only excited Cubans and negroes can
yell, but a great hush hsSS fallen upon
the assemblage as the head of the pro-
cession filed from the deckhouse at the
sight of the actually wounded headed
the sound. Excited women grew hys-
heard from lips that had been shouting
a moment before.
Every possible arrangement for the
comfort Of all who were diseInbarkad
had been made. all who could talk
praised highly the kindness of the Span
ish officials. who opened their hearts
and wardrobes to the survivors. Boats
from the Spanish cruiser Alfonso Kill
We're among the first to reach the