The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1898-04-02

vana narDor lie was on the stern OF tho
Washington. which was astern aud on
the port side OF the Maine The vessels
were about 100 yards apart Rothschiid
said he waa naturally interested In tho
Maine. and had taken a position where they
could get a good look at her. Just - he
had taken his eyes of her 20 move his
chair. there was a sound like cannon
shot In the darkness. He Immediately
looked toward the Maine. He saw tho
forward end OF the vessel rise. he thought
couple OF feet. out or water. An instant
later came a second distinct explosion.
This seemed 10 burst from the interior
OF the vessel forward In a dull flame. and
the. air was Instantly filled with flying
debris. The vessel iurched back In the
water after the force OF the first detona-
ton that had lifted her bow, and quickly
began 10 sink forward. In less than MIN
ute her bow had disappeared. The wreck
took fire and burned for two hours. There
were single reports that kept up through
all that time as the fixed ammunition was
reached by the flames, but these were not
TO be confused with the two big explo-
sions which had destroyed the Maine.
There was no doubt about the separation
OF these first two explosions, an interval
or two seconds at least separating them.
The much-dlscussed section OF cement that
fell on the deck OF the Washington was
two inches thick and weighed 80 pounds.
The engineer OF the Washington took II
10 Mexico. Pieces OF iron stove I'm some OF
the Washington's boats and delayed the
work OF rescue. other wreckage was
hurled clear over the Washington The
boats OF the Spanish warship Alphonso
XII, he said. were prompt TO go TO the
rescue and were aided by the searchlights.
Extra Guards Put On.
Lieut.. A. M. Catlin. who was In charge OF
the marine guard. said that when the ship
went into Havana harbor. two extra night
sentineis were put on. one In the forecastle
and one In the poop armed with rifles. They
had special orders 10 challenge all boats
which approached the ship near enough for
a challenge. There was a picked man on
the port gangway. The corporals guard
inspected the ship lights below every half
hour. the patrol taking his place while
gone.
Electric Wires All Right.
Lieut. George Il. NJ Holman, who per-
formed the duty or navigator and ordnance
officer and was In charge OF the electric
plant, testified that all possible precaution
was taken to prevent accident. The tenn
peraturc of the magazines was taken daily.
The electric wires were separated from
the magazine by double plating OF glass.
lie noticed nothing at the time OF the ex-
ploslon TO Indicate that anything was the
matter with the electric works.
The examiner referred 10 Holman's largo
experience in matters OF explosives and
asked his impression OF the whole affair.
lie said:
MY impression. not yet verified by div
ers' findings, Is that a very heavy mine
went Off under the Names bottom. The
noise produced by a heavy mine would
be great in itself and adding TO the second
explosion would make the two practically
one and the same explosion"
Forctold the Tragedy.
Henry Drain clerk In the United States
consulate. Havana. was examined as TO
the receipt OF an anonymous letter received
by the consul-general in regard TO the
explosion or the Maine. Witness produced
the letter. the date OF which was February
Is OF tho present year. There was no sig
nature. II being signed IAN Admirer."
Drain said II seemed to be the document
OF n fairly-well educated man. IL was
written In Spanish. The translation was
produced and was handed to the Judge adj
vocate and read by him. The letter was
referred 10 In the record as being marked
f. but was not appended.
In response to the question as 10 whether
anything had been done TO ascertain tho
truth OF the statements contained In the
letter. the witness said that there had.
He asked Gen. Lee TO look into tho mat
ter. and he did not appear 10 know what
TO do. stating that he had no secret service
money.
A man by the name OF Pope Tatco was
mentioned In the letter. Witness said no
had tried TO discover the whereabouts OF
the man, and the one TO whom he spoke
said the name was a mistake. that the man
mentioned had died a few days before the
the explosion or the Maine. and that the
letter referred to Pope Barquin. that he
also had died suddenly, about two or three
days after the explosion OF the Maine. Wit
ness declared his informant was Mr..
Charles Carbonnel, an American citizen.
An Unknown Witness.
a witness was introduced whose name
was suppressed by agreement between him
and the court. He had 10 talk through an
interpreter. This witness was crossing
about half past seven o'clock on the morn
ing OF the 18th from Havana TO Reglas on n
ferryboat He was sitting near three Span
ism officers. two OF the army. one OF the
navy and citizen. They were talking
about the Maine. one OF tho army officers
said: That is nearly arranged" The
citizen asked II making explosions In tho
bay would not endangcr Havana. The off,
Ger said mo" 1t was arranged so that II
would simply explode. open the vessel and
she would sink Immediately. The other
man loosely exclaimed: "Oh. will take
plenty OF beer on that OCCASION" Some ono
camo by and they suddenly stopped the
conversation. They had said 1t was a
shame she (the Maine) should be In tho
bay and they would blow her up anyhow.
Eject Of Explosives.
Capt. O. A. Converse. OF the navy. sum
moned as a witness. testified he had made
a study OF the nature and effects OF explo-
sives. The largest quantity OF explosives
he had ever seen used consisted OF tor
pedo containing 300 pounds OF gun powder
and 200 pounds OF dynamite. all In separate
cases, 100 pounds In each case. securely
dashed together Being shown blue print
OF the forward magazine and shellroom OF
the Maine, and asked IL one or more OF
these should explode or partially explode
IL would lift the forward part OF the ship
partly out OF the water. he replied that he
did not think Il would.
After a long description OF the effect or
torpodoes he was asked what his expert
ence was In the case or the explosion or a
submarine mine; as TO what became or
tho mine? lilo replied that they are al
most invariably ruptured and Loaf; blown
up and pieces OF them are rarely found.
This experience did not allow him 10 re-
member n case where he saw any consid-
cradle pieces remaining from a submarine
mino or It's iron case after It's explosion.
on one or two occasions small fragments
OF cast iron thrown into boat indicated
complete demolition OF the case containing
the explosive.