The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-03-12
SPANISH COURT OF INQUIRY
STATEMENT GITEN
 our BY CAPTAIN PERAL.

OUT BY CAPTAIN PERAL,
 Says Maine Was Blown Up From Within
 and Gives Reasons-Scouts the Tornado f. Theory-Does Not Blame sigsbee-Be-
 lieves There Was an Accident Whicl,
 Could Not Possibly Have Been Foreseen.
 Havana, March 1.-To-day Captain Peral, president of the Spanish court of inquiry into the cause of the Maine disaster, granted an interview to the correspondent of the Associated Press, whom he authorized to say that it was the first and only interview he had giv- en any newspaper on the subject of the inquiry. He speaks excellent English. With him in the naval court is Lieu tenant salas. He has power to call in for consultation any army or navy en- gineer or any expert in marine build ing, and he has twice called in such and will do so again when necessary. Captain Peral said:
 Our divers are hard at work exam ming the hull of the Maine. Great difficulty is experienced owing to the deep mud in which the hull is buried and the condition of the wreck forward of amidships. The whole forward part of the ship is a mass of iron and steel debris. We have hoisted up much of it, but in the mud 1t is not always possi- ble to tell what parts of the ship, ar nor, deck, beams or stanchions are found, the explosion so changed their positions. We think we have located the ram or prov, but not in the posi- tion supposed The forward turret, mounting two largs guns, was blown clear of the hull into the water on the starboard. We shall continue our work and try to examine the hull forward | down to the keel. It is possible that we may propose to the American au-s thorities to raise the hull by means of the floating dock brought from Eng land and now in Havana harbor.
 We cannot believe there was an ex- ternal explosion of a torpedo for the following reasons: A torpedo must | have blown great hole in the mud at l the bottom of the harbor. No such hole was found. A torpedo would have | thrown lot of mud into the air, pro- l ducing a wave reaching from shore tos shore. We have found no one who saw such a wave. To produce the effects noted in the wreck a torpedo would ! have to be of enormous size, fully 150 | or 200 dlos. I am therefore of opinion that the explosion occurred within the l ship. know and respect Captain8 Sigsbee, and believe the American regulations affecting naval conduct, which I have read and found adraira- ble, were carefully observed. But some things which cannot be foreseen~ are bound to happen in the navy. have7 been reading of the explosion on the
 English ship Dolerel, which the Eng l fish believed was due to combustibIes
 I have read another account of sheels
 that were found burst open because of
 hardened points that split and produce
 ed heat. thus flashing the powder in the interior of the she'll
 l T do not believe there was any care- l 1essness on the part of the officers of
 the Maine. do believe there was an
 accident which could not possibly have 1 been foreseen." He illustrated some
 of the points he made by ink sketches
 on the desk before him. He spoke as a.
 judge would whose mind was ready to
 weigh any evidence brought before the
 court over which he presided. It should
 be borne in mind that this is the first l and only interview he has given any I one. Captain Peral requested this corr I respondent to make 1t known that he had granted the interview in his unof-
 ficial capacity and not as president of l the Spanish court of inquiry, which the l law forbids him to dO