The sun., 1898-02-20
Is THE MAGAZINE INTACT?
DOUBTED NOW THAT TIE FORWARD
MAGAZINE REALLY EXPLODED.


The Tsp or the Turret over tse p1ssasise
Not Hurt-DIvers win Begin ~ LeehinE Tsr
Bodies In tho Iluii--spasiaras Hsw Have
q VERY Posr Opiuios er Our navy.
HAVANA, Feb. 10, via Kcy wsst.-capt. siGs.
bee and the other officers Of the Maine have
boon very reticent In speaking OF the cause Of
tho explosion and have not even limited that
they thought IL merely an accident. II IL now
known that the magazine Of tho 10inch gun
under the forward tnrret has not exploded. as
the top OF the turret 10 stl thero. Had the maya
zine exploded. the top would have been blown
on. Tho other large magazine In the after part
OF the ship is OF course Intact No definite con.
olusion. however. can be arrived at until the
divers make careful examination Of the inside
and outside Of the ship.
AZ soon 40 thoy arrive they will begin with
the work Of recovering the bodies that ere in.
SIDE the vessel and the search for the important
documents and personal effects or tho Captain
and officers.
Every day tho Spanish papers invent new
story as TO The cause OF the accident. They have
mentioned that there was hro on board, which
was kept secret; that at the ttmo Of the acci-
dent they were cleaning and handling tho tor
pedoes, that the boiler Of the dynanos exploded.
and many other such tales.
The Spaniards have also circulated the story
that the cause Of tho escape from the accident
Of nearly all tho officers was due to the fact
that they were all on shore. and the only two on
board were the ones who perished.
II 10 due to this false statement that tho rabid
Spanish paper Ei Corrco published yesterday
an article saying that II Capt. slgsbee lost all
bis clothes on board, how is IL that he wore his
6audy uniform at tho funerali
Capt. SiEsbee on that occasion was dressed In
simple black suit that . friend gave him. Tho
ofiicer who at tho funeral wore q uniform and
who was maliciously referred to as sigsbee by
Ei COrreo was the Captain Of the Fern.
La Region of Matnnsas published very sar-
castle article on the Maine. ssying that no
longer will the curious crowd Of ad-
mirinE Cubans como to pace her decks
and in their wild admiration 60 90 far 10 to
even stick their heads into her cannon; that
her steel bows. which 30 haughtily ploughed the
boisterous seas, will forever remain sunk In the
prosaio mud Of tho Hay Of Havana, and that
the causes Of her explosion will ever romain 0
mystery; and the word mystery is repeated
twice.
Not only 10 tho accident OF the Maine most
lamentable for the great loss of life It has
entailed. but also for the effect It has
produced on the Spanish masses. who now
ridicule tho American navy, sayin. that
the Spanish guns are not needed to sink tho
American vessels, as the carelessness and In
competence Of her officers do that.
The vessel they say. was sent hero with the
intention Of frightening us. as thore she lies at
the bottom Of the bay. mass Of debris,
while our boat, tho Alfonso Kill. which was
quite close to her did not suffer scratch and
had to help her drowning mon.
A group Of Spaniards wero last night reading
the kilograms announcing the arrival OF tho
vizcaya in tho bay Of New York.
Ono Of them remarked: "You'n see how all
THE talk about the. Maine ,si,l be stopped nev
az soon as they zoe the guns Of tho viscaya
pointing toward New York.
"These mercenary Yankees are 20 afraid Of
tho consequences OF q war that tho fear Of losing
a few dollars dampens all their belicose talk" I"
The most aggravating part OF all this 10 that
one Is Obliged to listen TO these things without
being able to oven answer without running the
risk OF being nobbed. and II lucky enough
to escape, to be expelled from the island as
an undesirable American newspaper corre-
spondent.
Many American residents visited Leo the day
of the funeral protesting and begging him not
to allow the American sailors to be buried here,
but to put them OF rest on American soil.
Lee explained to them the unfeasibility OF
their request.