The times., 1898-02-18
OUR MARTYRED sElMEN
Continued from First Page1

steamed into the harbor, ard ss,Iuted the
forts, which returned the salute. Around
me on the wharves were Spanish sympa-
thiZers, who heaped curses, on the Yam
Iee craft and prayed aloud that she
might be sunk by Spanish man-Ofwar.
The bitterest feeling against the ship
and its crew was expressed everywhere
in the city for the loyalists believed that
the purpose Of the Names assignment to
the harbor was to give assistance to the
cause of the insurgents.
II do not propose TO criticise the officers
of the Maine they may have known bet
ter than we who were on shore what they
ought to have done. but from the minute
she cast her anchors | expected TO hear
that harm of some kind had befallen the
ship
Every circumstance was suspicious 20
me. and it seemed as If the officers of the
Maine were blind. The first fact that
struck me as significant was that the
guns of El Moro were go directed that
their fire would rake the deck of the ship
from stem to stern. If the soldiers In
the fortress We're so inclined they could
have sent a fire OF death and destruction
crew could have had any warning
Notwithstanding that the, ships posi-
ton was exposed to the fire Of the for
tress. and that hostilities might break
out any minute, she was left at anchor
in that perilous position. The day after
the Maine arrived the German ship.
which was anchored close by, quietly
lifted her anchor and went over to the
other side of the harbor. taking up a po-
sit hal ,,,i1. F,Nr . he
Maine. The example of the German yes
sci was followed by the Alphonso XII
and two or three guDhoats which lay
close by.
After the vesseIse shifted their posi-
lions the Maine waB left alone. with
nothing near her but II Spanish torpedo
boat Ii seems to me now, as / look back
at the maneuvers of the ships in the har-
Dor, as if the commanders of those yes
sells purposely slipped away in order that
an accident aboard the Maine would not
affect their safety. .aIf spch had been
their deliberate design they would not
have done one whit differently.
THE position of the remaining torpedo
boat was such when II left. Havana thai
a torpedo could have, been shot out from
her bows right into the magazine of the
Maine. This could have been done quietly
and under cover of the night nobody
except one, or POSSIBLY TWO men WHO
might start the torpedo on its errand Of
destruction. would know anything of 1t.
''The Names anchorage was exposed
to danger from another point of view for
it was directly off the navy yard. from
which an automatic torpedo could be
quietly projected.
why the ship was anchored in that
spot, fraught with such danger. is more
than / can imagine, for it needed not the
trained eye of a naval officer to recognize
the danger.
1T is quite possible the big ship was
anchored over torpedo mine. which,
might have been exploded: by the moving
of her anchors. If such were the case
then there was bad faith on the part OF
the Spanish officials. who should have
warned Capt. Sigsbee that there were tor
pedoes near the anchorage,
''Whlle the privilege of inspecting the
Spanish war vessels was denied to every
body, the Maine was freely visited by any
one who chose to go aboard
ut is tiresome to one acquainted with
the facts to read of the assignment of
tK> Maine on a friendly mission to Ha-
ina A friendly visit is impossible for
the friendship can be on only one side
The Spanish people in Havana hate
everything American and hold Americans