The age-herald., 1898-03-29

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 launches was riding at the starhoard boom. The captain said that the night was quiet and warm and that he remembered hear ing distinctly the echoes of the bugle at tatto, which were very pleasant. The stars
 were out, the sky, however being over cast. The Maine at the time of the ex- plosion, was headed approximately north-
 west. pointing toward the Shears. He was writing at his cabin table at the time Of the explosion and was dressed.
 Roar of Immense Volume
 He then went into a description of the | explosion when he felt the crash. lie characterized 1t as bursting rendlng anu | crashing sound or roar of immense volume largely metallic in its character It was succeeded by metallic sound, probably of falling debris. a trembling and lurcning motion of the vessel, then an impression of subsidence attended by an eclipse Of electric lights and intense darkness within
 the cabin. He knew immediately that the
 Maine had blown up and was sinking.
 He paid a tribute to the crew and said
 that a Quieter better natured lot or men
 he had never known on board or maya,
 vessel on which he had served. lie had
 mo fault to find with the behavior or any
 of the officers or men at the time or tae disaster and considered their conduct ad- mirable On his examination bv the court Cant Sigsbee said that the highest tenn Derature he cOulu reIleiiipci was A-' that was in the after magazine, the tenn nerature in the forward magazine peons considerably lower. There was no loose powder kept in the magazine. All tne coa, bunkers were ventilated through ar tupt ;
 examined weekly by the chief englneet' anu
 were connected electrically to the annun-
 ciator near his cabin door, The 1orWa d
 coal bunker on the port side was tuii. Iro
 forward coal bunker on the starpoaru sue
 was half full and it was being used at the
 time of the explosion.
 Lees Significant Message
 < consul-General Fitzhugh Lee appeared hefore the court on March B. His testimony related to the official formalities neraiunns s the Maine's arrival On Jan. "A ne recelVe" a message from the state department stat ing that the Maine would be sent to Ha- yana an a. friendly visit to resume the regular status of naval relations between the two countries, and he was orueIeu M so
 interchonge of official courteses. After a
 call at the palace he sent the state depart
 ment a cipher message stating:
 "Authorities seem to think the united
 States has ulteror purpose in sendihs tre
 shin Say it will obstruct autonomy ana
 nroduoe excitement and most probably
 demonstration. Ask that it not be oone
 until they can get instructions rom
 Madrid. Say that if for friendly purposes
 os claimed delay is unimportant,
 wa too late. however. tiit WbthN i'"
 already sailed. She arrived next day and
 Ice reported her arrival to the state de-
 partment
 Ensign Powelson Testifies
 Fnsien W. V. N Powelson was called on
 +bo tbsrd day of the court. He teftlheo
 that he had been present on the Malhe
 everv day from the arrival of the fefh'
 and during a great deal of the diving.
 Tn renlv to a question to tell the court all about the condition Of the Wreck' ne said the forward part of the ship forwaru
 of the r-snclsestacks had been, to all annearsnces completely destroyed. me coming tower lay in a position opposite tbe door leading to the superStructure ali and to starboard, inclined at about llo ue- grees to the vertical with the fop or ehe coming tower in board. Continuing, ne described with close detail the cohol , .,oil under the main deck on the port side. lne 6xtc,res were completely wrecked, while 6xt,,res in the same position on the star hoard side were in some cases almost ih- tact. The port buIkhead between the maah and berth decks at the conIatng tower sup
 port had been blown aft on both sldes' put
 a great deal more on the port than on the
 starooard side. The fire room hatch mn
 ,,e,a;atelv ahaft of the coming tower had heen blown in three directions aft to star hoard and to port The protective deck under the coming tower supports was peh' in two directions, the plates on the star. board side being bent up and on the star board side bent down. This platlng peio" the water line has been pushed out to star board" Gratings Blown on
 The Ina1-mored gratings of the engine ronm batch were blown off. compost tion strainer was pickeT up rom uhe pot. tom on the Starboard quarter at point
 ta tho CaDStln ana dDOlbl
 7O feet from it. The chief engineer thought
 the strainer was from the fremans wash
 room It was not Strainer in the snip
 side. |,
 Ensign Powelscn then asked the court rf
 it meant for him to say anything about uhe
 divers reported or just what he saw. uhe
 judge advocate replied that he would ike hin, to state any important discoveries which might lead the court to draw some conclusion as to the cause. and Ii d1Vei gave such information to state ohe diVer name. Before doing so the judge auVocape asked the witness to state 1T the 1or"sru and aft part of the ship were In Hne En- l sign Pcwelson replied, as far as he could l iudge they were not. The end in which the exmlosson occurred seemed to be pushed l from port to starboaTd from to 10 degrees l he should judge, with the apex to the star board The divers reported to witness that at A point where the 10-inch shell room should be they discovered 10-inch shells regularly arranged, but the ship had sunk | down so much that some of the shells were l in the mud.
 Fell Into Hole
 Gunner Morgan reported that in walking on the bottom he fel into hole on the port side and went down into the mud He also reported that so far as he could iudae everything seemed to be bent up ward In the viois,bty Of tiiss hole. He alSc
 reported that the plates seemed to have been pushed over to starboard and bent down.
 | In reply to an inquiry as to whether ht meant with reference to thetg original posi- | tions Ensign Powelson replied ahizma. lively. The beam supporting the protective