Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-03-31
WASHINGTON.

the Senate MONDAY, ana IN Jne Nous
Tuesday.
THE MESSAGE
To The Congress of The United States:
For some time prior to the visit o
the Maine to Havana harbor our consu
lar representatives pointed out the ad
yantages to flow from the visit of ma
tional ships to the Cuban waters, in &C
customing the people to the presence o
our flag as the symbol of good will ant
of our ships in the fulfllment Of tn
mission of protection to American
interests. even though no immediate
need therefore might exist.
Accordingly on the oath of January
last, after conference with the Spanish
minister, in which the renewal of visit
of our war vessels to Spanish water
was discussed and accepted, the PENN
sular authorities at Madrid and Ha
vana were advised to the purpose o
this government to resume friendly
naval visits at Cuban ports and that IL
that view the Maine would forthwith
call at the port of Havana. This an
nouncement was received by the Span
ish government with appreciation o
the friendly character of the visit o.
the Maine and with notification of in
teution to return the courtesy by send
ing Spanish ships to the principal port!
of the United States Meanwhile the
Maine entered the port of Havana OF
the 25th of January, her arrival being
marked with no special incident be
sides the exchange of customary salute:
and ceremonial visits.
The Maine continued in the harbor o.
Havana during the three weeks follow
ing her arrival No appreciable excite
ment attended her stay; on the con
trary a feeling of relief and confidence
followed the resumption of the long
interrupted friendly intercourse. Sc
noticeable was the immediate effect OF
her visit that the consul general strong
ly urged that the presence of our ship:
in Cuban waters should be kept up by
retaining the Maine at Havana, or, il
the event of her recall, by sending an
other vessel there to take her place.
At forty minutes past in the even
ing of the 18th of February the Maine
was destroyed by an explosion, by
which the entire forward part of the
ship was utterly wrecked. In this ca
tastrophe two officers and 264 Of heI
crew perished, those who were not kill
ed outright by the explosion being pen
ned between decks by the tangle of the
wreckage and drowned by the immedi
ate sinking of the hull Prompt assist
ance was rendered by the neighborina
vessels anchored in the harbor. and be
| ing especially given by the boats of the
Spanish cruiser Alphonso XII. and the
| Ward line steamer City of Washington,
which lay no: far distant. The wound
ed were generously cared for by the
authorities of Havana, the hospitals be
ing freely opened to them, while the
earliest recovered bodies of the dead
were inferred by the municipality in a
public cemetery in the city. Tributes
of grief and sympathy were offered
from all official quarters of the island.
| The appalling calamity fell upon the
people of our country with crushing
force. and for q brief time an intense
excitement prevailed, which in com
munity less just and self-controlled
than ours might have led to hasty acts
of blind resentment. This spirit how
ever soon gave way to the calmer pro
cssses of reason and to the resolve to
| investigate the facts and await materi-
| al proof before forming a judgement
as tn the cause, the responsibility, and
| if the facts warranted, the remedy due
This course necessarily recommended
itself from the outset to the executive,
for only in the light of dispassionate-
ly ascertained certainty could it de-
termine the nature and measure of its
| full duty in the matter.
The usual procedure was followed, as
in all cases of casualty or d1saster to
national vessels of any maritime state
A naval court of inquiry was at once
organized, composed Of officers well
qualified by rank and practical expert
ence to discharge the onerous duty i'm
posed upon them. Aided by strong
force of wreckers and divers, the court
proceeded to make thorough investi-
cation on the spot, employed every
| available means for the impartial and
| exact determination of the causes of
the explosion. Its operations have been
conducted with the utmost deliberation
. and judgement, and while independ-
emily pursued, no source of information
was neglected, and the fullest oppor-
tunity was allowed for simultaneous
investigation by the Spanish authori-
| ties.
The finding of the court of inquiry
| was reached after % days of continuous
labor, on the 21st of March instant, and
having been approved on the 22d by the
commander in-chief of the United States
naval force on the North Atlantic sta
| ton, was transmitted to the executive
1t is herewith laid before the con
gress, together with the voluminous
| testimony taken before the court.
Its purport is, in brief, as follows:
When the Main arrived at Havana
she was conducted by the regular gov
ernment pilot to buoy No A. to which
| was moored in from FIVE and a half to
| six fathoms of water
The State of discipline on board and
the condition of her magazines, boilers,
coal bunkers and steerage compartments
are passed in review, with the conclus.
ion that excellent order prevailed and
| that no indication of any cause for in
| ternal explosion existed in any quarter.
At o'clock in the evening of that
day everything had been reported Sc
cure and all was quiet.
At $40 the vessel was suddenly de
stroyed
There were two distinct explosions
with brief interval between them.
| The first lifted the forward part of the
ship very perceptibly; the second, which
was open, prolonged and of greater vol
ume, is attributed by the court to the
partial explosion of two or more of the
forward magazines.
| The evidence of the divers establishes
that the after part of the ship was prac-
| tically intact and sank in that condition
Ia very few minutes after the explosion.
The forward part was completely de-
molished.
Upon the evidence of concurrent ex-
ternal cause the finding of the court is
as follows:
| AT frame II the outer shell of the
ship from point eleven and half
| feet from the middle line of the ship
and six feet above the keel when in its
normal position, has been forced up 80
as to be now about four feet above the
surface of the water; therefore about
| thirty-fou feet above where il would
be had the ship sunk uniniured
| The outside bottom plating is bent in
to reversed Vshape, the after wing of
which, about fifteen feet broad and
thirty-two feet in length from frame II
to frame 25) is doubled back upon it
self against the continuation of the
same plating extending forward
AT frame lS the vertical keel ia brok
en- in two and the fat keel bent into an
angle similar to the angle formed by
the outside bottom plates This break
is now about six feet above its normal
position.
In the opinion of the court this effect
could have been produced only by the
explosion of mine situated under tbs
bottom of the ship, at about frame IS
and somewhat ON the port side of thC
ship
/ The conclusions of the court are: