The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-11-27

| tanned, confirmed his own view of the
! explosion. He said:
I was standing on the port side of
the City of Washington. looking d.
rectly at the Maine. The explosion was
on the outside and underneath It
makes me angry when anybody sug-
gests it was an Internal explosion, be-
cause II can believe my own eyes
saw it before anybody on the Maine
knew anything about it. I thought at
first that it was a mine operated by an
electric wire, but have since come TO
the conclusion that the explosion was
by contact with tOrpedOes Of the sort
you descrlDe- From the great destruc-
ton wrought believe that gun cotton
was used instead Of dynamite"
The first discovery of the existence of
gun cotton by Commander Young was
in the high explosive magazine used by
the Spanish government for the stOr-
age Of tOrpedOes. gun cotton, dynamite
and other high explosives.
The magazine from which the gun
cotton used in blowing up the Maine
was taken was one of the last buildings
abandoned by the Spanish naval force.
Spanish officials who had charge of it
evidently left the work before it was
completed. Among the rubbish left
were the six cases containing gun cot
ton Each is now in the possession of
the United States officials. and is Of
strong, polished Spanish wood, capable
of holding $50 pounds of gun cotton
The cases were shipped. according to
Information have obtained, from Bar
Maine entered Havana harbor.
When the United States officials in
spected the old magazine they did not
discover the gun cotton cases because
of an immense mass of debris left be-
hind, but a more minute investigation
disclosed them. Two of the six cases
had been rihed of their contents. The
contents of the other four had not been
disturbed
The Information upon which the
United States will probably act shows
that the contents of the empty cases
We're extracted by two or three men
on the day before the Maine was blown
up. The identity of the men has not
been established, although the Spanish
government is said to have made a sin
cere attempt to discover them
The name OF the official who had
charge of the magazines under Admiral
AIanterOIa has not been learned nor
do the mutilated records left by the
Spanish government disclose a trace of
the disposition of the gun cotton.
AS this powerful explosive can only
be used for a limited number of legiti-
mate purposes, the manner in which
the contents of the cases We're used be
comes a very important feature in the
solution of the mystery surrounding the
plot TO destroy the Maine.
No gun cotton was used by the Span
ish government in and around Havana,
or on the Island of Cuba for two or
three months preceding the blowing up
of the Maine.
It is believed that the gun cotton was
intended to be used in mining Ha-
vana harbOr. or in prOjectileS to be fired
from the land Qualifications in the event
of war. Admiral Manterola, it is be-
Heved can furnish the desired infOr-
nation if the United States asks Spain
to examine him on that point.
The conclusions of the United States
investigators do not point to the COM
plicity of any of the officials of the
Spanish government in the plot. It is
believed that the conspiracy was con-
ceived by men having expert knowledge
OF explosives and the conditions OF Ha-
aVna harbOr. and who either stole the
gun cotton or secured it by the use of
money. It is expected that the United
States viii follow up the clews discov-
cred by Commander Young and the Off
GERS of the secret service.
In the meantime the wreck of the
Maine lies precisely in the same posi-
ton it did on the morning after the ex-
plOSiOn, when more than 200 of her crew
were torn to pieces The wreck has set
tied in two or three feet of mud, but
otherwise her position has not changed
The military mast still towers 30 feet
in the air while the search light plat
form on the bridge is four or five feet
above the water. No portion of the
mass has sunk below the surface Of the
water.
The wreck is not only a menace to
navigation. but is undoubtedly respOn-
sibIe for much of the disease bred by
the unhealthy water The bodies of at
least 100 of the Names crew are still
entangled in the wreckage. During the
ten months the United States has been
in control of Havana not a single step
has been taken to recover the bodies.
I asked Gen. Brooke why the govern
ment neglected either to float or de-
stroy the wreck, He said he had no
to act, but thought the United
States should take immediate action
to provide more appropriate burying
ground for its dead sailors, as well as
reclaim as much of the Maine as pos
sibIe for practical purposes. Several
recOmnen datOnS were sent to Wash I
ingtOn, but the government has failed !
to Remember the Maine"
lois SETROT n