The times., 1899-03-26
war RELICS IN THE
NATIONAL MUSEUM
collections That Will Be Val
liable to Students.
j!ement0S From the Eyer-tO- Be- Re
membered Maine.
EGuipnEcs of Volunteers to Show
Sons What Their Fathers Wore
When We Whipped Spain.

Now that the intensity of the war enthu-
siasm that struck the country last spring
has passed. and the citizens of the United
States have once more settled down to the
occupations that go toward the commercial
aggrandiZement of the Union and send the
products of American brain and Drawn to
every people of every land, they have time
to rest and to contemplate the enormity of
war and some of the disasters that are sure
to follow in its train. That war is hell
every man who was in the portion of the
| volunteer army that stormed the Spanish
heights at Santiago will agree, and that
| the implements of war are not calculated
| to bring comfort, although their peace
making proclivities are undoubted, these
men are also willing to bear witness
The Spanish war has done more for the
citizens of Washington than to add to the
territory under Uncle Sans espionage an
other area whose citizens will pay taxes
and at the same time be denied the priyi-
lege of the polls. at least FOR some time.
| 1t has enabled the custodian of the Ma
tional Museum and his able assistants TO
gather under the great dome of the ma
tion's greatest exposition building pew
collection of exhibits that viii be of great
| interest to the public and will be- very in
structive to the student of history.
The collection of relics OF the Spanish
war that has been gathered for the Museum
has just been placed in position and shows
an imposing array of what was used to ad-
minister the severe and much deserved
drubbing to the descendants of Ferdinand
! and Isabella which America was called
, upon to do last summer. The relics on eX-
| hibition follow the events of the war from
| the sinking of the Maine in Havana Har-
Dor February Is. 1898. to the final sur
render of General Toral to General Shafter
Tff1N tt1.t,g,
| is represented by some article found after
| the battles or used during their course.
The cases containing these relics have
| been placed in the centre of the building,
in the well-lighted rotunda, where they are
| grouped around the fountain, and in the
south centre hall in the immediate vicini-
| ty of the rotunda. The first large case
contains plate and some of the silver
ware that was saved from the wreck of the
Maine. The principal figure in this group
is large soup tureen of solid silver that
was presented to the officers of the ill-fated
| battleship soon after her launching by the
citizens of Maine. Another piece of silver
ware, loving cup, is also shown. This
| too was presented to the officers of the ship
by the citizens of the State for which the
ship was named. Both of these pieces are
| in excellent condition and do not seem
much the worse for their long sojourn in
1
harbor. Another interesting relic from
| the Maine is bottle containing a portion
of the brown powder from the powder ma
gazfhe which the Spaniards said blew up
and caused the vessel to sink The powder
| is in blocks about one inch thick and is oc-
| tagonal in shape. The powder is well pre-
| served also and although rendered useless
through being thoroughly soaked with wa
| ter it is plain that it was never exploded.
| IN ayhi baC nj
another bottle of powder that has had no
water to mar its effectiveness. There is
no appreciable difference to be seen by the
naked eye, although there is not day the
| custodian of the relics says, that some one
of the ordinance experts from the rural
| districts does not gather crowd around
/, them explaining the difference between the
contents of the two phials.
Plate From the winslow.
Probably the most interesting article in
| this case is a plate from the torpedo boat
| Winslow that was so badly used up off
| Cardenas, Cuba, in the early part of the
war. 1t was here that Ensign Worth Bag
| ley was killed. He was the only officer in
| the American navy to fall by a Spanish
| bullet. The plate is part of the coming
| tower near which the gallant ensign was
| standing when he was shot, and part of
the pinnacle lamp and compass box from
the same place are also shown. All Of
| these are literally riddled with bullets and
pieces of shell. The holes made by the
| former are very round and clean while the
latter make a long jagged tear in the hard
steel that shows better than anything else
| the proximity of the torpedo boat to the
| shore batteries during the short battle.
| Lying near the Winslow collection is a
| large plate taken from the battleship Iowa.
This plate was pierced in one place with a
siX-pounder shell. The hole made by the
| shell is very much larger than the shell
itself and long cracks branch from 1t edges.
| There are three smaller holes in this
| plate and several dents that show where
shot struck her. The rivets on one side of
! the plate have also been started by the
force of the shot hurled against her sides.
| This relic is interesting in many ways. 1t
shows not only the fact that the Spaniards
| did sometimes strike the American ships
| but also the stern resistance offered their
shots by the American steel This plate is
very large and very heavy.
! In the centre of the case has been placed
one of the mines which were picked up in
the harbor of Guantanamo by the cruiser
Marblehead, when the marines were land
| ed early in June. The mine resembles in
shape the toy tops that are sold to chill
dren about this time of the year. It has
numerous tubes projecting from the sides
|
plosive is very dangerous weapon OF war
fare. This particular mine was rendered
useless by the corrosion of the chemicals
which were to explode il and was picked
I up by one of the small boats of the Mar
| blehead before she attempted to land any
| troops. The tubes on the sides and tops
were the points of contact the touching
of which was supposed to cause the ex-
| plosion of the chemicals in the tubes
which in turn were supposed to ignite the
cordite contained in the copper recepta-
! Gle. That neither of these useful appur-
tenances to mines acted in the proper
manner the American officers lay more to
luck than anything else. Just why the
| tubes corroded and the pistons refused to
work no one has been able to explain but
| they did not work and the mine is now
reposing peacefully in a glass case In the
National Museum. Grouped about the
mine and along the sides of the case are
long rows of small phials containing ex-
hibits of powder Almost every kind OF
| powder in the army and navy of this coun-
try is shown here. The collection was
made under the direction of Lieutenant
Poundstone, of the navy, and is complete
in every detail
Spanish SmOkeiess Powder.
There is also shown for the first time in
this city a lot of the smokeless powder
such as is used by the Spaniards. Lieu
tenant Poundstone also donated this TO the
Museum authorities. In another case in
the rotunda is shown n lot of clothing and
camp equipage such was issued to the
volunteers of the District regiment a can
teen and hat and number of other artf-
cles comprise the extent of this collection
In n shelf in the same case is shown COL
lection of buttons and hats of the Ameri-
can soldier Another case is also devoted