The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-01-08
MAINE WRECK
PLAN TO RAISE IT BY MEANS OF
A COFFERDAM,
Mementoes to be Manufactured From
Parts of the Ship. Which Will be
Exhibited in Different Parts Of
the United States.

The. United States Battleshp Maine
Salvage Company has recently been i'll
corporsted iu The District of Columbia
for the purpose Of entirely removing
from the harbor of Havana the battle
ship WIS destroyed on February Is. 1903
The United States government having
relinquishei all claims to the battleshlp
| il becomes the property of the Cuban
government, which has made earnest eff
| forts to secure its removal, especially be-
cause it forms serious obstruction to
1.-THE navigation of the harbor. The Cuban
government has finally entered into a
contract with Mr.. Joseph De Wyckoff of
Havana, under date OF June 8, 1904 the
| work to be done under certain restrc-
tons which are perfectly satisfactory to
both parties. Mr. De Wyckoff is manag-
ing director of tie United States Battle
| ship Maine Salvage Company.
By recent action of the Cuban govern
lment, the time for beginning the work
| has been extended to April 10, 1905, and
| the time for eotnpletionato April 70, 1905.
As nearly as eau be obtained from care
I FIJI exailliiIatio nof the wreck made with
| the aid of competent divers, about one
third of the batteship at the bow has
been seriously injured, the other two
thirds remaining comparatively uninjured
It is she purpose Of the .eotnpany first to
remove the bodies OF the sailors and
their personal effects, and then to make
the undertaking financial success by
the recovery of all valuable articles, such
as arms, cannon, coal, machinery, etc,
and the uniniured part of the battleship
itself. Il is also proposed to admit visit
ors to the wreck after the cofferdam is
pumped out, charging an admission fee
and after the ship is foated, to exhibit it
at the principal ports of the United
States. It is also proposed to n1anufac-
ture articles of brass, bronze and copper
found upon the wreck into n,ementoes to
be sold with certificates Of American and
Cuban officials as to their genuineess.
Sufficient material of this kind will pre-
viously, however. be set aside for the
erection Of the contemplated memorial
and placed at the disposal of the mem
orial committee. Photographers offer
large sums for the exclusive righs to take
views of the wreck from time to time as
the water is being pumped out. The rev
enue which will be derived from these
sources will be much more than sufficient
to pay for the cost Of building the ne
cessary eofferdam and removing the
wreck.
Should it be found possible to repair
the damaged part of the vessel, it will be
placed on the floating dock at Havana,
and the battleship be completely repaired. !
Then there will be for sale to some gov
ernn,ent a complete battleship which
cost the United States COVER
nrnent $5,ooo,ooo to build and equip.
The battleship before the explosion
had an extreme length of 3a4 feet, an
extreme breadth of 81 feet, draft of |
Il ~ feet and displacement of 665o
.otas. The machinery cost $4,000. She
was protected for 80 feet amidship with |
!z-itnch Harveyized armour worth $500 |
, ton. The ttirrets were Of steel eigth |
inches thick and the barbettes were
.welve inches thick. It is believed that
he steel and iron have not been corrod-
ID by the action Of the water owing to
he protection afforded by thin marine
growth upon all surfaces. The actual
work in Havana horbor will be begun
,ery soon.
On account of the many difficulties ia
coferdam by any of the
visionary methods, plans for a special
peculiarly adapted to tfie
equirenents Of the case have been pre-
AIRED by the consulting engineers-En-
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