The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-03-28
SECRET IS OUT.
Mystery of the Destruction of
the Maine Is Solved.
Gessler ROsseau COnfesses That
He Made the Bomb.
BUILT 1T FOR CUBANS.
The Intention Was to Blow Up
Spanish Warships.
Machine Placed Under American
Battleship by Mistake.
Man Who Exploded 1t After
wards Committed Suicide.

New York, March 2s.-That the bat
tleship Maine through an error was de-
stroyed by bomb of his manufacture,
was the statement made by Gessler
Rosseau in the tombs prison today.
Rosseau was convicted yesterday of
having sent explosives to the Cunard
line pier, this city, in May, 1903 He
made the following statement today:
For several years while the Cuban
patriots were struggling against Wey-
Ter, I watched the contest with deep
interest and sympathy. decided to go
to Jacksonville and do what could to
assist the revolutionists. I started from
St. Louis, where I had been living dur
ing the early part of 1897.
Before taking a train for the south
I got together the material for the con
struction of two exploding machines of
tremendous power, so arranged that
they could be wound up and left in
selected place with the certainty that
they would go off with terrible destruc-
ton within a few hours.
AT New Orleans rented a room and
put the boxes together after which
went on to Jacksonville. There I be-
came acquainted with a party of Cuban
leaders, who were planning q filibuSter-
ing expedition. They had engaged the
to Cuba along with a number of Ameri-
can and European adventures VINO
were anxious to strike a blow for Cuban
freedom.
Several of the leaders of the party
are men now well known and will not
mention their names. although I have
among my papers a list of them all
I suggested to them that they use
my machines to destroy Spanish war
ships in the harbor Of Havana and in
other ports on the coast of the island.
They readily seized upon the idea and
when the Destroyer sailed with the fill
busters they took my two machines
with them.
1T was my intention to go along
with the party so as to direct the work
of sinking the Spanish ships, but they
dissuaded me, urging that l could be
of greater use in Jacksonville, prepar-
ing ether machines if the first proved
successful.
bers of the revolutionary party join
the Spanish navy so as to get the ma
chimes aboard. If that failed it was
decided to fasten one of the boxes to
the hull of a ship under the water
chimes so they could be exploded I'M
der the water.
s'That was late in the fall of 1891
The next spring the Maine was de-
.s0nIy one of the men in the secret
of the nfachines never returned to
America I saw him some time after
the war with Spain had begun.
HE told me he had nothing to do
with the boxes after reaching Cuba.
but had been told a mistake had been
made.
saThe man who had been entrusted
with the task of destroying a Spanish
vessel attempted to fasten a box dur
ing the night to one of Alfonso's war
ships and blundered into blowing up
the Maine.
81 was told that the man, imme-
diately after learning of the error he
had made committed suicide
Rosseau said he had attempted to
blow up the statues of Frederick the
Great in Washington because ne did
not wish to see the statue of a king in
America. He added that he was not
an anarchist or nihilist and that he
had made no effort to supply explod-
ing machines to the Russians