The Washington herald., 1906-11-18

seemed frightful, and I thought that. per-
haps, the whole thing would be put down
TO my cIumsiness. 1t was soon apparent,
though that I had done the only thing
could 10 save numberless lives: the
Maine was not materially damaged, and
for my action instead Of being ceusured,
was highly commended by the Navy De-
partment.'
Then the Maine was ordered TO Cuba.
for the situation there was become
tense and strained, and there, while at
anchor in Havana harbor, she was sunk
by q Spanish mine The echoes from
shat explosion, and the disastrous war TO
Spain which it caused, have not yet
ceased to reverberate.
Il did not like TO write about it," says
the admiral. but I felt it was my duty
to tell the facts as I knew them. There
never has been any doubt in my mind
that the Maine was sunk by a mine from
the outside. That explosion doubtless
reached our magazine and caused a sec
ond explosion. The conditions were pre-
cisely similar to those at the sinking of
the Petropavlosk. on which Admiral Max
aiOff was drowned, and the results were
SbOut the same. The one thing never
10 be forgotten in connection with the
sinking of the Maine is the wonderful
bravery and determination shown by
those who survived of the crew; that ex-
ample of devotion to duty, OF forgetful-
Eess of self, of the true American spirit,
is. above all, why We should Remember
the Maine"
After the destruction of the Maine, and
being thus deprived Of any command,
Capt. Sigsbee was made, for a short time.
aid to the Secretary Of the Navy, and he
had much to do with the earlier prepara-
tions for the war that was 10 follow. But
it was not like him to be content with ad-
ministrative duties while fighting was on.
and when the passenger steamer St. Paul
was converted into an auxiliary cruiser he
applied for and got command of her. He
hoisted his flag on her over the hundreds
Of deserted staterOoms, and hurrying
southwark was the first United States ves-
sci to get in touch with the Spanish feet
on its arrival in the West Indies Ad-
miral Cervsra arrived at Santiago de
Cuba on the 18th day OF May. and the St
Paul on the 2lst, where Sigsbee remained
Q
and the entrance to the harbor until re-
lieved by the Flying Squadron.
'She was a fine vessel. the st. Paul"
said the admiral, reminiscently, but as
you can see from this picture" and he led
the way into the hall, 'she offered, with
her enormous length and her extraordi-
nary freeboard. a shining mark for the
enemy. She was nearly one-tenth of q
mile in length, and was not really match
for the poorest Of the Spanish cruisers. It
was a ticklish job, that watching the en-
trance 10 Santiago. but on the oath we
thought we were in for It, The lookout
| forward reported a ship coming out OF
/ the harbor and so we moved closer in.
soon saw that il was a vessel trying to
get in, so we moved forward and captured
her with the expenditure of very little
ammunition. She proved to be the collier.
the Restormel, trying to furnish Cervera
with coal We used her cargo, and the
capture Of this vessel destroyed the last
hope of q coal supply for the Spanish
fleet.
The st. Paul, too. has the distinction Of
being the frst naval vessel ever attacked
by a torpedo-boat destroyer. They had
often been attacked by torpedo boats, but
not by destroyers. and many naval officers
were OF the opinion that when such a
clash came the destroyer. with her won
derful speed. her quick-firing guns. and
her torpedoes. would get the better of It.
It was on June p, 1898. that I took the St
Paul to San Juan, P. r., and established
a blockade Of that port We could not go
in very close. because we had to keep out
CT range Of the shore batteries. which
were pretty heavy. so we circled about
just out Of range. I was sitting in a
camp stool On the bridge Of the st. Paul