The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-21
Internal Explosion Theory Is
 Declared UntenlbIe
SHIP BLOWN IN TWO PARIS
Bottom Plates Thrown Up Above Su- perstructure, Says Commodore Beehler, Who Examined Bat
 tIeship After Disaster.
From the Washington Post.

Shortly after the Maine was blown up
 a court of inquiry went to Havana in
 the lighthouse tender Mangrove to in-
 vestigate the wreck. as is usual in all
 cases when a vessel of the navy is lost or
 suffers any damage.
 1 The writer was the executive officer of
 the Montgomery, at that time under the | command of Com. c. A. Converse, which | was ordered to Havana to provide quar-
 ters for the survivors to assist the inves-
 tigation, to work on the wreck, and chief 1 ly to aid in the recovery of the bodies
 of those buried in the wreck.
 ! Fourteen divers were engaged, chiefly
 from well-known private wreeking firms, { to examine the submerged wreck for the
 information of the court of inquiry. These
 divers were strictly cautioned, and as ! they came up they were immediately
 taken before the court, under guard, so
 that their sworn testimony should only
 be revealed to the court, and they were not allowed to communicate with each
 other
 What Examinations Showed | The examination by the court of in- 1 quiry showed that the ship was destroyed | by mine exploded under the ship; that the explosion completely severed the ! ship in two parts. and that the after | part lies at an angle to the forward part. l The divers walked on the bottom of the ! harbor between the two parts of the wreck. This renders it impossible to re- move the wreck as a whole, and it can J only be removed piecemeal.
 The position of the wreck shows that the | explosion occurred on one side, under the bottom, and that it cut the ship in two, and at the same time forced the stern to one side. This position of the severed parts of the ship, together with the posi- of tba lat fbrp bOEr the superstructure, and clearly visible four feet above water, is absolute and pos | itve evidence that the ship was destroyed l by mine under the ship.
 No Doubt As To Cause. | The thorough investigation by the court of inquiry, covering a period of four weeks, left no doubt as to the cause of the disaster. The court accepted no the ory, but confined itself to facts of which it, had positive evidence. This ab- sence of any official opinion as to the eaxct manner in which the mine was ex- ploded, or by whom the internal deed had been done, has allowed considerable spec ulation on these points. All sorts of theories have been advanced. one of the favorite ones being that an electric mine was used and that it was exploded by pressing a key on shore, but no cable or remnants of any cable has ever been
 
 as to who caused the explosion.
 The fact that the Maine carried no high explosive powder is in itself evil | dence that there was no spontaneous in ternal explosion, while the finding of large quantities of wet and unconsumed black gun powder shows that the main magazine of the ship was not exploded l at all. The fixed ammunition magazine in which there was ammunition for the | smaller guns, was exploded. This ex- | plosion, however, was a second report, ! testified to as having been heard by the | survivors, and the explosion of this small magazine was caused by the impact of the steel plates thrown against it's per cussion-primed ammunition by the ex- posion.
 Position of Warship.
 That fatal night the Maine was riding to a buoy in the harbor at Man-of- War anchorage She rode head to the wind, which usually blows from the northeast About once a month there is a Hull in the trades, when all ships swing around to head southwest as the wind comes rom that quarter. At the time of the disaster the Maine was swinging around to the wind.
 The trades in Havana harbor furnish a beam wind for sailing lighters to sail to and from the merchant vessels an- chored in the southwest part of the har- bor. In sailing in the harbor these light CTS often pass the warships very close. It is perfectly feasible for any one with knowledge of mines to fit large wine cask with a cap which, when struck, l will break a bottle of strong acid and | ignite a charge of 200 pounds of gunpow- | der in the cask so loaded that the cask will still be buoyant.
 One Man Could Do 1t. Such a cask so loaded and primed could be anchored with a chain so that it would keep the mine at the proper depth where the harbor was 30 feet deep. One man, without any confeder- ates. could have rigged this. and when l sailing by in front of the Maine dropped it. to remain there until the Maine should swing, strike it. and be destroyed | All the investigations of the wreck con 1 firm this theory The Maine drew 22 feet of water and it Is probable that she struck the mine on one side, near the bot tom, while swinging The force of the ex- plosion took the line of least resistance, through the hull of the Maine up to the air The bottom of the ship was thus thrown up and some of the force operated to push the after section to one side. No internal explosion could, on any tenable theory have caused such action.
 In 1880 the writer while on duty at the torpedo station, made a complete transla- tion of the elaborate Scandinavian mine experiments and subsequently, published that report in the proceedings of the United States naval institute. These ex- periments were made in order to provide Sweden Norway and Denmark with tor