The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1910-05-27
WILL REVEAL THE CAUSE
Two Governments viii Watch Closely the
Raising of the Maine

corps Of the army to take up the work
of raising the battleship Maine, in
Havana harbor, at an early day, so that
it may be finished as soon as possible.
Gen. w. I. Marshall, now chief of en-
gineers, will retire on June II, for
which reason the active work of max
ing plans and supervising the task will
fall to his successor, Col. w. H. Bixby,
now on duty at St. Louis. The bill
appropriating 100000 for this work
already has been approved by the pres
dent and is therefore the law Of the
land.
The Maine has been at the bottom
of Havana harbor since Feb. IS, 1898,
since which time there has been much
speculation as to what will be revealed
when the wreck is brought to the sur
face. The raising of the old hulk will
present a very difficult engineering prob
lem. If it were simply a matter Of
getting rid of the vessel, the task would
be easy, for few charges OF dynamite
would do the work. But removal in
this way will not do, for it is still a
question wheter the explosion which
sent the battleship to the bottom oc-
cured from the outside or the inside.
The Spaniards always have claimed
that the explosion was caused from
within, but the rest of the world has
inclined to the belief that it was caused
from without. The engineer corps of
army will raise the wreck in such man
ner as to determine this question for all
time, for such determination is of the
utmost importance, because Of its bear
ing on the causes leading to the Span
ish-American war.
If it is found that the plates of the
hull of the Maine have the edges bent
inward, then there can be no question
that Spain brought on her own head the
disastrous war which ended her sover-
eighty in the new world. But if the
plates are bent outward, then it will be
apparent that the United States began
this war with an excuse which did not
hold good.
Not only does the United States de-
sire to use the turet of the Maine as a
monument, but there are other senti-
mental reasons why the government
does not want dynamite used in the
handling of the wreck. 1t is provided
therefore in the bill which the presi-
dent has just signed that the wreck
shall be raised by the engineer corps OF
the regular army with due care. At
high tide only the turret of the wreck
is visible, but at low tide a great deal
OF the hull may be seen. A portion Of
the hull was not injured by the explo-
sion.
The force which sunk the ship, al
though terrific, was confined to small
part of it. Tides and. water have had
a disintegrating effect, but the Maine
is still far from being a mass of scrap
iron. When she was built she was one
of the finest fighting machines ahoat,
and the especial pride Of the American
navy.
Gen. Marshall says that in raising
the hull it may be necessary to employ
tub or cofferdam. Then the ship
would be pumped out and made as
light as possible, repaired temporarily,
and made so she could be hoated, pro-
vided the injuries to the hull are of a
character to permit this.
Eight days after the wreck, Congress
set aside 100000 for the raising of
the vessel and the saving of as much of
the machinery and armament as pos
sible, together with the recovery of the
bodies of the officers and men who
went down with her. A private wreck
ing company undertook the work, but
gave it up after a week, having recoy-
cred four 6-inch guns, the paymaster' S
safe, two 6-pounder guns, two search
lights, a steam cutter, the breech
mechanisms of the aft 10-inch guns,
and 100 shells.
This bit of salvage cost the govern
ment S54,043.94.
hl.o,,+ tba t;,,a the rackipU cOrn-