Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-07-03
REMEMBER THE MAINE.
Bar Harbor Man on the Ill-Fated Warship
When She Was Blown Up.
(Bar Harbor Correspondence of Ban

4 Martln '. W eDDbG OF Ddi AAtA' ~
was on the old U. s. S. Maine when
that battlcahip was destroyed by some
External explosion in the harbor oil
Havana. cuba, on the light OF Feb, To-
Uses. MIR. Weber is young man OF
| 81 years of age. and does not talk
much among his friends and ac-
| duaintauces of that memorable occa-
ision. 1t is. however. a distinction
H which few men in the world enjoy,
and as the years pass the history
ma king incident of that terrible eve
ming in front of Havana city will no
doubt come to fill a larger place i'll his
memory of the past Mr. Weber
fold the story briefly ia the CONNER
cial reporter as follows;
Born in Bar Harbor and passing
| my early years here | naturally came
| to see much of life in the navy, at
least as much Of it as can be learned
| by visiting the warships in harbor and
coming in contact with many of the
men ON shore leave. Perhaps it was
in this way that my desire to enlist
grew, and at last. August y, 1897.
when the White Squadron was at an
Choir here. | went out to the old bat
| tleship Maine and entered the service.
| thought it would be good change
after having served long in the truck
| ing business here. and that taking my
place in the navy would be somewhat
| IN the nature of a rest after Juggling
! hundreds of trunks up and down stairs
| around town.
| We steamed off to Hampton Roads
| after a while and laid at anchor there
flor some time before going on to Key
West. While at Key West we
lstripped the battleship of most of hei
boats. and in fact to a great extent
Icleared the ship for action. even tC
lplaeing the splinter nets, for there was
continued trouble in cuba. and We
didn't know what was in store for us.
Il belonged to the second cutters
crew, l. in all and a coXswain. Tht
Iseeond cutter was left behind, but W.
We're given charge of a whaleboat
IStandng out from Key West tn,
Maine steamed for Havana. and on ar
irving in the harbor it was our crew
which was ordered to make her fas
lat her moorings. So you see l wa!
one of the dozen men who secured tn,
lold ship to her final resting place be
fore her end came.
There was no sign of trouble so fai
las we We're concerned. We had M
shore liberty. but went often to tht
landings for water. There was scarce.
lily any ebb and flow in the harbor anC
$50 the water was stagnant. W,
Ieould not use it even to wash tn,
decks Ashore everybody seemed
IfYIanl1E- a. To in,
dictate to the crew that we were t
be the target for some inferRal ma
Iehine which would send the ship to the
bottom
"At o'clock. Feb. Is. was in my
hammock Nine of US We're swung il
a little place near the scuttle butt OF
the main deck under the superstruc-
lture deck. on the port side and amid
Iships. The Maine had the city OF
Havana on the starboard side at thai
time, as | remember it When we re-
tired one of our little group Freddie
HolZer. an altar boy, said to me
| Mart. this is going to be a warm eve
ming. | have never forgotten that
and | never shall forget it. OF course
he meant in the weather way. but tbs
evening was destined to prove hot
ter proposition for us than the wealth
er man could have mapped out We
had nothing on but our underclothes
and we discarded our blankets. Poor
little Freddie Holzer Father Chad.
wick came to me two days afterwards
in the hospital and told me that the
boy was dead.
Il was sound asleep soon after get
ting into my hammock. They have
told me since that the Maine was
destroyed at $40 o'clock, but | cannot
tell when it was, [ heard no explo-
sion | do not know to this day what
happened any more than you do. The
next thing | knew after going to sIeeI
was some time in the night. when
came to my senses in a daze and
found myself lying on the deck of a
strange ship. Just as | was coming
to an apprentice on the Maine, Harry
Taple. came along and sh4fS me. Al
the side of the ship was a big door ar
rangement such as tramp steamers
have. He led me over to that and
said. Mart, our old home is gone"
looked over across the water and sa "
the wreck of our old battleship Maine
Iall ablaze. Even then some of our
men were on the wreckage and up in
the masts, perishing, and we could
hear their last cries in the night.
have no idea what time that was
/ | said, For Gods sake. Harry, what
is the matter" But | have no recol-
lection of what he said. He. ! after
wards learned had not been injured al
all. and he probably tried to tell me
lwhat had happened. Until now | had
reIt M Main u-ha teNar hut as my sens-