The Ely miner., 1911-09-15

ports have been sent out from
time to time fixing the date for
the final raising of the derelict, not
one of such reports has been author
lied, not one of them is or can be
reliable. 1t was stated nearly ayear
ago that the ship would be raised by
February 1, 1911. Today the greater
part of the ship is buried in sticky,
black mud and there is every possi-
bility that six months will lapse, if not
much longer time, before the hull
is fully exposed and raised, if it is
ever found possible to float any part
of it. And no one is to blame for the
delay. The job has proved itself just
about ten times greater and more for
midable than it originally gave prom
ise of being.
Ship Mass of Twisted Steel.
No one who has not seen the wreck
and been on it and through it can un-
derstand its almost impossibly tangled
condition. The stern of the ship. is
comparatively intact. But not more
than third of what was the original
vessel is recognizable as such. Amid
ship the tangle begins. tunnels, con-
ming towers, decks, cabins, engines,
machinery, are all tangled pathetic
mass that even the most expert of
naval engineers and constructors have
been unable to classify properly. The
whole bow was blown off and turned
around and pointed back toward the
stern. The old controversy of what
caused the explosion is still on, but
experts declare the uncovering of the
Maine will never solve the mystery.
The titanic force Of the explosion
-or explosions, for there were two of
them without question-impresses the
observer as having been appalling.
Think of force that would break q
steel battleship in twain and dance
the half of it about like cork.
The old controversy as to whether
the Maine was blown up from with
out or within will not be settled by
the uncovering of the wreck-not
IL million experts render their ''in-
disputable" opinions. The consensus
of opinion is now, as it ever was, that
an outside mine explosion preceded
and precipitated the interior explosion
that of the ships magazine, All
testimony goes to establish the fact
that there we're two distinct explo-
siCns. But the Spanish folk will Eev-
Ell admit that there were two. Those
who even incline to listen to the sug-
gestion that there might have been
two contend that If two occurred that
within the ship must have been the
first. Some, but not many, Americans
hold to the opinion that the wreck
was caused solely by ar explosion of
the vessels magazine. a
Lends Color to Theory.
But the fact that the destruction Of
the vessel celebrated on Gale Cuba,
in Havana, before it occurred, and
that that celebration was participated
in by Spanish royalists, has a decided
tendency to lend color to the theory
that the wreck was planned.
Lurid stories of all sorts to new
discoveries" which are calculated to
"clear up the mystery" are on con-
slant, daily tap in Havana. Within a
week circumstantial yarn to the ef-
feet that wire cable leading from
the bow of the Maine to Cabanas had
been discovered went the rounds. All
such stories are myths. But the i'm
pressiveness, the wierdness, the
creepiness. the oppressive uncannines
of the wreck itself is by no means
mythical. 1t gets on ones nerves.
Eighty-eight men perished when the
Maine went down. About 25 skele-
tions = or parts of skeletons =
have been recovered. AS this
is written three skulls CLEAN their
CHASTITY welcome from the slime that
covers the tangled wreckage The
bodies cannot be reached until the
tons of twisted metal that lie upon
them are cut away and removed.
Here thigh bone. there a rib. over
yonder part of hand-these are the
grewsome finds that the workmen
make every day.
Although the explosion occurred in
Tebruary-over 13 years ago, by the
way-the night was hot and many of
the crew slept out on the port side
Of the berth deck. Most of the bodies
recovered have been from this part
of the ship. Down in the engine
room-when that is reached-from 25
tc 80 bodies probably will be found
bodies of the poor devils who worked